Ambulance Rides, Wet and Cold in the hospital, greyhound and cab rides. Oh, MY

So, to continue.

I'm sitting on the cement dividers that surround the construction area when the men who work on that construction come up and ask if they can move my motorcycle. I told them again that the brakes were locked up and that we hadn't been able to figure out how to move it earlier. As I look back I now know what shock looks like. I carry a full tool kit when I travel out of state.

I'm so wet that my pants are almost steaming from the Jacksonville heat. There's blood running down my arm, and the pain from trying to breathe is starting to sink into my brain. I decide to go to the hospital to get checked out, but I don't feel well enough to get back to my backpack and video camcorder off the bike. The police person asks me if I want an ambulance after I have been there for about 45 minutes. Maybe I looked like I was decompensating. I ask the guys from the fire and rescue service to bring them to me. They say they can't. I say, well then, I can't take this ride to the hospital. Guess you'll have to come back.

Someone pours peroxide on my arm after asking me if I would like to put it on myself as it might sting. Even with them pouring peroxide down my arm, I can't really feel my elbow cause my ribs hurt so badly. I also didn't like the idea that I might look and/or sound like a wimp. I am pissed when it takes the color out of my Sturgis shirt.

I decide to beg once again for my computer and video camcorder.

Now, I know that the guys think that my stuff is probably broken. I know that my stuff might be broken, but if it isn't I don't want the stuff sitting in the rain in an impound lot until someone can come and get it. It'll be a week before I can get back to it. I decide to try to call and find out if there is anyone from NAMI in the general area that might come and get some of my stuff. I can't get anyone who knows me. Shit.

Finally the guys see that I am damn serious about getting my computer and video camcorder and a guy goes out to my motorcycle and unstraps the computer. He just lays my camera in my fanny pack up on top. (Heck no, I don't even think so. I am so not leaving my camcorder to become electronic road kill on I-95.)

He comes back to the ambulance with the computer and I ask him to please bring me the fanny pack off the bike as well. He looks at his boss and goes back out to grab the camcorder.

They tell me to lie down on the stretcher. I refuse. They tell me that they have to strap me down to transport me. I refuse again. I can't imagine how much pain I will be in if I have to lie down. It already hurts when I breathe. Someone makes a command decision that I don't have to lie down, ambulance doors are slammed and we then proceed to drive over every bump and pothole on the way to the hospital. The guy says, "I know it's bumpy, but it's the shortest way." Now maybe it's me, but I wasn't in cardiac arrest. There must have been a choice.

As we are bouncing along, I am reminded more than once that it is a short trip. I think, so is going crazy a short trip. then I think that the guy is probably thinking, damn I could have taken another street. No, I rule out that he has any sense whatsoever.

When I get to the hospital they decide that I get to bypass intake and go straight to a room. They ambulance personnel help me move from their stretcher to the uncomfortable ER bed. They leave me kind of perched on the side because I can't lay down nor can I manage to scoot back. They really wanted me to scoot back. I think they were afraid that I would fall. After all, didn't I just prove that I wasn't able to ride a motorcycle? Actually I think to myself, that is probably a good thing. If I scooted back, my legs would be dangling and then after a few minutes, my knees wouldn't work. I stay uncomfortably perched.

Someone breezes in to take my vitals, and while quickly breezing back out tells me that someone will be by in a few minutes before I can think to tell them that I am freezing and need to either get out of my wet clothes or get a blanket. The next person comes in. My brain refuses to work. She did hand me the remote to the TV as she tells me that she doesn't think it works. I forget to tell her that I am freezing. I am however grateful for the remote as I hate cartoons.

I repeat to myself the words, "Remember to tell them you need a blanket."

The next person who walks in tells me that she needs me to lie down so she can strap me to the stretcher so she can move me to x-ray. I say, "I need a blanket." ----"Please." She says, that all I will need is a sheet in the x-ray room and my reply is, “well, I am very wet very cold.” She touches me and says, “yes you are, you really do need a blanket and mercifully goes to find one. As she puts the blanket across my shoulders, I try to reach up and move it. It was the first time I realized that My shoulders hurt a lot.

Most of the x-rays were taken as standing x-rays so I wouldn't have to lay down. One of the guys who came in who was a biker helped me lay down and get up from the one x-ray I had to lay down for. A technician tells me I can get dressed. They put my boots in a bag to stop them from dripping on the floor. My socks ooze out water when I walk to the wheelchair.

As I am waiting for the results of the x-rays I decide that I might was well go to the NAMI Conference. The kids are due in for the conference. There are people who generally like me and support me at the conference. There is a bed and probably some furniture at the conference. (My apartment doesn't really have furniture; there is a desk chair, a table and an old futon mattress that lays on the floor. Given a choice I would rather buy and ride a motorcycle than buy furniture.) Not that I feel like laying down anyway.

A doctor comes in to tell me that I have broken ribs.

A nurse comes in and tells me that I am being discharged and there is nothing wrong with me. I add, "Except the broken ribs." She says, "Oh, do you have broken ribs? It doesn't say that here." She goes off to check and when she comes back she says, "Well, you're right, you have broken ribs."

There is no phone book, my cell phone won't work in the hospital, but might outside and it is against their policy to give out any medications. At the moment I can't even get up to get my boots. Did I need a Jacksonville Transit Coupon to get home on the bus with? I really must have looked like a frickin refugee.

I said, “I need some pain medication, I need to get over to Orlando where my friends are, can I have a phone book?” She brings me back a phone book, but since my cell phone won't operate, I can't put the number in anyway. I think about ripping out the page, but regretfully, over all, I am a nice person that doesn't do those things. I memorize the number and ask someone for the area code.

I get a pill for the journey and to help me get through the night. It takes me at least five minutes to put on my boots and the nurse still has to tie them for me.

Outside I was at least no longer freezing. I try to call the cab but the number I memorized won't work. I am guessing that I have the wrong area code so I start to walk around towards people to ask them the number. I must look like hell because people are avoiding me like I have the plague. They tell me they don't know their area code.

I walk up to the man in the guard shack and ask him for the number to a cab. He's nice but tells me that I have to go back inside. When I looked over at the door, I decide it's too far and sit down on the edge of the cart that is outside the door. I ask him if he can at least tell me the area code. It's different than the one I had been given. I call again and get the cab company.

Thirty minutes later I'm staring at the steps of a greyhound bus trying to figure out how I'm going to climb up them let alone get my stuff on board since I really can't pick up any weight. Guys caught behind me help. The bus is really full. I think they help because otherwise, they can't get on. I try to doze off to make it easier to ignore the jostles, bumps and potholes in the road. It's at least better than the ambulance ride. A person could die while trying to get to the hospital in one of those things.

The guys also help get my luggage off the bus. (Probably because they wanted to get home.) It's after midnight. I call a cab, ask how much the fare will be and try to get the guy to not turn corners on two wheels. We reach the hotel. The doorman gets my bags. I tell the cab driver that I usually tip really well, but didn't appreciate his driving enough to tip him and walk away.

My New Scorpion Helmet Slides Across I-95

In my last post, I talked about the new toy that I bought. As I rode it home, I experimented. I checked out this and I tried that. I looked at the oil, the brake fluid, listened to the roar of then engine, etc. I liked the riding position more than I thought that I would. I found out that the bike was/is a growler. That means that he seems to be happiest around 4,600 rpms.

Not knowing Honda Motorcycles at all, I decide to put the bike in my local Honda Shop (Grace Performance out in Wadhams). There are a couple of reasons that I chose to do this. The first is that, even though I am a decent mechanic, I don't have any manuals yet for this motorcycle (a Honda GL 500 Interstate). The second is that, I need to get down to Jacksonville, Florida.

So I walk into the Local Honda shop and they accept my motorcycle into the shop. I say, could you please check it over, change the fluids and check the brakes. It hasn't been ridden for over five years. (It has 5,500 actual miles, so I didn't doubt the truth of that statement.) In this model the calipers have o rings that can crack or rot out.

I call back and ask about the brakes. When I went in to pick it up, it wasn't ready but the man who takes the orders at the service desk said, “He checked out your brakes and they are OK.”

Trusting idiot that I am, I assume that he really checked out my brakes. That meant that I thought he literally took care of them. Hindsight being 20/20 or better, what I now know is that mean that he might have squeezed the handle, and maybe checked out or changed the fluid. Maybe.

Because the bike wasn't ready and I have a meeting on the what I remember to be the 12^th or 13^th of June, I end up leaving late which I really hate to do. I am a casual rider. I like to ride for a bit, go read in a bookstore for a bit, write a bit, ride some more, etc. Stop, look around. That's just the way I like to travel. Can I do 500 or 600 miles in a day? Sure, but why not take the time to enjoy the journey. I am past the point of having to hurry to get to some place else. I have already been in the lower 48 states. Most of them I have been in on a motorcycle. I have nothing to prove to anyone. I'm just out to enjoy my life.

I decide that even though I have left later than I wish I had due to a combination of things (bike broken, weather, etc) I still need/want to take a little time and ride across Ohio on I-80 and then drop down as I love to ride the mountains of West Virgina and North Carolina. It makes more sense to just ride down I-75. It's close and a really straight shot. It is also a totally boring road that I have learned to hate. I love the toll road in West Virginia, the tunnels, the atmosphere in South Carolina.

The Ride down towards the NAMI conference in Orlando was probably the most wonderful time I've had in a long time. As I was cruising along, I thought about why I liked to ride so very much. It wasn't just to escape the cares of the world, although that is one reason that I love to ride. It wasn't just to get away from the chaos (chaos seems to equal, Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) in my apartment, as I had previously thought.

What I realized as I was riding through North Carolina was that when I ride, I am well. It is probably the only time that I am totally well. Not a little well, a lot of well. The looking forwards to life, enjoying the sites, kind of well. In fact, I felt total excitement about what life has to offer me. I even felt happy. And I felt really, really satisfied with my life and where it was headed.

This day, for me was going to be a high mileage day. I don't like this bike and the rain. It is a pain in the assets, but as I thought about it, I don't really like any bike in the rain. But I do have full rain gear and have often ridden the Kawasaki Vulcan (2753 miles worth last year) in the rain. I don't like the windshield I have on this new bike when it rains. I've ordered another, but it didn't make it in.

Just about as soon as I hit Florida, it starts to rain. It was raining badly enough that I am drenched before I can even begin to think about grabbing my rain gear. Since I can 't see, I decide to pull off to the side of I-95 and wait the storm out. It stops quickly.

I wait a bit for the road to dry off (roads dry quickly in the Florida heat) and then hop back on to finish my ride. I am still on schedule to arrive at the meeting on time.

In Jacksonville, it starts to rain again, there is a ton of construction and no where to get off I-95 unless it is onto I-10 when it starts to rain again. I know that those cement dividers probably save the lives of people in cages, but most of the time, I hate them. I do now.

All I remember thinking is "I really don't want to be here." and bam, I was sliding, ripping tearing across the middle of the interstate. I was berating myself for being such a poor rider in rain as I was sliding across the lanes of I-95 and I-10. It was a hard fall. I lay there for a minute then started moving to see if I could. Car horns honking, people trying to drive by on either side of me, I sighed. Some people blocked the road off so people couldn't do that. As I tried to sit up there was a nurse who had stopped when she saw me fall, pushing me back down, telling me to lay back down. I have really bad knees. I don't lie on my back in a hotel bed, much less on a highway. She tells me to lay back and there are guys coming that will get the bike off of my leg. I kick the bike off of my left leg, yell an unprintable word, and get up.

People who don't ride, don't really think about the exhaust pipe factor or the bad knee factor when they are telling you to lay back and someone else will get the bike off of you. I'm not burned, but my boot is steaming. And we all know that I hate to give up the frickin control to anyone else. Thank goodness I don't ride in flip flops. The brakes on my bike are locked up due to the fall, no one has a wrench so we can't pop the calipers open (why I didn't remember mine were on the front of the bike, i can't tell you) and I can't move the bike off the interstate. The police come, but aren't on the interstate, there is no one behind my bike, there is no one to protect me. The police person stays on the nice, safe side of the divider which is a residential neighborhood and we wait for a tow truck; she in her police car because it's still raining ( she was nice enough to share that she had just gotten her hair done) and me on this side of the interstate with cars passing by closely.

Bought a New Toy

Hi,

Well, I just finished purchasing a new toy. It's a 1981 Honda GL500I. Here are the pics of the bike. Hmm, where do I think that my tent, stove, sleeping pad, sleeping bag and mess kit are going to go? (I know, we'll have Berta pack it up, she can do it.)















Well, we all knew that I was going to be looking
for something, right? So this is it. grin

As you can see, it's missing a side cover on the left side and it doesn't have a trunk on the back. Yet.

So I am packing my things and getting ready to cruise down to Orlando. We all knew that I couldn't stay home for too long, right?

This bike is taller than my vulcan was. And the horn button is exactly where my turn signals were on my vulcan which can make things really annoying for other people as I head on down the road. The test drive was like, really hilarious. Honk, honk, everytime I tried to turn my signals on.

And the freaking pedals are in different places. I will have to actually go out and ride the damn thing for a while before I can go on the road. What a freaking rip. Aaauuuggghhh. I tried to wreck the damn thing earlier today on the test drive. Luckily the car behind me on the right gave me some room. It was a tight spot in an area that I didn't know.

The Honda is high mileage compared to my vulcan. It has 6100 miles (yes really) and the vulcan had 2,250 when I started out last year. They have close to the same size engine. The load will be higher riding which makes me a bit nervous as the seat height is so much higher.

One of my cousins died today from cancer. Peg wasn't old. It makes me realize just how much we need to make sure that we enjoy life while we can. She was neat. I really liked her. It's been a rough year this year, one suicide and one death from cancer.

Live long and prosper,

Marty

Megabus Trip Itinerary

People are going there is no way you can do all that for $56 (Price went down megabus posted new fares it's cost is now down to $37) so here ya go. Ya need to understand that I don't like to travel on planes, get stuck in airports for hours on end and really appreciate the oddities in life. This is one of the oddities.

The overall view. Please understand that I will do this just because I can. There is no other reason.

Kansas City--One day of sight seeing
Cleveland--One day of sight seeing
Memphis--Two days of sight seeing, (sorry I really have to see the Peabody Ducks and Graceland.)
Minneapolis--One day of sight seeing
Chicago--multiple days of sight seeing.

There is an option for one day in St. Louis which would add a day in Chicago.

I have us starting in Chicago and time along with days of the week is an importance essence, along with the all important advance purchase. The fares were valid as of today.

August 19--Arrive in Chicago--I didn't count this fare as it will be different for me & the person I want to travel with. For me it will be somewhere around $15-$20. It will be more for the other person. Look around Chicago for the day

August 19 Chicago to Kansas City Leave 11:55 PM arrive 10 AM Look around KC Fare $1
August 20 Kansas City to Chicago Leave 8:45 PM arrive 6:50 AM clean up some, drink some coffee and look around Chicago some more. Fare $1
August 21 Chicago to Cleveland Leave 11:59 PM Arrive 7:30 AM Savor Cleveland Fare $8
Glitch, tried to find a hostel in Cleveland, didn't find one handy enough for me.
August 22 Cleveland to Chicago 11:59 Arrive 5:15 Enjoy Chicago Fare $8
August 23 Chicago to Memphis 10:00PM Arrive 7:45 AM Fare $1
August 24 Memphis hostel $15 for room in dorm
August 25 Memphis to Chicago 11:00 PM Arrive 8:45 AM Chicago Fare$1
August 26 Chicago to Minneapolis Fare $1
August 27 Minneapolis to Chicago 10:30 Arrive 6:30 AM Fare $1

So that is the bare bones itinerary, although I really do like Saint Louis and I am thinking aobut adding a day there but because it is on a weekend, it would be expensive. The trip would be $16 to go there and $15 to return. I tried to look up a hostel, but that won't work as it is $20 a night.

At the moment I am looking at $100 per person for the time period I am gone and would need the rest of the $100 for fees to get into various sites. For $100 total, I now have $63 for fees to get into places and the city bus systems. Should I decide to spend more, say $150 or $200 for the two week trip I will let you know and update the blog, but it seem unnecessarily spendthrift to me. The idea is for a frugal trip.

Food is a tough one for me. I am not one that has to eat in a fancy eatery, but on a trip of this type at times food costs will rise as one needs a place to park one's assets, (their butt) or your assets get worn out. Local gas and sips don't really work well for this type of a trip.

I gotta decide for sure by the first and get my ticket should I decide that I really want to do this; cause the price goes away if the ride starts to fill.

Any sightseeing ideas that are awesome and cheap? grin

Live long and prosper. Ride safe.

Marty

So Anyway

My bike is down for a tire, but that of course should never stop life. Anyway. I get myself in a situation where I decide to try the megabus. It was fun. A really different experience.

After I managed to backtrack to get to Union Station in Chicago, I purchased my ticket via my pda to STL. When I went to look around for the place to catch the bus I saw a sign that said:

Megabus does not have a cooperating agreement with AMTRAK. Unless you are using the services and businesses inside the terminal, please wait outside. Outside there are many people awaiting the megabus service. I laugh and go find a place to sit inside. There are a lot of spaces inside, I have never seen the Chicago Union Great Hall filled and well, it is quite a while before I am to leave. Besides, I need to charge my cell phone and play on the puter.

The megabus came on time, was clean, non-smelly and I was so happy to not be on a greyhound that life seemed really good. Up on the top deck there is a place where one can sit in the window and look out at the traffic. I really enjoy watching the traffic as we rolled down the road even though it took a bit of adjusting to see how close the bottom of the bridges were to the top of our bus. I am quite sure my eyes got big at that one.

I took a couple of tylenol pm as I was a little achy from all the stuff that I had done earlier in the day. Shouldn't have. The bus was thirty minutes early and dumped us out on a street corner in Downtown STL at 5 AM while I was still pretty much asleep.

I didn't feel unsafe, but it felt really strange to be sitting on a piece of concrete at 5AM not really knowing where I was. My first thought was to scream, find out a number for a cab to the Hilton and get the fuck out of there. I tried to berate myself a couple of times for what I had done, but decided to just breathe and assess my surroundings. I relaxed and waited while things got lighter as the sun slowly started to rise. I saw a bus stop and some buses. That was a good sign. The bus stop didn't have gang symbols printed on it. Another good sign. Snicker. Like it mattered as I was already there with no transportation.

They unlocked union station around 5:30 and I went inside to find a restroom and look for some transportation information. I found a place to go to pick up the metralink and bought a ticket. The first thing I did was to get on the damn thing going the wrong direction, then realized in another stop I would be under the arch and decided to ride by it. It is a great sight. In case you didn't know it the dimensions are 630' by 630'. Way cool.

I then got off, walked around a bit, but my luggage bummed me out, so I headed out to the airport so I could catch the shuttle for the Hilton.

We are now in meetings for the trainings.

BTW I did figure out a ten day travel and lodging included five city tour by megabus that will cost a total of $111.50 for two or $56 if i end up doing it by myself. Whoohoo, life can be a RIDE. We are looking at August. I am trying to keep lodging and sightseeing fees under $200 for the ten days. They should pay me to advertise for megabus. LOL

Actually, the best part about megabus is that the drivers don't mistreat you about the tickets. You just need to take reserv number. Way cool.

Happy trails, Marty

Great Riding until it rained hard, sigh

Got home last night. We made it. Whoohoo. We tied the trailer to the top of the Grand Am, shoulda got a pic. I streaked across Michigan and part of Illinois.I got to where I just wanted out of the car. LOL Matt told me that we are really getto because I had the guts to tie the trailer on the top of the car. We thought about telling Berta that we had done it, but decided that we didn't want her to worry. big grin. She figured it out when we got home and she said, "If you had broken the glass out of teh back window I would have been pissed. Hmm, she had a point. I'm more broke than usual. LOL

Here's a pic of me & the best grandbabies in the world.








Here I am with my nephew and niece. Cute little buggers aren't they?









Here is mom & dad with the gk's.










And here are Steve and Mandy with the kids.






We try really hard to be a conventional family and take only nice pics. Usually we can get one good pic if we promise to take a fun one later.

Today was a good day. I went to a luncheon with ladies from the church. While I was gone the people who hand out the Watchtower left a note on my door. See, I told ya it was a good day, I was gone. LOL

Then after the luncheon, I went by to return the car to Berta, got my luggage from the trip yesterday, and then retrieved the motorcycle. Whoohoo. It was a great day. What a ride. I didn't really go anywhere, but I rode around. And Around. And Around. What joy.

Then at 9Pm I went to the kids to pick up my m/c cover and got caught in a torrential downpour. It was one hard ass rain. It was raining so hard it hurt. I wished I had grabbed my full face helmet. It stopped pretty quick but I was drenched. Ya know, I can't move from here. All the little old ladies and little old men wouldn't have anything to do. There would be no amusement for them.

There's a workshop at church that I would like to do tomorrow, but the weather doesn't look good. That darn storm that is coming across the midwest is heading this way and they are predicting snow. I don't like to ride in snow, even if it won't stick around for very long.

Gotta go, have a delightful night.

Happy trails, Marty


I also worked on a workshop and a plenary that I am presenting on Sunday, Hope that Rocks and Things you put in a recovery toolbox. I need to work on them some more, but I got started.

Another perfect riding day

I wasn't able to come home and get my bike, the weather pretty much stayed crappy through Friday. The blessing in that was that I got to ride home with Heather McDonald from Connecticut. She was headed home on the thruway; I know that some of you think that life ends at the edge of the country, but it doesn't. You just drive through and pick things up again at Niagra Falls.

While we were riding home, we found out that Heather got a grant that she really wanted to get. That is so awesome. It will just about if not double the size of For-U which is awesome, isn't it? It's a good Consumer Driven Program. How do I know that it is good? I spent the week with Heather, got to know who she was as a person and really liked what I found. Also, their website, when you read the about me section has the right vision and values. I would give you a direct link to their vision and values, but they don't have their website set up so I can do that.

So I have been home for two days and why haven't I written? Cause I was riding--whooo. Yesterday Boo and I rode up to Lexington and had A&W Rootbeer in frosty mugs while sitting outside. It wasn't very warm, but it was warm enough. Marty does happy dance.

I can handle life now. I have ridden out of town. LOL

I have to bring my website down later this week, it won't be tonight. I have to put it into another program so I can co-host websites. What I have isn't working and I am getting more visitors than I was before so I need to fix it now so I can not get a massive interruption later.

I have adjusted to the ebay download situation. It did take a while, even if I understood why they chose to do it. It just makes it harder and more expensive for people who wanted to get a copy of Views From the Trail or Recovery that Rocks as a download. I hate that it did that. I can't say that sales were booming, but they were picking up slowly.

Earlier today as I was out cruising along, I was thinking about the situation and realized that the intense irritation that I felt isn't here any more.

I also thought about how, when I get an idea, I need to do it right then. If I don't then I don't have time to do it later as I have another idea, and then another idea. What a joy to have so many ideas, what I need is a heck of a lot more discipline than I have. grin

I am still awaiting a turn signal assembly and a front tire so I haven't had the opportunity to do as much riding as I wish I had. I did get enough to take the edge off. Now I can go back and plan a route 66 trip so I can jam it in somewhere.

Happy trails, ride safe.

Marty