A few nights ago I was watching a movie and I saw some lights through the door glass. I wasn’t expecting anything until Monday and Tuesday but my items were in town. Could it…no, it can’t be…YEAH!!! It was my electric bike! It showed up TWO days early!

I got the box in the house and pulled the bike out. It was folded up and wrapped in all sorts of padding and packing materials to keep the scratches at bay. It took several minutes to get all of the padding off before I could unfurl it. It is pretty easy to figure it out, but it does have a very well-written manual in case you want/need to use it.

The way it is designed it definitely feels different than a regular bike. The frame is low so you feel like you are sitting pretty high up. It is different to ride than a regular bike so it will take a little bit of getting used to riding it. I took it out for a spin yesterday morning and it moves along pretty good. I haven’t even changed the setting in the controller to a Class 3 yet. Even with very little pedal assist it moves along pretty good. It will be fun to ride and get exercise plus riding it to town will save fuel. I looked at helmets yesterday and won’t ride far without one. I want to get a few more lights and reflectors on it; visibility is a good thing. It came with some actually decent saddlebags, headlight, taillight and cargo rack behind the seat so it is pretty well set up. The seat has a suspension post and the upgraded saddle is bigger and more comfortable.

I did more research on my truck’s check engine light and I have one more thing to try out before the appointment on Friday. The lid of the airbox is cracked and I am thinking that might be affecting the airflow and it is causing a computer error. I stopped at the parts store to buy one. I ran what I think the problem is by the counter guy and he thought it could be the issue. I will get the new one tomorrow and get it installed. If that still doesn’t fix it the dealer gets a turn.

A friend gave me a pizza for the holidays. Not just ANY pizza, mind you. A Lou Malnati’s pepperoni pie, imported straight from Chicago. That was a damn good pizza. Along with it was a catalog from Tastes of Chicago. Italian beef, Vienna Beef hot dogs, desserts, baked stuff…hardcore food porn.

I really need a travel fix so I started watching “A Cook’s Tour” again. It was Anthony Bourdain’s first travel series. I remember seeing a few episodes years go and thought it was interesting. He was visiting Vietnam in the first ones I remember, and it was probably the first time I had an interest in going to that part of the world and it was because of him. Growing up in the shadow of the Vietnam War it was never really someplace I had an interest in going to visit. He had the gift of making it all interesting and within reach to every person.

I’ll probably be hitting the travel shows hard again pretty soon. It was about this time in 2017 and 2019 that I was getting things together to go to Europe. I wish I were doing that for real in 2020 but we know how the year has gone for the most part. It’s nice that I now know the best way I need to pack after being there twice. It’s not to say that I won’t make some minor changes, but at least now I have the gear I need, have a good idea about how to travel, and know what to take and leave as far as clothes and toiletries. I think I will be looking at my travel items closer and may thin out a few things (I need to thin out a few things anyhoo). I have some things I really could do without and maybe some other things I really don’t need to keep.

I have definitely been getting much more exercise in even with the short days (glad to see that changing next week!). The dog and I are logging about 3-5 miles a day. Nothing wrong with that! When I first got in the area it was pretty rainy so we did not get out much. Being in the trailer at the time I did not want everything smelling like a wet dog and mud all over inside. We got out as much as we could; he cannot hold it forever! We have had some really nice days lately but we have a few days of some showers coming up. I am looking forward to some more.

That’s about all I have for now.