2023.10.24 – Time to dust off the old blog

Going to be dusting off the old blog here. While stuff has been going on with me, I have pretty much been burnt out by social media. Given my recent chastity experiences, I am probably going to be posting over my thoughts over here since they don’t quite fit in a Skeet/Tweet.

Also – I’ve been becoming more active on Bluesky. Pretty sure y’all will figure out how to find me there.

2020.08.16 – Unstable Weather

Rio Grande Gorge looking north

Today’s weather is reminding me a lot about my road trip last year. Lightning strikes on both sides of the apartment, unstable air, and that uncertainty. It reminds me a lot about the scariest day I have ever since riding a motorcycle, the day I went between Santa Fe and Durango.

After stopping to take in the Rio Grande Gorge I headed west on US-64. The plan was to take 64 to Navajo City and head north from there. As you can see from the photo, storms were starting to form to the west. After a few checks of the Radar to make sure the forecast had them well out of my way, I took an educated risk to continue forward.

About 10 or so miles westward, the thunderstorms were on both sides of me and I pulled over to see if turning back was an option. It appears the strikes were only about 10 or so miles away, and that was too close to comfort. One check of Weather Underground showed that in that short 10 minutes since leaving the overlook, my only path to safety was cut off.

I knew there was a ranger station in Tres Piedras, and just kept going, while keeping an eye out on how the storms were moving. Meanwhile, there was constant lightning strikes off to the north and south of me. The last place you want to be when the skies are that active is on a motorcycle – needless to say my fur was standing up.

So much for cover or a ranger to talk to at the ranger station. That station was not open on Saturdays, which shocked me. I have learned that local advice is often the best when dealing with conditions like this. There was another group of bikers at the same ranger station trying to make a similar decision to mine. We chatted for a few minutes while we checked weather maps, forecasts, and road map. One thing was clear, the storms were just popping up from the unstable air. Waiting at the ranger station was going to do me, and the other group. no good. While I was programming the GPS with waypoints (so I know where I could go for cover), that group headed out.

I shortly left, and the whole time I was wondering if the ominous clouds would stay away from my path. And until I got to the other side, there was pretty much going to be no cell connection to provide radar updates. It was pretty much a commitment at this point. Luckily I avoided anything other than rain – and even then, it wasn’t even hard enough to break out the rain gear.

While the weather cooperated from the west side of Carson National Forest, it was clear more storms were going to hit that afternoon as I continued forward. The air was muggy and the sun kept heating things up. Instead of going north at Navajo City, I took the road more traveled, Highway 550. And the last 10-15 miles of that day was in yet another thunderstorm. This time with literally no good place to pull over for cover.

Needless to say, I don’t have many photos from that day from between the Rio Grade Gorge and getting a beer. And a few beers were on order after that ride.

The one thing that is really bugging me about today was seeing so many cyclists and motorcycles out this morning when there was active lightning strikes in SF. While in the city it likely to hit a building, I know most of these people are off to the parks or heading across the bridge. And furthermore, it wasn’t like this just popped up, this was going on since 3 AM today.

2020.06.18 – Writers Block

I haven’t posted much up on my blog in a long time. In a lot of ways, I just don’t feel like I have much to say right now. I keep on trying to change that, but every time I start writing I just hit a block. Between dealing with a decline and death of a family member, work, and life I have just fallen out of keeping my blog up to date.

On top of that These last few months have been particularly hard. Any sort of normal interaction is just out the window. And when we toss in the social unrest we are all going through, it is tough to really want to put up anything right now. I hope once things hit some sort of new normal that I can get myself back to this again.

2018.01.02 – A New Year of Facebook Woes

Happy New Year everyone. I know I have not been posting as much recently. Partly that has been due to finding a new outlet to let my mind reset. But as part of my goals for the year, I want to write more again. So my goal is to do two to three posts a week since that seems like a cadence that will work well. I will be posting about my road trip sometime over the next few days.

But I really want to talk about something that has been bugging me a lot. Lately a lot of my friends have been getting harassed on Facebook through post reviews. In the past, it was always hit and miss since there was a human involved. But now, it looks like Facebook’s algorithms are better than ever and they are relying on them more. Over the last few months, I have had nearly 10 friends put into Facebook Jail over images that would have passed through before.

In essence – Facebook is the new AOL. They are doing everything possible to keep you in their walls. When being placed in Facebook Jail is akin to losing your identity, we have a major problem. Over the last year, I have been trying to get more of my identity over to my blog here. And it is a challenge since even my mind has been reprogrammed to be addicted to likes and comments. And even former Facebook execs think so: Link to Gizmodo Article

There is a solution – Facebook should not be your only social media outlet. If you are going to post images that might hit this – I really recommend setting up your own site (like I have done), Tumblr (and even then I have reservations about Tumblr since they are now owned by Verizon), Twitter, or just something and then link to it. The cost to host your own site with a decent provider is maybe 10 bucks a month (and that includes my SSL cert).

I am going to be preaching this more over the year. As long as you let someone else own the means of distribution, you will always be at their whim. You will be subject to the psychological tricks they use to keep you roped in. I feel that you have no right to complain when the change the rules of the service you are using for free. When many of the people effected by it do have the means to pay for hosting somewhere, I don’t feel like I am out of line. Remember, you are the product to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, et. al. The Internet was founded by many people with their own simple sites sharing information, and we can get there again.

2017.07.18 – Reminders

Can’t start the day without a coffee selfie, right?

Over the last week, I took a break from running. Between my knee bugging me just a bit, and some allergy issues, it felt right. But this morning I was starting to feel lazy and had to force myself to do my daily 5k run. Good thing I did, I feel much much better now.

But this morning after I finished my run, Facebook showed me this picture since I posted it last year. At first glance I don’t look much different, but when I looked at the other selfies from that set, it is very apparent that I have transformed a lot. It is clear that I have dropped many inches all over my body. The process was just so gradual that it takes reminders like this to see.

Apparently I ran in the same outfit exactly one year ago.

Whenever I start getting lazy on my exercise, I need to remember about all of the transformation I have made and continue it. Looking at the pictures of my ass after I run really does help put why I do this in to perspective.

It is also amazing how the body and soul can transform in a short time. Part of my transformation has been diet, but the other has been getting a motorcycle. In so many ways, it has placed many aspects of my life in perspective. Honestly, it just feels right for me and who I am.

My gentle reminder to keep on running.

One of the things I need to figure out with my transformation is how to balance out all parts of my life. While I was able to get all of the photos from my road trip up, it is taking me longer than I thought it would to write down everything. Part of that has been I have been keeping my life way too busy. When I think about my normal day, I wake up, run, shower, get myself into leather, ride Matte to work, work, ride home, and then crash.

I feel like I have put my journaling on the back burner. I want to restart that. I have bought a smaller notebook that is easier to take with me and I think that is going to help. Now I just need to put the ink to the paper and start it back up again.

But now it is time for me to face the commute and get into the office.

2017.06.02 – Getting Back in to the Selfie Habbit

It’s been a while since I have done this

As I reflect back over the last three months, one of the reasons I cut back on the selfies was I started riding the motorcycle into the office. Since I was getting comfortable dealing with traffic, I shifted my schedule to be earlier. As a result, I didn’t even notice when that I stopped writing and cutting back on the selfies since I was trying to hit the road early. Now that I am comfortable in traffic I have been shifting my schedule more or less back to where it used to be. Now I am having time again to relax a bit and get back to this selfie addiction.

One of the goals I am giving myself for the month of June is I won’t commute to the office without taking at least a 5k run before throwing my legs over Matte. Caltrain has since redone the morning schedule and effectively added 10 minute to my morning train ride. I feel like I have less motivation to ride the bicycle into the office since riding Matte in is an hour quicker and just as fun. But I don’t get the same physical benefit, so I need to ensure that I continue to run every day that I commute to the office.

One of the advantages to doing a decent run is that I need time to cool down. This gives me time to take the selfies and write.

Yes, I tease Instagram with my ass every morning now.

As part of the selfie addiction, I have also been doing spandex clad ass shots before I go out for a run and I post them up on to Instagram. And I fully admit, I do this because I still have self doubt in myself. There is an endorphin rush when guys who I think are hot as hell like my photos on IG – it reminds myself that I really have made progress.

While there are still days I go, do I really look like that? But those thoughts are fading each month. And I have a good idea why – I have pushed myself in ways lately that literally require to have confidence in myself to survive.

There may be days I don’t think this is me, but they are becoming fewer and farther between.