2008 Riding Map

The Montana destination was a one-way trip on the bike. Sigh. Zoom out for the whole view.


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2007 Riding Map

Big stretch of country. Again, zoom out to see the whole deal.


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2006 Riding Map

Got more of the South West in 2006. Zoom out for the view:


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2005 Riding Map

Man, I went all over the country in 2005. Zoom out to see everything...

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2004 Riding Map

Near as I can recall, this was the last year before the divorce; I was trying to stay local and do family things to save what was left of the marriage.  (didn't work).  Two trips to Cassoday First Sunday breakfast, a weekend in Arkansas with +Nathan Morton and crew.  Interesting trip.



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Alec leading Cub Scouts

Alec leading Cub Scouts
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Alec led the flag ceremony tonight

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2003 Riding Map

2003: New bike; bought a 1997 Honda ST1100 for 2-up touring and more Ironbutt class riding. Did a ton of IBA class stuff on that, ran 50,000 miles in 5 years before I wadded it.  But in 2003, I was just learning this huge heavy thing.  More local loop riding in Kansas and NW Arkansas.  Trip to see a Post in a Field (6th Principle Meridian) with +Jeff Schneider.



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When is the flu not the flu?

CTV.ca | If you're vomiting, it's not flu, say experts: "When is the flu not the flu? When you are vomiting.

That's right. If you are nauseated, throwing up or chained to your bathroom with a bad case of the trots, you do not have the flu. (Young children are an exception to the rule, but more on that later.)

You may have food poisoning. You may have Norwalk virus or one of any number of other nasty gastrointestinal bugs. But you don't have the flu. And you don't even have 'a stomach flu' -- a nonsense phrase that makes infectious disease specialists see red."

2002 Riding Map

2002 - my first big year of riding. Forgot about 2002; that was when things got weird with my now ex-wife.  Bought a 1997 VFR in Wichita, KS and rode it to Cassoday a few times, on the Baseball Grand Tour, and did a SaddleSore 1K in May of 2002 to Chicago and back.  Good year for riding; almost 10,000 miles (not all shown on the map).



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2 Swine Flu Cases Confirmed in Kansas - NBC Action News KSHB-TV 41

2 Swine Flu Cases Confirmed in Kansas - NBC Action News KSHB-TV 41: "The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has confirmed two cases of swine flu in the state involving two adults residing in the same household in Dickinson County.

Neither of the patients was hospitalized. One is ill and being treated while the other one is recovering, according to the KDHE.

One of the patients had recently traveled to Mexico, flying in and out of Wichita. Both persons work in Saline County and became ill with the same unique (H1N1) strain of swine flu that has been identified in Mexico, California and Texas"

Everyone does everything right, and it actually made the news!

Public safety news in brief | Youngster brings nonfunctioning gun aboard school bus - Kansas City Star:

"An 8-year-old boy showed friends a gun on the school bus. They told the principal.

Not your typical show-and-tell, but it happened Friday morning.

The boy’s family apparently found the gun in his grandfather’s house after his grandfather died.

After the bus arrived at the Longan French Magnet School near 34th and Cherry streets, the principal took the gun, which was missing its firing pin, and called security. A police officer interviewed the boy and his mother after school.

Since the gun didn’t work and the boy had not threatened anyone, police returned the gun to the mother. School officials said they were handling the matter under code of conduct guidelines."

No lockdown - no SWAT teams called - no automatic weapons pointed at the kids, no command posts set up. The kid screwed up, check. The other kids told an adult, check. The adult took the right measures. And most surprising, it made the news - granted a mini-blurb back on page A-22...

Alec walking Sam

Alec walking Sam
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

I Like Lines. And Graphs.

Pretty lines. Wonder what it's all about?

Me, being an asshat

"DHS encourages recipients of this document to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to DHS and the FBI. The DHS National Operations Center (NOC) can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9685 or by e-mail at NOC.Fusion@dhs.gov. For information affecting the private sector and critical infrastructure, contact the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center (NICC), a sub-element of the NOC. The NICC can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9201 or by e-mail at NICC@dhs.gov. "

And, there's the document you're receiving. (PDF Link) (backup PDF link)

Just doing my part as a good Right Wing Extremist!

Found another document you are receiving. (PDF link), (backup PDF Link) Interesting to compare and contrast the two.

The More Things Change . . .

A few years ago (well, some 2,900 years ago), a new leader was risen up to the people.  He was young and powerful and glorious, and he was tasked to find his way as a leader. The people, fearing that he would continue to tax them as heavily as had his father, promised their loyalty in return for a lighter burden.

 "And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.

11And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." (KJV, 1-Kings-12)

Hmm.  King Rehoboam didn't have a great ending. Wonder how our story will come out?   Who will be our Rehoboam? 

(Side note - this bible study stuff is as addictive as constitutional law.  I have no life.)

US Gov't targeting conservatives

First Misouri, then Virginia, now the Federal Government. It's a bad time to think limited government and low taxes are a good thing. Now we can see all the powers set up by Bush & Co turned toward, well, the people that supported Bush & Co. Nice. Report: US is ripe for recruiting by extremists - Kansas City Star: "Homeland Security officials are warning that right-wing extremists could use the bad state of the U.S. economy and the election of the country's first black president to recruit members to their cause."

You needn't be driving to be guilty of DWI

You needn't be driving to be guilty of DWI: "[MN} State law says that any person who drives, operates or is in 'physical control' of a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol concentration of more than 0.08 percent is guilty of a crime. Testing of Fleck showed an alcohol concentration of 0.18 percent, the court said.

The court cited a 1992 ruling saying that 'physical control' includes situations where a drunk person is found in a parked vehicle that might be started and driven."

Cubscouts at the VFW

Cubscouts at the VFW
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

The VFW post volunteered to show the boys about the American Flag

Investigative journalism under threat from new regulations

The Guardian, a UK Newspaper, has an interesting article about the new regulations in Britain that require telecom companies to keep a permanent log of every call, text email sent or website visited on your mobile phone or wired internet connection.

Investigative journalism under threat from new regulations :

"The concern is that if someone gets in touch with a journalist, who then writes a story based on that information, the new regulations mean that the police - or intelligence services or local council - can work back from the database of all the contacts made to the journalist and figure out who the whistleblower is. It blows a huge hole in the journalist's legal defence under section 10 of the Contempt of Court Act of 1981 that sources can stay secret unless 'the court is satisfied disclosure is necessary in the interests of justice or national security or for the prevention of disorder or crime'. Join the communications dots, and a suspect is fingered.

How do you counter that risk? 'Step down a couple of technological rungs,' says David Leigh, the Guardian's investigations editor. 'Just send a letter - you know, snail mail.' He adds: 'When I've dealt with secret sources they take very great care not to communicate on any electronic medium.'

The next step, says Campbell, is to do what drug dealers and terrorists do: use pay-as-you-go phones and unregistered sim cards, bought with cash. Such closed rings are almost unbreakable - once you've met to swap numbers.

But must journalists and sources really use the same tactics as terrorists and drug dealers?"

Click the link above to read more from The Guardian...

Family Archive Podcast

After ignoring chores for the past couple of hours, I've sorted out how to run a Podcast from Blogger. We'll be publishing weekly updates from the tape archive. Today's episode:

Family Archive Podcast: 1959: Robert K. Dean speaking about his son graduating from Kindergarten

You can subscribe to this RSS feed in iTunes for the full experience - including album artwork, image clips and more.


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Tech Note: I used the An-Archos Javascript widget to automatically embed the m4a file in this blog post. Made my life a lot easier it did.

Morse Code Translator

Morse Code Translator: "Morse Code Translator"

This is what a bad riding day looks like

Also known as 'When NOT to go to Arkansas'

A Good Day for a Ride

A Good Day for a Ride
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Sunny, cool, nice day for a lap around Truman Lake. Nothing unusual or interesting to report - just good riding. I did find the intersection of C, U and ZZ roads - CUZZ! Down deep in the hills of Central MO.

Learning The Wrong Lessons

Learning The Wrong Lessons from Sandra Cantu’s Death-- FreeRangeKids:

"The chances of being abducted and killed by a stranger stand at 1,500,000 to one, according to the Crimes Against Children Research Center. This is a number that does not go up or down a lot year to year. To keep your children inside or guarded at all times because of chances like that would make sense only if you also vowed never to take your children in a car, considering the odds of them dying in an accident are 40 times greater.
And yet, even though five child passengers are killed each day, you never see parents vowing, “I used to let my kids come with me in the car. But after this, there will be no more driving. This is a long-term change.”"

It has frozen over!

Satan rejoins Penguins for Hockey playoffs - Kansas City Star

Sorry - just caught me funny. :-)

Change?

In Warrantless Wiretapping Case, Obama DOJ's New Arguments Are Worse Than Bush's | Electronic Frontier Foundation:

"the gulf between Candidate Obama and President Obama is striking. As a candidate, Obama ran promising a new era of government transparency and accountability, an end to the Bush DOJ's radical theories of executive power, and reform of the PATRIOT Act. But, this week, Obama's own Department Of Justice has argued that, under the PATRIOT Act, the government shall be entirely unaccountable for surveilling Americans in violation of its own laws.

This isn't change we can believe in. This is change for the worse."

For what it's worth, this is from the left-wing group Electronic Freedom Frontier - not some NeoCon right wing team.

US Economic Crisis - Perspective from the IMF

The Atlantic Online | May 2009 | The Quiet Coup | Simon Johnson:

"In its depth and suddenness, the U.S. economic and financial crisis is shockingly reminiscent of moments we have recently seen in emerging markets (and only in emerging markets): South Korea (1997), Malaysia (1998), Russia and Argentina (time and again)."

How to change 1990 Ducati ST2 Fuel Filter

This PDF file shows how to change 1990 Ducati ST2 Fuel Filter -- also known as 'call the dealer'

Sheesh. They don't make things easy do they? The more I learn about my Ducati, the more I miss my Honda ST1100. You could nearly change that fuel filter while riding.