New Arrivals

 Sorry.  It has been a while since I posted.  This has always been a little hit or miss.  It's been a busy year, so I'm just going to put it all out there.

In the early fall, I had geothermal installed.  The picture above is a big ball of tubing.  They dug 5 trenches 2 feet wide, 4 feet deep, and 150 feet long, each.  Needless to say, my front lawn was destroyed.  And I volunteered.

I also had a few solar panels installed.

Then my sister and I headed south.  We got to explore a bit in the Appalachians.  Fall color change was late, but by dumb luck we timed it perfectly.  The trip started out with some color and some green.  In the middle we got nice color like the picture at the top of this post from Little Switzerland.  In the later part of the trip the leaves were falling and you could see through the branches.

Part of the reason for the trip was digging into family history.  We followed, as best we could, the trail that one of our ancestors took to emigrate from Virginia to the Ohio River in 1769.  

We also got to find the land that another of our ancestors owed in about 1800 on the border of Virginia and N. Carolina.  Who knew?  I have some southern roots.  A picture of the creek on my ancestors property is below.

And we got to explore twisty roads for a motorcycle ride I am hosting later in the year.

After our trip, thoughts turned to home and we had a very pretty winter.  The deer were a common sight and you could say that they fertilized my yard.  Best to step carefully.

 

I'm kind of surprised that I didn't think about this earlier.  After 10 years, I sold my little red Fiat to a very enthusiastic lady who I'm sure will take good care of it.  It was actually a little hard to let go of it.  I am not like my friend Doug who can change bikes and cars every year.  Somehow, I seem to get attached.

 

I replaced the red Fiat with a 5 year newer (but still used) Fiat 500 Abarth.  It is a dark gray which wouldn't have been my first choice.  I always like bright colors on little cars so you see them.  Even more surprising that selling the red Fiat is that I have forgotten to take any pictures of the gray one.  That aside, I am enjoying it and hope it lasts as long as the red one.

 

 

The most recent additions are the new camera and the new bike.

The camera is a Sony RX-100 mk VII.  It gives me a nice zoom lens and phase detection auto focus in a small size that will make it easier to take on the bike.

The motorcycle is something of an impulse purchase, only the impulse took 3 months for me to pull the trigger.  It is an MV Agusta Turismo Veloce.  It's also the first road bike for me with a good reputation for handling.  It is an addition to the fleet, although the ZRX1200r has to go.  Like I said, I get attached.

At this point, I don't have enough experience with it to comment, but it should be fun learning.  Of course, I have to make modifications so that I can tuck my knee into the designed pocket.  I'm thinking higher seat and lower pegs will be needed.

 

Ok, you are all caught up.  You can get on with your life.

Motorcycle Plagiarism

 Of course styles change and product appearances follow each other, sometimes to the point where they all look alike.  But I feel Honda, with their up coming Hawk 11, is guilty of straight out copying the MV Agusta Superveloce.  Sure, the MV has an additional side fairing and the MV guys probably aren't going to care because the Superveloce is still better looking and likely a more enjoyable ride.  But this is pretty blatant to me.  Doesn't Honda have any shame?

 

OK, they are not the same.  The Honda is blue.