From: carlp@frigg.isc-br.com (Carl Paukstis,LL2-2B,5439,)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: An apology, and a change of .sig
Date: 10 Apr 92 20:30:22 GMT
Organization: ISC-Bunker Ramo, An Olivetti Company

In article <1272@adpplz.UUCP> martin@adpgate.UUCP (Martin Golding) writes:
>
>I have a long, sad tale to tell of Martin "No Harley Yet :{(" Golding,
>a silly old fool who spent all his savings on trinkets and gizmos and
>somehow lost his dream by the wayside.

Ach, Martin, my heart is heavy with your sorrow for the loss of your
dream.  And to think, you could have given up smoking, or procreating,
or sniffing glue, or something - and had enough money to get the
motorcycle you REALLY wanted.  The bike YOU STILL WANT (I can tell).

>                                          So I went back to Carol and said: 
>"Actually, what we need is two motorcycles" and she said "OK" (not for sale,
>not for trade, she's all mine.)

I'm so touched by this.  When I bought the XS11 last summer, Rhonda
(my first wife) said "Don't do it - save your money for a Harley".
She was right, but the Yamahog was cheap (and now for sale).  Carol
will have to meet Rhonda - are you coming to the GPNG?  Great women
like these are a joy forever to us of the weaker sex.
>
>So here I am, after only a year on the net, broke, my garage stuffed full
>of lesser breeds, with neither cash nor room for my dreambike, which seems
>more and more impossible every day. Log off now, don't let this happen
>to you!
>
>So, with an abject apology for all the noise, and a gloomy reconstruction
>of my .sig (some of it, at least, appears salvageable), I creep humbly
>into the outer silence with nothing but all of my newfound friends and
>an eclectic collection of broken motorcycles to keep me company.
>
>So why can't I stop smiling?

You're trapped now.  There's no hope.  I know _I_  couldn't possibly
pick one of your stable to sell off, even to make room for a _real_
motorcycle.  Well, maybe Julia - but I don't have the sentimental
attachment you obviously do.  Obviously the only solution was never to
have bought this lot of inferior breeds to begin with.

Personally, I bought a Harley.  I've wanted one since high school.
I learned to ride on YamaKawaSuzi enduro bikes in the sandpits and
orchards of western Michigan.  I hung out with the guys who had just
graduated, or were never gonna, and their scooter trash buddies.

Oh, sure, I made the obligatory protestations about loud, heavy, slow,
leaky, unreliable, etc. when I was among the rice-riders of my
acquaintance.  At various points in time, I even believed this
nonsense.  I bought my first bike, a KZ1000, new in 1977.  Sure it was
fast, reliable, cheap to operate, and all that.  I claimed to love it,
but it was never a hog.

Children and career moves came and went.  The Kaw was sold in 1982.  I
had convinced myself that motorcycles were a luxury.  Then, last
summer, I was seduced by a cheap Suzuki on a used-car lot.  I didn't
buy it, but it did serve to notify me that a good old bike could be
had cheap.  So I found this nice rocket XS11 owned by a poor guy going
through a divorce, and took advantage of his misfortune.  He got a
revolver I didn't need anymore and a tiny sum of money, and I was in
the wind again.  But Rhonda knew where this was going.

She was right.  Riding around a little, just a bit, brought me to the
realization that motorcycles are as necessary as air, water, barley,
hops, and yeast.  Besides, I got a raise in December that I hadn't
spent before I started receiving it.  And this fine company had just
gone from 2000 workers when I joined in 1984 to 600 now, surely they
wouldn't lay off any MORE aging software geeks.  And it's really not
necessary for the minivan to park inside the garage.  And loans
against the 401(k) plan are going for 6.5%; the payroll deductions
just make it look like I skipped the raise.  And since I had to
meet this necessity, I should do it with the dream I had all along.
Enter the 1992 FXRS-CON (nameless) of which I've written before.
Now, as soon as I sell the Yamahog, I'll have an all-American
(nameplate) stable.  Plymouth Voyager 1988, Ford Mustang 1970,
Burley-Thumpiston Low Rider Convertible, 1992.

Of course, now Rhonda's talking Sportster - just for her little jaunts,
you understand.  Nothing too serious.  Of course I know she's smarter
than me, and plans better.  But why does it have to slap me in the
face before I realize it, every time?  Anybody wanna trade me a basket
Sportster for the Yamahog?

Don't give up the middle name, though.  It contains a "yet", yes?
Lessee, at $2.00 per week, you could have a new sportster in only, uh,
2*52=about a hundred, ten years for a grand, 45 years for a
current-price Sporty, inflation - well, the extra $4 per year would
probably cover that, what with investment income....  Not so bad; you're 
planning on living to a ripe old age, neh?
--
Carl Paukstis, Software Generalist |   INSIST on your constitutional rights!
 ISC-Bunker Ramo / Spokane, WA     |   DoD #0432 "I'm the NRA" (and the NAR)
 Phone: +1 509 927-5439            | Be polite! I own a Harley and a Colt
 Mail: carlp@frigg.isc-br.com      |   My employer accepts no responsibility...
From: ron@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Ron Miller)
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 20:27:18 GMT
Subject: Re: Warning re. shoe-laces...
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA