Does anyone know the old addage "Bad news travels like wildfire, good news travels slow"? How true that is. I wrote sometime back about the negativity of the media and it still bugs me. It's just not in the best interests of politicians or the media for things to be going well. If things were all fine, politicians couldn't play the blame game and the media has so ingrained the public consciousness with negative drivel that the newsfollowing populace HAS to buy bad news. It seems to be all they want because, as we all know, misery loves company. I guess the daily grind of working, raising kids, struggling to make ends meet, marital stresses, single parent stresses, concerns about family health and the plethora of other everyday problems just isn't enough for the average person, so we go buy a paper or turn on the evening news to see how much worse it MAY actually get or how much worse someone who makes alot more cash than us THINKS it is going to get. No, we can't leave bad enough alone, we MUST make it worse. It's not enough to have our own sick kid, we need to know about someone elses sicker kid. Our lives aren't stress filled enough, we need to take on the added stress of stressing about someone or something else too!

This has been on my mind along with the stress of the possibility of a career change, kids in trouble, wife pissed at me half the time, boss pissed at me the other half, Mom moving, other kid having a baby 400 miles away...you get the point. So..Today I opened the paper and was immediately assailed with the horrors of the world around me and I started wondering how many items were NOT negative, so I counted them.

Of the fifty two stories and snipets in todays world, national, state and local sections five were actually positive and three were kind of neutral. Eight of fifty two..GEEZ! On the positive side were stories about drug addicts using tai-chi to overcome addictions, KFC dumping trans fats, Cal State utilizing green power to help the environment, an upbeat cancer victim(the upbeat part was positive), voters having to show ID for absentee ballots in Ohio, and Brazilians being content with their incumbent president.

On the neutral front..The forest service making controlles burns, Hannah Montana doing a show on Halloween, and Castro showing fortitude(his being dead would rate in the positive column). I don't feel like doing the long division, but I think that is about 13% not bad news. I suppose that's not a horrible number, but with all the talk of fairness in media we hear about today(i.e. the Fairness doctrine), shouldn't the media, at some point, be made to have the good and bad news split 50-50? I think thats fair. Or have we, as a society, already passed the point of no return with respect to good news? Do we simply want to feel bad all the time? Do we want to walk around with scowls on our faces, snapping at the first person who encourages us to "have a nice day"?

I fear we aren't far from abandoning Neighborhood Watches and Block Parties on July 4th because we are always pissed, not about our lives, but the state of the world in general, and will begin to chastise neighbors who still seem just a bit "too happy". Of course the media will note this and begin to balance things a bit more so they can piss us off again once we start to feel better, but it really does seem to me that they are happiest when we are saddest.

Traveling off the beaten path is important. It broadens your horizons in many ways and it is fun too! I hear too many people say they just don't have time for it and that is too bad. I have always liked the back roads and the wealth of sites, history and life that they provide. True, there are times when a speedy trip to somewhere is warranted, even necessary, but be honest, it's not that often. How fast do you really need to get home from Vegas or to Reno? What's the fun in driving 90 mph up I-15 through Utah? Interstates are built where they are because it is the easiest, fastest, most cost effective place to put them, not because they go through the coolest, prettiest places. There exceptions to that rule, but it is generally a matter of geography rather than interest in the sites. I-70 through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado would be a classic example of that.

This past weekend the wife and I jumped on our Harleys, joined a group of friends and rode to Beatty, Nevada(on Hwy 95 between Vegas and Reno, 30 miles east of Death Valley) as we do a couple times a year. We always go the same way; over 58 to Mojave, 14 to Cal City, out through Cantil, Red Mountain, Trona, Panamint Springs, Death Valley and into Beatty..Home from Beatty on 190 to Lone Pine, 395 to 178 and over Walkers Pass, down the canyon and home. A round trip of a little over 500 miles in two days. This year we had planned on coming home a different way, but Sunday morning the group had decided to do the same way home again(even faster as they went through Ridgecrest)because everyone, for one reason or another, was in a hurry to get home. Bev and I weren't, so we said our "See Ya's" shook hands and hugged at the gas station in Beatty and split from the group at Hells Gate, they continuing on to Stovepipe Wells and we heading south to Furnace Creek.

Just the bypass from Hells Gate to hwy 190 is a great adventure as it rolls and winds down and across the alluvial fans of the Funeral Mountains along the valley's east side. The view is spectacular and you can see all the way south to Badwater and east to Stovepipe and Telescope Peak. We stopped at Furnace Creek and had breakfast and didn't balk at the outrageous prices($7.50 for two eggs and toast..no meat or taters!)because that is sometimes the nature of traveling, especially in a State or National Park. We left there and headed south through Death Valley Junction and the Armagossa Valley along the old Tonopah & Tidewater RR right of way where some of the most awesome desert views in California are to be had. We passed the Dumont Dunes where thousands of off roaders were wrapping up their weekends of sand blasting and ended up in Baker with the massive gas and muchie crowd on their way home from Vegas on the boring I-15.

We didn't join them. I wonder how many people even realize that, for an extra two hours of driving, you can head south on Kelbaker Rd. and have an awesome drive through a geologically young cindercone cluster and lava flow and wind down to the most beautifully restored Spanish style railroad depot in the state. The old UP depot at Kelso which just happens to be a few miles from the famous Kelso Dunes State Reserve. It is now the property of the Parks Dept and is open every day to the public. This can also be accessed from Nipton Rd, near stateline and from Cima Rd. between stateline and Holloran Summit. Well, Bev and I know about it and we crossed the jam packed I-15 and headed south. I think we encoutered four or five cars on the way to Kelso! After visiting the depot we headed south to I-40, 18 miles south of Kelso. You can continue south past 40 and hit old 66 at Amboy, but time really was catching up with us on the first "short" day of the year. We sped homeward at 80 mph trying to beat the darkness home, but lost the race about Tehachapi. To end the trip in classic style, Bev's bike sputtered to a stop at Union Ave. and 58, out of gas from the mad dash across the desert and up the mountain in a fierce headwind. In just that day we rode 430 miles. Our friends rode 260 and were home four hours before us, but we had a much more enjoyable ride, even if it was a bit tiring.

This was just one of our grand adventures on the backroads of California and America. If you're in Reno, skip the interstate trip home and cross the Sierras at Carson, Ebbets, Sonora or Tioga passes. See Lake Tahoe, hit Hwy 49 and visit Californias "Gold Country". On the way to Vegas sometime, turn north at Baker, go to Shoshone and go up over the mountains through Parhump. Or you can do what I did when I decided to start getting off the beaten path. Buy a detailed Atlas, a good map, whatever, and see what's out there to see. Find some history, eat some great meals at some Mom and Pop joints on backroads in Arizona or Wyoming. Stop at some museums, some "vista" turnouts, slow down, take it easy. Vegas isn't going anywhere and your house will be there if you are a few hours or a few days late. Enjoy America and the richness it has to offer. TRAVEL!

I have had the opporunity to experience some pretty amazing things in my life and all the emotions that have gone along with them. I have had a near death experience, been seriously injured, been in love, been dumped and enjoyed a few things I will not go into in a public forum such as this. I have watched one of my kids come into the world and helped deliver another. I have had very cool jobs that allowed me to witness very interesting events and I have travelled quite alot and seen many things.

All of that has involved a vast array of emotions, but the most fun things I have done have all involved competition. Whether it was football, baseball or motocross..whatever, it was all very exciting, but motocross was my passion and my first love. It was the sport in which I enjoyed the most success and had the most fun. I loved the feeling of rising to a challenge and pitting my skills against those of other men. I loved the feeling of giving everything I had and leaving all I had to give out on the track, but above it all, I loved the feeling of winning. There is no better feeling in the world than crossing the line first and knowing that you are the best at that moment. It is a high that drugs cannot match, an excitement that goes beyond even sex! YOU feel like the hero. YOU kiss the trophy girl, and your wife/girlfriend doesn't get mad because you are their hero too, and your kids brag about you to their friends. Winners rock and everyone loves a winner. Sometimes, giving 100% is only good enough for second place, but second place is still the first loser.

To line up at the next race knowing that you beat everyone there the last time you raced is a huge advantage to you and a huge disadvantage to the competition. It gives you a feeling of power to know that everyone will be chasing you, and if you have to chase them for awhile, you know you can catch and pass them and it makes winning even sweeter. It's good for your ego and that is a very important part of winning. Arrogance is dispicable, but being cocky is good for your psyche and bad for your rivals. I make jokes about demoralizing the competition, but it is advantageuos to make them believe they cannot beat you.

Although my racing career was never professional, it was still the most supremely satisfying thing I have ever done. I loved banging bars with rivals, bench racing afterward and seeing my name in Cycle News! Out on the track I could hear announcers telling the spectators I was leading or that I had won. I put a lot of time, money and work into racing bikes and I didn't do it be second best, I did it to be a winner and I succeeded. No, I did not win every race I entered, and it killed me to lose. I Like what Gen. George S. Patton said.."I wouldn't give a damn for a man who lost and laughed, because the idea of losing is hateful". Winning is why we compete, it's why we work hard, train, practice and sacrifice. Losing isn't something to go suck a gun barrel over, but it is something to be contemplated, worked on and overcome.

People who say "It's just a game" or "Winning isn't everything" have never been a winner. Once you taste victory, you are hooked and nothing else will ever do again. It is something you MUST have more of and are willing to do whatever needs to be done to see that it happens except for cheating, which, I am sure, would cheapen the experience. I never thought of the competition as losers when I won, I only thought of myself as the winner, but I could be hard on myself if I didn't win. I didn't pout or throw things(very often!), but I did resolve to step it up next time. I probably spent more money in a month of racing than all the trophies I ever won are worth, but they are MY trophies because I won them!

Injuries and age have conspired to make it unfeasable for me to race motocross, at least at the level I once did, any longer. Maybe that is a good thing, maybe it isn't. I miss the fierce competition and casual comraderie of the So. Cal. Motocross circuit. I miss being so physically beat after a race that driving was a task! I miss my wife, kids and friends cheering me on from the fence. I miss the pure adreneline rush of the first turn and hitting the big jumps I miss the smell of crisp air, racing fuel and fresh dirt, but most of all, I miss winning!

Last week I was at work standing about ten feet from a train as it sped by at 60+ mph up near Merced. I was looking in the direction the train was going so as not to get dirt in my eyes when I heard the telltale metallic tinkling of strapping(metal straps that secure loads)dragging on ballast(the rocks the tracks sit in). It is a noise that is very common, and therefore, very familiar to railroaders. I didn't didn't even look back. I just stepped back quickly. The strapping passed harmlessly by only hanging about two feet to the side of the train. I didn't bat an eye because I am used to that sort of thing, but it reminded me of how dangerous my job can be and how complacent I can get about it. I have seen strapping attatched to trains wrap around posts on bridges embedded in two feet of concrete and rip them out in an instant and drag them along till we could get the train to stop. I have seen power switch machines destroyed by strapping. I have seen piggy back trailers come loose and knock down signals, rip passing traiers on an adjoining track open and knock other cars off an adjoining track, and still I stand in such close proximity to the trains as they hurtle by. I am an idiot.

I have seen dozens of derailments causing more damage than most people can imagine. Entire end of siding locations, signals, crossings, bridges, all wiped out in the span of a few seconds. I have seen material and parts of cars and trailers fall off of trains and do some nasty damage to whatever they come in contact with. I have seen powders, liquids and who knows what leaking from the bottoms and sides of cars, and still I stand that close to trains. I am an idiot.

I have never been injured at work, but I have seen people horribly injured and killed there. When I was a gang foreman, two of the men working for me were struck by a hy-rail pickup(the pickups you see driving down the tracks)while we were inspecting a switch location. The driver was doing paperwork while going down the tracks on cruise control and I had not posted a lookout. Both those men were permanently disabled in an instant. These werent just guys I worked with, I knew them both very well and we were friends. It was the worst day of my life, so far. I still cannot talk about it outloud, and still I am complacent about what I do and where I position myself at work. I am an idiot.

Every job has it's inherent dangers whether it is getting hit by a train or the ceiling caving in in an office from a plumbing problem. I guess I just needed to remind myself in writing to be more vigilant while I work. I hope that this gets to somebody else who needs to be reminded of that also. Stay alert and don't get hurt! Your family is counting on you to come home in one piece!

I have no idea who will be the victors in the upcoming election, but I do know this. The left is still banging away with venom rather than issues. The whole Foley thing sickens me and I, for one, am glad he is gone, but he IS gone and that was more than could be said of the liberal hero(I cant recall his name and dont feel like looking it up) who actually had sex with an underage page back in the day while globe hopping with the boy. Although censured, he refused to leave and was applauded(literally) for it by the then liberal majority house. Nancy Pelosi supported NAMBLA and gay rights by marching in a parade extolling such behavior in the past. I wonder where her pro-gay voice is right now. All along the left has embraced homosexuality and has had no obvious moral problems with anything that came down the pike(no pun intended), gay or otherwise, until it was a Republican who was found to be communicating with underaged pages(he may as well be having sex with them as far as I am concerned). Now they would have you belive that all gays are child molestors and engage in morally abhorrent behavior. Where was all this moral outrage in the past. I agree with them on this one(even if their outrage lacks sincerity), and as I said, I am glad the Republicans are shed of this pervert, and I guarantee you that he is not the last politician that will be found out hitting on underaged pages(or whatever)on either side of the aisle, and they should ALL be bounced out of office as they are caught in the light and tossed in a place where they can do no harm except to themselves. The left, however, will certainly want it both ways and jump back into their double standard mode when it is politically convenient for them to do so. I don't know if the gay and gay supporting community is paying attention to the fact that they have been pawns in the liberal agenda or not, but they should be. I hope people start seeing the faulty construction of bridges between them and the left and stop pouring water on the bridges the left is setting fire to. You can't really believe that this behavior actually upsets the left! It's just another way to avoid the fact that they have no plans on the REAL issues facing America today. Homeland Security, Illegal Immigration, Terrorism...I am still hearing nothing about these issues from the left. All I ever hear is what dirty rotten guys the conservatives are, how Bush is responsible for everything from the tsunami to the North Korean nukes. They pounded on him for a bad economy while the economy was just fine and the market numbers prove it. Then it was gas prices. He was making them go up to line his buddies pockets, now he is accused of making them go down to assuage the public in the face of an election year. Again, the left wants it both ways. There are so many libs who just have no clue about what drives oil prices or the economy. I am no PhD in the area, but I have a grasp of what makes it all work. I have stated before that I do not hate liberals, I simply disagree with them on nearly everything. I will not call people names or make juvenile remarks about their views. I, however, am not afforded the same courtesy by most liberals because in the face of a real challenge or real issues on which they have no plan, they always revert to the lowest common denominator when it comes to debate. They, of course, tend to argue more than debate, calling names and shouting over the logical points of those who disagree with them(i give you Howard Dean and Al Gore). I don't know if all the political grandstanding and fingerpointing will get them where they want to be, but if it does, I am anxious to see what they intend to do about the real problems this country faces when they no longer have the right to blame for them. I don't think they are up to the task, We shall see.

I recently purchased a digital voice recorder so I could remember all the things I want to blog, converse or debate about and to help me remember to do things I can never seemt o remember I need to do. I have had it sitting next to the puter since I got home from my out of town work trip last week, and I just had the chance to listen to it. Most of the stuff I wanted to say is now old news because I have been too busy to do any sort of writing and I am not in the habit of resurrecting old news or beating dead horses just to make me feel better. This is the life I commented on recently. The busy life. I have been home for five days now and this is my first opportunity to write or even get on the puter for more than just a few minutes other than the bragging I did on the High School Football posts Saturday before I was innundated with errand running. I am always amazed at how busy I stay, and my kids don't play sports. They do require SOME attention though, and doing thing for and with them is a priority. I hadn't played my guitars in quite some time before I took one on the road with me last week while out of town. I realized that when I have the spare time to play, I use it at the gym or resting afterward. I realized how much I love playing which I knew already, but it is easy to forget the things I like to do when I get busy. I played for a couple of hours every night I was out of town because I didn't have a gym to go to in Madera. At least my fingers got some exercise. My Friday nights are taken up going to watch my grandson(Ryan Mathews, to those who haven't heard me brag on him already) play football, then I watch the replays of him on the news when I get home. Weekends are almost always spoken for with family or Harley stuff and I am thinking about getting another dirt bike. I wonder if I will ever have the time to ride it. The worst decision I have made in the last few years was to sell my 98 YZ250 race bike. Hell, it was paid for and set up just the way I wanted it! No matter, the environmentalists are seeing to it the two strokes will be banned in the USA soon enough. My overtime has slowed down dramatically in the last couple of months because the thives are either getting busted or getting lazy again(another post I made in the past)! I have also been pre-occupied with the possibility of changing careers at the age of 47. I think about it all the time and it is very distracting. Time...There just isn't enough of it to go around, it seems. So, since I am writing THIS while I am being payed to do work stuff, I guess I'd better get back to work!