Poor Gordon, Dead and Gone

Linda and I went to Phoenix Friday afternoon to see the concert mentioned in a previous post. (Anyone know how to make these posts go from first to last instead of last to first?) The concert was fun but not good. The picture of Gordon at the top of this post should show why. Mr. Lightfoot has been dead for quite some time but no one dares to tell him. The music and musicians were very good but Mr. Lightfoot's singing, while never good, has deteriorated considerably. Almost to the point of being un-listenable. I understand that I'm old now, and that the singers I liked when I was young have aged as well, but Grand Funk still sound like Grand Funk and 3 Dog Night still sound like 3 Dog Night. Those concerts were great. And The Moody Blues could still tour as a modern day rock band. They still have the energy and vigor of their youth. Gordon, on the other hand, sounds like Katherine Hepburn in her later days. Remember "On Golden Pond"? Horrible. We still had fun and enjoyed the music. It brought back separate memories; we didn't know each other when Gordon was popular.

Our trip to Phoenix was fun. We spent the night in a motel near the freeway. Near our houses in the valley actually. We drove by them. All looks well. One is coming off lease at the end of November but we have a renter already lined up. Lucky thing in these economic times.

Steamed Vegetables

Yesterday started off inauspiciously. I headed off to work not knowing what would lie in store but then again, I never really do. When I got out to Little Antelope I got word of a scene I needed to go take pictures of. Down around milepost 302 on northbound I17 a couple of truck drivers decided to stop and steam some vegetables. Seems that they were driving from California to Montana with a load of various types of vegetables. They decided to set their load on fire, call the fire department who would then come and steam their vegetables for them while the fire was put out. I suppose that a truck load of steamed vegetables might be just some restaurants would need, but most prefer to do their own steaming. Fresher that way. Somewhere south of MP299 the refrigeration unit on the truck caught fire. It burned the trailer and truck to the point that when the wrecker pulled the tractor away from the trailer several feet of the front stayed with the tractor. It took six hours, two tow trucks, three dump trucks and one fire truck to get the mess straightened out. Oh, and five ADOT workers. I've got pictures but they aren't available to me right now. I'll get them up later.

My darling wife's birthday was celebrated in the evening. The Flagstaff six plus Mary Lynne and Lela all went to Outback for some beef. Good friends good family and good food. I surprised Linda with some tickets to one of her favorite singer/songwriters; Gordon Lightfoot. Well at least I thought he was one of her favorites. She likes him, but not better than anyone else. Last year was supposed to be Andy Williams for Christmas. I bought the tickets and was all set to go but then it snowed. Dang I hate that stuff. Want to know the first day of significant snow this year? I'm sure it'll be October 24th, the day of the Lightfoot concert.

Just a quick update on the last two weeks of recuperation. I'm still a little sore but doing well. My skin is still pretty sensitive where the stitches were. When Barkley decides to sit on me he has to sit on my right side or bad stuff happens. Fortunately I've been given some assignments at work which haven't taxed me too much. I rode The Beast to work a couple of days this week. Felt good.

Frankenbike is at a doctor's office getting some much needed attention. Fork seals, carb tune, and most importantly, brake cylinder rebuilds. I'm old enough that stopping has become as important as going fast. And at my age going fast includes less actual speed than it used to. Truth be told, I'm at the stage where the flash is more important than the substance. But regardless, I'm anxious to ride the Honda. The next day or two should include an update on Linda's latest challenge: Stan wanting a sidecar for Frankenbike.