I’m not quite sure when the decision was made, but at some point this morning Jess and I decided to jump into the car and head up to LA to visit the Getty Museum for the afternoon. For those who aren’t familiar with the Getty, make sure to visit it when you have the opportunity as it’s a gem tucked away in the hills of Los Angeles that is a must see for those traveling through the area.

There’s something very soothing and peaceful about the grounds of the museum, and we found ourselves spending far more time outside taking in the architecture and the gardens than the art housed within. The facility is situated quite high above the parking lot, from which you take a tram to main entrance. There are no admission costs beyond the $7 for parking, and if it wasn’t for the 1+ hour drive to get there, I think we’d be there far more regularly.

As for the seemingly random photo above – I believe there was some sort of children’s area where kids can make their own masks. There were a number of much younger kids running around with these 11×17 sheets of paper strapped to their faces, each looking more ridiculous than the last.

I’m going to assume everyone saw this coming… I mean, it was a foregone conclusion, right? I’ve wanted a motorcycle for years, I purchased a helmet 2 years ago (because I got a killer deal and I knew that I’d ride someday), I wrote the M1 test in Ontario and I just got my full license here in California. So shouldn’t come as a big surprise to anyone, but I’ve gone and purchased a motorcycle.

The bike I purchased is a used ‘98 Triumph Speed Triple. It has 17K miles on it, and as far as I can tell (and the mechanic I had inspect it before purchase), it’s in impeccable condition. The reason for the purchase is pretty simple – it was cheaper than getting a second car. I have a pretty short commute to work (about 15 min or so), where I travel along the coast from Dana Point into Laguna Beach. What better way to enjoy that drive than on a motorcycle, right? Beyond that, it gets just shy of 50 miles to the gallon, so the fuel economy is a plus as well.

The Speed Triple is considered a “naked” bike – that is, the seating position is very upright (you’re not hunched over the tank while riding) and it doesn’t have any fairings (those plastic pieces that wrap around the front of most sports bikes). I personally don’t like the look of most sports bikes, nor am I a fan of most cruisers either – but I love the look of a naked bike. With this bike, I particularly love the single sided swing-arm on the rear tire, the rear intakes, and the bug-eye headlights.

The pervious owner had made a few modifications to it, and had he not done them himself, I would have soon after I took possession. As you can see from the photos, the exhaust, rear tire hugger and chain cover have all been replaced with carbon fiber alternatives. The mirrors have been changed, a tank protector was added, and all of the badging (except the 2 tank logos) have been removed.

The rear cowl is removable and I can put a rear seat on if Jess ever wants to ride on the back. She’s made a few comments about wanting to go, but we need to get her a helmet first. I personally don’t think she’ll like it, but maybe I’ll be wrong.

There’s currently a huge wildfire burning not that far from where we live – Apparently caused by a combination of the Santa Ana winds and a “controlled burn” that, well, got out of control.

I had planned on grabbing my camera and heading out to take some actual photos of the blaze, but quickly realized that I really didn’t want to head towards something that everyone else was running from. So I hit up google for photos instead.

There’s no immediate danger of it actually reaching our house, but you can clearly see the smoke billowing in the sky during the day, and at night there is a faint orange glow in the distance. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, but what’s even crazier is that there is ash raining down like snow. Not much accumulation, but there is a chance of flurries in the late afternoon.

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I am now licensed to drive a motorcycle in the state of California. I finished my third day of training classes today, and am now officially capable of driving a two-wheeled vehicle.

The training course I took was extremely educational, and I highly recommend that all interested riders take one as well. It involved 1 day of in-class, and 2 days of on-bike training. The classwork wasn’t all that challenging… more commonsense than anything else, with a straightforward multiple-choice test at the end. Riding the actual bike though – that was a bit more challenging.

Admittedly, I was a bit intimidated by the overtly modern 1998 Suzuki Marauder 125. I’d never even sat on one before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect… Granted, it was clearly a piece of junk and with a displacement of 125cc, it sits about 1 notch above a scooter with a total of 12 horsepower. Regardless, I got on it and off I went. 2 days later I’ve passed the practical driving test with a perfect score (thankyouverumuch!). So, with my training days behind me and nothing but the open road ahead (oh, how clichéd is that?!), I’ve learned a few things about riding a motorcycle that I thought I’d share:

1. Motocycles are manual transmission vehicles (which I knew going in), what I didn’t know is that the gearbox goes 1, N, 2, 3, 4, 5. Neutral is a “half click” in between 1^st and 2^nd gear, and unless it was just my aging bike (or just me), getting into neutral is a pain in the ass.
2. At speed, you have to “countersteer” to actually steer the bike. I had heard about this beforehand and thought it would be awkward in practice… but it actually comes quite naturally.
3. Maneuvering obstacles at slow speeds is far more challenging than it appears. Who knew that it would be so difficult to do 2 u-turns in a small space?
4. At any given time, the amount of traction you have on the ground is comparable to the size of 2 quarters.
5. Even as an onlooker, it hurts to see someone else bail off their motorcycle and kiss the pavement. And, unsurprisingly, doing so is a mighty strong reminder that you don’t want to do the same (even though, statistically, you will fall at least once).
6. 125cc motorcycles have plenty of power for a beginner. I don’t know about getting on the highway with one, but as a learning bike, it goes fast enough.
7. The motorcycle helmet I have is a XXL, and it’s still too small for my head. I now have a lovely red friction burn on the top of my forehead. Sweet.

Mom, you can stop worrying now – I’m not sure when I’ll actually get a motorcyle… I might not get one at all. I definitely don’t have any plans of giving up my current daily driver, but I can say I’ve actually driven a motorcycle, and doing so was a hell of a lot of fun.

Oh, one last thing. Don’t I look ridiculously serious in that photo? Jess thinks I look like I’m “going to defcon 9”… I just think it’s funny.

Ok, so the title is uninspired… but whatever, it’s still early. Anyway, I hooked up Jess’ Sirius satellite radio on Sunday and I have to admit, I’m actually quite impressed.

While she seems to be ashamed to admit it, Jess has become a fan of Howard Stern. Being that he has moved over to Sirius, I thought it was an obvious Chrismukkah gift for her. She was a bit hung up on the $12.95 monthly fee, and so was I to some degree, but after using the service for almost a week now, I’m completely sold. Beyond the 2 Stern channels, there are 118 channels of music, sports, news and entertainment stations . And to my surprise, we also get CBC Radio One and CBC Radio 3 – Being that they’re obviously not available over terrestrial radio in California, that little reminder of home is worth the monthly fee alone.

It was somewhat of a pain to get installed and ready to go, and everything was admittedly thrown together at the last minute as a makeshift test to see if we were going to keep it or not. I’ve got a long wire running along the floor of the bedroom to the antenna just beyond the back door, a huge box suction-cupped to my windshield with a wire running to the antenna in the back seat, and am paying $12.95 a month. But hearing my wife laugh out loud every morning makes it all worthwhile.

We have ants! And I have no idea where they came from!

What exactly attracts ants? Where do they come from? Why do we have them??? At the moment, I have no idea and I haven’t exactly had a chance to hit up Google for the answer. What I do know is that we came home this evening to find a swarm of ants in our pantry. In our pantry AHHHH!! It looked as though the peanut butter was the culprit, but I can’t really be certain – I was in the car and on my want to get something to deal with this before Jess was finished screaming. Of course I didn’t just buy some ant traps. Oh no, I got 2 different Raid Colony Killer® ant traps, Raid “Kills On Contact®” Liquid Spray (let me tell you, it most certainly does), and the mother of all killers – The Raid Fumigator®. It’s basically a small metal smoke grenade that devastates all insect life within a 30 foot radius… Just pull the tab, toss and run.

While I didn’t need to drop the bomb, I think I emptied half the can of Liquid Spray in the kitchen, and the rest down in our bathroom. I’m not sure where they originated, but the ants were congregating around the PB and were walking in a nice line down the wall and emerging down in our bathroom. Regardless of their destination, they’re all dead. The area throughly sprayed, the carcasses removed, and traps placed to catch the survivors. If need be, I’ve got the Fumigators® ready for deployment. There will be no prisoners of war.

Now, before you get the wrong idea – Jess and I aren’t dirty people, and it’s quite upsetting that this has happened. Sure, we may leave some clothes on the floor (that may be me), or the dishes on the counter overnight (umm, me again), but the majority of the time our house is clean (that’s Jess). The sheets are changed every 2 weeks, the kitchen is cleaned regularly, and we have a cleaning staff that comes every 3 weeks. Jesus, Jess suffers from some sort of “must-clean-the-floor” ailment where she regularly freaks out about a seemingly clean floor and proceeds to vacuum or Swiffer the offending surface throughly. We’re clean, I swear! AHHHH!! I don’t think we’re dirty, but after seeing all those ants, I’ll be damned if I don’t feel itchy.

Stupid ants.

So I’m back in North America again, and I’m happy to be back. I can honestly say that Hong Kong isn’t my cup of tea. While it was definitely interesting to visit, I’m not itching to go back. Perhaps I didn’t have enough time to visit more of the country, or maybe I needed a better guide book – but all in all, I wasn’t all that impressed. That said, here are some interesting observations.

1. The buildings are so tall and densely packed together, from the ground it actually feels like you’re walking around in one large indoor space. There was also a cloudy haze hanging low in the sky that defused the sunlight, making it feel like everything was lit from above by a single neon light. Yes, it was an odd feeling.
2. There are a lot of people there. To put it into perspective, you need to imagine that it’s the day before Christmas and everyone in the state of California is out trying to finish their Christmas shopping. At the same mall. At the same time. Walking in the same direction. Now, picture yourself at that very mall, trying to walk against the flow of people … and you stand about a foot taller than everyone else. That’s what it was like for me to walk down the street in Hong Kong.
3. Everyone seems to have a cellphone there – I know this because everyone hangs them on a string around their neck.
4. I saw 5 overweight people. Yes, I was counting.
5. Smoking is still very common there. In cabs, restaurants, hotel, busses… pretty much everywhere. You can’t avoid it. There’s a veritable atmosphere of cigarette smoke that lofted above the crowds – and being that I am at least a foot taller than most, I got to enjoy it firsthand. I now understand why a great number of people wear surgical masks. Actually, the best was when I saw a guy pull down his mask so he could light up a smoke. Classic.
6. Shopping appears to be the official pastime in Hong Kong. There are stores everywhere, and they were all packed with people. They don’t seem to have huge “shopping malls” as we know them here, but rather smaller “mini malls” – each with only a handful of stores. They do, however, make up the difference by having a different mini mall every other block.
7. The food is far more adventurous. I’m not sure what “bird nest” is, but it looked like a soup of sort. For dinner the first night, I had fish… but before it was presented on a plate, it was presented in a bag for my approval – flipping around violently, clearly pissed off that it was about to be steamed up. It doesn’t get fresher than that.
8. Hong Kong isn’t an architectural marvel. Sure, there are some interesting buildings there, but for the most part, it’s definitely quantity over quality.

So that was my trip. Hong Kong and back in 4 days.