Found a quarter

I made it through the work week. I am glad I had off all those days, but when we had our weekly meeting, the bosses said that we are 1,100 bike in the hole. Why would you close the plant for a week when you knew that you needed to make up over a thousand bikes. I know that the quarterly earnings came out when we got back to work, and you can save a lot of money by closing the plant for a week. All the plants for a week. It could make a fifty million dollar profit look like a ninety million dollar profit. Anyway, now we have to work on the weekends to make up the motorcycles.. Oh yea, sale are down about 10%. Not to worry, everything is great. Whatever. On one of the days I was off work I drove to the store and bought some scratch off lottery tickets. I had cleaned out the car before I drove to the store. After I bought the tickets I needed a coin to scratch off the numbers. I checked my pockets and could not find any coins. I checked in the coffee holders and found a penny that was coated with old coffee. There was nothing else in the holder. After I scratched the tickets, and didn't win anything worth mentioning , I drove to the cemetery and visited Jed headstone. When I got back in the car and looked down in the cup holder there was a shiny new quarter. Now I know that there was not a quarter there before, because I looked everywhere for a coin to scratch those tickets. If you have been following Kristins blog you know what that means. Thanks Jed. It always makes me feel better when I get a sign that you are everywhere and helping me. Talking about lottery tickets. When I drove to work on Friday, which is a overtime day, I bought two monopoly scratch of tickets and won ninety dollars. It made working overtime that much easier. Today (Sunday) the temperature was 80 degrees,but you know that the cold days are just around the corner. I am ready. I love riding my motorcycle at 5:30 in the morning when it is cold. Especially when the moon is out and the sky is crystal clear. Of course I wear my electric coat and gloves to stay warm. Basically it is like wearing an electric blanket. That is all for now. I have to go to bed so I can get up at 4:30 a.m. Congratulations to the Giants for going to the World Series. That is the good thing about being from the Bay area, It didn't matter what team won....goodnight. One other thing. Canning has started for THON. You can get all the information that you need by reading Kristins blog or Savannahs blog. Jed loved THON. I know that it is one of his most favorite things in this world. Please give $$$$$$$ Thank you

Back to Harley Hell

Tomorrow is the first day back to work after being off for ten days. I really do not know what I will be doing. Most of the machinery that we used to make wheels, has been taken out and sent to syencreon, the company that pays their workers $10.00 an hour instead of $24.00. The last time that Harley Davidson paid their workers $10.00 an hour was about twenty years ago. It really is Harley Davidson paying the workers. Syencreon only makes parts for harley davidson motorcycles. That just shows you how effed up our union is or is not. For the most part being off work was great. The weather was awesome most of the time. I got to ride my motorcycle a lot, which is one of my favorite things to do. We all drove to New York and went to a comedy club and watched our friend preform. I made some progress in my basement, and I got a Quarter form Jed. So all and all there is not to much to complain about. As long as I don't think to much about Jed not being here my life goes on. If I stop and think about it for too long, I can't breath. Next stop St. Croix. Yey. Goodnight.

Nice day to see a pig

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Today was another beautiful day for riding a motorcycle, so that is what I did. Kristin and I went for another ride. This time we went to the river. It was around noon. I was asking Kristin if there was a coffee place by the river. She said she didn't think there was. In fact there are very few places along the river that serve anything such as food and beverages. We did find one though that was open. We were able to buy a cup of coffee and sit on a porch and look out over the river. We noticed that there were two giant wind turbines, that were sitting on top of a mountain, or hill, that were not there the last time we were there. It is the sign of the times. Green energy. It was nice just sitting there and watching things and people. It was quite calming except for the two drag boats that were racing on the river. They were extremely loud and annoying. They didn't stay too long so it was not too distracting from what we were doing, which was nothing. As we continued on our ride we stopped at a motorcycle shop that I have not been in before. It's not too far from our house. The owner was a real nice guy. I asked him what he charged for labor to work on a motorcycle. The price was $55.00 an hour. That is a great price. That is $30.00 an hour cheaper than a Harley Davidson dealer. There were a couple of bikes that he built. They were both really cool. On our ride we also saw a pot belly pig that looked pretty funny. That is one of the benefits of riding a motorcycle. You get to see a lot of things that you normally wouldn't see while riding in a car. Anyway that is my day. As usual we talk about Jed and always get signs from him. It is just so hard, the missing him, the physical him. Jed we love you and miss you everyday. Of course you all ready know that. Goodnight world.

10 days off

Work is shut down for all of next week. I think that is about 10 days off. When I get back to work everything will be different. Almost all of the machines that are used to make laced wheels, will be gone. They are being moved to a company called syencreon. I don't know if that is exactly how you spell it but that is close enough. The workers at Harley Davidson who made the wheels,had at least eleven years experience and were paid $24.00 an hour. At Syencreon the workers have about one week experience and get paid $10.00 an hour. This is supposed to be better for the Co. and the customers that buy Harley Davidson motorcycles. I don't see how but I am not the one in charge of these kind of decisions. From what they tell me, I am not smart enough to understand. All I know is that I buy and ride the motorcycles. Or I should say I used to buy. I won't ever buy another new one. I need to know that the people that built my bike, knew what they were doing. Maybe in three or four years they will, but in my opinion, I don't see how they could now. It took me over eleven years to be able to make the amount of wheels that are needed in one day. I just don't see how people with one week of training can make a safe wheel. Just my opinion. It really is not worth much in this case. I am just going to enjoy my days off. I have no control about what happens at Harley Davidson. Kristin and I went out riding today. The weather is awesome. Next year I hope to be riding on a new Victory Motorcycle. They also assemble motorcycles in the U.S.A. Arlen Ness is associated with Victory. He is like the king of custom motorcycles. He also sent his condolences when Jed passed away. I don't remember getting anything from Harley. I bought a bushel of crabs from a friend at work. I did not realize how many crabs that is. They were very yummy.We ate until we couldn't eat anymore. Then we picked the rest and now have a big bag of crab meat. Yay! I wish I could say it was a wonderful day. It was as good as could be expected, but not what it should be. With Jed not here to share the crabs and sunshine makes a great day a little less shiny. Not to sound so negative, it just how I feel. I am thankful that we did get to laugh , smile, and share with people we love. Now it is time to say "goodnight". I love and miss you Jed.

The luncheon

Well the luncheon is over. It was, in my view, AWESOME! The amount of money raised, $11,430 is amazing. Especially for a first time event. I am very proud of Savannah. Of course that is nothing new. Seeing everyone there to celebrate Jeds life and thirteenth birthday was very touching. It is always a great feeling to know that Jed touched so many people in his short life. He still touches people everyday. The only downfall is that now missing Jed is more intense, if that is possible. I just want to say thank you to everyone for your support and generosity. As usual the employees at Harley Davidson were as generous and supportive as ever. Even though a lot of them will be losing their jobs. They get it. They know that childhood cancers doesn't stop or quit, no matter what else is going on. Now Harley Davidson the company is another matter all together. Something I will be writing about at a later date. I have to go to sleep now. Thanks again.