Brog Blog

Ok we had a rude awakening this morning as a way too loud policeman was bashing on our door. Seems that some nutter had stolen a tradesman’s van, taken some tools and then dumped it in the park over the road.  They then decided to torch it.

The fire brigade got there about 2:30 and had the fire suppressed fairly quickly.  However when they inspected the wreck they noticed one or more compressed gas tanks in the back.  Closer inspection showed them to be Oxy-Acetylene.  They checked the tempreture of the tanks and confirmed they were still rising due to “internal activity”.

At that time the bomb squad was called and an exclusion zone with a radius of over 200 meters was created.  That included our house.

I need sleep right now.

Ok so my Pentax K10d was in my bags when I fell off my motorbike and it has been away to be fixed. Basically the camera was sound however it would not read any SD card. Repair was a new mainboard as the connector plug had snapped off.

Well I got it back today, let me tell you I am not happy. The camera recognises the SD card now but does not detect any of my automatic lenses. Sees them all as full manual.

So I have to take it back and get it looked at again. Man I am shitty how can they let this camera out as fixed and not even turn it on!

Ok so it has been over 5 weeks since I fell off my Triumph. As you know they wrote of the Triumph and I have been looking around for a new bike. After a few test rides I decided to go for a brand new bike with a few less horses than the Triumph. The Trump was great but always bigger than I needed.

So what did I pick? The Suzuki GSX650F this is basically a fully faired Suzuki Bandit 650. Great frame, riding position and responsiveness. The 4 cyl, 4 stroke, fuel injected 650cc motor is great, revving all the way up to 14,000 rpm. The only thing I don’t like about it… the muffler! It is HUGE.

What do you think?

Ok so my brother has had all but one round of Chemo now. His latest PET scan gave him an all clear so that is great. Now they have to decide to do two rounds of radiation treatment to be sure. Either way he will be home in June at the latest.

Way to go Bro’.

Ok so it is just over two weeks after the accident with the bike. I am off the crutches and just using a walking stick at the moment. I should be off that in a week at most. The burn is almost fully healed and the swelling is mostly gone, I am going to have a checkup with the doctor later this week.

I got a call from the insurance company about the bike, basically they stop counting when the parts got up to $13,000, no labour just parts. So it looks like I am in the market for a new bike.

Well it had to happen some time, I came of the bike today.  I am ok a swollen knee with some skin burned off.  I was wearing my full kit on, my big boots, draggin jeans, jacket with armor, leather full gloves and my new full face helmet.

Basically I had a bad headache this morning, one day into a 3 day ride, but it was starting to feel better and decided that I would be right to ride home.  However about 100 kms into the ride I was taking it nice and easy, around a mid speed right-hander max about 60km/h, I made some room for a 4 wheel drive coming the other way.  However I gave them more room than the road allowed, I knew I was a little wide and with my headache I did the wrong thing, I should have tapped the rear brake and lent over a little more. Instead I eased of the throttle and stood the bike a little more upright.  This took me onto the shoulder of the road and the bike decided it didn’t want to be under me any more.

I am not sure if I high sided it (me thrown over the bike) or low sided it (the bike laying down infront of me) but based on the fact I was in front of the bike at the end and the bike had damage on both sides I think I went over it.  I think the bike may be a right off, all plastic panels are broken or scratched, I have broken the rear break lever, front brake master cylinder and twisted the front handle bars (not sure if the frame is twisted or just the handle bars in the clamps).  Will be ringing the insurance company in the morning.

My right knee is sore and puffed up (x-rays tomorrow) left knee has a small scratch, my right hand is bruised and my chin has a tiny nick, but nothing is as dented as my ego.

Dani, my darling, has been great, brought me home and looked after me, love you sweetie.

Will have some photos of the bike in a day or too.

Now I will have to unpack my bags and see if my gear is intact, including my camera.

Here is what my knees look like after 36 odd hours.

Here’s what the bike looked like:

Ok this won’t be a post about how old this makes me feel…

My daughter is going to her Yr10 Formal in just over 1 hour and I will be spending most of that time taking photos of her prior to driving her to the event.

Photos coming here.

A couple of weeks ago my brother was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  He went to his doctor about an enlargement in one of his lymph nodes in his neck.  After two biopsy’s they confirmed that he had Cancer.  A full body scan showed another enlargement in his chest cavity, indicating Stage 2 lymphoma.

He start chemotherapy this Friday in Townsville.  He has had to move himself and his family 900km’s into a Cancer Council provided apartment for 6 months.  His wife, nine month old boy and himself had to packup his house, arrange for it to be leased out and relocate in the space of a week.  His employer has been fantastic, arranging leave and covering his income until his income insurance kicks in.

The outcome looks good, he is fit and healthy and the success rate for curing this form of cancer is over 90%.  My thoughts go to his lovely wife that will be bearing the load of looking after him and their son.

(Wedding in 2005)

So the month is almost done, my Mo’ is getting fuller and the grey is really showing.

To donate to my Mo you can either:
1. Click this link Movember and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account, or
2. Write a cheque payable to ‘Movember Foundation’, referencing my
Registration Number 1975781 and mailing it to:

Movember Foundation
PO Box 292
Prahran VIC 3181

During Movember (the month formerly known as November) I’m growing a Mo.
That’s right I’m bringing the Mo back because I’m passionate about tackling
men’s health issues and being proactive in the fight against men’s
depression and prostate cancer.

To donate to my Mo you can either:
1. Click this link Movember and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account, or
2. Write a cheque payable to ‘Movember Foundation’, referencing my
Registration Number 1975781 and mailing it to:

Movember Foundation
PO Box 292
Prahran VIC 3181

Remember, all donations over $2 are tax deductible.

The money raised by Movember is used to raise awareness of men’s health
issues and donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and
beyondblue – the national depression initiative. The PCFA and beyondblue
will use the funds to fund research and increase support networks for those
men who suffer from prostate cancer and depression.

Did you know:
Depression affects 1 in 6 men….most don’t seek help. Untreated
depression is a leading risk factor for suicide.
Last year in Australia 18,700 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer
and more than 2,900 died of prostate cancer – equivalent to the
number of women who will die from breast cancer annually.

Movember culminates at the end of month Gala Partés. If you would like to
be part of this great night you’ll need to purchase a Gala Parté Ticket via the Movember site.
.

Thanks for your support Tony.

More information is available at http://www.movember.com/.

Movember is proudly grown by Holden and Schick.

Movember is proud partners with the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia
and beyondblue – the national depression initiative.

After the last couple of rides with the Fat Bastards Tourers, it was obvious that if I wanted to ride with them more regularly I needed to upgrade my transport to something more than 250cc.  My Honda Forza scooter has been the picture or reliability and practicality, taking me to and from work every day no matter what the weather.  Over it’s 36,000 odd Km’s I have had only one part failure and that was the Stator in the charging circuit.

Over the last month or so I have been looking for a tourer or sport tourer motorcycle without and insanely large motor, something under 1000cc.  So I tried the Honda DeVille, and found the ergonomics all wrong and I had sore wrists even after 30mins.  The Suzuki VStrom was just a little tall but otherwise good.  The Suzuki Bandit (1250cc) was a great bike ergonomically, however that motor was just WAY TOO much for me, also the luggage options were just to optional looking.

So after riding a 2nd hand Triumph Sprint ST 955i with 40,000km on the clock, I loved the ergonomics and that motor!  The 995i has more than enough power and torque (88 kw and 100Nm) but it is really manageable, the power comes on steady and strong very predictable and controllable.  So I spent some time looking for a good 2nd hand one with the hard luggage option.  After looking around I found a good one about 300km away, a low k (6,400) 2004 model with the soft luggage at a price I couldn’t pass up.  I am aware I will have to sort out the luggage as the soft panniers are not quite shaped right for my trip to work but with the money I have saved I can sort it out when I sell the scooter.

I picked up the Triumph yesterday and rode it home.  For the hour and a half I was riding down the range in the rain and fog… wonderful introduction to the bike.  The rest of the trip was fine, however the road was wet and the police were out in force on the long weekend.  The bike is home now and needs a bath.

My mother has a little 50cc Honda scooter to get about the small city she lives in.  However on Sunday she had an accident and fell off the scoot and onto the traffic island in the middle of the road.  I only have a few details but it looks like mum clipped the concrete curb on the island and was thrown off the bike.

Although she was only going slowly around the corner her Humerus was broken just below the ball at the top.  Mum will be on painkillers for a while and will have the arm immobilised for a couple of months.

Wishing her all the best.

Dani went into hospital last Tuesday to have her right shoulder operated on.  The doctors diagnoses Bersitius a while back but were not keen to refer her to a surgeon.  However after 18 months since the incident  that caused the problem and the shoulder only getting worse, we insisted on the referal.

So the operation removed the excess fluid, soft tissue and a bone spur found in her shoulder.  Within 3 days of the operation Dani had more movement than for the last 12 months, today she was able to brush her own hair and put it into a pony tail using her right arm.

The doctor is removing the stitches on Thursday and I will give you all an update.

Dani's Fixed Shoulder

I got one of my photos in the local Canberra Times yesterday.

A reporter from the paper joined the Canberra Flickr group for a walk through Tidbinbilla Nature reserve with the aim of writing a feature in the “Arts” section of the Saturday paper.  The reporter was great, genuinely interested and really great to talk to.  We spent an hour or two walking through the new sanctuary area in Tidbinbilla, around the wetlands and through the newly growing woodland.

The article was well written and covered nearly two full pages within the inser, with 2 large half page photos and two extra supporting photos.  My shot was one of the large half page shots prominently placed on the right hand page.  Imagine my dissappointment when I noticed they had attributed the photo to another Flickr member incorrectly.