redelk
Moderator
Please... speak to the hand.
Posts: 3212
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posted November 22, 2002 09:52 PM
 Edited By: redelk on 29 Nov 2002 20:10
Dallas Report I - no bike pics, just boring non-bike ramblings
It has been said that the best made plans often go astray. Since it seems that this is the "norm" for your humble reporter, I should know better to expect anything else. Let's go back a few days, shall we?
It's been "Happy Days" around the Elk office. Our company is in the process of getting a new truck to replace our old '91 Chevy. My how times change when it comes to getting a truck loan for a company vehicle. It wouldn't be a big deal if I personally was getting the loan, but when it's in a company name, just a list of one's creditors doesn't cut it anymore. Company financials, a guarantor and their personal tax returns, as well as "special" (read: higher) interest rates... and so on.
So you might say, "Big Deal. What's this got to do with the show and who cares about some old (new) pick up truck?" Well, for one thing, the company truck is actually my daily driver and bike trailer tow vehicle. Also, considering that it's a custom ordered, fully loaded, 21' long, 3+ ton 4X4 pick up that I don't pay a dime for it or it's gas, maintenance, insurance or any other related "expense"... I care. The truck has been here for over a week, but until all the loan paperwork goes through, it's just sitting on the dealer's back lot. I figure they (our and the dealer's bean counters) should have everything worked out when I got back.
So what's this got to do with the show? This is where the plans go astray.
Since I'll be trading in my late brother's Eagle Talon (as well as the old company truck) on the new truck, I figured that the Talon would be the perfect road trip vehicle. Anyway, the old truck might not have made the trip. Of course, any "serious" road trip needs some serious "road trip" equipment. Call it a few "Elk Touches" to make the short 5 hour drive... shorter.
I started of by taking the Valentine One detector out of the bike and putting it in the Talon. Ah, but that's not good enough. I also took the GPS off the bike and attached it to the dash.
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! I hooked the GPS up to the new laptop, programmed the trip into the mapping software and BINGO! A "Big Screen" (15") navigational system. Now were cookin'!
So, when I hooked everything up this morning and started the car, the detector comes on, the laptop indicates it plugged (DC/AC inverter)... then the detector goes off and the laptop says it's running on it's batteries (the inverter light is off). DAMN! A blown fuse! Figuring it's the cigarette lighter fuse, I crawl under the dash, contort myself to reach the fuse box, and try to pull out the fuse. DAMN! DAMN! I can't pry it out. Now, when I should already be on the road, I'm digging around my toolbox looking for a fuse puller. Why I didn't just get a pair of needle nose pliers beats me, but I finally found the fuse puller.
After several attempts, I successfully removed the fuse and promptly dropped it behind the plastic side kick panel... never to be seen again. DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! Wait a minute! The lighter fuse is a 15 amp. Now as for the nifty 12V dual output plug for the detector and laptop, it's a 5 amp. A old glass tube type 5 amp, that's BLOWN! Back to the toolbox, get a fuse for the 12V splitter AND for the now missing cigarette lighter fuse. If oversleeping wasn't bad enough, now am another 45 minutes further behind. Just great. At least NOW... I'm on my way to Dallas. Well, I got to top off the tank, but that will take just a second and it's on my way out of town.
So what did the truck have to do with all this?
Well, as I pull into the gas station, all my gizmos just humming along, the phone rings. It's my daughter (one of our company's bean counters). She says that they have settled paperwork on the truck, but... BUT, I gotta go straight to the dealership and sign the papers BEFORE I go. WTF? Can't it wait? I'm politely informed... NO! Now, it's off to the other end of town to sign more papers then I did when I bought my house!
Two and a half hours after I put my luggage in the car, I'm on my way to Dallas. Hopes of doing a little "recon work" at the show are completely out. The best I can wish for is to just get there before dark. Keeping a leisurely pace of a 85 to 90 mph average, I got to the "Big D" just before dark. Right in time for the Friday afternoon rush hour. Ah... the joys of going from a sub-hyperspeed to a dead stop. I was still 10+ miles from the hotel. I watched the 76 mph average (including all that in town driving) for the 300+ mile trip on the GPS dwindle down to 68 mph as I spent the next 45 minutes going slightly faster then a brisk walk.
After missing the exit, just like I did when I came down for the '00 show, I finally got to the hotel. It was just like I remembered it and then some. The last time I was here, it easily qualified as a dump with a Ramada sign out front. Now, it's just... worse. At least the have a network internet connection and now, this time I have a laptop to take advantage of it. Silly me. They HAD a network connection. They don't have it anymore. The best connection I've got so far is 28.8.
As a matter of fact, by the time I got to my room, I don't think they had housekeeping services anymore either. No ashtrays in my room. They also have 12 vending machines (one on each floor and one in the lobby) and none of them work. They also have 11 ice machines. I know what your thinking, but your wrong. The one on the 4th floor works.
So, it's off to bed and the REAL reporting starts tomorrow.
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There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
-Ernest Hemingway
   
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Dino
Pro
Posts: 1422
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posted November 22, 2002 10:36 PM
I think I'll start reading this tomorrow.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz(i know this is gonna' be entertaining!) 
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uh oh
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beansbaxter
Needs a life
Posts: 5911
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posted November 22, 2002 10:46 PM
More pics...I as well will read it tomorrow....illustrations and pics can tell a story also.
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sailusvi
Expert Class
Posts: 216
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posted November 22, 2002 11:15 PM
you crack me up Sherm......sounds like me.
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kawachan
Pro
Posts: 1031
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posted November 23, 2002 12:29 AM
I'm on my way down there in a couple hours Red. I will probably be with Intra, so I'll find ya sometime during the day.
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RED NINJAS RULE!!
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MadMike
Moderator
FEAR THE BLACK FLAG!!!!!!!!
Posts: 6579
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posted November 23, 2002 06:59 AM
sounds like a perfect start, ummm.. well something like that. Have fun at the show!!
Mad Mike
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GreenGlenn
Expert Class
Ron Jeremy's Stunt Double
Posts: 370
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posted November 24, 2002 06:27 PM
C'mon Red.... give up the info!!!
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If you love your bike, set it free. If it comes back to you....you probably highsided.
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