It was a good, and trusted friend. Perhaps I was not as nice to it as I could have been. I did, for a time, replace it with another, but we all stray from time to time.

My laptop. Dead. Lost drivers, bad hard drive, I don't think I will be able to pull it through.

In fact, ti has been a bad week for old mechanical companions (Okay, a laptop is not excatly mechanical, but it does have moving parts. I mean, doesn't it?). I have a Motorcycle (Okay, several, actually, stay with me here, people), an XS1100H. Graet bike, just got a new motor (long story). Yesterday the weather was just wonderful, it had to be in the 40s, blue sky, for December in Wisconsin, just amazing. So, out I go to the XS11, nice and warm in the garage hooked up to the battery charger. I have not ridden in a couple of weeks, and that didn't go well (And it was on another bike a BMW. THe XS11 wold not start, dead battery. hence, the charger).

Well, the bike turned over like a champ, but would not start. Seems someone (*cough*me*cough*) left the fuel lines on Prime, which completely flodded the engine. Probably got gas in the crank case too. The bike was not going anywhere. And I had christmas shopping to do.

Well, the BMW was sitting there, where it had been, outside in the cold (It got into the negatives, you know) half buried in a snow bank, bt I figure "What do I have to lose?"

The BMW Starts right up. Didn't even need the choke. A few minutes of shovelling, and it was free, and I got my ride. Those germans, they make a good ride. Need a new tire, though. I guess I will have to work on that.

Well, if anyone actually reads this, I hope you have a Merry Christmas. Be safe, and keep the rubber side down.

What is Sleep, really?

I work on an ambulance. It really is supposed to be a great job. Everyone seems to admire it. Of course, reality is not quite the same, and I see way to much stuff that was not included on the recruiting poster. Like GI bleeds. ugh.

Of course, working in EMS in general is a 24 hour a day job. There are no breaks, and our shifts start and end at all times of the day and night. Which causes, in me at least, a rather interesting side effect - my body has no idea when it should be sleeping, and when it should be awake.

As an example, right now it is about 430am. Bars are closed. No car has driven past my window in some time. Yet, here I am awake like it is 430pm. Tomorrow night, I will need to be at work now, and awake, yet Monday I had to be at work in 2 and half hours, and was sleeping.

Sleep has been called the Little Death, and I know people who consider themselves lucky to get 4 hours a day. I guess, really, that is about what I can get at a stretch too, though I definitly want more. Perhaps a little death is good for us? Makes us like life more.

Well, the sun wll be up in a hour or so, and bird will come out. The quality of TV programming will improve (marginally), and the day will start for people in this time zone. Me, I might still be awake, or my body, confused as always, might drive me back into the warm comfort of my bed. I might even be a little curious about how it will all work out. Time, as they say, will tell.

Be safe, and keep the rubber side down.

So, here we are. A first post. First one. You would think I had something momentous.

Nope.

I work in EMS, I have a really great woman, who I like to think adores me. You never can really tell with women, though, so I buy her chocolate.

And I ride motorcycles, a lot. She rides too, on the back normally. Of the bike, I mean. Though right now I am not riding as much, since it is winter. More the ice keeps me in, rather than the cold.

What else? I don't sleep much, side effect of work. And...hmm. I enjoy writing, I fence (With the swords, not the posts), and play the occasional RPG. And Write the occasional RPG tournament. Nice how that works out.

So, this is the beginning. The first. I guess I am glad I got it out of the way. Next time will be easier, you know.

Keep the Rubber Side Down.