IS THIS A NEW THING?

Last weekend at a kids basketball game, I noticed something hanging from the Refs jeans. Oh, did the jean thing catch your attention? So allow me to bring you up to speed. The gentlemen officiating the game was wearing the standard referee jersey and whistle, but was also wearing jeans and boots. Ya, running the court in boots and jeans! This guy was just to hot to wear shorts and sneakers and on top of it he had the afro gumby box cut going on.

Anyway, I noticed something hanging from the Refs jeans. It was dangling from a belt loop on the left front side. He'd run down the court towards me and just when he was close enough for me to try to figure out what it was...back down the court he'd go. I tried moving my seat a little closer, standing up, and walking over to the side line, but I still couldn't make it out. Then during a quarter break he walked and stood right in front of me. And to my astonishment it was the price tag...I wasn't aware that this was a fashion. I was at a lose. I fell back in my seat and let out a little chuckle. I thought maybe he needed to take them back, they clearly didn't fit. He had a belt on and yet they were still falling off his ass. As he clomped up and down the court he tugged and tugged to keep them up. So rightly he should be taking these back to the store to get a pair that fit properly.

I pondered over this for the rest of the day, still finding it pretty funny. It wasn't until the next day, while I was mountain biking, that it hit me. How is he doing his laundry? The tag was paper and was held on by a loop of cotton string. Now I'm assuming he does wash his clothes on occasion. so he must meticulously removes the tags and labels from his clothing, do the wash, and then re-attach them. How does he remember which tags go on which article of clothing? I envision some sort of elaborate cataloging system. Like a binder with pictures of each article, in document protectors, so he could slide in the tag with corresponding picture.

I surely don't understand were cultural fashion is going, or where it has been for that matter, but I do think it's safe to say that this is ridiculous. Maybe manufacturers need to start adding instructions on all their tags, like this security tag, and add another line "then discard" or "don't reattach".

Sissy Bar Duffel Bag

Well this weekend I was at the local Harley stealership and I was looking at the travel bags. The one I was most interested in was the round over the sissy bar style. But I wasn't crazy about paying the $120.00 bucks that they're asking. So I decided to make my own out of an old army duffel I had lying in the garage. I'd like to tell you that I had to ask my wife to use her sewing machine, but sadly it's my sewing machine. Anyway I started with a normal duffel and cut out the bottom round panel. Figuring that a full sized one would be much too big I cut it to about two thirds normal size. I then turned the whole thing inside out and sewed the bottom panel back in. Using the extra material that I cut out, I fashioned a panel that would become the sleeve that slips over the sissy bar. Before I attached the sleeve I had to remove the shoulder straps not figuring that I would need them on this size of bag. I stuffed the duffel with couch pillows to give it shape and positioned it on the bike to get the proper spot for the sleeve. I marked it and attached to to the bag with a few extra stitches at the corners for strength.

After re-fitting the duffel on the bike I notice that it wanted to swing around the sissy bar and off the seat. I want the bag to double as a back rest on long trips, so I need it to ride on the seat without moving to much. The solution was re-attaching one of the straps on the under side of the bag. It then slips under the rear seat and cinches down to secure it down. The strap is also still in a good position to act as a shoulder strap when carrying. That pretty much finished up the modifications of the bag, I just want to add a little more of a Harley flavor to the whole thing, so I added some paint and stenciling. With Daytona in just a couple of weeks this thing should prove to be useful, we'll see how it holds up.

And the award goes to.....

This Sunday morning, while mountain biking, I witnessed a feat of strength and endurance to be equaled by no other. I was probably about 10 miles into the trail, when I passed a fellow cranking his bike up the hill towards me. I kindly gave way to his uphill toil and thats when I noticed it. This guy was wearing blue jean...while mountain biking. Now you might say he was new to the experience and thus inexperienced in the proper gear, and this may hold true. However, he was riding a top self brand bike and clipless pedals, not something common with a newb. So this gentleman gets my "Iron Taint" award. Maybe I'm missing out on something by not wearing jeans while on the bike. I think I'm just going to go ahead and miss out on this experience.

Bike Week on the horizon.

Daytona Bike Week is just a few weeks away and I'm starting to get the itch. Got to make sure the bike is ready for the trip, oil change and detailed. Save a little spending money for the four dollar beers and event swag. Make sure I can get the time off work and that grandma Hollister has the room to put me up. The easy part is enjoying all the bikes and people once I get there. You can always count on one thing and thats the crowd, it never disappoints. It;s always diverse; crazy drunks and sane drunks, old bikes and new bikes, old boobs and young boobs, people with clothes and people without, those that are passed out in the alley in a pool of vomit and the rest that aren't.

The things that I'm not looking forward to. Endless traffic, long lines to pee, lots and lots of walking, four dollar beers; old tits, grid locked sidewalks, douches on sport bike honking their horns continuously (whats the deal?), half of the 8 hour ride being miserably cold.

However in the end getting to see all the amazing bikes and vendor displaying makes the trip worthwhile. I guess the younger girls exposing their chests is also cool and hearing some good live music is nice too. My favorite part of the whole gig is riding up and down the coast soaking up the sun with all the other like minded bikers.