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  3. Its been awhile dear ones, just know that I think you all and wish you the best. I'm on another journey and when I get to where I'm headed this year in my life. I'll be sure to share the news.

  4. On July 15, 2023, I purchased a new bike for me. Before I tell you about that though, I want to tell you what led to this bike. 2018 Honda Rebel 500 2018 Honda Rebel 500 Back in 2018 I bought a new 2018 Honda Rebel 500 to replace my Honda Phantom 200. This was a great bike, and we did a lot of rides on it, lots of lovely trips. The first trip we did on this bike was a trip from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi to Sangkaburi to Sai Yok to Nakhon Prathom to Bangkok. It was such a lovely trip to get used to the bike. We have also done multiple trips to Khao Yai and a trip to Sukhothai and a number of lunch runs with friends and multiple safety courses with Honda. This was a lovely bike, which I loved to ride, with lots of memories. The whole time I had this bike, I only dropped it twice. The first time was when I did a slow u-turn in the middle of a major road here in Bangkok and the person on the back of the bike wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and leaned over and I wasn't expecting it and the bike fell. The second time was when I was on one of the safety courses, and it was late in the day, I lost concentration on what I was doing and I leaned the bike over too far and then felt the bike start to go, gave it a little extra throttle to set it back up, but the back tire broke loose and then I caught the platform and the bike went down hard. One thing was, after owning the Rebel for about six (6) months, I started looking at other bikes. One of the youtubers that I follow, Ryan FortNine (https://www.youtube.com/@FortNine), rode a 2015 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 and he did two reviews on in. Because of these two videos, I started looking at the cost of the Suzuki V-Strom. One of the things I noticed, at the time, is that they were a little bit cheaper than the Honda Africa Twin. 2024 Honda Africa Twin When my Honda Rebel 500 was almost paid off, I decided to sell it and get a bigger bike. I felt like I was ready. I was at the local Honda dealership and they showed me a Honda Rebel DCT 1100. I took it. for a test ride, and it felt nice. I went home and talked to @hirondelle about it, and she said that if we were going to get another bike, she didn't want another Rebel, because after about thirty (30) minutes on the back of the bike, she starts to not feel so good, and at about forty-five (45) minutes, she needs a break, and an hour, she needs at least a thirty (30) minute break. It had a lot to do with the leg position for her on the back of the Rebel. So we looked at what Honda bikes would be good for a pillion rider, and it was recommended an Africa Twin. I started looking hard at Africa Twins. I took a couple for a test ride, and I had @hirondelle go with me for a test ride. She actually loved the feeling of riding on the back of that big machine. We talked about what we needed to do to get one, and crunched some numbers. We originally decided to get a new one, but then later on, we decided to get a used one, and save quite a bit of money. Triumph Tiger 1200 One day, I had a Triumph Tiger come up in my feed on Facebook, so I looked at them. Even the second hand ones were coming up as more expensive than a new Honda Africa Twin, but something weird happened when I was doing that. I was reminded of all the research I did on the Suzuki V-Strom 1000. So I decided to go back and take a look at the research I did on the V-Strom and the videos that Ryan FortNine did on the Suzuki V-Strom. This convinced me to take a second look at the V-Strom. While I was doing that, @hirondelle looked for bikes that are comfortable for the pillion rider. She shared with me four (4) lists. On those four lists, the Honda Africa Twin wasn't listed at all. The BMW GS1200 (a bike my friend owns) was listed on two lists (2), and the Suzuki V-Strom was on all four (4) lists, so this kind of convinced me to start looking at them. I looked at the Suzuki web site and saw that their bikes were about the same price as the Honda Africa Twin. Buying a 2018 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 I decided to look at used bikes. The Honda Africa Twin was going for about 370,000 Thai Baht, which is about 10,500 USD, and the Suzuki V-Strom was running about 320,000 Thai Baht, which is about 9000 USD. The day I started looking at used Suzuki V-Stroms, I found a 2018 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 for 270,000 Thai Baht, which is about 7,500 USD. I left it for a couple of weeks to see if it would go, and told @hirondelle about it and showed her pictures. She liked how the bike looked, and we both liked that it came with a top box on the back. After a few weeks went by, I reached out to the seller and asked for a discount, and he knocked of 10,000 Thai Baht for me, about 300 USD. Didn't seem like a bad deal, so I asked to go have a look at it. Tracy went with me to look at it and for me to test ride it. I started it up, and the motor sounded good, no strange noises or anything. I took it for a test ride and it rode smooth and felt really comfortable. I made him an offer, that he said he couldn't do as he was selling it on consignment, so the best that he could do was 260,000 Thai Baht. @hirondelle and I talked about it and we felt this was a good price. Put a down payment on the bike and came back a month later to pay it off and rode off the lot with my new motorcycle! This bike is so comfortable for me, and for @hirondelle. Our first big trip on it was a trip to Hua Hin, and it was so nice. @hirondelle also said that she felt really good on it. We both had to learn a new way to mount the bike as it was so tall, but now it's so natural for use to get on the bike this way. We have also done a number of lunch runs with some friends on this bike and we love it. I have been keeping a journal for the rides that I have done on this bike, which is something new for me. To go with that, recently, I have started using the Riser app, which a great app for riding mapping motorcycle rides and also diving directions. You can decide if you want a curvy route, a supercurvy route or a direct route, which is pretty good. Also, there is an option to add friends when we ride together so nobody gets lost. I haven't tested this part yet, but I plan on it. So, my idea is I will be making journal entries of my rides here, and I will also post my route, so people can have a look on Riser to see where I went. I'm quite excited about this. When I have a chance, I will post my journal entries here, but they won't have the map, but all rides after this will have the map and any images I take. I'm really looking forward to it. Always Remember: Ride your own ride, not somebody elses rides.
  5. Timberwolf

    Mental Holiday

    @Dulcet, I'm sorry to hear that you were having some problems. I'm glad you found your way through it. We are always here for you.
  6. Dulcet

    Mental Holiday

    Over the past 16 weeks I have been going through a lot of health struggles both mentally and physically. My diabetes was beginning to show signs I might need to actually take care of myself, and I was approaching what is called full blown mania. This was not a good thing for my health. Despite my strong history of working for mental health advocacy, I neglected to take care of myself or have what is called self-care. From Christmas Eve until Martin Luther King Day, I was hospitalized in two different psychiatric units. This was not strange to me and should not be to anyone seriously following my story after 20 years. However, this time was challenging as opposed to relaxing. They were units I was unfamiliar with, outside of my usual comfortable check-ins to DuPage County psychiatric units. Through this experience I learned I need to focus on my health first before I focus on my career. When I finally got home, I received my diploma in the mail stating I had completed my master’s degree in Geographic Information Systems at Elmhurst University on December 16, 2023. That document is now my most prized possession I own, and I will cherish it. Moving forward, I want to pursue grant writing, as that was the part I had loved helping out with during my employment last year working for a nonprofit. There is a cheap online class I wish to take online to help me pursue that goal in adding grant writing to my tool belt. https://www.gofundme.com/f/brians-grant-writing-class-fund Stay tuned for future updates!
  7. The way of kings by brandon sanderson
  8. Timberwolf

    2023-2024 SHL Season

    My first season in the Siam Hockey League (SHL). After working for them for 6 years I finally got the chance to play.
  9. @Kethlia, it will for sure be in my blog, but I might put it in the writers thread as well.
  10. I’ve been toiling away at my Python Geoprocessing course which is the second to last class before I’m done. I really do miss the simple html web stuff days but re-learning Python and applying it to GIS is not fun. I’m retaking this class because last year we had Hitler for a prof. (I’m being nice). Imagine turning in perfectly working code each week only to get it back with a bunch of red marks that made grammar Nazis seem like nuns. So the guy got fired. This time I’m actually learning python for real and learning the debugging process as intended. After this class I start my capstone. oh btw, they’re shutting down my program so this is the last time the python will be offered. I’ll be done December 18.
  11. Hah, different worlds, that. Though I do wonder if we'll do any A/V in the web tools class. It came up very briefly in the HTML/CSS classes I had last semester. I *do* know how to make very simple audio and video edits but that's about it. One of my interviewers last year seemed very impressed by that (though not enough to get the job, apparently )
  12. https://youtu.be/Gmj35nYi7mY *Pitch black night, a void that's darker deep inside. A rift that time, love, and family has torn countless time. A rift in me that becomes its own void of oblivion. Nothingness, that keeps it's own council.* *A step that ripples the darkness, my foot touches down in the midst of my emotions. Tumbling through pain, fear, and wish to be free of it all. Another step I move forward? A ripple that crashes into the others without blending, bending, or breaking.* Where am I? What have I become in the midst of this pain and biding my time to wait? *My body is power, strength, and grace. Yet, my mind is unsteady, my words the only thing that gives it an anchor to reality. More ripples, my steps increase, a pulse of light from within me. It has never flickered even in the midst of my despair and self-loathing.* Why was I granted this life, time and again, why do I survive after those held most precious? What gave me the right to stand here in the darkness looking at this abyss made manifest by my Will. *Nothing else exists in this place, but myself and it. Raising my hands my favored weapons of choice spill out of them, my words. Sparks of light against the darkness, some colored by the emotion they portray. Disgust fills me as I look at the stark contrast between the Words that I say and the Darkness inside.* Do I have the right? Tears pour freely as the pain returns the numbness of reality releasing torrents of emotions. *My knees cause waves to radiate from me that grow with the depth of rage that is also building.* Can anger and depression exist simultaneously? Can they burn and freeze a person and leave them unable to breathe? I fight, my body wills my lungs to breathe, but all I do is cry out in voiceless scream of agony. Pain searing me in flashes that nearly pierce the light of my steadfast soul. My mind shrieks into the hollow void inside as my body bends into itself, convulsing on this empty surface. What right do I have to call this pain, trauma, or ignorant projection? Yet, I've forced myself to perfectly master hiding my true feelings. *Gasping, coarse breath that burns from the prolonged suffocation.* Time has passed, and my limbs have become heavy from lack of blood, but they fill up greedily with each breath. Pins and needles run the course of my body, making it unbearable to move, because I am still, Alive. Looking above, at nothing, looking within at nothing. I see the light mirrored in a blinding sun above, hollering I cover my eyes. What I have given, none may take away. You are mine, you are accepted unconditionally. You are loved unconditionally. Words, that aren't my own fill me, leaving me weak and shuddering at the power hidden within the universe. It cares not what, who, why, or how you are, nor when you'll be at your best. It accepts. I look at the Light above through the light of my soul. Deep within the pain, hate, and anger have started to ease. I didn't ask, I never pleaded, yet the is healing already starting within me. It doesn't erase the void or darkness because it's a part of those. I kept spectating as the emotions right themselves, the wounds scarred over, and the words became empowered. Within the darkness, there is the dimmest of possibilities offered to me. Yet, it will take a strength of Will and courage I have not felt to surmount myself. There are other beacons of light within this darkness now, having gone through this trial alone. I can see them if I focus, but they too have to pass through the abyss and come out the other side. I shout with all that I am, I Will It! Freely Given! Freely Taken! I want it! I need it! I am!
  13. I would love to read it, when you do. Will it be in the writer's thread or a blog?
  14. That sucks about your coordinator ghosting you. Kind of shitty. I'm interested in PHP and also JavaScript, but in the same breath, I'm also interested in video production and post production, audio production and post production.
  15. Hey @Kethlia, no, we aren't on Discord. I have been working on a story that I would love to share here on NL though.
  16. *Smirks and enters with mischief in my violet eyes and wickedness in my smile. Pausing to bow to my beloves and beloveds.* I pray you are well, my dear family. I have to see if my hollowed home as its roots spread into the Discord App, as I've begun writing again and miss the general camaraderie of my NL family near and far. I am currently a part of Promise of Lingyun Clan Serverx2 but know that I would love to test my written skills against my NL family if they wished to join me there in an NL Server of our own. *Laughs* I am also using another persona name on Discord, Zan Heng-zanheng if you're looking for me on Discord. Let me know who you are as I'm still screening and absolutely wary of Internet horrors and Murphy's Law could be-s. *Winks* For a male-based persona who hasn't given his RL info away in the game and in those servers except to a select few. I've been enjoying seeing the reactions and stories around him. Though, *Wicked Smile* my appetite stays the same in certain prose or poetic pieces. I'm learning how to adapt the character through continued interactions with others. ^One of my A.I. generated art ideas for Zandt Urgos a Mafia variant of Zan Heng the Ancient Chinese Physician. V
  17. Hey, thanks for asking. So I actually still don't know what's going on with my certificate program. The coordinator for the program has pretty much ghosted me, I guess you could say? I've been trying to get a hold of him through other channels at the college for months now. I guess this is the drawback of having online classes, ugh. Fortunately I do have one in-person class this term, one of the three coding classes I picked up. One's in PHP, another in JavaScript, and another is on various tools like Dreamweaver, Visual Studio, Bootstrap, Wordpress, all that stuff. Also am doing a freshman-level writing class I already don't like.
  18. How are the classes going @Phoenix?
  19. I've done a bit of a throwback and I'm currently reading Dragonlance - Dragons of Autumn Night. I'm really loving the memories from reading it before and reading it again with different eyes. Still a great book.
  20. @Dulcet, how is Diablo IV? I remember playing the original on the original playstation back in the late 90s, and I kind of loved it. I should look to see if I can get it on xbox.
  21. Sounds good! I wish you the best of luck in the fall.
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