I'm here, but I'm not really here

The last few weeks I feel like I have been walking around in a fog. It all started with the stomach flu, or a mild case of food poisoning, not sure really. That lasted for about two days. That joy was immediately followed by the worst case of P.M.S. that I have ever suffered. I was seriously the biggest bitch for days, ask Dave, poor guy just smiled and blew me kisses in fear for his life. I did manage to enjoy my birthday in the middle of it, thanks to my wonderful man who may not always know exactly what to do, but whose trying makes it all okay.
Just when I was starting to get over the bitchies I got a bad cold. Since I don't get paid sick days, and I can't afford not to get paid, I had to work through it. Pretty much every minute I wasn't working I was sleeping. I haven't felt that miserable in a long time. I thought I may have a sinus infection, but it's now clearing up, so I think it was just a cold.
Riley was with going to be with his dad for the weekend and I really wanted to ride, but I still wasn't feeling great Friday night when I went to bed. I woke up Saturday feeling decent, but not 100%. I decided it might be best for me to ride bitch for the day. At least I would get to ride one way or another. But then when I got out of the shower I felt good so I opened up the garage and pulled the girl out to warm her up, she takes awhile to get going. Dave walked out and asked what I was doing, and I told him I needed to ride. We had a great day Saturday, I will post about that later, but then I feel a huge let down after the weekend.
While I was sick I was thinking about my job a lot. I love my job, but I'm seriously considering a career move. My job allows for a lot of freedom and flexibility, but that can also equal instability. I have no benefits of any kind. Thankfully Ry is covered under his dad's insurance, but I have no medical, dental, vision, nothing. I just found out yesterday that a place I used to work is hiring, and I know that they would hire me back. It's totally different from what I'm doing now. It's an office job, Monday through Friday 9-6, totally structured, not much freedom or flexibility. But.... there are benefits. Paid sick time and vacation, medical, dental, vision, 401K. It's hard to compare the pay because my hours always change with my current job, and I pay self employment taxes and crap, but I think it would be a little bit more than what I'm making now. I just don't know what to do. Sometimes I sit here and think, "When did this become my life?" Don't get me wrong, I love my life, and there are very few things about it that I would change, but sometimes it just seems like I'm watching my life like a movie on a screen and it's going by so fast and I'm not sure if I'm actually living it, or just being dragged along.
Whoa, I'm getting way too deep here. I think I've had way too much down time the last two weeks, not a good thing! Anyways, just wanted to share what's been going on with me, I'm sure you can all relate to some degree.

My 18th Birthday! Ha Ha!

Thank you all for the Birthday wishes. I'm sure you all know that Dave was kidding when he said it was my 18th, he's such a kidder. No, this was a milestone for me though....21. Yes, now I can finally go check out some of these biker bars I've been hearing about.

I had a great day. It was a pretty low key celebration, but I had everything I needed, my two favorite boys, good friends, and food! The only thing I didn't get to do that I wanted to was ride, but it was just too busy.

We had a great dinner with Willy D. and Carol. She was also celebrating her 21st Birthday! Unfortunately we forgot the camera at dinner, I would've loved to share pics of Willy D. in his nice clothes. (Not that leather isn't nice, but you know.)

Willy D. and Carol bought me a cute little Teddy Bear.

After dinner we came home and had cake. Dave and Riley made the cake for me, it was so good!

Then we watched a movie that I got to rent free from Hollywood Video. I don't know how many of you have Hollywood Video where you are, but if you're a member you get a free rental on your Birthday, cool huh! We got "The Forbidden Kingdom". If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it, it was awesome!

Riley fell asleep right after the movie so Dave and I decided to open up the bottle of wine that my boss had given me. I'm not usually much of a wine drinker, but I'm not going to turn it down if someone gives it to me. It was White Merlot, I'd never even heard of it, but it was pretty good.

Only problem was that the wine glasses were too small, so I had to find something better to drink out of.

As for the spankings....well a lady doesn't kiss and tell.....hmmm, I don't know really if I'm a lady....ok, well let's just say that the rest of the evening was very good....you can all use your imaginations.

Thanks again for the Birthday wishes. Thanks Willy D. and Carol for sharing the day with us. Thanks Riley and Dave for a wonderful cake, and Dave thanks for everything else!

Thought you might find this interesting

I found this on AMA's website and wanted to share it with you all since this has been a hot topic lately.

AMA urges DOT to accelerate motorcycle crash study
Posted October 6, 2008
AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman called for the U.S. Department of Transportation to accelerate a long-overdue federal study into the causes of motorcycle crashes in a meeting with the agency's head, Secretary Mary Peters, on Friday, October 3. Acting Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) David Kelly, and AMA Vice President of Government Relations Ed Moreland also attended the meeting.
"There are an estimated 10 million motorcyclists on the road today, more than at any time in America's history," said Dingman, who heads the nation's 300,000-member non-profit association. "As a direct result of this growth and increased usage, we are experiencing more crashes, injuries and fatalities. Our meeting with Secretary Peters--a motorcyclist herself--was cordial yet frank. We believe she understands the sense of urgency to get this crash research underway."
According to NHTSA statistics released by Peter's office in September, the number of motorcycle riders or passengers killed on U.S. roads in 2007 increased 6.6 percent over 2006, while the overall number of traffic fatalities fell to the lowest number since 1994.
"Some time ago, Congress and the motorcycling community committed the necessary funds for this study," said Dingman. "For too long, NHTSA has simply focused on a strategy of advocating mandatory helmet use, while doing little to prevent crashes from occurring in the first place. With a new administration set to take office on January 20, we can't afford any more delays while motorcycle crashes, injuries and fatalities continue to mount. The time to begin the study is now."
Dingman stressed that while the AMA strongly supports voluntary helmet use as one element of a comprehensive approach to motorcycle safety, a higher priority must be given by NHTSA to crash prevention, which must include greater emphasis on motorist awareness programs to educate road users about motorcycles.
The crash study is being undertaken by the Oklahoma Transportation Center, an independent and well-respected research facility at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. The last major motorcycle crash study was completed in 1980, and it provided a wealth of data that has been used to develop training and strategies to help keep riders safer on the road. In the decades since, the traffic environment has changed enormously, prompting the AMA to begin campaigning for a new study several years ago.
"The idea behind the motorcycle crash causation study is to help us understand the causes of crashes so that effective countermeasures can be developed," said Dingman. "Absent this study, countermeasures will continue to be developed in a vacuum, with no way to know which measures will be effective."
In their meeting Friday, Dingman also urged Secretary Peters to reject New York City's request to ban motorcycles from high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. Federal law stipulates that HOV lanes must allow motorcycles to use the lanes unless proven to pose a safety hazard.
"Secretary Peters was supportive of our desire to end New York City's illegal ticketing of motorcyclists in HOV lanes," said Dingman.

B.B.'s Bike Garage

My engine guards finally came in. (One side note, it really bothers me that they are called engine "guards" plural when it's only one piece.)

So any way, my engine guard(s) came in and Dave told me he wanted me to put them on myself. It's not that he's a total loser jerk, it's just that he thinks it would be good for me to do as much as I can myself when it comes to my bike. I agree, I think that's the best way to learn.

Just as I was getting everything that I needed together, a thought occurred to me. Willy D, our prospect needed to do something to prove to me that he was worthy.

I immediately grabbed the phone. "Willy D." I said. "Get your ass over here and put my guard(s) on. He was over here before I could even open my beer. Good boy! The prospect did a good job in a timely manner. (With a little bit of my assistance.)

But then.......

I think he did that on purpose.

After giving him a good piece of my mind, I realized that this was at least a good opportunity to see if the engine guard(s) worked. It was also a good time to practice picking the bike up myself.

I did it mostly by myself, with just a little support from Willy D. It wasn't too bad, but I was thinking once again that I'm glad I didn't get a bigger bike.

I was a little disappointed about one thing. There's a sticker on my guard(s) that basically says they won't help in a collision with another vehicle. WTF? I thought it was a force field!