Existing In BFE

What are here for?  I' ve told you for the past couple of weeks I was taking some time off.  Aren't you paying attention?  OK, as long as you are here.   I'm taking a couple weeks off.   Existing In BFE will return on Monday, May 1st.  Yes, that's me above in some vacation casual wear watching the traffic go by.  After a nice workout on my pogo stick I'm going to have a Bloody Mary and a cigar.  Be sure to catch the three bonus posts made last Friday.  Do it today before the subscription rates increase.  Got that?  Now I don't want to see you sneaking around here unless you are catching up on past entries and that will take you awhile since we've been around for awhile.     

When does a boy become a man?  Well now, there's a question for the ages.  Some do it in fits and starts.  Some too late.  Some, of course, never do.  It's generally not a single event, but a process, like so many things are.  Its not a single day or a weekend, as much as we'd like to remember that special night in the back seat of the folks' Buick.  No, it's a progression for most of us, a kind of layering of clothes like our mothers did when they sent us out to play in the snow.  An armor and shield made of woolen socks and heavy boots, of coats so thick they made movement almost impossible.  Stocking caps that blinded and gloves that bound.   A layering of sights, thoughts and imaginings that progress us through a tunnel of exasperation - culminating in a juggernaut toward a light that brings us to an awareness called manhood.  Often we enter it unaware, only to recognize its visage when looking back.  At its heart, we are propelled by a combination of loneliness

(This is the third post for today's Flashback Friday) Summer's First Good Ride - Part 2 From left: Tim, Carrie, Mike, Rick, and Dave. Jen took this picture. Saddle up! Mike, Tim, Carrie and Rick's hand. "Aw shucks, Jen." Before we went to Tim's parents' house we stopped at Captain Ron's along the Mississippi River. We like to stop fairly often on rides to have a cigarettes /cigar/soda/beer and stretch our legs. Our asses need limbering, our thirsts need quenching and voices need repartee. After our lunch at the Driftwood (tomorrow's entry) we saddled up and left Peoria by heading up to Spring Bay and Mike back in the lead. We went up to Lacon , across to Sparland (and saw Capone's safe house) and then across country to Wataga (Tim: it's 1st gear then 2 nd and so on) and rested at the Nowhere Bar. My leading across this portion of Illinois was kind of fun because I knew where I was but others did

This was first posted in June of 2010.   Summer's First Good Ride - Part 1 Group ready to ride after breakfast in Galesburg . I'm not sure my impression of the place was the same as my companions, but suffice to say the food was OK, the price was good, but the ambiance was more akin to a Red Cross disaster relief cafeteria. This is Gillies tavern in Kickapoo and hasn't seen a scrubbing since Moses carved his initial in the bar. Our bar wench was a sight to behold and I would have taken a picture of her but I was simply too stunned. A lady whose middle age years seem to have come and gone with a dirty blouse that exposed her midriff. The place was filthy and since it was my idea to go there I had to put up with a lot of guff the rest of the day. Fellow bikers putting on a good front in Gillies. Tim attempting to mask the smells. Two Gilles patrons stunned into perpetual silence. Oh, and I didn't put a sepia tone on this picture, everything was

Today I will be posting two Flashbacks.  The first one is a final piece on my 2 years in graduate school in Denver.  The second is a 2 part post I wrote in June of 2010 for the blog after a ride to Peoria and other places.  I felt the Denver piece was an inappropriate farewell for the 2 weeks I'll be gone from the blog.  I scoured the site and found a more upbeat entry that I hope keeps you all in good fettle till I return.  God.  I must be getting old, I used the word fettle.  I just looked it up and I used it appropriately.  Whew.  Fettle is a word I may have used in Denver, but would probably not use on a day long bike ride with friends.   

Privateer Lynx Home Port - Newport Beach, California Winter Port - Fort Myers, FL, St. Petersburg, FL After our aborted sailing, I stepped downstairs for a history lesson from one of the crew members.  As she was talking about and displaying basic food on the original Lynx back in 1812,  such as hardtack and salted pork.  Any livestock on board was for the officers.  The salted pork was usually anything left over after the good parts were removed, again, for the officers.  Hardtack was a mix of flour and water, left to harden and was, in essence, a kind of biscuit.  The above picture is a cabinet in the hold area which is where the present day crew live.  It is a pretty example of carved wood that one might well expect on a sailing ship.   This is one of the bunks the crew use.  It is narrowed at one end and eyeballing it I'd say the widest head area is smaller than the widest part of a twin bed while the feet area is about half the width of a twi

More GIFS! OK, I know what you all are thinking.  Nice GIFS and all that but we've seen half of them already on Yahoo.  Plus, what a ripoff.  You hardly put any work at all on this post, and you aren't supposed to be taking vacation for another three days!  What a jerk.  What a lazy ass.  And that uncalled for comment yesterday about those kids and their teacher - obviously you crossed a line with your humor.  What a mope.  And now you half-ass a post while celebrating 2500 entries.  More like 2000 with all the effort you put into some of them.  Geez.  I want my money refunded.  What?  I get all this free?  And you have to buy space on Google to make this website?  Hmmm.  OK, you can take a week or so off but you really did cross the line with those boys and their older teachers.  Really.  Shame...Shame...Shame...Shame.

Projects Inside the Cabin : Different Washing Machine Paint Bedroom Change shower head Replace my 12 year old computer Projects Outside the Cabin : Ride the cycle Take Pictures Sit outside so I can listen to the quiet Visit BFE Community Center Whitey's Install Chrysler Highway Hi-Fi in Miss Frump Smell Green Stuff Growing ++++++++++ Hey Wombie.  If you go into the Cabin in the Woods and prepare for my arrival in about three weeks and see something like this in the furnace room, would you call Triple A Pest control and have them come over and take care of this.    ++++++++++ Sometime this week Existing In BFE will publish its 2,500th post. Just info for those keeping score. (Yeah, that skyline is London, but this was the only graphic I could find.) ++++++++++ OK, I've provided an extra couple of weeks of material for you but this is absolutely the last week before a short hiatus here at BFE .  I'm