Harleys, Cars, Girls & Guitars

Harley Asks Fed for a Bailout

I’m not surprised that Harley-Davidson is feeling the pinch of the recession. Some people surely rely on a Harley for basic transportation. For most riders, a Harley is a luxury item. When the economy turns bad, luxury items are the first to go.  Harley’s sales dropped by 13 percent in fourth quarter 2008, as compared to the previous year.

Harley announced a couple of days ago that it is cutting 1,100 jobs. Yesterday, Harley appealed to the Fed for a bailout for its financing subsidiary, Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS). 

HDFS has asked the Fed for $1 billion, so that it can continue to extend credit to buyers. HDFS reported a $25 million loss in 2008, as opposed to a $37 million profit in 2007.

The party’s over. At least for a while. In the mid-1990s, as so many Boomers entered their fifties, Harley’s sales skyrocketed. We all wanted a last shot at the dreams of our youth. Money flowed like water. I bought my Road King in the midst of the good times.  I’m glad that I did. 

Myrna and I enjoyed one blessed summer riding together before she departed this earth.  Our last ride together was a trip to a rally in Niagara Falls, the destination for lovers.  How appropriate!  She suffered through such terrible pain to enjoy that ride.

We’re in for a rough ride for the next few years. There’s something distasteful about the tough guys at Harley begging the Fed for a handout. We’re all a lot older than we used to be… and the tough guy routine is mostly play acting.

Keep the shiny side up!

Will Blago Rat Out Obama?

Forgive me for all the political posts. I’m generally uninterested in politics. The circus that is playing in Chicago is just too entertaining to ignore.

I listened to Governor Blagojevich’s press conference on Friday… and it was wild. Mayor Daley went so far as to call Blago “cuckoo.” I thought I was the only one in the world who heard what the Governor said: He threatened to rat out the entire corrupt cadre of the Daley Machine, up to and including President Obama.

One Chicago writer did get it, John Kass of the Chicago Tribune. Read his article carefully.

Let me reinterpret Blago’s message on Friday: “I didn’t do anything any different from what the rest of Illinois politicians do. It was all just business as usual. And that includes President Obama. If these bastards try to take me down, I’ll rat them all out.”

As Kass points out, it’s not just the Daley Machine that Blago is confronting. The Mafia is lurking in the background, too, because the Mob is always deeply involved in Illinois politics.

This is fascinating, and comic, stuff. Will Blago sing?

President Obama raised ¾ of a billion bucks, and refused to abide by public financing for his campaign. Where do you suppose that ¾ billion came from? Blago knows.

Will he sing? As Kass says, the Illinois political establishment is trying to get him out of the way as fast as possible. I’m not claiming that Blago isn’t guilty. He is undoubtedly guilty as hell. If he does sing, will he go after President Obama?

The plot thickens.  I see a bad moon on the rise. 

Woodstock Plans Monument to Stalinist

Woodstock continues to refuse to renounce its Stalinist past. The lunatic left is now agitating for some sort of memorial on the Village Green for Jane Van de Bogart.

This woman was one of the craziest, wildest Stalinists I’ve ever encountered. She hated the U.S. with a passion. Van de Bogart dreamed of transforming the U.S. into a pseudo Soviet Union. On a personal level, she was a mentally unstable, vicious woman. She also had a peculiar obsession with abortion.

I knew Van de Bogart personally, much to my chagrin, back in the days when I had a lot more tolerance for the lunatic Woodstock left. She was involved in every Hate America movement this town produced. She always rooted for the enemies of the U.S. in every military conflict. You only had to be in the same room with this madwoman to feel the passion of her demented rage at her own country.

Her personal manner was that of a rebellious teenager throwing an nonstop tantrum. The world was supposed to be ideal, and Van de Bogart was determined to throw an infantile fit until she got her way. She was unkempt, obese and ugly… the ideal woman by the standards of Woodstock’s idiot left. In most other communities in the world, she would have been shunned because of her repellant demeanor and habits.

Van de Bogart’s great mission in this life seemed to be to abort as many babies as possible. Now, I believe that abortion should be available as a last resort, and that getting one should be difficult. This commie seemed to revel in the blood of dead babies.

Having a lunatic like Van de Bogart in a community is about the same as having a mad uncle in the family. You keep this kind of sickness hidden if you can. You don’t publicize it.  She was the symbol of Woodstock’s mental illness.

One of the difficult problems of living in a lunatic “activist” community like Woodstock is that fighting against this madness is futile and self-defeating. It’s very easy to become an “anti-activist” obsessed with fighting back against the America hating Stalinist left. I’m not going to devote my life to playing that game. I think that most sane people in Woodstock view the idiot left in the same way. Best to stay uninvolved, because becoming involved will only drown you in their shit.

The Longyear Building… Woodstock Shops

Been a while since I added to my virtual walk through Woodstock’s business district.

The Longyear Building, built in 1933, occupies a prominent spot in town, the intersection of Tinker Street and Rock City Road. The corner shops have been around for a while. Alas, the two interior shops change hands with alarming frequency.

Woodstock Style is a clothing store aimed at the day trippers from New York City. You can buy a t-shirt that is emblazoned with a peace symbol or a shirt with the town name across the chest. I’ve been in the shop a few times. Many years ago, I bought one of those southwestern style cowboy belts there. I still wear it.

Next door is a fairly new shop, tinker toys too! This store serves one of those unique hippie obsessions… the proper toys for the indoctrination of hip children. Over the years, this shop has housed a variety of businesses that always seem to come back to this theme. Theories of radical child rearing have always been popular in our leftist village. Defeating the “consumer society” always underlies this obsession. Lest our little ones become “alienated,” they must have a very different kind of toy that engages and teaches… what? I confess that I no longer remember.

Tails, a dog grooming and pet supply shop, went belly up a few months ago. This is not an uncommon occurrence, particularly in this location. Here’s the real estate listing for the store. For a short time, Tails tried to sell puppies by placing them in the front window display. This caused one of those predictable Woodstock crusades… against the cruelty of putting puppies in the window. I don’t know whether the crusade played a role in the failure of the shop, but it sure couldn’t have helped. The shop caved in and stopped trying to sell puppies, but they went under anyway.

Clouds Gallery, on the corner, has been a fixture in town for as long as I’ve been here. Clouds sells high end arts and crafts. I recommend taking a tour of this shop, but if you want to buy something, you’d better have a hefty bank account. This is the type of shop you might see in Aspen or Sedona.

I can’t recall ever purchasing something at Clouds, although I’ve often taken the tour. It’s just too expensive for me.

I took this picture through the front window, which accounts for the fire alarm tape across this ceramic car. Clouds has a sense of humor and sophistication that is pretty rare in Woodstock. I suspect the clientele is composed primarily of wealthy second home owners and well heeled day trippers. The shop's website is first rate. Check it out.

A New Era In America

We stopped class today so that we could watch President Obama take the oath of office. The black kids were so clearly moved by this moment. Although (as I’ve said), I haven’t been an Obama supporter, I saw today just how important he is for black people.

The 60s have finally ended… completely. In fact, today is the end of a very long cycle in American history that began with Abraham Lincoln. Today, I was very proud to be an American.

I heard Jim Brown, the greatest running back to ever play football, speak of the importance of this event. Brown’s anger over the treatment of blacks, once one of his defining characteristics, was simply gone. He was still a little astonished to discover the basic decency of America, and the enduring truth of the American Dream.

Everything has changed. We Boomers are becoming obsolete… museum pieces really. The grudges, obsessions and causes of our day don’t matter any more. The era we are entering will be… well, who the hell knows? Predicting the future is for fools.

Even though I am not a partisan of Obama, I am glad that this moment has arrived for black people. Now, it is time for them to change. As Brown said today, there is no longer any reason for a black kid to grow up in despair or to become a ward of the state. I expect big changes in the black community.

I’d like to see changes in Woodstock, too. It’s time for the lunatic left to let go the hatred of middle class America, particularly white Americans, that they’ve carried for decades. These people probably will not be able to change. They will be left behind.

What a privilege it was to grow up and live in the America of the past 60 years. It’s easy to focus on what we do not receive in this life. To be a middle class American who lived through this great era… a gift from God.

As always, when momentous change occurs, I thought of Myrna today, and regretted that she did not live to see this day with me.  She was a devout patriot.  She loved America and was fiercely grateful for the opportunities she found here. God bless America for giving a poor Filipina from the shanty town of Olongopo a chance to earn the good life.

Good Luck, President Obama!

I don’t really care who’s president. Although I didn’t vote for Obama, and I don’t agree with much he has to say, I wish him well.

I suppose that blacks should and will take pride in Obama’s election. I’ve been pretty tired of the “firsts” obsession for a couple of decades. The assumption seems to be that all white hetero men have gotten theirs. This is crap. I’m the first member of my extended family to earn a four year college degree. I come from a background of poverty and ignorance that ain’t too pretty.

Whatever Obama does, I doubt that it will have much affect on me. I’m moving into a recession proof field… health services. People will continue to get old and sick and die. You can count on that. So, I’ll have a job making at least a decent income.

Woodstock is hoping that Obama is their savior, that he puts in place the entire agenda of the lunatic left. If he wants to win a second term, he’ll have to ignore the kind of loonies who live in Woodstock. It looks to me like he‘s throwing these folks a few bones, but he doesn‘t plan to go down in flames to make them happy. I certainly hope this is the case.

Overall, Bush did a decent job. We weren’t attacked again. Despite the incredible economic devastation of 9/11, the country was prosperous for most of his administration. I wasn’t fond of the great bailout give-away at the end. Obama will only accelerate this thievery. Obama raised 3/4 of a billion bucks to buy the presidency. He owes a lot of fat cats a big payback. Obama is in deep in the corruption of Chicago politics. And, he’s going to be an iron handed enforcer of the sex and race quota racket. I’m not going to be in on the payoffs. My skin isn’t the right color and I’ve got the wrong set of genitalia.

I can understand that everybody is ready for a change. Let the other guys try their hand at running things for a while. That’s the American way.  I think that everybody gets way too excited about who’s president. This provides for a lot of excitement and heated debate, but it really doesn’t amount to much.

I used to get all worked up over politics. Doesn’t matter so much any more.

Things That Might Have Been

Do you often wonder what might have happened if you had chosen another route in life? I do… quite often.

I graduated from the University of Illinois in 1971 with a fairly useless degree in liberal arts. I hadn’t really made serious plans for earning a living because… well… I was going to be rich and famous soon. How? That wasn’t quite clear.

Following graduation, I moved in temporarily with my first wife’s family so that I could look for a job in Chicago. This proved to be a nightmare. Every night at the dinner table, I was required to relate my job hunting adventures of the day. I retreated into the bedroom as quickly as possible to hide out from my father-in-law. He had taken my father aside the day I got married to tell Dad:

“I’m not going to support that bum. You’re going to have to chip in, too.”

I was always completely self-supporting, albeit on a minimal level. Struggling to find a job while my funds dwindled as the father-in-law looked on in smug contempt was sheer torture.

Surprisingly, employers didn’t find me an exciting prospective employee. I’d read all those novels! Played in the school orchestra and jazz band! Always on the Honor Roll! Didn’t that account for something? I was rejected for numerous jobs on account of my lack of direct experience or training. I considered this outrageously unfair. I was a genius! If they would just give me a chance…

After weeks of looking, I found a job in the want ads that paid a surprisingly high salary. The job title: “Diener.” I had no idea what that was, but I applied anyway out of desperation.

I was interviewed by a very nice middle aged lady at a hospital on the North Side. She read my resume, looked up at me and said:

“Do you think you can handle the job?”

“I’m ready to do anything. I really need a job,” I answered.

“Do you know what a diener does?” she asked me.

“Well, I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

“The diener takes the dead bodies to the morgue, washes them and prepares them for embalming or autopsy.”

I was dumbstruck. But, I wanted out of the in-laws’ house and I was running out of money.

“Yes, I can do that,” I answered confidently.

I waited a couple of days in dread for the phone call from the hospital. Washing corpses! My God, what had my life come to! My in-laws thought that it was a perfectly good job, and the pay was twice what I would make at another entry level job. I was worried that my wife wouldn’t want to sleep with me when I came home from a day of handling the dead.

Finally, I got the call, and much to my dismay the hospital offered me the gig. I reacted without even thinking.

“No, I’ve taken another job.”

“I didn’t think you really wanted it,” the woman replied.

A couple of weeks later, the University of Illinois called and offered me an administrative job in a computer research center. I took it immediately, fled my in-laws’ house and returned to live in Champaign-Urbana.

I often wonder how my life would have developed had I become a diener. For some reason, the idea of job advancement wasn’t too clear to me when I was 21 years old. I didn’t think that one job might lead to a better job, and that specific technical education might lead to something even better. I was ignorant.

I can see how that diener job might have led ultimately to a coroner’s job at a Chicago hospital or a municipal morgue. I’ll bet that job pays very well.

Instead, I decided several years later to hit the road and to live the life of adventure and romance in San Francisco and, later, in New York City. Often, I look back at those missed opportunities, like the job in the hospital morgue, and think that I might have been much better off if I’d taken that route. I’d be richer… no doubt about that. My life would have been more stable.  Maybe I’d have those six kids and a dozen grandkids visiting me in a big, luxurious house on the North Shore.

Woulda… Coulda... Shoulda...

Nursing School Gets Down and Dirty

I thought I’d ace LPN school without a problem. After all, I’ve got a couple of degrees from fairly prestigious schools. How difficult could learning nursing skills be?

Wrong! I struggled through my first test today, followed by a session in the laboratory. Although I’d studied diligently, the test was difficult. Class began at
8:30 a.m., and I left the lab at 4:30 p.m. A long day, much of it spent sitting in shitty chairs.

The pace of new material has become quite challenging. I’ve been reading for three hours most days. Since the material is technical, I often must read it twice. I have a paper due next week. Thankfully, Monday is a holiday, because I also have quizzes on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

Shitty chairs play hell on an old guy’s back. So, every day I must work hard at my yoga, trying to align my back and shoulders, trying to offset the damage caused by another day of sitting in those chairs.

Laboratory has also proven to be daunting. Our first assignment is to learn CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) skills. CNAs do the dirty work… humbling stuff. Also, these skills demand deft handling of patients. Here’s the list of the skills: Ambulation, Bed Pan, Catheter Care, Change of Position, Drainage Bag, Dressing, Feeding, Foot Care, Hair and Nail Care, Height and Weight, Denture Care, Mouth Care: Teeth, Occupied Bedmaking, Partial Bed Bath, Perineal Care, Pulse and Respiration, Range of Motion, Transfer (Bed to Wheel Chair), Waist Restraint, and Weighing.

I had fun with my fellow students in lab. We practiced on one another. We laughed with and at one another as we tried to correctly tie off restraints used to keep patients in wheel chairs. My classmates are, mostly, a couple of decades younger than me.

In a couple of months, I’ll be taking the state CNA exam. I’ll have to demonstrate my skills to an examiner, along with passing a written test. This year, I’ll be working part time and living off my savings.  I’m glad I’ve got the time to study and practice, because those skills are tough. Once I pass the exam, I can start working as a CNA. I’ll be starting at the bottom in my new profession, and that will be good for me. I hope that the CNA work leads to a full time job as an LPN, and then it will be on to RN school.

The Karaoke Queen’s Fresh Salsa Recipe

If you tell the Karaoke Queen that you like to eat something, you can count on her trying to figure out how to make it. So, a few months ago, I mentioned that I prefer fresh salsa to the canned or bottled varieties.

“What’s is got in it?” she asked me.

I didn’t really know, so I searched the web and found a few recipes that offered some help. We tried a couple of them out, but they weren’t exactly right. But, we kept at it.

After much experimentation, we’ve developed a very tasty, tangy fresh salsa. I’m listing the ingredients below. Everything must be finely chopped:

• 2 large tomatoes
  
• 1 green bell pepper
  
• 1 medium yellow onion
  
• 1/4 mango (optional)
  
• 4 cloves garlic
  
• 1/4 cup cilantro
  
• 1 jalapeno pepper
  
• Salt and pepper
  
• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
  
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
  
• 1 teaspoon vinegar

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate. Careful with the jalapeno. It’s hot! You might want to use more or less.

The batch pictured above is minus the mango… because we forgot to buy it. The mango adds a great contrasting flavor. I don’t really care for mango, but I really dig it in the salsa.

This salsa is also a great cooking ingredient. Add it to scrambled eggs, or use it as a condiment on top of any Mexican type chili dish.

Daily (Sort of) Lard Ass Report

Yesterday, I let up a bit on the exercise. I’d really pushed myself for two days, and my body was tired and sore.

I’ve updated my Lard Ass-o-Meter with a couple of new features. So, be sure to check it out.

Here’s yesterday’s exercise run-down:

• 50 sit-ups
• 25 push-ups
• 40 minutes Yoga
• 15 minutes jump rope

Jumping rope, by the way, is outrageously difficult. My heart started beating like a big bass drum!  Feels great when it’s over!  I got up this morning and started out my day with:

• 25 sit-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 45 minutes Yoga

The band’s coming over tonight for rehearsal, so I don’t know how much more I’ll do today. I’d hoped to take an hour walk to the lake, but school is starting 2 hours late today… on account of icy roads. Makes me feel like I’m in elementary school.

The Karaoke Queen isn’t much help in my war against my own lard ass. She left behind a couple dozen chocolate chip cookies for the band. Everybody in the band has a birthday within a few days, and she wants to cook a cake for them.

I have no idea about my weight. I use the scale in the gym. Won’t get there until Friday.