Chicks, man...

 

If you said, "A movie from 2000," you are more with it movie-wise than I am - never heard of it.  I was thinking Joel McHale on The Soup, 2004 - 2015.

But, I digress.  It was a music day: I got together with Mark and Tom at Mark's house.  Joan came along - she and Cindy went out for lunch and did some shopping.  The ladies got back about 10 minutes before our intended departure (we have to get home to get Murphy his supper).

Joan asked, "What are you guys going to play for us?"  (She is always a good audience when I'm playing.)

I asked, "What would you like to hear?"

She said, "Anything."

"We don't know 'Anything' but we could make a good attempt at Something (by the Beatles)."  I said to the guys, "Let's do this up right - I may try to take one of these chicks home with me."

Mark said, "Don't put that kind of pressure on yourself - take 'em both... and after a couple weeks you can decide which one to bring back."  (rimshot)

Made me laugh.

For the record, I brought home the Blonde... so, that song kinda worked out for me.

 

That isn't gonna work...

 

The catio?  Nah, it's great.  Murphy sat in it out on our patio while Joan and I soaked in the hot tub this morning - seems that he is just fine with being in it.

This afternoon, Joan went to the store while I geared up to get out on the scoot.  I had a plan in mind: go to see a place that customizes motorcycle seats; I visited with the guy on the phone, but need to get the scoot to him to see what he can do with it.

A problem?  Well, that big-ass seat on the Burgman 200 has a pressure point right at my tailbone... I was hoping someone with experience and ability could carve down the foam in that area to give me a better fit.  The place is about 50 miles away, in the east Valley.  I chose to take a surface road east to I-10, the freeways the rest of the way.  I continue to be impressed with the highway manners of this 200cc scoot.

The GPS took me almost right to the place - other side of a long building with small offices/shops.  I went in, met the owner, and he came out to look at the bike... "Whoa!  That is a HUGE seat!"

"Yep - she is a bit of a fat bottom girl."

He said, "Show me where you want me to give you some extra room."  I pointed to the place and he said, "Oh, that isn't gonna work - that isn't extra padding there, that is the seat pan."  (The solid form on the under side of the seat.)  "I could build up the sides and back, which would give you the same end result."

"Except it would move me even further forward, right?  That doesn't work for me - I was hoping to gain a bit more room further back on the seat," I said.

"One other option," he said, "I cut away that part of your seat pan and make an insert with fiberglass.  That way, you'd get extra room to move back and we could shape the foam any way you like.  That would be about $450 plus tax.  If you want, I could also build up the foam where you sit with the same high density foam that is used in the pilot's seats in airlines... for an additional $200."

"I'm going to have to think on that," I told him.  For a little bit more than that, I could order a Corbin seat, and I know how that will fit me (I have had several Corbins on other bikes).  Decisions.

On the bright side, I had a good ride today, even though most of it was in plenty of traffic on the freeways.

Murphy got more time in his patio while I was gone... which means Joan got more patio time.  Win-Win.

--------

And, a few more stills from yesterday's ride...

An angle from the side...

I had some issues downloading the video/stills yesterday; I was able to "git 'er done" when I got home from today's ride.

Ride and a catio...

 

If you said, "I know what a ride is, but what's a catio?" - I'm going to tell you.  But first: the ride.

What a spectacular day today - crispy blue sky, sunshine, and a high of 80º... at the end of January.  I know that isn't normal, but I'll take it!  It's Mother Nature - we have to take whatever she gives, but this was a nice gift from her.

Murphy got a nice morning walk in.  Then some music in the living room.  Then my Honey joined me for a soak in the hot tub.  After we cleaned up, I had her back while we went to Wally World.  Yep, the makings of a normal ol' day.

Lunch, then I went out for a ride.  I took the new scoot.  I grabbed a 360 camera, mounted it on the bike, put the Beatles Channel on my phone, and headed out.  A t-shirt under a mesh armored jacket was comfortably cool.  Traffic was light as I headed east.  A ride up South Mountain was equally unspoiled by slow-moving traffic.  South Mountain has become my fun go-to for twisty roads that are close by.

I shot some video, but that will have to be for another day.  Here are a few stills...

 

Yes, the sky was that blue.

When I got home, the previously mentioned catio had been delivered.  "What's a catio?"  I'm going to tell you... this is a catio...

Well, that is Joan assembling the catio.  "It looks like a cage," you say.  Yeah, but it isn't done, yet.  Think of it as an enclosure that a cat can be in outside, but they can't run off.  "So, a cage?"  We're not calling it that.  This is for Murphy's protection and enjoyment...

We'll put it outside tomorrow.  This evening, we're leaving it in the living room, with the doors off, so Murphy can go in and out at will.  We'll see how he reacts to being in it with the doors closed.  Hopefully, it won't be flashbacks of his time in the shelter.

We like to sit out on the patio.  Our other cats have sat out with us, wherever we are.  Murphy has enough kitten in him still that he isn't big on just sitting around outside... too many distractions.  He does great walking around on his leash.  This will give us a chance to hang out on the patio furniture and have him out there with us.

With the catio assembly done, I gave Murphy his supper, then went to Steph and Dan's to feed their kitties.  They have work to do at school tonight (this is the day/evening that parents get to pick their kids' school for the next school year)... 1,200 kids (and parents) to guide through the process.  All hands on deck.  So, Steph asked if I would feed them and give Alfie his daily meds... my pleasure.

After feeding them, I sent Steph a couple selfies I did with the kitties so she could see that everybody is doing fine (and I am doing my job)...

 That's Tango and Tasha above.  The little orange boy loves everybody.  You can tell by the expression on her face that Tasha is very excited about being photographed.  Below is Tango and Alfie...

Yep, we're all having fun!

I came back home and took Murphy for one last walk for the day.  He is checking out a couple of the "yard cats" Joan has acquired thanks to Vine...

Then back to Steph and Dan's to give Alfie his daily meds.  He's a mellow boy - good thing because if he decided to fight me on the meds, he would be a handful.  He and Tasha are Siberian Forest Cats, and they are big.  This is probably why Tango likes to come visit us - he is a bit bigger than Murphy.  Well, they are close in size, but Murph needs to fill out a bit more.  All in due time.

Wrapping up the day...

 

While making chili bacon cheeseburgers on the griddle, we were treated to another beautiful desert sunset...

 Our courtyard is in a good position to enjoy the sunsets this time of year, with the Estrella Mountains (to the west) providing some contrast.

Steph and Tango came over for another kitty get-together.  The boys (Murphy and Tango) are getting comfortable with each other, including these nose-to-nose moments...

They are cute together.  Murphy (and his Momma) let Tango take one of his toys home.

Oh, what a beautiful mornin'...

 

If you said, "From the Broadway musical "Oklahoma," by Rogers and Hammerstein, 1943," you get 15 points for knowing how to use Google.

It was 57º when we got up this morning.  Warmest it has been since last November.  Warm enough for me to make breakfast (pancakes, bacon, and sausage) on the griddle.  Warm enough for Joan to pop up the patio umbrella and for us to have breakfast outside under that umbrella (well into the 60s at that point).  Downright lovely.

One of the things Joan ordered from Vine is a keypad for our garage door opener.  Free is a good price.  It comes with a price: it isn't Genie (like the opener) so there is some fussing to get it functioning with the opener.  I was able to knock out that 15 minute job in only an hour and a half.  To be fair, though, about half that time was going through YouTube to find out whether our opener is an Intellicode I or an Intellicode II.  Genie does not put that info in the manual.  The programming codes are different for a I or a II.  On the bright side, it only took me about 7 times of repeating the procedure to get them to sync... yes, I did the same thing each time.  No, I don't know why it worked on the 7th time.  I may be old, but I am determined.  Some might say stubborn.

Murphy spent some time outside, including both Mom and Dad walks.  Then a soak in the hot tub for Murphy's Dad.  A shower and a motorcycle ride.

Oh, what a beautiful day!

What's that?  You want a photo of Murphy?  Sure - here he is laying on his binky...

 

Community Service...

 

"You got out of doing hard time, Jim?"  Funny.  Never convicted.

Today was "yard day" around the homestead.  Joan and Dan trimmed bushes and trees; Steph and I sprayed weed killer on the gravel.  Steph raked the gravel.  "You have to rake gravel?"  Yes, but it beats pushing a lawn mower around.  We've been in the house almost 3 months, and this is the first the yard needed any touch-up.  Well, the front yard - our yards behind the wall are immaculate; I am still impressed with the landscaping and how liveable it has made our yards and patios.

 This was a good division of labor.  All in, it took us about an hour this morning.

By afternoon, I was looking for a reason to go for a ride on the new scoot.  I offered to go to the east Valley to pick up a pair of boots that Joan had taken to her favorite shoe repair place - new grippier rubber heels.

I geared up and headed out.  If you could go direct, this place is about 9 miles away.  Direct isn't an option with South Mountain between us and everything to the southeast.  Riding the B200, I took Baseline east; it's a "surface road" with a 45 mph speed limit and stoplights every mile or so.  Back in the days of our PCX scoots, these surface roads are how we got around the Valley of the Sun - those scoots weren't good on the freeway.

I picked up her boots, put them in the large storage area under the seat (bigger than the top case on the CTX, but not quite as cavernous as the storage on Joan's Xmax.  I decided to take I-10 and the Loop 202 back - the opportunity to run 70+ mph almost all the way.

I am impressed with the highway manners of this baby Burgman; highway speeds without breaking a sweat and it doesn't get blown around (a concern with many smaller scooters).  According to the fuel read-out, I was averaging 80.2 mpg on the way over on the surface road and 78.5 mpg on the way back at highway speeds.  It is further to take the 202, but faster time-wise.

One premise for getting this scoot is its "errand running" capability.  Yeah, it's a premise.  Although, it was more fun for me taking the scoot than it would have been in the car.

--------

A short video clip (no frills again)...

An even shorter Shorts...

A short motorcycle video...

 

Motorcycle?  You didn't take the new scooter out?  Well, I did... after taking the CTX for a good run up South Mountain.

Differences?  Plenty.  That new Suzuki scoot is fun and easy.  The CTX is bigger, heavier, and faster.  I like both... but, they are very different from each other.

And some photos...

 

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me the News...

 

If you said, "Robert Palmer, 1979," you get 25 bonus points.

Murphy had an appointment today at the vet.  No problems, just a wellness visit so our vet here can check him out.

We had put his carrier out yesterday, so he could go in and out of it.  This morning, Joan told him, "Get in your carrier," and he did.  Yes, just timing... he was probably going to go in there anyway.  But this time, we zipped it up and told him we were going for a ride.  He wasn't particularly happy about that, but he made the ride just fine.

We got checked in at the vet and they showed us to an exam room.  We opened his carrier so he could look around...

 The vet tech came in, visited with us a bit, looked him over, then weighed him... 9.58 pounds, up almost half a pound since we first brought him home.  Of course, she said how handsome he is and how well-behaved... because that is all true.  He did not like getting a thermometer in his butt, but he tolerated all the poking and prodding.

The vet came in, listened to his heart and lungs, felt him all around, and declared him healthy.  She suggested we do a test on his ears for mites and infection.  A shot to get him taken care of for the next year's vaccinations.  The vet tech came back in and took a swab from each ear.  Murphy put up with that, too, without fuss.

While we waited for the results from the ear swab, Joan held the furry boy...

He was pretty patient during all of this.  The test showed that he has a minor ear infection, so the tech cleaned his ears very thoroughly (yes, he was still patient), gave us some instructions for the ear drops, and prepared our bill.  We felt it was a very thorough exam, and glad to know the boy is healthy.

Murphy was relieved to get back home...

The fur on that belly is still shorter than the rest of his fur, but it is filling in nicely.

He's a sweet boy.

Through the windshield...

 

I got out on the new scoot today.  It was brisk this morning, but turned out to be a lovely afternoon.

My plan was to take out the new scoot, then come back and get out on the CTX.  That didn't happen.  I got a call from the landscaper while I was riding -  he had a crew at our house and they were working on the pavers where they had settled.  He asked if I could get back there to see what they were finding.

"Yep - I can be back there in about 20 minutes."   That was happening fast.  I had just texted him last night about the paver situation.

When the crew had the pavers removed...

... it was clear what had happened: when the builder dug to put in the utilities, they filled that spot (under the utility boxes you can see on the exterior wall).  There had been no rain the entire time they were building the house.  With the current rain we had, that section of ground had settled, causing the pavers to settle along with it.

I called the builder's rep we deal with, and he was there about a minute later (good timing on my part).  I wanted him to see and document what was happening.  Between him, the landscaper, and me, we decided to fill, compact, fill, compact, and fill again; then reset the pavers.  Robert's crew did all that expeditiously...

That's s bit of water on the pavers where they washed it down when they were done.

Now, back to the ride.  I shot some video so that I'd be able to pull some stills from it.  With the camera chin mounted on my helmet, the views are all similar... it was my view while riding.  Heading up the mountain...

A reminder of the speed limit...

I don't know of you can make out the speedometer in these photos - I may have been a mile or two per hour over that... 'cause it's just so much fun to run the scoot through these curves... it is a delight to have this so reasonably close to our home.

Back to the ride...

That's a glimpse of the Valley in that image above.  With the camera on my helmet, I can't keep my head turned to much or too long, so... glimpse... but the view is good from my perspective (which is wider than the camera's view).

I was moving along at a pretty good clip, then came up on a Mustang convertible.  When the driver saw me in his rearview mirror, he picked up the pace.  No, he couldn't shake me...

I was on my way back down the mountain, still enjoying the views and the riding...

From above, I could see a white pickup truck off to the side of the road.  I thought it might be a Park Ranger...

Yep.  I had slowed down to the speed limit - he was looking close as I went by.  Riding scooters the last decade or so, I've noticed that you tend to be "overlooked" by LE, unlike if you were driving a crotch rocket or a Mustang convertible.  ;-)

Past the Ranger and back to the ride...

It was at this point that I got the phone call from Robert (the landscaper).  I went home, I did not pass Go, I did not collect $200.  But, I did get to be involved in what was happening with the pavers situation.

By the time they were done, it was getting to be late afternoon.  I decided to take the CTX out another time.

Still, a good day (any day you get a ride in is a good day).