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Sunday, October 30, 2005

Sunday was the cleanout day for the attic and the first of two outdoor storage sheds. Both were hot, noxious jobs. Unfortunately, I neglected to take "before" shots of either area, but I can say that raccoon droppings look very similar to dog crap.

The shed cleaning allowed me to revisit a couple of old motorcycles that my father had bought in the mid '70s. He had some kind of arrangement with one of his engineering students that bartered for an old Honda C110 series 50cc street bike for me and a Suzuki 250 two-cylinder, two-cycle bike for him. The Honda 50 was fun for a 12-year old, but was no match for the 70cc dirt bikes that my neighbors owned. While they were happily risking their necks driving across the rice field, I was stuck on the streets deathly in fear of being accosted by the State Troopers that would sporadically patrol our neighborhood. Dad's Suzuki 250 never worked quite right despite considerable work by him and the guy who gave it to him. Over the years I had hoped to give these bikes away to someone who had an interest in classic machines. But it turned out that the gas tank on the Suzuki had corroded and given the wretched state of the Honda, they now became not treasured machines but toxic garbage that I had no idea how to get rid of.

My first payback for not taking the week at the Microtel was having to drive my parents to Alexandria, the closest I could find a hotel. Because my mother has very poor vision at night, I had to do the driving and the subsequent commute chewed up alot of time.

Next: Monday, October 31, 2005