Sites, sounds and smells of a grease junkie

 Hey there, been a while since I rapped atcha So... things have changed around here as of late Recently I lost my job. Not like, I misplaced it, but I was let go. Not gonna say more about it all than, it's been a change that I am very much still in the middle of.  Still, one foot before the other. Honestly, besides that, not much else has changed.  Call me a liar or an idiot. I won't deny the allegations.  Keep it rubber-side down out there.

  Hello there. It has been nearly a decade since I have posted here.  A lot has changed. Some things have not. For example, my beard is now all white and I still wear glasses. Also, my need to express myself had not changed.  Mostly the last 10 years I spent that with photography.  I look forward to sharing some of my work here, like the one above. Expect I will continue to take photos. However, I have a need to write again.  So here I am.  Writing.  Whatever that means.  Until next time take care.  -JMo

This is my final post on this site. I'm changing the focus and moving to a new address. You can find me now at www.thejmoshow.wordpress.com It's still very new so bear with me as I get settled in. Thanks and enjoy! Jamie

This is long overdue, I realize but, you know, life. A couple quick thoughts post trip. 1 - This was considerably less wilderness-y than I had expected. Not that it was a bad thing but I had not expected latrines and nice campsites. I had expected people especially on the weekends. Though we only saw one other pair of long distance hikers during the entire trip. Everyone else was day hikers. 2 - I would do this again. I would like to try this same section again. Other parts of the SHT. I would like to try winter hiking up there. AND I want to try hiking other areas. This has awoken a new love for me. I love my bike and this won't replace it, but this was a lot of fun. The whole thing. It was hard work sometimes. But I learned alot. And I would like to push myself to do more and to do some harder stuff. I could see a trip out West to cover some of the Rockies for sure. The crew for the trip consisted of Jeff, Scott and myself. That’s it. A hearty trio! Anyway, enough of t...

First, Happy New Year! I'm not much for resolutions. I'm more of a "steady and constant" change kind of person. That is the kind of change that sticks with me. Tweaking life, bit by bit. Writing this is difficult. Not because it is a hard subject but my thoughts and words have been elsewhere for a while. Regardless, here's a little something. Call them resolutions if you want. Call them my hopes. Plans. Dreams. Here's what I'm aiming for with 2015. Nine, Ten, Eleven and Twelve.  I am going to expand my volunteerism. More often. More places. Take V to Madison and Milwaukee. Ride at least one trail that I have never ridden before. Ride in a state I haven't ridden before. Hug more Love more That's enough. Time for some Nine. Hope you have an amazing 2015!

Things as of late have been an exercise in patience, persistence, priorities and perspective. And by as of late I should say...this year. :-) Nothing horrible which is why I say exercise not a study in the four Ps. Funny thing about it all, is I'm OK with that. I am so damned grateful that can say that. That I can feel those things. Most of you all have no idea have no idea how long I didn't feel. I did a decent job for a good stretch of time making sure I didn't feel. Even though there has been a bit of tumult this year, I am grateful for it and grateful for my ability to just sit with those feelings. Hope today finds you (yes YOU!) well. J

Dear fellow humans whom I share the roads with when I am on my bicycle, Leave me alone. Please. Please do not see how close to me you can get. Please keep your vehicle on your side of the white line. Your vehicle is massive and would squish me like a bug. I like being alive. There is no need to verbally assault or harass me. Calling me "f%cking f@g" or "queer" only makes you look stupid. If you yell "get a job" to me that only makes me wonder how much you've had to drink. Think of it like this. When you go out to play volleyball or baseball or go fishing or hunting or whatever it is you like to do, you wouldn't want random people threatening you right? Well I'd rather not be hassled either. I'm just out for a ride because it is what I enjoy. So, again please just leave me alone. I will do my best to simply stay out of your way. Sometimes though our paths will intersect. You may have to slow down. I know this is some sort of ma...

There are not many places I feel normal. Most of the time I feel odd. Left out. Not part of the crowd, even if I am IN a crowd. But on the bike I feel normal. Usually I'm not in a crowd, it is usually alone. I (try to) clear my mind of thoughts. Easier to do when I'm riding off road. Just focus on the breathing. Just focus on the spinning. Where should I position my body? Find the flow. The rhythm. Move those legs old man. Push a little harder Grandpa. Come on. Show me what you got! That all you got? Push. Harder. Faster. More. When my muscles ache and lungs burn, that is when I feel most normal. Some days it is frustrating because even if I push I can't find that feeling. It is still good to ride make no mistake. But my brain gets frustrated. I want to feel OK. Even if it is only for a little while.

Confidence inspiring. That's my first impression of the Remedy 650 (27.5 I don't care WHAT you call it.)  Which is great. I've ridden stuff that I've never ridden before. Again, give me shit for being old and slow all you want. I'm the one having fun. Of course that confidence is a double-edge sword. I've found myself in a couple situations where I was clearly out of my current skill set. Not a bad thing, that's what I bought the bike for. I want to learn how to ride new things. However, I did manage to bang my ribs around a bit when I managed to not clear a rock pile. Also, I'll have to brush up on my falling skills it seems. I'm not going to go into tech-weenie bullshit. Don't ask me how much travel it has or what the weight is. I don't know. If you want to know, let me direct you to trekbikes.com  where you can find out all sorts of that information. Mostly I don't care about the technical side of it. I know how it wor...

Just got home from a Work-cation. Few quick thoughts. 1) I love the Rem Si-Fiddy. Say all you want about that being too much travel for the Midwest. All I know is there is a ton of stuff I can ride now that I didn't before. On top of all that, it climbs. Well. 2) The Farm aka Jim's Farm aka The Trek Trails are a blast. Glad I got to ride them as much as I did AAAAAAND with a night ride! 3) I love the Levis-Trow Mound trails. Also, they are the best way to break up the drive from Madison to Minneapolis. If you have never ridden there, you need to. 4) Sometimes I do not miss working in the office. Sometimes, especially after being there for a few days, I do miss it. There are some really f%cking amazing people who work there. I am grateful that I get to call some of them my friends. 5) Bird's Ruins Disc Golf Course in Marshall, WI is a thoroughly enjoyable course. 6) I have the best girlfriend in the world. That's all for know. Xs Os

Finally got some dirt on the Rem Sis Fiddy. My thoughts: Give me all the shit you want. You can give me shit if you want because it's not a fat bike. Because it has more travel than I need. Because it's not a fully-rigid 29er. Because it's a funny tire size. Give me shit because I'm slow and old. At the end of the ride, I'm the dude grinning like the Cheshire Cat. More to come so for right now, shut up and go ride.

Domane is slang for "rides over everything." Got a new road bike last fall, a Domane 2.3 . The short version of this post is I love this bike and it has made me rethink the way I approach aluminum road bikes. I'm sure I'm breaking some sort of industry code. A long-time industry guy on a 105-equipped road bike? Not just a 105-equipped bike but an ALUMINUM frame?! Don't worry, I had my concerns. Aluminum road bikes do not have a great track record for me. I've tried a few. I've hated them. Every. Single. One. They've always been sooooo damn stiff and rattle the teeth from my skull. A 20-mile ride feels like 40. However, they have the advantage of being less expensive than carbon, so there's that and frankly I wanted to keep the cost down. 2014 Trek Domane 2.3 I've kept it mostly stock. I've swapped out the saddle and bar tape because the stock saddle/tape were white and I don't care for white saddle/tape. This spring I ...

This past winter was long and cold. It was one for the record books. I am glad to see it has finally left. Just the same, I had some fun during this past winter. I've often found bad weather to be more tolerable when you get out and enjoy it. I had plans on writing something a bit more about this trip. It happened the weekend of March 8-9. Mostly because I had a rare weekend to myself. I figured it would be busy. But I didn't make any plans other than "Go to ice caves." Little did I know how busy it actually would be. I've been to Washburn/Bayfield in the winter before. It is normally very quiet. It was not quiet. It was busier than I'd ever seen it during the winter, without a doubt. Anyway, here are a few of my trip notes. Hope you enjoy. I know I did. On the way up I stopped at 50-foot snowman in Gilman, MN. It was...tall. It was actually quite impressive. I then stopped along the way, to get out of the car for a few hours and hiked in the St. Croi...

It has been a long time since I have written. Seems time to write again. The spirits seems to be moving me. I suspect it has something to do with some step work I'm on. But there seems to be more to it than that. Writing is not an everyday thing for me. Though I suspect if I wrote a little everyday, it would become easier. Much like exercise. Or eating cheetos. This isn't much but I hope to explore more again via the written word. Oh and also... Horse head mask. Not just a mask. A way of life. Xs Os

Today is one of those days when I have a mix of gratitude/thankfulness and an immense sadness. I am so very grateful and thankful to have a roof over our heads and comfortable beds. Grateful to have running cold and hot water. Thankful to have heat and a/c. Grateful to know where my next meal is coming from. So very thankful and grateful all around. The sadness comes from two angles for me tonight. The first is those affected by the   twister that struck Moore, OK earlier today .The tornado, as of right now, being measured as an EF-4. It sounds as though it was a mile wide and had winds up to 200 miles per hour. But forget all that. One of the places the tornado destroyed was an elementary school and all I keep thinking about is those kids. How terrified they must have been. Maybe I'm more sensitive to it now that I have a child that age. I just can't help but think of how awful that was for them. Not just this tragedy, but any tragedy involving kids. ...

I am not a marathon runner. I am not fast. I am not an endurance athlete. What I do isn't really running. However, I am a human being. With that in mind I dedicate all my miles in the month of April to those affected by today's tragedy in Boston. To those who have died, to those who are injured, to their family and friends, to the EMTs, police and firefighters, to the city of Boston and beyond, these miles are for you.

Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about his religion. Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place. Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more ti...

Just busy with life. Most of it has been good. Some has been great. A few bumps in the road just to keep my honest. Been riding the bike inside a ton. Feeling like I want to start running again, but the weather this last week hasn't been cooperative. I know, I know I could still run outside, but the prospect of running in sub-zero temps is about as appealing as getting punched in the throat. Call me soft, I don't care. With all the indoor miles I've found I may need to do a mid-winter tune on the bike. Clean off the grime and gunk, just give the bike a good once over. No one likes a dirty drive train! I thought I had more, but I don't. C'est la vie!!!

So Operation V has commenced. I'm not sure what all I'm going to do, but I have done two things. Very simple things, but still, it's something. First I debadged the car. Not completely. It still have the Pontiac emblem front and rear, but the words "Pontiac" and "Vibe" are gone. Gives the rear of the car a nice smooth look. I like a smooth rear. Here's the before image. Not horrible. It looks the same as every other Vibe that is on the street. (Yes I realize I'm talking about a passenger vehicle, not a sports car.) To remove the badges, all I needed was some fishing line, a blow dryer and some 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner. Cut a line length of fishing line, several feet worth. Take the blow dryer and heat each letter. Check the letter so you don't overheat them and peel the paint. Once the lettering is soft and wiggles easily on the paint, take the fishing line and run it through the adhesive tape. It should slice thro...