Rant Archive - October 2007
October 27, 2007 - THREE LIFE LESSONS
FROM THE WAFFLE HOUSE
Here in Tennessee we have a breakfast tradition
known as the Waffle House. The small roadside cafe's are located in just
about every town in the Volunteer State and are instantly recognizable with
their bright yellow exteriors trimmed with black and yellow striped awnings.
And while there is no mistaking their outward appearance... the menu is quite
distinguishable as well. The Waffle House has built a reputation on serving
up big, southern style breakfasts complete with Waffles, Biscuits and Gravy,
Grits, Omelets, Toast and Hash Browns... and they serve these southern feasts
(along with an entire menu of other items) 24 hours a day. That's right,
no matter what time of day the hunger pains strike, all you gotta do is hop
on the bike and run down to the local Waffle House where they'll fix you
right up.
But the food is not the purpose of this RANT...
in fact, I am currently in the 8th week of an intense physical training program
so I am not able to partake of all the goodies offered but I still like to
make an occasional visit, just to soak in the slice of Americana it
provides. A throwback to the 1950's, the decor is very simplistic and
what you would imagine any diner from that era to look like. Bar stools line
one side of the long narrow buildings with formica-topped table booths on
the other side. Behind the bar is a wide-open kitchen area where you can
watch every step of the food preparation process. It's quite a sight and
the kitchen at a Waffle House is always hoppin'. Waitresses are busy taking
orders and hollering them out to short order cooks who are buzzing around
non-stop, making it all happen.
This morning I stopped by the Waffle House down
on the corner before meeting up with some others for a ride... and as usual,
the place was packed. After waiting a few minutes I took my place at the
bar next to an older gentleman who was
 dressed in work overalls with the name Dave embroidered
across the right chest. Dave had hands that proved he was a hard-working
mechanic of some sort and he was a bit upset about the new "no smoking in
restaurants" law in Tennessee. He spent a few minutes voicing his opinion
on the subject but did finally agree with me that it was better for his health
not to be smoking anyway. To my left was a man dressed in a button-down shirt
and tie with his daughter who looked to be about three years old. Her name
was May and her bright smile and endless energy kept us all entertained.
My waitress, Karen, never stopped running the entire time I was seated and
was completely embarrassed that she forgot about my whole wheat toast. As
I sat there taking it all in, chatting with Dave and enjoying Mays antics,
I realized that a lot can be learned from the Waffle House. I took the
pic to the left with my cell phone and made mental notes of three life lessons
the picture represents.
Life Lesson #1 - Let's get rid of the walls.
Why is it that people build walls between each other based on income, career
or what neighborhood they live in? At the Waffle House everyone is equal
and you can enjoy breakfast while chatting with people from all walks. If
you would have observed my breakfast this morning you would have seen me,
a graphic designer, so-called artsy-fartsy type, a dirty finger-nailed mechanic
type, a prim and proper salesman type and a hard-working waitress all
enjoying each others company with no regard to what the other dressed like
or looked like. This is how the world should function.
Life Lesson #2 - Simple is really better.
Some people don't like the Waffle House because it's never going to make
the "Best of Nashville Restaurants" top-ten list... but they don't understand
that the simplicity of it is what makes it great. Why do we make life so
complicated? At the Waffle House you know what you are getting... a decent
meal at a fair price with no bells and whistles. There are no pretensions...
it is what it is and everyone seems to be more relaxed because of it. Wouldn't
it be nice if all of life were like that.
Life Lesson #3 - An honest days work for an
honest days pay. I have to tell you, I think the waitresses and cooks
at the Waffle House are some of the hardest working people I have ever seen.
The pace is non-stop and although I am sure none of them are getting rich,
they work hard to earn every penny they make. I would be exhausted by the
end of a shift if I had to do what they do... and the teamwork is quite amazing
to watch. Everyone has their job and knows exactly what their role is in
accomplishing the combined goal. It's quite impressive to observe and frankly,
some of the corporate messes I've been associated with in the past could
learn a lot from the Waffle House.
So there you have it... three life lessons from
the Waffle House. I'm not sure why God created my brain to look at things
like this a little closer than most would, but I'm glad he did... and feel
some responsibility to point them out to whoever will listen. So humor me...
next time you see a Waffle House, drop in, order some breakfast and take
the time to look around. You might be surprise to see more than just a
restaurant.
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October 22, 2007 - THE MADKAW VIDEO...
PLUS CREATING MUSIC
CLICK ABOVE... video will
pop-up in another window.
Back in January of 2006 my dad and I created the
MadKaw Bobber from a 1984 Kawasaki KZ550LTD. It was a lot of fun and the
bike actually was featured in three different magazines including Road Bike.
You can check out pics of the entire process
HERE but the video above gives you a quick
"minute-and-a-half" overview.
BTW... I have received a couple of emails this
month from people wanting to know if I created the backing tracks for the
videos I have posted... The answer is yes. Below is a behind-the-scenes look
at me creating the track for the MadKaw video. Audio is poor because you
are hearing it off of the camera mic but you get the idea... and you can
hear the finished stereo track in the video above.
Actually, the music is the easy part for me...
Making the video fit the track is where my learning curve is right now. In
the past I have created original music for radio advertisements, company
training videos, websites and more but someone else has always done the
editing... but now I want to do it all... whahahahaha (evil
laugh).
CLICK ABOVE... video will
pop-up in another window.
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October 21, 2007 - THUNDER ROADS TENNESSEE
- NOVEMBER ISSUE
The November issue of Thunder Roads Tennessee should
be in the stores this week. You can grab a FREE copy at just about any motorcycle
establishment in the state of Tennessee or you can check it out on-line in
.pdf format at
www.thunderroadstennessee.com.
This month my column is about the California Hell
Riders who visited Nashville earlier this month with their "Wall of Death"
Motordrome.
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October 16, 2007 - A PRE-RIDE AND MORE
VIDEO NONSENSE
Last night I went on a pre-ride on the SV. What's
a pre-ride you ask? That's when you go out and ride a route before you lead
a group on the same exact route... just to be sure that the roads are safe
and open... and to be positive you know exactly where you are going. I do
this every time I lead a ride and you should too. Anyway, I captured some
video along the way to try and gain a little more experience. What I learned
this time is:
1 - I really need a camera that has some kind
of built in image stabilization.
2 - Even though these are only 30 to 60 second
clips... sometimes I just need to slow down and scan
deliberately.
3 - If something in the soundtrack initially sounds
cheesy... it probably is. Sorry about the cheesy little lead line about half-way
through...hahaha!
4 - Abrupt endings to your soundtrack are not
necessarily a good idea!
At any rate... it's another video under my belt.
One day I will be good at this... for now, you are stuck being my Guinea
Pigs!
CLICK ABOVE... video will
pop-up in another window.
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October 14, 2007 - A BEAUTIFUL DAY TO
RIDE... OR NOT!
Middle Tennessee was in gorgeous fall-like form
on Saturday. A high in the low 70's with lot's of clear blue sky made for
a beautiful day to ride... or not... because it was also a great day to take
care of the fall lawn preparations. At 7:00am, instead of hopping on the
bike, I ran down to the local Lowe's and rented this strange machine that
cuts slits in your yard while spreading seed at the same time. It wasn't
as fun as going for a ride but my guarantee of a perfect bed of Fescue this
spring made it worth the sacrifice. Besides, the little machine did kind
of have that handle-bar feel to it, as witnessed in the photo below that
my wife snapped... so it almost felt like I was riding down the highway,
wind in my hair... OK, not really but I gotta reach for something motorcycle
here!
I did however manage to get the bikes out of the
garage for a cleaning and group photo. Maybe this will put to rest the fears
of all of you that emailed, worried that I had gotten rid of the Electra
Glide when the SV came along.
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October 11, 2007 - MEN NEVER GROW OUT
OF WANTING MORE TOYS
 This
afternoon I went to the local "Stuff-Mart" to pick up one of those little
halogen lighbulbs for a lamp in my office. Of course, it is hard for me to
do anything without somehow relating it to motorcycles... and as I was selecting
a bulb, I noticed this cool little night light about three bins over to my
left. Now usually these kinds of motorcycle knick-knacks are pretty cheesy
and less than authentic looking but this one actually looked pretty cool.
An authentic looking V-Twin, cool flame graphics on the tank, cool custom
wheels... it had it all so I brought home the three dollar toy along with
my new halogen bulb.
My wife tells me that men never grow out of wanting
more toys and I think she may be right. After all, I do have three motorcycles
in the garage. But I was thinking... maybe men like toys because it brings
back good memories of younger days. You know, back before responsibility
and stress. Personally, I have very fond memories of my high school days...
and in particular the people that I hung with... my friends. I recently had
the opportunity to reconnect with one of those high school friends whom I
hadn't seen or spoken to in over 25 years. The strange thing is that we picked
up right where we left off without missing a beat. We laughed a little, cried
a little... and it was great fun. It reminded me that I need to make more
of an an effort to keep in touch with those special people God places along
the way in my life.
Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love where
I am in life today and I am blessed beyond belief with a saint of a wife
and wonderful family, but sometimes it's fun to reminisce about the "old
days" with an old friend if for no other reason than just to make the statement
that "you were and still are special to me". I hope to do more of that in
the future... oh, and I'll probably get a few more toys along the way as
well!
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October 7, 2007 - BOSWELL'S HARLEY-DAVIDSON
- 2007 BIKE SHOW
One of my favorite dealers here in Nashville is
Boswell's Harley-Davidson. I've purchased two H-D motorcycles from them in
the last two years and consider them to be my home town dealer. Well, yesterday
they had their annual bike show so my dad and I went over to check it out.
It was a good show. I didn't get many pictures but there are a few for you
to see at the link at the bottom of this RANT. Be sure and take a look at
the 1971 Sportster I spotted... man, that thing was sweet! Also, another
cool thing about the event was that they brought in The California Hell Riders
with their Motordrome. I had no idea anyone was still doing this. Check my
other RANT from today for more on that.
CLICK HERE NOW
to see a few pics from the show... including a SWEET 1971
Sporty.
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October 7, 2007 - THE WALL OF
DEATH!
CLICK ABOVE... video will
pop-up in another window.
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October 4, 2007 - WOW... IT'S JUST MY
KIND OF PLACE!
I had the opportunity to hang out in Clearwater
Beach, Florida for a few days this week. I have visited the gulf-side town
probably ten times in the past ten years but I just never get tired of it.
Pure white sandy beaches, tropical-like vegetation, the peaceful sound of
crashing waves, the smell of salt in the air… it all adds up to one
of my favorite places in the world. And from a riding standpoint it gets
even better. There is a thriving motorcycle community in the area (see yesterdays
RANT for a prime example) and you can literally ride all year-round thanks
to the typically beautiful local weather. Wow... It's just my kind of
place!
BTW… While I was in town I dropped in on
Fletcher's Harley-Davidson in Clearwater. Check it out if you are ever in
the area. It's a nice little store and they had some slammin' good deals
on Motorclothes that I took full advantage of.
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October 3, 2007 - BIKE NIGHT AT QUAKER
STEAK IN CLEARWATER, FLORIDA
If you ever find yourself in Clearwater, Florida
on a Wednesday night, be sure and check out the bike night at Quaker Steak
& Lube on 49th street. It is top-notch, complete with vendors, a live
band and just about every style of bike you can imagine. I got there about
6:00pm this evening and soon discovered that this is no ordinary little bike
night. The entire parking lot (which is blocked off for bikes... cars have
to park off-site) was already jammed full by the time I arrived and I would
guess there were at least 600 bikes on hand... it was
awesome!
And, if you have never been to Quaker Steak before,
I can tell you that even without the bike night, it is quite a treat. The
place has the vibe of a repair shop/garage and features real-life race cars,
Corvettes and of course motorcycles throughout. The added bonus is that the
food is good and reasonably priced. Steaks, wings and pretzels are their
specialty but creating a biker friendly atmosphere is also something they
obviously do extremely well.
CLICK HERE NOW
to check my pics from the Quaker Steak Bike Night in
Clearwater.
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