Weird, peculiar, puzzling stuff rattling around my brain

They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. By that truism, I should be like one, or both, of my parents in more ways than not.

Of course, it's only a truism, which means that, scientifically speaking, the truism will likely often prove false. Still, we don't call them falsisms do we? That's because they do ring kind of true.

My father was, to those who knew him well, a devout Catholic. My mother was also in her own way devout and went to some significant lengths in the exercise of her Catholic faith. I paid a steep price for their devotion, when the most important decisions in my life flew in the face of that faith. For the longest time, I have declared myself to be a non-religious person. In fact, while I will defend the right of any human to practice their faith, subject to the usual democratic limits, I personally take a dim view of all religion.

I visit a wizard, and go for a second group ride

When I interview you, one of the questions I ask is whether you are a solitary rider or don't mind riding in a group. It seems like a simple question, yet for a rider, it makes all the difference.

Group riding is a special kind of riding that is as different from commuting or fair weather solo pleasure riding as can be.

For one thing there is camaraderie, but that is not the key difference. The key difference is that riding in a group requires discipline and organization. Think Canadian Snowbirds (no, not Florida couch potatoes), or those group parachute jumps, or synchronized swimming, but not quite so demanding. Yet, for most more or less ordinary folks, group motorcycle riding is about as complex and demanding a road adventure skill as they are likely to encounter. It's a little challenging for humans. Oddly, insects, birds and fish do the most amazing stunts of coordinated flying and swimming and no one seems to get hurt. And yet we routinely disparage them (bird brain!). Silly humans.

A long, long ride home

Just because it's a holiday Monday, doesn't mean your day is going to be lazy and hazy.

We rose and shone pretty early because Lauren and Harris had people to meet. Out we went, the four of us, heading east to Montreal West. There's just a touch of odd travel dis-symmetry there, seeing as we left from the West Island, and Montreal West is indeed east of the West Island. I like that. It must confound the tourists, like too many other things about Montreal.

Nosy neighbour

I was riding home from Yorkdale Mall today. I had to go to the Apple Store to have my iPhone 5s replaced for the second time in 48 hours. Both phones basically turned themselves into bricks, all by themselves, with no help from me, that I know of. There must be something in the air.

As I headed north closer to home I saw a column of smoke rising. It looked angry and certainly out of place. It seemed to be coming from an area just north and west of Finch and Yonge.

Finding Thunderbird

The journey to Thunderbird's lair began for me when Susan dropped me off at the De la Savane Metro station. I still had some fares stored on the smart transit card in my wallet. I plunked my wallet down on the turnstile and waltzed right in.

Mission: Exfil Thunderbird

Extracting Thunderbird from its winter lair just north of Montreal's Parc Lafontaine is one thing I'll be doing tomorrow. Riding it 500 kilometers to Toronto on Monday will bring the mission to a close.

The Honda Shadow had to be stored because our two car garage in Montreal could manage a Civic, a BMW X3, and a Vespa GTS, but sadly there was no room at the inn for Thunderbird. Not so with our new home in Toronto. Each of our parking spaces can accomodate a car or SUV and a motorcycle, as long as the bike is parked parallel to the wall at the front of the space.

Birds of a feather

I am like my grandfather's pocket watch that tells exactly the right time never less (or more) than twice a day. Well, not quite that bad, but I am running about a week slow. These events happened seven days ago. What can I say? Settling in after a major move is a little more than a full-time job, and keeping up with the dizzying world of the blogosphere takes a back seat.

I could have sworn last Monday's meeting was called for seven. My iPhone and the MeetUp app said six.  So I aimed for six.

Settling in

There is actually some room to spare in the kitchen thanks to some creative use of space under the stairs.

We built one of those custom shelf things on casters that lives under the stairs and holds kitchen stuff that is rarely used but can't be disposed of, like cookie sheets, the pizza pan, the mammoth turkey-sized roasting pan, and some other stuff.

A magnus fumus usque ad udo litore

The title for this instalment of Life on Two Wheels could be our moto. In some ways it represents our immediate family: four kids in Toronto, two in Vancouver.

Cardboard hell, or "where's the kettle?"

Moving day was last Tuesday. It was a day I hope to forget.

"Where does this go?"

"Ah... den."

"Should all these boxes go in the locker? Oh, and where's the locker?"

"Right..."

The beauty of a three story town house, with the den, office, and spare bedroom on the third floor, is that it's a really nice retreat. Or will be, once the furniture is in the right places, the TV is up and running, the home network is firing on all cylinders... To be honest, as much progress as we have made, on M+6 the house is not nearly a home.

Too much cardboard. Too much wrapping paper. Too much, and I thought I'd never say this because normally it's endless fun, bubble wrap.

At least the internet as I knew it and the Apple wireless network is functional. The TV is only partially operational though. I think the Bell guy might have to make a return engagement.

The point of all of this is that there is hope. There is definitely hope.

I just thought I'd check in, in case you all thought I had plowed the Vespa into a culvert somewhere down the 401 in Ontari-ari-ari-oh.

Smoke Meat Pete

How important is Montreal smoked meat?

I explored this with you recently.

I forgive you without hesitation for thinking I was indulging in a just a tiny little bit of exageration. Mark Twain had a nice way of putting it. He called them stretchers, truth embellished with a gloss that invites a reasonable person's closer scrutiny.

Au revoir mes amis! Helllloooo!

Je vous quitte.

Il s'agit du dénouement d'une histoire déjà bien longue. La fin d'un projet né lorsque nos trois enfants approchaient la fin de leurs études.

(patience... please read on)

I am a wrencher!

My Dad (thanks Dad) encouraged me to tear our lawn mower apart over a fall and winter season. I must have been thirteen.

Sonja's Big Move

Sonja has become a multi-state, globe trotting person. Now she's on the move again.

All packed up and ready for the move to Toronto.

Roast prime rib

Easter Sunday is almost here. The family will be gathering. You need to think about making something exceptional as an antidote to all the sugary treats the Easter Bunny is about to bring.

I anticipate few meals as much as when the star of the occasion is a standing rib roast. I know that many people figure that a nice leg of lamb or a bone in ham is the tradition for Easter so my suggestion will strike you as doubly counterintuitive, but bear with me. There's plenty of time to shift gears.

Bell Canada

Telling your story, whether it's to friends at the pub, or a story on your blog, is horribly inefficient. An incident of mere seconds takes way longer than that to explain.

Project report: Installing Hot Grips™ heated grips on a Vespa GTS 300 i.e. Super

This project report shows how I replaced the heated grips on my Vespa GTS 300 i.e. Super. If you are installing heated grips for the first time, you should refer to my earlier project report concerning the initial installation of heated grips. That project report is more complete and shows all the steps involved in disassembling the Vespa's headset, removing the stock grips, making a wiring loom, installing the heat control, and installing the heated grips.

When the time came to install heated grips on the Vespa GTS 300 i.e. Super, I hit a challenge. There's always a challenge.

Light, space, pixels, paper, steel :art:

posted with permission - 1903 Magazine

Weak bladder

This article may not be what you were expecting.

The end is near

Susan and I have a lot invested in our Montreal home, and I don't mean money.

When we were last thinking of moving it was because Susan really wanted a larger family room. That, and she had her eye on this part of Beaconsfield south for years. I would have been quite content to stay in our old house.

I agreed to move, but on one condition.

The beginning begins

The odds are the 2016 riding season will kick off early, with an epic ride.

Our pre-move preparations got me into the garage on Sunday. We're not hoarders so there wasn't much to discard, other than my Honda Civic.

Delibee - a hidden treasure

Let me tell you the story of Delibee, a tiny little jewel of a restaurant tucked away in a sleepy suburb, just north of the train tracks, and just west of bustling Trudeau International Airport.

To understand how important this virtually unknown eatery is, you need some historical and cultural context to work with. So let's travel briefly away from Delibee and head east towards downtown and then a little further east to the street Montrealers who have a long history here call 'the Main'.

ToadMama's Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge (BBBC # 29)

So this is it.

The end of Kathy's February blogger challenge: 29 posts in 29 days.

I knew it was going to be a difficult challenge. I had a lot on my plate in February, but I managed to pull it off.

If you are inclined to see all 29 of my responses to Kathy's devilish prompts, you can click here for the February 1 to 6 responses, click here for responses 7 to 15, and click here to see 16 through 28. I have added links below each response to the other participating bloggers' takes on the same topic.

I decided to save a stand-alone post for the last response. I'm glad it's over, but kind of sad to pen the last response.

My responses revealed my character in significant ways, in the way that Chuck Close's hundreds and hundreds of tiny abstracts yield a portrait once you back off enough. If you've never experienced his work, I encourage you to seek it out, or click here to see some examples online (but it's not the same experience as seeing it in a museum).

Kathy's last prompt is...

ToadMama's Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge (BBBC # 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28)

Kathy (ToadMama) published what she is calling her Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge. It's simple, a challenge that's a little crazy, and potentially demanding, but that is turning ought to be a whole lot of fun and very revealing for the participating bloggers.

A Friday to forget

While I was struggling unsuccessfully to get to Tampa last Friday, Susan was having an equally bad, awful, difficult day.

She pulled into the garage at home and when she got out of the car, she heard a really loud hissing sound.

Fear

I saw this card in Portland Oregon a while back.

I bought it because it meant something to me.

2016 Blogger to Blogger Tour - But just not now

I got to Trudeau Airport at 10h45 for an 11h30 boarding and 12h12 departure.

That didn't happen.

2016 Blogger to Blogger Tour - Meeting legends

Those of you who are perspicacious will have noticed that I indulged in a little time travel. I not only caught up on Kathy's BBBC, I managed to go all the way out to February 22.

The reason is simple.

Operation Empty Nest - The Great 2016 Real Estate War

The end is in sight for the crossroads period of my life. March 30, 2016. That's when we pull up roots and begin a new life in Toronto.

All the conditions for the sale of our Montreal home, and the purchase of our Toronto home, have been satisfied. Now it's all about wrapping up the basement renovation and packing. The renovation began before the offer to purchase our Montreal home came in, so we're committed to completing it. Now it's just a question of getting the paint out of the cans and onto the walls without making a mess of the floors.

ToadMama's Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge (BBBC #7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 , 13, 14, and 15)

Kathy (ToadMama) published what she is calling her Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge. It's simple, a challenge that's a little crazy, and potentially demanding, but that is turning ought to be a whole lot of fun and very revealing for the participating bloggers.

ToadMama's Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge (now with BBBC # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6)

Kathy (ToadMama) published what she is calling her Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge. It's simple, a little crazy, and potentially demanding, but in the end, ought to be a lot of fun and very revealing.

Operation Empty Nest - Vignettes from behind the lines

If you've been reading the instalments of my life for the past six months or so, you've noticed the not so subtle military undertone colouring my ramblings.

We interrupt our regular programming...

... for a brief message of shameless self-promotion.