If you were with us last time you saw my victory with the Honda in getting it started. This poor motorcycle is suffering from the misplaced confidence of people who imagine themselves to be mechanics but should stay away from wrenches. I began to see it in replacing the starter motor and carburetor but had it brought home even closer in this last round of restoring the bike to health. Without getting too technical someone took off a part that makes the rear brakes work and put it back on wrong. I found this out when I took the brakes off the bike and discovered that the brakes were fine but were not being moved enough to stop the motorcycle. I reset the part in the proper position, installed new brakes and it now stops as well as it should.

After working on a few recent purchases I've come to a conclusion. This Country needs an organization called the Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Motorcycles (ASPCM). Maybe because they look simple or they're all open and easy to put a wrench on or maybe it's a Guy Thing. I'm always amazed at the number of disassembled motorcycles on Craigslist. The ads always read “I started to modify it and now have no time.” Yeah, right. How about “I started taking parts off thinking I could do it better than the multibillion dollar factory and now I've lost some and don't remember how to put it back together.” This Honda has been the Poster Child for misfit owners activities. When I get it back together I may go to Motorcycle Events with a poster proclaiming “STOP MOTORCYCLE ABUSE!”. I might even see if there's interest in starting an anti-abuse organization. Someone has to do it.

On the family side, we had a great Thanksgiving. Sara's brother in Webster, NY had us over for the day and we enjoyed it immensely. The Boys played video games with cousins, I socialized with other Adults and we ate a fine meal. Christmas will be more of the same with the Boy visiting their Father's family in Connecticut and me crashing friends and neighbors gatherings to expand my conversations beyond talking to the dogs. We are adjusting to life without the Boss here with only a few hesitations. Once we get through the Holidays we'll have to integrate even more with relatives so we can maintain some balance. It will be fairly easy to do since all the relatives are cool people. The future looks better.