Finally, something goes right!

Well, I could hardly sleep last night I was so excited about the class and finally getting my permit on Monday. I was awake at 5:45 this morning, so I got up, went to breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts, read the local paper and was still an hour early for the class. But, I stuck it out and sat through 9, yes 9 hours of class and took the test. I got a perfect score! So tomorrow very early, I go to the DMV or BMV or whatever it is called and get my actual permit to ride/drive a motorcycle. Then pal o'mine, David and I will go practice in a parking lot. I am sooooo excited.

I will keep updating this blog- when I am not out riding my motorcycle!

Change is good...

So yesterday I called about my pants. Apparently, the company is no longer making them or selling them or whatever... So I had the order cancelled which frees up a hundred and twenty bucks on my MasterCard and decided that I could wait until the new month to buy pants. As absolutely EVERYONE on the VN750.com website was adamant about getting a new MF battery, I spent 70 bucks on that instead. Also, yesterday David went and picked up my new gloves from Street Cycles in Falmouth, and paid the balance. So I now have a pair of Joe Rocket Ballistic 5.0 gloves. They are really nice, weather proof, with some reflective piping. Tomorrow is the class, so today- if the weather is tolerable- I will be out washing the bike and getting the old battery acid out of there.

BTW - PT is going fine and it looks like I should be done in the next couple of weeks. Wooohoo!

Still waiting, but Ride Day is Coming!

Okay, so I still haven't gotten my permit yet. Again, Patience is the key. I have been online, though, reading everything about my bike that I can. The VN750.com site is great. I have learned so much about riding and maintaining my MC, that my confidence is growing. My jacket arrived and it is beautiful. The pants are still somewhere in the "fulfillment process." But with a good pair of Levi's and the rest of my gear, I feel okay about safety.

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with three women, all in their 40's or 50's. I told them I bought a motorcycle and they were all very positive and encouraging with their comments! None of them was worried or negative in any way. The only concern was that I wear protective gear. I find this really interesting as, historically, women have tended to be less likely to be supportive of motorcycle riding. Maybe with the price of gas so high, everyone is thinking about how to save money, and riding is a great way to do that.

I did do some re-con yesterday. On my way to a meeting I stopped at a Kawasaki dealer a little further from my house but much friendlier than the one nearer to me. I also ordered an owner's manual for my bike. I paid 20 bucks and though I have to wait for it, I didn't have to pay the shipping Kawasaki.com wanted. I see it this way: I save a couple of bucks, and start a relationship with a dealership who can service my bike. I also went to my local battery dealer. Everyone online was talking about getting a maintanence free battery. It will be a little over 70 bucks, but from what I can tell, well worth it.

Sunday, I take the safety course. Monday, I have PT for my knee (which, by the way is doing great!) then I will go to the DMV and get my permit. Then I will go home, get my gear on and go for a ride! Then Tuesday, I will take my first trip on the highway and put about a hundred and twenty miles on the bike. I can wait, but just barely!

Photo of Spock!

This is the new bike! God isn't she beautiful. Yes, Spock is a female. In Star Trek lore, (that I just invented) Spock- the one you remember- had a daughter and that is who this one is named after.

Notice the saddle bags? I hated them, they looked tacky and were completely useless for what I really need. So, I got rid of them. Well, I will get rid of them, hopefully on EBay.

I still am not riding on public roads, but I have gone around the circular driveway a few times. Low speed turns make for great practice! Yes, that is me in shorts and a short sleeve shirt and no helmet. That was the last time, since tomorrow my new gear should be delivered by FedEx.

Today, David and I went to the local Suzuki dealer so I could look for gloves and he could get a new oil filter for his BMW. I found the pair I wanted, but had to order the right size, ladies M. They only had L and XL. The Joe Rocket Ballistic 5.0. I will post photos later.

The BIKE!

This is the first picture I took of the bike. It is in front of our garage, but that isn't me. It is David who drove it home for me. I think he took the back roads just so he could ride it longer. He also got all the waves from the other cyclists that I should have gotten. But it is now home and safe. And I own it! Tomorrow, I register it, get plates and then call and complain about not getting to drive it. I am definitely going to sound out loud and clear that I am very unhappy about the class not happening.

I am exhausted. I did have a ciggarette today, but only one and I am going to keep trying.

more photos later.

Spock has entered the building!

Spock, my new Vulcan 750 is now sitting in my garage, having been ridden home by my pal David who said this is the best bike I could have gotten.

Now if I could just stop jonesing for a ciggarette.

Pictures and story to follow.

Already Dreaming of Next Summer

I was just thinking how nice it would be to take my new motorcycle (that I haven't bought yet) on that trip I really want to take next year. I wanted to do research on the novel I am writing and how great would it be to take a detour to San Francisco for gay pride! I would love to ride in the parade with the Dykes on Bikes. Though it is terrible on the engines to go so slow. Maybe I will just ride there and enjoy the parade from the sidewalks of Market Street. My pal Cass lives there and maybe I could stay with her.

I will write more about the novel later.

Just taking time to dream.

BUMMER!

I showed up at the driving school this morning at 750 and the doors were locked! No one around, no answer at the number posted for the company. Man, I am sooooo disappointed! I could have gotten really down, but I decided I would take the day to run some errands, buy a pair of gloves, get my sunglass lenses changed over to the prescription version so I can ride with sunglasses instead of my contacts (which are really bugging me lately), and clean out the garage to make room for my new pal- Spock. (It is a Vulcan right?) I am hoping now to go to the next course offered, next Saturday. And I will call on Friday to confirm it! Tomorrow is the big day, and I hope it doesn't rain. Since I won't have my permit for a week, I will spend the time cleaning the bike and getting familiar with the controls. Ah, patience is my friend... at least that is the mantra I am repeating over and over in my head.

gear for a mid-life crisis

Okay, when the woman in mid-life crisis gets anxious about waiting, the anxious goes shopping! I got this great jacket, the Vega Mesh Jacket, for 90 bucks from motorcycle-superstore.com. Along with the pants, the Firstgear Mesh-Tex Short Pant. (Yes, I am a little vertically challenged.)
I am trying to do it right this time, and I can't wait to get out there and save the big bucks on gas!

New Helmet!

I bought a helmet! It isn't the Nolan, but it fits really well and was mostly reasonably priced at just under 200 dollars. It is silver and is made by HJC - the CL MAX. It is the modular one and I am so pleased. I read online that one should wear it around the house for a few days, to get your neck strengthened. So I feel like an idiot but have been wearing it off and on since I got it. I can hardly wait for Sunday. Tomorrow should help. With the safety course being eight hours long, it will help make the time pass. I am arranging insurance, so it is covered on Sunday.

Motorcycle mama

Well, I found a cycle! I can't go and see it before Sunday as my pal David, who has a valid license and can drive it home, is out of town until late Saturday night. I can hardly wait. The bike is an '01 Vulcan 750 with only 1900 miles! and affordable- at least in my range. I was going to look at a '96 Virago with tons of bells and whistles for the same price, but I just can't pay the same for a '96 as for an '01 especially when the Virago has a ton more miles on it. Saturday, I take the motorcycle safety course, and Monday I will get my learner's permit. I have been reading everything I can on learning to drive (I certainly didn't know what I was doing in the late '80s) and looking at as many helmets websites and reviews as I can find. The best buy from MC Consumer News (the mc version of Consumer Reports) is the Nolan 100e, and I have to find somewhere in the area that sells them. The Nolan is pricey, but as it is protecting my most important part, it seems like a pretty important buy. The 100e is a modular helmet, which is the best of both worlds- you can put it on with your glasses on your face and it locks into place to be a full-face job. Well, as soon as the Vulcan is in my hot little hands I will post a photo.

By the way, I saw the doc yesterday and told him of my plan to get a bike and he said "absolutely! enjoy the summer." He is amazed at how well my knee is doing, especially because it was much more of a mess than he thought it was, and agrees with me that the scar tissue was holding my knee stable. He also said my ACL is compromised, but that we could wait on dealing with it for a while. I start PT on Friday, mostly for stability and strengthening. The doctor also said we could wait to do surgery on the other knee. At least until mid-September. That makes it possible for me to really enjoy riding the bike for a while before I go under the knife again. The left shoulder can wait until winter.

I am glad to wait on the next surgery. No matter how well my right shoulder and right knee are doing, they are still "in recovery." I still wake up with pain, especially in my shoulder. It is probably because I sleep on it, and no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to sleep on the other one, (though that one hurts when I sleep on it, too!). Taking a break from surgery also gives me time to really get the other joints strong so they can support the surgeries on the other side.

Chandler and Me

This is a pic of Chandler and me. We are playing Spyro the Dragon on my gameboy at O'Natural's in Falmouth. More about us later.

motorcycles, and my very own mid-life crisis

Yes, I am looking at motorcycles. Mostly Virago's and Vulcans. The Virago I fell in love with in the eighties when my friends MB and Cindy lived in Santa Fe and they had a Virago- God that was a beautiful bike. I had a little Suzuki GS250T, and it was a great starter bike, but I have always dreamed of having a bigger, more usable for long trips, more ... well... powerful bike. The Vulcan I saw for the first time in San Francisco in the early nineties, and I liked how low slung it was for my admittedly shorter legs. Either of these is okay with me, so come Monday I quit smoking and start riding. Wooohooo. I need insurance, a new helmet, a lightweight jacket and not very much gas. I will save enough to almost pay the payment!

News on the knee.... still great, though yesterday I had a scare with the other one! But as for this one, I think a couple of weeks of PT should make it just right. Especially with the new bike under me.

tired, frustrated and bored

Yes, I am tired and bored and more than a little frustrated with the wait for the follow up appointment with my doctor. I just finished two books, one of which was average, The Alienest, the other of which was a real disappointment, The Dante Club. I am a voracious reader and nothing is worse than getting a hundred pages into a book and realizing it is not all it was cracked up to be. ARRGH! Unlike books by Laurie R. King, these had promise but not much to back it all up. Laurie King on the other hand has promise and the pace and talent to move one through to the end. The difficulty with The Dante Club, is that I really wanted to like the characters, Longfellow, Holmes, Lowell are all familiar names to me. I wanted to see more of their poetic character flow into the characterizations.

On the other hand, The Dante Club, did inspire me to go back to The Divine Comedy and I am looking for the actual translation by Longfellow... not an easy thing to find, by the way. Caleb Carr's The Alienest did give me a chance to see a character I was not very familiar with in a totally different light. It was good enough to suggest others who enjoy a good mystery read it.

I would rather suggest that folks read Laurie King's Mary Russell series or her Kate Martinelli series. You can go to http://www.librarything.com/catalog/kaitbr to see more of the books I have in my library. I love books and the catalog is not complete yet.

July 14, 2006

Well, several people have now shown up and commented. How great is it to hear from old pals!

To all of them, hello. I am still recovering from my knee surgery. All is going well, though I would be happier if I could see the doc sooner and get started on physical therapy. Of course I also had shoulder surgery on March 1 of this year and when my knee is up and running, so to speak, I will have the other knee worked on-- cleaning out the bad cartilidge tears and trying to clean out underneath the knee cap. We'll also find out if the arthritis is as bad in the left knee as it is in the right. After that knee, then I will have the other shoulder cleaned up and repaired. All in all, it seems overwhelming to look at it coming at me, but I try to just keep going with the rehab on the joint just worked on, and not focus on what's coming up later.

This is my second surgery on my right knee. The March 1st operation on my right shoulder was the second Bankhart repair on that one, and I have already had 1 surgery on my left shoulder about 10 years ago. Both wrists have had work done as well. So the only joint that hasn't been invaded by surgery is the left knee. More on my physical trials and tribulations later.

July 13, 2006

Well, I got an email from a friend telling me she was 5 years sober today, so happy sober b-day 13!

I am still recovering nicely from surgery, though I thought I would have a bit more range of motion by now, but I am not complaining. I can walk up and down the stairs almost normally now and the pain is pretty much down to an occasional dull ache.

The weather here is not helping either. It is about 80+ degrees and terrible humidity. Oh, I long for the dry days in Colorado. I don't think it was even humid while it was raining. Man I miss that! I also miss the sun, over 300 sunny days a year and rarely a hazy day. Sure when I first moved there I had nosebleed after nosebleed, but I acclimated eventually and I really miss it. Even in the 80's the temperature felt gentle and nice. But I hear the neighborhood has really deteriorated, all those people from Texas and California and Oklahoma, moved right in and changed the whole feel of the place. I understand it has become quite conservative, maybe it was when I was there and I just didn't notice, but I can't imagine going back to a place where I wouldn't be welcome.

More on me and my past later.

July 12, 2006

Well, I had my first outing today. Went to breakfast at my favorite cafe and then had a meeting with the Director of Adult Mental Health Services for the State of Maine. Which gives me a great opportunity to talk about what I do when I am not laid up from surgery. I advocate to the state Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of consumers of Mental Health Services. In other words, I attend meetings with the department and others in order to try and make it clear that consumers of these services need the respect and voice consumers of other services receive. Right now I am knee deep in working with the State to implement a Managed Care system for Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse. I am not happy that these populations have been singled out for Managed Care, but am working to make sure it ends up being the best managed care system out there. We are really lucky in Maine to have people in the DHHS who are committed to a system of care that is appropriate and responsive to the needs of the people who use the services. Today was a meeting with one of those very accessible "higher ups".

My knee is doing very well though the bandage is causing great annoyance and itching behind my knee. I see the doctor next Wednesday and then start PT after that. It is a process, but hopefully I will end up with a more mobile knee, that is sturdy and solid.

more later...

July 11, 2006

Well, maybe I was just a bit too excited about how little pain I had from the knee surgery. It is hurting quite a lot today. Part of it is that I didn't keep moving all night! I have been keeping it iced today and am hoping that enough ice and I will be able to move around a bit more. The pain is annoying, but not terrible. Mostly it just hurts when I get up and try to put weight on it. Till later...

July 10, 2006

Just got back from having surgery on my knee. Wow. How cool was it that I stayed awake and the Doctor talked me through everything he was doing. I had an arthroscopy on a previously surgically repaired ACL and you wouldn't believe the amount of scar tissue he had to remove. He also cleaned out all the damaged cartilage, of which there was plenty and then, poof, 20 minutes later I was done, though it took about another hour for the spinal block to wear off. Now I am home, with ice on my right knee and resting my laptop on my other. I have already been walking on the leg (no crutches) and so far don't have any pain. The only real bummer is that diagnostically it looks like I will need a new knee in 10 years or so, because of the arthritis that is already significant. But between now and then we should be able to control the arthritic pain with injections.

July 9,2006

Well, this is fun! I go under the knife tomorrow and will have my right knee operated on to hopefully gain some mobility and lose some pain. At least I am hopeful that I might be able to walk down the stairs, or up them for that matter without constant aching and often shooting pain.

I should have extra time during recovery to blog away, and I will try to keep this up to date. Checking in every couple of days or so. I will talk about the work I do and what my life is like and all that.

cheers,
kait