We got some rain/snow/slush here this morning and it's turned into more of a rain at the present. And, of course, I had an interview in Oklahoma City, about thirty miles away, at nine this morning. I don't mind driving in the rain and snow, not crazy about ice though, and as usual I try to be safe and watch the road conditions, other drivers, and things of the sort that you're supposed to under ideal conditions, and even more so during bad weather. So, I'm driving up the Interstate going about ten miles under the speed limit of seventy five, and I had people passing me like I was going forty. It seems like people rely too much on the technology of their vehicles, like expecting it to stop when they want it to. And, with most cars with decent rubber, they will, even in wet conditions. But, if you hit a deep pool of water, or a rut that's worn more than the rest of the road. Well, you're in for a helluva ride. At one point of the drive, I said to my wife, "I think people forget what the effect of water on any given surface is." Her reply was that people don't have a lot of experience driving on wet roads around here, which is true. And, I mentioned that they have to take showers at least every few days, and I presume they easily forget that their hands slide down their arms much more easily when they're wet, than when dry. I may have come across as a bit of a dick, judging by her reaction, though it wasn't intentional. But, people seem to lose their damn minds when the weather turns bad here. I think they just think that their traction control, ABS, all-weather tires, and other shit they put on cars now-a-days to keep idiots from killing themselves and others will save them and work just as good on wet roads as it does on dry roads. Technology has helped us greatly, making things easier and safer, but it should not replace your damn common sense. I am starting to believe that technology is beginning to handicap us in ways that aren't completely apparent just yet. As humans, I believe that we are starting to rely on technology too much to do things for us that we used to have to think about and prepare for in the past.
After we got home, I was on the back porch smoking and watching it rain and I thought about what would happen if for some reason technology ceased to exist. Say, if all the coal and oil deposits dried up, and we only had what we had currently on had to run on. For example, you filled your car up yesterday afternoon, and there wasn't any fuel for it today. And, the power plants quit working overnight. No electricity, no gas, no cell phones, no phones at all, no computers or Internet. How would we, as humans, cope? How many of us would survive more than a few months? How many don't know how to build a fire and cook over it? I was watching my dogs through this, and realized that, if I turned them out and never gave them kibble again, they would grow and reproduce and they would continue on like it wasn't shit. I can only think of one animal that would be vastly impacted if technology was to disappear, and that's us humans. As a species, we'd be up shit creek without a paddle while it's flooding.
Which leads too...
Kinda...
I was searching the Internets looking for a website to learn some manly outdoorsy skills, basically stuff to be able to go out and live off the land without having shit but my clothes on. One that also had stuff on being manly domestic. And, I had a hard time finding one I liked, that had everything I was looking for. A man's site so to speak. The best ones I came across were set up and covered that didn't matter to me. They concentrated on one main demographic, either the "Upper Middle Class", the "Down Home Country Boy", or "College Guys Looking For Some Tang/Wanna Be Twenty Somethings That Are Really Too Damn Old To Be Out Clubbin" And, I personally don't fit into the GQ or Men's Health or Maxxim or Backpacker magazine demographics. The only magazine that is geared toward men (that isn't geared toward cars, trucks, or motorcycles) that I like to read is Field & Stream, and it doesn't have advice and tips on how to me manly or stuff like that, it's about how to catch a damn fish, and kill deer and other animals for food, and their website is pretty much the same.
So, I'm looking into starting my own website that will feature what I want, and have information that people like me want and need. Ya' know manly shit. Yet, stuff that women can relate too also. I don't want it to be all Tim Taylor, grunting, beer, camshafts, and souped up power tools. I want something that a man will read and think damn that is manly, but a woman can read and say these people understand. But, more geared towards men.
Because, DAMN IT! It's the mans damn job to take care of the women folk and kidrens when technology goes to shit.
For me photography is an art form. I had a semi-professional Cannon and would shoot just about everything I came across. If the subject was interesting, or framed right, or just anything I thought would look good. I was shooting. A lot of these pictures I took while riding my bike through the great state of Oklahoma. And, when I get them a bit more organized, I will be reliving some of these rides here. That may tide me over until I can afford another bike, and can continue my two wheeled adventures. I also have to find a mapping software I like to trace my routes and make images of them to add along with the pictures. The pictures I have taken are a mixture of destination spots here in Oklahoma, and others were just shit I saw riding down the road and though it would make a cool pic, and turned around and found a place to park and got out and took my picture and went on my way. I was showing some pictures I took during one particular ride to an acquaintance of mine. He traveled that road on a regular basis, not daily but about every other week, to see friends and family, and I took a couple of pictures that he had no idea where was along that road. The next time he went down to his folks place, he paid special attention both going down and coming home, and when we met up the next time, he told me that he had found both of the places, and was astonished that he had never really noticed them before. Both places were right off the highway not more that fifty or sixty yards. And, that's what I love about riding. You're not just a passive observer of the world as it goes by, you're an active part of it. You're out there with the smells and sounds and you can feel the wind against your arms and face. If it's warm, you're warm. If it's cold, you're not as warm, unless you have some damn good gear. If it's raining, you get wet. It's nothing like riding down the road in a car to get to the lake, or hotel. In a car you have the cabin to protect you from the elements, but it also blocks nature from invading your space during the trip. And, when you get where you're going, you're there and don't remember much of shit about the trip you just made to get to your destination. We drove to Las Vegas from Oklahoma City last Summer, and I drove the final leg, spent about nine hours behind the wheel, maybe more. And, I couldn't tell you shit about that nine hours except where we stopped to get gas and drinks, and where we got off of I-40 to head northerly to Vegas. Even the time I spent awake and not driving, I couldn't tell you the color of the rocks in the mountains, the sand of the desert, or the color of the trees, or even if there were any trees at any given point of the journey. I couldn't tell you where the plains ended and the desert started, or when the desert got a bit mountainous. But, from my experience I know if I had been on the back of a bike. One, I wouldn't have taken I-40 out there, and two I would have noticed a lot more shit, and it would have taken me more than twenty hours to get there, my best guesstimate would be about three days. I'm slow like that. On a bike you're a part of nature, not just a spectator of it. I'm just the kind of person that would rather be in nature than watch it. Like when I go camping, fishing, or anything outdoorsy. I want to be a part of it. Not just watch it happen. I'm an all in kind of person. I like to know how to make kindling and tinder with just a knife, and how to get a spark from a couple of rocks or sticks. I like knowing how to make a shelter with minimal to no shit I carried in on a pack. But, I digress. And, will close the soapbox now by saying this, "Don't just let the world pass by, jump on and ride that sucker till the wheels fall off.
I will say, that not all of these pictures are from my motorcycling adventures. Some I was at work or home when I took them.
