The First Couple Of Days

I arrived in Durham on Saturday afternoon; I checked into the hotel and unpacked all of my stuff.

Then I decided to take a walk around the city for a bite to eat and perhaps a beverage.

What I did not know, was that Saturday parties start early.

I went to one of the pubs nearby, a one where I happen to like the grub. 

It was about 4:30 when I got there an it was obvious that some people had been there since it opened at 11:00 AM.

There was no way I was going to get a table and something to eat, the place was standing room only and that was elbow to elbow.

So off I went to another place nearby, plenty of room as it was more of a cafe than a pub.

They had Stella which ws pretty good, I ordered the French sandwich Croque Monsieur , it was more like that's a crock Monsieur, but at least the soup was good.

     

It never ceases to amaze me that I'm there with my pea coat, scarf and gloves. The locals are wearing tank tops, or backless, frontless, topless, bottomless dresses.

And most them seriously in the bag by 5:00 PM.

On one side of the street, the party girls.

On the side the City Pikemen or whatever.

I was freezing my butt of so I headed back to the hotel.

The bar in the hotel was jammed with geriatrics very politely waiting in line for a drink.

I stood behind this guy who would have waited in line for the Guillotine.

Eventually, I had to just butt in otherwise the bar would have been closed before I ever got a beer.

On Sunday lunchtime I met up with my cousin Elizabeth and the family for lunch at a pub called the Rosedene in Sunderland, man it's a long time since I was in that pub.

On Sunday evening I met up with Richard the UK biker from the Durham area and we went to a pub (do you see a theme here) I had not been in before, the Angel, it was kind of a funky place. Some strangely dressed kids, but also some who were way more formally dressed than I was.

Go figure.

Still being pretty jetlagged and off the pace, I was awake some of the night and looked out of the window.

Reminded me of that old song, 

"She stood on the bridge at midnight throwing snowballs at the moon..."

I'm off to Birmingham tomorrow to the National Motorcycle Museum.

More after that visit.

Headed For Jolly Old...

MN I set out on Friday afternoon for a quick visit to the UK.

When I got to the airport, I checked in and went thorough the usual security drama, once through that you are in the beautiful new terminal extension.

That is until you find that it is called the Villaraigosa Pavilion!

Next time I'm flying from John Wayne...

I bet you can't guess where these guys had been.

Eventually, we got on the big aluminum tube and headed for Amsterdam.

We left right on time and once we were at cruising altitude, we were given a couple of treats from Holland.

The Jetstream was quite a way south so the route was a little different than usual.

More miles, but very fast. The driver put the hammer down and we were zipping along.

This was the fastest speed that I noticed.

When I got to Newcastle, I was given the third degree about where I was going,why I was there, how long was I going to stay, etc.

If I had been from Timbuktu i would have been greeted with open arms, free money and a council house.

Headed Out

Getting Ready For The Trip

I'm setting off this morning, Friday, at about 10:30 for LAX.

The flight is scheduled for 1:45 PM, we'll see how well that does!

Amsterdam has been having delays due to poor visibility today, let's hope tomorrow is better.

I've got a pretty full schedule including a trip to the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.

I have my specialist Old Guy travel equipment packed and ready to go...

There will be updates as the trip progresses.

Just Kickin' Back

Being Retired Takes Planning

It really does take planning, not only financial planning but life planning.

       Jim Cairns ( who has been retired very successfully for a long time) told me that when you retire you need a routine just like when you worked. His message is so true.

If you just retire with no plan and nothing to do, you have a recipe for disaster.

My exercise is walking, I walk to the bank, I walk to the hardware store, I walk to the bar (that's my favorite walk) if possible, I walk for a reason.

If there is no reason, I just walk, you need to keep active, sitting in the chair is not an option.

Enough of Pontificating!

Anne and I took a trip out to Arizona to meet up with Barb & Leon.

What a wonderful time we had together.

Just when you think that you are safe, here comes this Bison crashing through the wall!

Remember people, there are no Buffalo as indigenous species in the USA!

All of those big four legged hairy things are Bison!!!

Oh! and by the way there are no Antelope either!!!

From my nephew Steven;
What's the difference between a Buffalo and a Bison?

You can't wash your hands in a Buffalo.

The old one are the best Steven.

So, moving on from the cowboy bar we headed for the Ball Park.

Barb and Leon had bought these wonderful seats ahead of our visit.

The view from our seats.

What fun it is to be out at the Ball Park on a weekday afternoon.

This is what being retired is all about.

Ball Park Dogs Are Best.

How sweet it is.

We had a great time, thank you Barb and Leon.

Except next time try to arrange a win for the Angels.

15-8 down is not good!

Come on Mike...

Moving on, here we are back home at the beach.

Yesterday was Monday but today was Saturday, so life is good.

I went to the plant yesterday making it Monday, and any day that I don't work is Saturday.

Get the picture?

A view of any Saturday in H.B.

Today, Saturday on a Thursday, we decided on a whim to take Missy to the beach.

So here we are.

The guys at the plant ask "Hey Norm what's it like being retired"

Well this is what it is like.

You are at the beach in front of good old number 27!

Remember what I said about walking?

Well this is the Rainbow's End

Here I am at The Hangout with my reward.

Play Ball

The Baseball Season Starts!

Next week we are headed to Arizona to visit our friends Barb and Leon in Surprise.
They have purchased tickets for an Angels spring training game when they play the Texas Rangers in Surprise.

The stadium is fabulous, 

This is how baseball is meant to be enjoyed!

Well apart from the ridiculous beer prices that is.

We will be sitting in this area, between Home and 1st just a little to the right of this view.

Look out for fly balls and stray bats!!!!


More from Arizona next week.

Hasta Luego!

Norm

The Lunch Special

Lunch Al Fresco

What a fantastic day, March 15th, and over 90 degrees in the back yard.

We had a group of five for lunch, for those of you who have met the suspects, I'll just put in the names, for those of you who have not, well that's just terribly unfortunate!

Paul Rogers, Brent Water, Rick Damrel and the inimitable Ms. Mary.

As Mary will readily tell you that's not her name, she is Asian and thinks that we are all too dumb to pronounce her real name. 

Come on! 

How hard can it be to say Sally?

On the menu:

Focaccia

Salad (Not for Moi)

Lasagna

Dessert was going to be Cannoli but Brent upstaged me on that and brought Italian Shave Ice.

He added Grenadine, wow was that good.

Later we tried a little Crem De Casis and that was, if anything even better.

Thank you Brent for that wonderful idea.

This the Focaccia ready to eat.

Lasagna sheets, I know they're green, how bizarre.

Every part of this Lasagna was made with my own fair hands right here in the kitchen of Hotel Ameri-Cain.

And here is the Lasagna.

All in all a great day with some wonderful people.

Classes are available in the Hotel Kitchen, places are limited so reserve soon.

Ciao Bella

Norm

Italian Chef (Kinda Sorta)

Different Stuff

For the Non-Wrench- Heads

On Tuesday I went to a cooking class at a place called Sur La Table in South Coast Plaza.

It was titled "Mastering Authentic Italian Lasagna"

It was a good class with just four students, one chef and one washer upper. (That's the best part you don't have to clean up)

Of course I'm sure that there are those among us who would say that I don't clean up any way.

But, hey when you are the Chef De Cusine you need some help.

This was without doubt the best lasagna I have ever tasted.

The fact that it had half a cow and quite a bit of pig in it may have helped.

Every part was made right there including the lasagna sheets.

I will be adding a step which is just my preference, I will grind the meat  myself.

So as they say in the North East "Faint Heart Never...." Enough of that.

I have invited some friends over on Sunday for an Italian lunch, Lasagna and Focaccia, with Cannoli for dessert.

Getting ready for a big day in the kitchen, well two days actually tomorrow and Sunday.

I've got all my gizmos and gadgets ready to go.

I'm not sure if you can see over on the table there is something with a pink bow.

The bow is sitting on the recipe holder my good buddy Leon made for me.

Here is the recipe holder in close up, it works just as well for paper recipes, cook books or iPads.

We have been having a mini heat wave this week. I took this picture today on my way back from South Coast Plaza (That place is addictive) Look at the temperature on the truck screen. This was real, the truck had been moving for about 30 minutes, this was just a small pocket, in about half a mile it dropped to 90.

For those of you on the other side of the pond, that is 38 degrees and 32 degrees.

Clear to Palos Verdes and to the local mountains.

Sorry about the crap composition on this picture, it's a bit tough with Missy tugging on your camera arm.

More soon, I'll tell you how the Italian lunch works out.

Ciao Bella

Norm

A Bit Lax

I've been a bit lax in the blog posts recently.

I just noticed that the last post was after the Vintage Bike meet in February and yesterday I went to the March meet.

Tempus Fugit.

Since the last post I've been working on the Velocette and the Triumph.

The Velocette headlight came back from powder coating looking like new. Probably better than new.

Whilst the headlight was off the bike I decided to take the seat and have the hole in the side fixed.

I took the seat to Long Beach to the motorcycle swap meet and handed it to Bar Enterprises for repair.

The luggage rack which came with the bike looked stock, but once the seat was removed it was obviously aftermarket.

So that came off and will not go back on.

You can see by the bracket that it is a bit Rube Goldberg.

The headlight is back on the bike, the wiring was a bit of a nightmare with different colors connected together in places. Thank goodness for digital cameras.

Now I'm just waiting for the seat.

At the swap meet I saw this helmet and thought "Oh Yes" that's the one for riding the old bikes.

More soon on the escapades with the Triumph and the March OC Vintage meet.

OC Vintage Bike Meet

Sunday February 8th

It was one of those wonderful SOCAL February days, about 75 degrees and clear skies.

Three of us rode over to the event together, Rick Damrel, Girvan Nichol and me.

Once there we met up with James Wilbourne, a colleague from Shultz, you remember the place I worked sometime in the distant past.

I rode the Velocette, it started and ran really well.

No, I didn't ride it like that, I wore my helmet etc.

There were about 140 bikes there, this one is a bit special, it is a twin engine Triumph.

Why? you might ask yourself, because you can is the answer.

Here's Girvan with our friend and colleague James Wilbourne checking out the equipment.

There was not one but two of these Zundaps at the event, both in absolutely fabulous condition.

Two six cylinder 1,000 cc Honda CBX models.

This Moto Guzzi was a very interesting bike, 

A 1958 Square Four in great shape, there's something to aim for!

On Monday, I decided to take of the headlamp bucket from the Velocette and have it powder coated.

It has a bit of cosmetic damage but should come back in a couple of days looking like new.

More on the headlight when I get it back.

Norm

Ciao Bella.

The Generator

Trials and Tribulations

Just for you Gearheads

I decided to start the emergency generator just to prove to myself that it worked.

It didn't.

There is a small solar panel leaning on that brick which keeps the battery charged. It did a great job, I was able to crank the generator, no problem. (It does not normally lean on the brick, that was just whilst I worked on the generator.)

But would it start? Nooooooo.

 I started on the trouble shooting of the system.
Removed the air filter and sprayed a little easy start in there. Cranked it over and it ran for a few seconds,

That tells me that the control and ignition are OK must be a fuel problem.

Removed the carb, no gas.

Ah Hah! I said to myself.

Stripped the float needle out and found it to be gummed up.

Duly cleaned the needle and the housing.

Once it was all re-assembled I tried it again.

Crank yes, start no!

Checked the carb bowl again, this time it had gas.

I took the carburetor apart again, this time I looked at the main jet.
With a little persuasion it was removed from the mounting tube.

Plugged solid.

Out came the Carb and Choke cleaner.

This was not enough to clear the blockage, so I gave it some help with the smallest drill in the set.

Even a #60 is too big to go though the jet, but it was OK to start the process.
So with time and patience, the jet was cleared.

The carb was re-assembled and installed on the generator.

These are the simple tools needed to get the generator back in action.

Note the bottle of Bud, that helps with the patience!

If you would like to see and hear the results, use the link below.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSSjJ9on0rQ




Ciao Bella

Norm
AKA
Him in the Shed.