Mechanic for a Day

Ive made it back to Oregon...

And just about a year ago, I saw a little old Ford Bronco 4WD here that I really liked. And I came to an arrangement with the owner to "hold onto it" till I came back... Which he did :)

So, now that Im back from my inter-continental wanderings... and the little 4WD is still there :)
So, today I spent "getting a closer look" at it and seeing if I could get it going and how much work it would be to get it into "road-worthy" condition to drive it back to Canada...

It wasnt great but it wasnt bad either...




I ended up spending the whole day working on it.
The first half of the day was spent just getting it going... I had to get a battery for it cos it didnt have one !
Then after I got it cranking over (needed a jump from another car too because it was so stiff from having no use) it wouldnt fire up... Turned out it wasnt getting any fuel.
It turned out that it had a small hole in the fuel line that had drained the fuel tank... And it took me a while to figure it out and find it... And then fix it and get enough fuel into it...Including the mandatory mouth-full of fuel as I tried to siphon fuel into a bottle to fill the fuel bowls in the carby! :))
But I got it going eventually.
And then I got air into the tires and washed off the mud and cleaned out the spider webs and wasp nests etc...
Then I thought I was about done... But just as I was about to move it back to where it had been parked for the year, it decided to almost burn its self to the ground!
It turned out that the alternator had decided to short its self out (I dont know why it chose this moment to short out, but things like that just happen!) and it was causing wires to melt!!
Again it took me a while to figure out what was going on and disconnect the alternator... And in doing so I managed to break the high pressure oil line (old brittle plastic) that ran inside the cab for the oil gauge... And I got sprayed with quite a bit of hot oil in the process :))
... And by that time, the day was over, so I left it at that :)

Actually, just a couple of doors down the road there was a "auto-restoration" business, and there was a really nice little Bronco (same type of little 4WD) parked out the front of it. So, during the day, (lunch break) I walked over and took a couple of pictures and spoke with the business owner... They've worked on quite a few of these and they do a really good job.







We talked for a bit, and Im thinking that Im inclined to have them do the rust repairs and repaint the body. Its stuff that I cant do myself and Ill have to have someone do it either here in Oregon or back in Vancouver...
So, I asked about roughly what that would cost and I agree its a lot of labour to remove the body and all the glass, and all the wiring and lights etc... But His numbers are about double what I would have hoped for!

Hmmm, Ill have to think about that for a bit!!

So anyway, I got gas in my mouth and sprayed with hot oil, and covered in mud and grease and dust...
I think that qualifies as being a mechanic for a day :))

All the Little Children

Another follow-on, with another of my "rants" :))

For many years I have struggled constantly with "the Stupidity!" of people.

... Yes, thats "stupidity" with a capital "S"!!

It seemed to me that the vast majority of people do a huge number of things that are grossly inconsiderate to others and which are completely and easily avoidable...
Like having a chat with someone in the middle of a doorway or hallway and blocking everyone elses path. Or smoking upwind instead of downwind of non-smokers. Or not having made their decision about what movie they want to see when they get to the front of a line-up etc... Just really simple common-sense things that seem so obvious to me!

But.... When I do it, Ive always felt bad about thinking poorly of other people...

Surely they are are not really stupid... They cant be!... Its just my impatience...
... Or, there are other reasons for it that I just cant see...
Why would people be so inconsiderate to others when the world would work so much more effectively if people just paid a little more attention to what was going on around them etc...
But, try as I might, I could see no reason to justify why people who were otherwise very bright individuals would do such thoughtless things so consistently... Sure, I do some similarly thoughtless things from time to time, but some people just seem to do it constantly ... and they get REALLY indignant if you try to point it out to them too!

And that apparent "thoughtlessness" isn't limited to simple things of course, it pervades all aspects of life and in far more complex and subtle ways too... And the simple acts of thoughtlessness blend into acts of anonymous obstructiveness... and on into downright maliciousness etc. And they make the world a far more difficult place with far more stresses for everyone than I think it needs to be...

And Ive struggled long and hard with these things too...

And again, Ive been thinking about it all as I wander along my way... Wondering why and wondering what could be changed or how it could be different... And again, it comes back to my simple little list of "Guidelines"... Pay attention, be respectful, be generous... and essentially "Dont Screw others over for your own benefit!" :))

But people just dont!...
Its as if they didnt learn to be nice or to share properly in Kindergarten or something...
Its like the whole world is suffering from a sort of "Arrested Development"!

And thats really actually what I think is going on.
We think of ourselves as adults after some point because we're old enough to drive a car and buy cigarettes or alcohol etc... But we're not really are we?... We're all just little kids in old bodies...
Weve got the full set of responsibilities of an adult but it seems clear that we dont have the full set of social skills... Were more like adolescents... or in some cases juveniles!

... And thats the only way Ive found that allows me to cope...
Looking at us all as just a bunch of "Little Children".
Otherwise, when I see people doing all these inconsiderate and destructive things to the world and to each other, I find I get really disappointed and angry...
But when I see us all as children who simply havnt learned the basics of living together with others in a considerate way...Then it all makes sense... All the corruption...All the violence... All the acts of pure selfishness and obstructiveness to others...
All so easily avoided if wed just grow up a little and pay a little more attention to whats going on around us and to cause-effect!

So, thats how I find Im looking at us all these days... And I find it helps me think kindly thoughts rather than negative ones :))
And so, Im stuck in a world of little children... And indeed, I must be one too!
Not much I can do about that other than try to do better...

Yes, Its time to grow up! :))

Back in the Land of Excess

Well, like I said,Im now back on the smooth highways of the land of excess...

Truly, the USA seems to really do a thing when they decide to do it!

I rode through Phoenix Arizona and the highways are all super wide and super smooth and with over-passes and entry ramps and exit ramps and interchanges and well... Its all so clean and crisp and fast :)




Wide highway with almost no traffic ahead of me... Easy going :)


And no traffic behind me either :)


Even the service stations here are super clean and organised... Not even a drip of oil or spec of dirt on the concrete pad of this place... Im glad I fixed my oil leak or Id feel guilty messing it up for them :)

And inside the little shop at the service station, the range of stuff available is amazing!


Literally dozens of varieties of soft drinks in bottles!


And not four or eight varieties of drink at the fountain dispenser... This place had twenty different flavours!


And why not buy yourself a lottery ticket while your getting gas... There were over twenty different varieties of multi-million dollar lottery tickets in this dispensing machine for five bucks each :)


And what the heck... May as well pick yourself up a nice Automatic weapon for "home defence" while your here in Arizona !


Yep, Dozens of machine guns available for the discerning gun enthusiast.


No really! Dozens and dozens!...
And reasonably priced too... Pick up a base model machine gun for under $1000. Or, a shotgun for about $600, a hand gun will cost you about $700, and a huge top-end 0.50 calibre sniper rifle that can "pick off" that "home intruder" at a cool 2.5km range (thats the record kill distance with one of these things!) will set you back about $8000!
And there are suppressors (silencers) for all these guns at about $400 each too... Well, you wouldnt want to keep the neighbours kids up after 10pm on a school night now would you...
All so very civilised !
Civilised as they see it but Im afraid, I seem to have a bit of a different definition :)

I rode on out of the city looking for a suitable camp site (I cant afford hotels in the US so Im now camping till I get back to Vancouver :)

As I headed along the highway, I passed more than a few Cactus plants that bore witness to what happens when you are a poor plant (That is probably well over a hundred years old) and you have the misfortune to be located within about 40m of the side of an Arizonan highway (built long after it sprouted from its seed of course) when an "irresponsible" gun owner decides to have some target practice!! (Hows that for a nice run-on sentence! :)) )...



... And the scars never heal over of course!


But actually, Im feeling more "forgiving" in my outlook to what others want to do with their money and time these days, so if the Arizonans want to own lots of guns, then thats their business...
And I do acknowledge that there is definitely something very deeply seated within us each that makes guns very seductive... I think its the primitive hunting instinct of "hitting a moving target". And the power and sound of firing guns is also very seductive (You should try an Automatic gun... wow!).
But, the sad part is that shooting things is only ever a "destructive" act!... Its like grafitti or arson or chopping down trees, breaking windows, throwing bottles, or burning things... Its so easy to destroy things and so much harder to create... Like Robbert Openheimer said just after they set off that first atomic bomb at Trinity test site... "Behold, I am become the destroyer of worlds"... Yes, the destroyer... But nowhere near the creator as yet!!
The act of destruction seems so immature or juvenile when compared to the far more mature act of creation... or so it seems to me!
So, the Arizonans have their guns as they want them, but I guess I hope they will figure out that there are a bunch of very anti-social consequences associated with some of their favourite "freedoms" eventually...
... No rush... Take your time :))

Next day as I rode along through the scorching heat, I was nearly out of fuel and Id foolishly just driven straight through the last largish town without even considering my fuel status!
But, there was a little turn-off to a place that wasnt on my map called "Lost Lake", and it said they had gas there... So I guess thats where Im going :)

And I drive in and its a really nice little community of weekend cabins and trailers located on the banks of a river out here in the desert (very eastern edge of California). Its mostly a weekend resort for people from the big city (LA area) over near the coast.



And it seems that what most people want to do on their weekends here is"Play with Power Toys".

Even the little electric golf carts that everyone uses to drive around the place in get the "treatment"!

Every one has jet-skis and power boats! The powerboats are all tiny little things with massive V8 engines driving "jet" units for use in the shallow river.



Not much boat, and lots of engine :)


Big V8.


Jet unit.

Its all about speed and power and loud exhausts... You never have mufflers... Its always just chrome plated header pipes, so you get the MAXIMUM sound volume from your engine!

But a boat is a boat and its for playing on the water... and thats what they are all doing... Blasting around on the river in the middle of the desert :)





And everyone did seem to be having fun with all the noise and fancy toys :)
I got no real problem with it... Its the whole community there so they are not upsetting the neighbours etc, and if thats how people want to spend their time and money here then thats fine. I dont think they were messing up the environment at all (In this case, since the river banks are either all artificial or well protected by banks of reeds), and they were all very friendly and happy.

But, I managed to get gas for my bike, and even got to use their public shower facilities too. So, after a bit of a look around at this little community of weekend "motor-heads" :), I was all clean and gassed up, so I headed off down the highway...

Back out into the desert...

... and on into the mountains...

Route 66

In one of the towns I stopped in out here in the desert, I noticed that the old interstate Route 66 passed through the town.



So, I decided that Id like to ride along that road instead of the modern Route 10 that all the heavy traffic is on. I asked a few questions as to where to get onto it and pretty quickly I found myself riding along in the desert on a very nice little paved highway with the road all to myself :))



And within a few minutes of starting along the road, sure enough, a "Roadrunner" dashed across the road in front of me... I didnt hear the traditional "Beep beep" but I did have my helmet on, so I may just not have heard it :)
After that, I kept my eyes peeled... I was half expecting a Coyote to go shooting past me on the highway mounted on rocket propelled "Acme" roller skates!
But, alas, Coyote didnt put in a showing for me... No doubt he was "temporarily indisposed" by another of those frustrating and "uncomfortable" mishaps that always seem to befall the poor fellow! :)))



But I rode along the old 66 for a few hundred Km. It was a bit sad seeing all the little roadside stops that were abandoned and disintegrating along the way... I guess thats how it goes though... Change comes and old things pass away (good bad or otherwise) and new things come along to replace them.



Eventually, it was dark and the air temperature dropped down below 110degF and I decided Id camp... So, I just pulled off the highway on a flat bit of desert (no fences on this old highway), set up the tent inner on a ground sheet and got some sleep :))

Mojave Heat

Im back in the USA again.

And both the bike and I are grateful for that for the simple fact that there are no "Topes" (speed bumps) here. The darn things are every where in Mexico to keep traffic speeds down (which they do very effectively I might add). Actually, they started to fade out there in northern Mexico (Chihuahua and the other North most states) as the highways got better but they were always there.

A rolled-over truck on a highway just South of the boarder in Mexico... Actually, I saw about four of these in the space of about five hours the evening before I crossed back into the USA... Not sure why there were so many but they were "dropping like flies" !

But here in the states, the roads are wide and clean and Suuuuppeerrr Smmoooooottthhh :)

Down in Mexico Im usually about the fastest thing on the road, but up here Im definitely the slowest thing... Everyone flies along here at 120+kph. I go at about 90kph cos Ive still got that 14 tooth front sprocket on and it means the bikes top end speed is reduced by a bit...

No problem though, Im happy to take it easy :)

But Ive come up into Arizona through the Sonora desert and its hot out here!...

Saguaro Cactus




Another cactus..."Prickly Pear" This variety has a nice purple tint :)



And Im heading North and now Im in the Mojave desert and its even hotter!
The thermometer on my bike went up above the old 100degF point at about 10am in the morning... And by about 1pm it was above 115degF and it stayed around 118degF until about 7pm!

Its scorchingly hot!... I spent more than my whole regular daily food budget of $12 just on drinks trying to stay hydrated! The air is so hot that I physically can not ride with my helmet visor up... The hot air whithers my eyes instantly...
And I cant even ride around with my gloves off (which I did for a few blocks while I was in a town)... The air is so hot that with the wind pressure of riding at above about 50Kmh, it physically burns the skin on the back of my hands to the point where I cant take it!...
... Its like standing near the door of an open metal furnace!

Im thinkin Im gonna sit the heat out if its like this tomorrow and ride in the early morning and night!

We shall see I guess :))

The Pain Economy

... A follow on from the previous post... And its a long one! :))

After I stated my little truth about "Not Screwing others over", I suggested that we probably pretty much all think along these lines:
"Of course, everyone knows that!... We all learn it as kids and we mostly live by it... Some of us are better at it than others its true, but most people are pretty decent folks really"...

... But like I said, I guess I beg to differ... Well, sort of !...

First core idea is that "Life is tough for everyone"...
... And thats one thing that my travels have definitely confirmed for me: People are the same everywhere... All struggling away and doing what they can, sometimes to just manage to survive, but mostly actually "in the pursuit of happiness" whatever that means for them with their available means.

But its still a "struggle" and most people have quite a little collection of assorted stresses that they are engaged in constant "battle" with...

True enough, life is tougher for some than for others, (and Im certainly one of the luckier ones) but more or less, we are all permanently engaged in trying to keep "house and hearth together"!

But, when I think about "whats wrong with the/my world"; And believe me, this is exactly what Ive been thinking about when Ive been puzzling over all sorts of things on this trip!
I look at all these different stresses and problems we all face, and of course I find that by far, the bulk of them are human created...

Now sure, there are earthquakes and floods and droughts, but these seem to be minor compared to the overwealming supply of difficulties that are created "By people, for people"!
Just look at the news headlines every day... War here, starvation there, suicide bombers over there, geurilla warfare in that place, economic crisis over there, drug wars here, political corruption, pollution, etc. etc. And those are the really big obvious public-event type problems...
They only actually account for a tiny fraction of the day-to-day struggles we all face.

And when I "dig in" and look at any of these issues (large or small), it always turns into a long chain of "Someone does something because they want something... And someone doesnt like it, so they do something back... And someone else retaliates"... And on and on it goes!
And its all inter-linked and we are all basically spending most of our efforts actually sort of "anonymously fighting each other"! ...

... Well, Id actually guess that about half our problems were directly created by ourselves, and the other half were created by other people for us... But we also created the same number of problems for other people ourselves if you know what I mean!

And Im no different...

When I look at my own behaviours and I see that when someone does something I dont like, even a little thing, I get frustrated... And I then go do something as a result of that (though Im usually only peripherally aware of the connection)...
It happens on all levels: physical, emotional, mental and even "spiritual" if you want to take it too that level... Pretty much all my "negative" experiences result in me doing something negative in response...

And thats the biggest problem...
We are all feeding our negative energy back into the world where it goes round and round in its own little "pain economy" and causes an endless trail of suffering...

And of course it seems that with all this "pain and suffering" in the world, we have really "dug our selves a very deep hole" so to speak and we are clearly having a very hard time of getting out of it! :))

And so, despite "most people being fairly decent folks", we are all constantly contributing to "unpleasantness" for each other and it seems we are powerless to free ourselves from the "pain cycle". We are all constantly "doing unto others as was done unto us".
Its part of what I mean when I say we are not as "good" as we each like to think we are.

We all desperately need a big change! But it seems impossible to make the change...
... But thats what we need to do!

Now there is no big surprise in any of this, and its tempting to say, "Well, thats just human nature... Its always been that way and it always will be"!
... But again, I guess I "beg to differ" there!

I think I can do better than I have been doing!

So, again, I believe that the only person I can truly change is myself.
And again, Since I truly believe that, then how can I change myself to effect this so called "pain economy" ? ...
Well, specifically, I can "absorb" some of that pain that comes along in my own life and not put it back into the world where it effects others; But to do that it means that I have to learn to "Forgive"!
I need to try not to "retaliate" when "bad" things happen!
I need to accept that its happened and understand that when I react or retaliate in a negative fashion, that its just feeding the system and its gonna come back in the long run!...

Its obvious of course!...
... But Im just one little person in a world of over six billion other people, who are all caught up in the same cycle...
And so, of course it also seems kind of pointless objective with so many many other people who will simply swamp any good efforts I try to generate.
Yes, I know, it sounds like the classic Quixotic "impossible dream"!
But I choose "hope" and I actually do believe that its worth doing and that every bit makes a difference! ... and of course the biggest difference I can create will be in the circles that I move in, so the advantages, small though they may be compared to the effort, are close to home :))
... And so, Im gonna try and be a better me...

But I know too that Im just like everyone else and that I too have my fair share of "human frailties" and that I make mistakes and cant live up to "impossible standards".
And I know that life is long and that I cant possibly absorb all the "pain" that will come my way on a single day let alone the rest of my life without letting lots of it back out into the world!

... But I still do believe that I can try to put out less than I take in...
In the long run, over a whole life time (though I dont know how long that will be) I honestly think I can manage that! :)

And as for changing others... Well, I cant force others to change... I believe that any use of "force" to try to change others in the long run is flawed and so evangelising and preaching about this stuff are just not effective in my opinion.
As I said, I think the best I can do is to live by example... And, if I get asked "Why" did you do this", or "Why didnt I do that" in response to some negative experience/situation then I guess I can try to share my point of view in an honest and open way that encourages the other person to think about it... just a bit :))


... And, flawed as it may seem to others, that is some more of the "The wisdom that was gotten" for me.


It seems sort of appropriate to me that as I myself am coming full circle back to where I started my trip three years ago, that all my mental wanderings have also more or less come full circle too :)
Back to the simple premise of "Be Considerate" that we all knew all along :)))
It sounds so simple and is so obvious...

Again, I really dont know if my ramblings here have done it any justice at all ?
All I can really say is that its a simple enough idea thats virtually impossible to live by in this world!

And again, I dont expect anyone else to "get it" nor any thanks for it.
But Ive written it down and shared it with those few of you who read my blog.
So now, Im just gonna continue to "go about my business" and try to live my life as best I can :)

So, to borrow lines from John Lennon... (Though I think he was commenting on "Religion")

You may say Im a dreamer,..
But Im not the only one.
I hope some day that you'll join us...
And the world can live as one :))

My Inconvenient Truth

Like I said in a recent post there; The scenery of Mexico just isnt managing to captivate me as I ride through one more time. Both literally and metaphorically, having been here before; I more or less know "Whats around the next corner" before I get there :)
And rather than enjoying the changing scenery (which is still nice) as I ride along, I find instead that Im spending most of my time "in my head" so to speak, which in truth is what Ive been doing for large portions of this trip anyway.

But this is a little different...
In these closing days of both this long ride, and effectively my little Odyssey of the last three years, I find that Im again "looking for something"... Something that "ties it all together"... And maybe makes it all make some sort of sense for me ?

Its been a long long voyage thats absorbed me for three whole years and one way and another has cost me about one hundred thousand dollars (Yep, Real spent money!... and not including lost income) Ive visited about fifteen different countries and driven my motorbike for nearly one hundred and fifty thousand kilometres.
Ive ridden on good pavement and bad, and Ive ridden plenty of places where there was no pavement at all; Through sand, mud, stone and loose gravel, on eight lane each way highways and tiny little foot trails.
Ive ridden through torrential downpours where I could barely breath for the water in the air, and Ive ridden in howling winds that I could barely keep the bike upright or on the road. Ive ridden through frozen mud and snow and through bakingly dry deserts where again, I could barely breath from the heat. Ive ridden below sea-level and at altitudes of over 5000m.

And for all that riding, Ive seen many many things too...
From grizzly bears, lynx and wolverines to sea turtles, dolphins, monkeys, penguins, and bright green lizards.
Ive seen wild Arctic tundra and beautiful white Caribbean beaches festooned with coconut palms. Ive seen tropical jungle rivers and endless desert wastes with not a single living thing as far as the eye could see. Ive stood at ground zero of a nuclear test site, seen flowing molten lava, and walked in the footsteps of Charles Darwin.
Ive seen and met many many people from grubby little kids on the roadside playing in the mud in the middle of nowhere to gun toting drug dealers in the back alleys of big cities...

Yes, Ive been a long way, Ive seen a lot of things, and met a lot of people.
But what have I got from it?
... What is the wisdom that was gotten ???


And thats what Ive been thinking about for the last few days...
As I ride steadily back toward Vancouver I can feel the trip already starting to "dissipate", as I head back to the world of daily work and taxes and income and mortgages etc...
... And I find Im looking inside again...
Seeking some singular treasure that I can "hold on to"...
Something that Ive "won" for my self with all my literal "blood sweat and tears", that Ill value in the future...

... And Yes, I believe I have something, that works for me :)
... But actually, I dont think any of you are going to like it much!...



... And so I sit me down to write...

I can see this could easily balloon into an enormous post...
Its such a "pervasive" topic and there are so many sideline explanations that Ill want to elaborate on...
But its just too big, so I'll simply state my truth and maybe do a couple of subsequent posts on topics that Ive been thinking about recently...
So, Ill try to "contain" it and hope that it makes some sort of sense :) ...


... But; Really!... I dont think your going to like it much!
You see, its such a simple and obvious and cliche thing...

... But, in the end, I dont actually care if you like it or not... Its true for me and thats enough :)))

Note here: You see what happens when we invest that much time money and effort into something... We get really attached to the results... Even if (or perhaps, especially if!) the results are just "ideas"!


OK, So here goes...


So, if I take the sum total of all my knowledge and perceptions and experiences of my life before I started this trip...
And I add to that all the new experiences and multitude of new perceptions and associated thinking and insights etc. from this trip...
And I distil it all down and I find within it all, some "core ideas" that really matter to me and capture my "Knowledge" and my "Truth"!
And I write down those ideas in a simple little list, on a single piece of paper...
And then I metaphorically take that piece of paper and I fold it into a little paper cup...
... What "Truth" would that little paper cup hold ?

Well, you can see a lot of it in my "Navigation Guidelines" post of a month or so back... And, its no mean feat to "distil" it down even further, but in the simplest of terms, it all boils down to this...

Dont "screw others over" for your own benefit !


... "Yep, hes right" I hear you thinking... "I really dont think much of it!"
But thats because it means something different to me than it means to you!... Maybe Ive distilled it too far?

I expect you reaction goes something like this:
"Of course, everyone knows that!... We all learn it as kids and we mostly live by it...
Some of us are better at it than others its true, but most people are pretty decent folks really"...

Yes, I agree, but, well, I guess it seems to me that were just not as "good" as we like to think!

It seems that whatever "troubling" topic I turn my mind to, After Ive thought about it long enough, I eventually end up back at the same conclusion... And that is that we people are not really doing a very good job of living together! And its not for inability to do it, its due to simple lack of effort... Although the "whys" of that lack of effort are many and various.

And try as I might, I always come back to that same conclusion...

The end result is that I believe that the only person that I can really change, is myself; And that that is true for everyone else too. And, the only way I can truly, effectively, bring change to others is if they "want" to change themselves as a result of interacting with me... And that mostly comes back to one of my core beliefs that "I should lead by example!"

So then, If I truly believe that, (and I do) Then how can I change myself to have a positive effect on whatever "problem" Im currently thinking about? Answer is simple, I have to truly espouse the changes that I think are good for others and then respect that others may or may not want to change too...

Believe me, Id rather not... It will be very "Inconvenient" !

I dont think that people are gonna thank me... I dont think others will believe the things I believe... Itd certainly be far easier to go about my life as a more or less "fine upstanding pillar of the community" that I otherwise am, and lead my normal life as an average person doing what we all do in more or less the same way everyone else does...

Yes, Itd be nice to keep behaving just like pretty much everyone else.. Very "Convenient" indeed!... But, I just cant do it any more... Cos Ive thought about it and I SEE the consequences...

So, now I have to try to be "nice" just like mum and dad tried to tell me to be, but now its for real!...Bummer, cos I had my sights set on becoming a "Grumpy old man"!... And I just about had it down too! :))
And everyone else is gonna keep just "pretending" to be nice (which is how it seems things really are) and so they are all gonna keep trying to "screw me over" (Well everyone really;...Rarely specifically ME) one way and another, and I have to resist that but not do it in return...
Not gonna be easy I dare say!

I know... Im sounding like some sort of righteous religious freak or something! But its not like Im saying it because Im religious or something like that... God doesnt come into it at all!... Its just plain rational thinking... An unavoidable conclusion!

But, in the end, it is a selfish choice (Just like everyone else in the long run :) ) The simple fact is that I will feel better if I try to live as a better person... Its time to grow up!

So, Here it is again for anyone who is interested...

Dont "screw others over" for your own benefit !


...... And that, is the wisdom that was gotten!

Now I just have to do my best to live by it... And Im sure Ill fail regularly cos Im just a person like everyone else and we make mistakes... But Im really gonna be trying to do better anyway...
Wish me luck ! :)))

A few Pics

Not much goin on, but I figure I should at least post a few pictures to entertain while I spend my time ¨pulling in the miles¨ as I ride along.
Im spending lots of time in my head at the moment as usual :))





Last view of Lake Atitlan as I ride out :)

Bike fully loaded with a guitar and a spare helmet too... Nowhere for a second rider to sit though... Let alone play the guitar as I ride along :))

A recycling program at least partially implemented... Theyve collected the bottles... Now they just need to do something with them all!

Resort city (Acapulco I think)

Pacific coastal fog

Fighting Cock breeding farm

Big sculpture of ¨Dancing Dogs¨

Duck on a Stick :)

Trucks full of mangos

Dodging thunder storms in Northern Mexico

Now thats a set of horns!