Ok ok, so I know it's been a while since I posted. But, I've really been putting time and effort in to a few other projects. For starters, the podcast has been going pretty well and I've gotten to meet and interview super cool people that like coffee that I otherwise might not have met. In fact, my excitement has extended, or shall I say, drawn me to coffee roasting. So, being the DIY person that I am, (with the aid of many websites) I plan on building my own coffee roaster and start roasting at home (i.e. RV - it may be the first ever RV based roaster- wahoo). In fact, I already have a name for my first blend, but I'll keep that under wraps until the trandmark certification comes in. ;-) In any case, there's been all of the coffee stuff (which includes a fair amount of research of the coffee shops and then actually developing a schedule to visit them all), and then there's been projects with the RV. I don't remember what exactly I was working on when I posted the last blog, but recently I have installed an air-ride suspension system on the rear duellies, made the indoor picture mounts more permanant, put up christmas lights (I almost bured my place down), parmanently installed the microwave, and installed tile flooring (real porcelain tile!) in the entire place. So, it's been a big learning process. As for the bike, well, ther only major thing there has been installing permenant heated grips, which made the winter riding in upstate NY bearable (thanks for the helping hand dad). I'll probably leave the bike as is for a while now, although I am looking forward to getting the pipes on it. Ok, ok, enough about projects...you're probably wondering where I am now and where I'm typing and what I'm wearing...(if you're wondering what I'm wearing, then you either have an over-active imagination or are obsessed with circus fasion) So, I'm sitting here on my couch in the flying Dutchman on a chilly tues. evening in Lakeland, Fl. And yes, there are lakes in Lakeland as the name suggests; plenty of them.
So, since this is a my first blog of the new year, I'm going to try to succintly recap the past year and contemplate the new one. Ok, well let's see, the past year was my first calendar year on the road. In the past year....hmm, I had a motorcycle accident, learned how the insurance system works, bought a new motorcycle, I visited pretty much every state east of the mississippi river (maybe except minnesota and wisconsin....but do they really count? they're pretty much in canada anyways :-) just kidding megan J) Ok, and I had my wisdom teeth + tumor taken out of my head, I took my longest bike trip to date (1,900 miles), played in a family wedding, went through 3 more tires on the RV, FINALLY got the shower leak permanantly fixed, got to visit williamsburg 4 or 5 times, became a Florida resident (and voter, hanging chads anyone?), visited both of the other Ringling Bros. shows, visited daytona bike week, almost had a trumpet mute smashed by an elephant, performed for Dave Matthews, visited and reviewed around 200 coffee shops, had an 88 year old barber named Herbert cut my hair in cajun country (and he came to see the show too!), drove the RV around 25k miles, went on 2 dates, bought a new trumpet, finally invested in a Ipod, made friends in New Orleans, had REAL gumbo and etouffe, created 16 podcasts, rode the tail of the dragon, visited the highest point east of the mississippi, attended numermous Bulgarian parties where I learned to drink Rakea and learned the song Mesacina (I'll sing it for you sometime), visited the International Tarpon Festival, discovered some new favorite movies + directors, got to visit extended family in IA, OH, KY, and PA, backed the RV into a giant rock, learned my lesson about combining karioke and sake, worked with 8 different elepahnts, got to revisit my favorite people and places in Philly, bought my first real espresso machine and REAL grinder, I learned what a portafilter is (and learned how to use a tamper WITH a portafilter), ran out of gas on both the bike AND the RVx2 (but not at the same time), got a parking ticket in the middle of Iowa, played my first-ever round of golf, received a VIP tour of Savannah (thanks Colonel), played my first repeat town, had dinner with one of the original "Our Gang" (aka- the original Little Rascals), made countless new friends, got lost in Fayettevile, did a Philly cheesesteak tour with the circus band in a white limo, and finally invested in a wireless broadband card (hence this blog entry).
So, all in all, it's been a year of adventure, learning, and growing. The job? well, I still think it's cool to be earning money by playing my horn and traversing the country in my house like a turtle. Yes, it has its ups and downs like any form of employment, but God has been gracious to me and blessed me with a way to improve, grow, and experience so many new and unusual things. (who would have thought that you could get good cajun food at 3AM in the middle of southern Louisiana with on-duty police officers and an stuffed alligator watching everyone eat). What ever this next year holds, well, I plan to do my best to turn my face into the wind and embrace it head-on. amen
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
And so....a new year begins
Ok ok, so I know it's been a while since I posted. But, I've really been putting time and effort in to a few other projects. For starters, the podcast has been going pretty well and I've gotten to meet and interview super cool people that like coffee that I otherwise might not have met. In fact, my excitement has extended, or shall I say, drawn me to coffee roasting. So, being the DIY person that I am, (with the aid of many websites) I plan on building my own coffee roaster and start roasting at home (i.e. RV - it may be the first ever RV based roaster- wahoo). In fact, I already have a name for my first blend, but I'll keep that under wraps until the trandmark certification comes in. ;-) In any case, there's been all of the coffee stuff (which includes a fair amount of research of the coffee shops and then actually developing a schedule to visit them all), and then there's been projects with the RV. I don't remember what exactly I was working on when I posted the last blog, but recently I have installed an air-ride suspension system on the rear duellies, made the indoor picture mounts more permanant, put up christmas lights (I almost bured my place down), parmanently installed the microwave, and installed tile flooring (real porcelain tile!) in the entire place. So, it's been a big learning process. As for the bike, well, ther only major thing there has been installing permenant heated grips, which made the winter riding in upstate NY bearable (thanks for the helping hand dad). I'll probably leave the bike as is for a while now, although I am looking forward to getting the pipes on it. Ok, ok, enough about projects...you're probably wondering where I am now and where I'm typing and what I'm wearing...(if you're wondering what I'm wearing, then you either have an over-active imagination or are obsessed with circus fasion) So, I'm sitting here on my couch in the flying Dutchman on a chilly tues. evening in Lakeland, Fl. And yes, there are lakes in Lakeland as the name suggests; plenty of them.
So, since this is a my first blog of the new year, I'm going to try to succintly recap the past year and contemplate the new one. Ok, well let's see, the past year was my first calendar year on the road. In the past year....hmm, I had a motorcycle accident, learned how the insurance system works, bought a new motorcycle, I visited pretty much every state east of the mississippi river (maybe except minnesota and wisconsin....but do they really count? they're pretty much in canada anyways :-) just kidding megan J) Ok, and I had my wisdom teeth + tumor taken out of my head, I took my longest bike trip to date (1,900 miles), played in a family wedding, went through 3 more tires on the RV, FINALLY got the shower leak permanantly fixed, got to visit williamsburg 4 or 5 times, became a Florida resident (and voter, hanging chads anyone?), visited both of the other Ringling Bros. shows, visited daytona bike week, almost had a trumpet mute smashed by an elephant, performed for Dave Matthews, visited and reviewed around 200 coffee shops, had an 88 year old barber named Herbert cut my hair in cajun country (and he came to see the show too!), drove the RV around 25k miles, went on 2 dates, bought a new trumpet, finally invested in a Ipod, made friends in New Orleans, had REAL gumbo and etouffe, created 16 podcasts, rode the tail of the dragon, visited the highest point east of the mississippi, attended numermous Bulgarian parties where I learned to drink Rakea and learned the song Mesacina (I'll sing it for you sometime), visited the International Tarpon Festival, discovered some new favorite movies + directors, got to visit extended family in IA, OH, KY, and PA, backed the RV into a giant rock, learned my lesson about combining karioke and sake, worked with 8 different elepahnts, got to revisit my favorite people and places in Philly, bought my first real espresso machine and REAL grinder, I learned what a portafilter is (and learned how to use a tamper WITH a portafilter), ran out of gas on both the bike AND the RVx2 (but not at the same time), got a parking ticket in the middle of Iowa, played my first-ever round of golf, received a VIP tour of Savannah (thanks Colonel), played my first repeat town, had dinner with one of the original "Our Gang" (aka- the original Little Rascals), made countless new friends, got lost in Fayettevile, did a Philly cheesesteak tour with the circus band in a white limo, and finally invested in a wireless broadband card (hence this blog entry).
So, all in all, it's been a year of adventure, learning, and growing. The job? well, I still think it's cool to be earning money by playing my horn and traversing the country in my house like a turtle. Yes, it has its ups and downs like any form of employment, but God has been gracious to me and blessed me with a way to improve, grow, and experience so many new and unusual things. (who would have thought that you could get good cajun food at 3AM in the middle of southern Louisiana with on-duty police officers and an stuffed alligator watching everyone eat). What ever this next year holds, well, I plan to do my best to turn my face into the wind and embrace it head-on. amen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)