The Great Wall of Grant

Missy and I have been talking about removing the ugly bamboo that was planted along our fence since we bought our house. We knew that this was going to be a huge project so we put it off for a while but it got to where we just could not procrastinate any longer. This is what the bamboo looked like originally:

A couple of weeks ago we dug it all up. I substantially underestimated how hard this job was going to be. It was one of the most physically demanding tasks that I have undertaken. We have clay for soil and the roots really clung to the soil. Combine that with a lot of rocks and it just spells disaster. The best way to illustrate the magnitude of the work is to say that we actually bent a shovel trying to dig. This is what it looked like when we removed the bamboo:

We spent some time at a local nursery trying to find a good plant to put in the place of bamboo. We wanted something that was going to be fairly thick and provide us with a good amount of privacy from the apartments that are behind us. We ended up choosing Cherry Laurel:

This past weekend my father in law flew down to help us out with some of the work. The original plan was to plant the trees into the dirt along the fence and then put in a drip line to water them. Well, that was until we ran into a small snag. Well, not so small actually. Come to find out that we had a cement wall that was buried. Not just any old wall either. This was a foundation of some sort. There was no way that we were going to get that wall removed so we decided that we would build upward instead of digging. This was the wall that caused us so much grief:

Did I mention that we happened to pick the hottest weekend of the year? Yeah, we were in the middle of a heatwave here in San Diego and we were going to be digging holes and planting trees. Saturday we had the trees delivered and moved them into the backyard. We also went to Home Depot and picked up the retaining wall material. Luckily they also rent trucks (Ford F-350 flatbeds) so we were able to get the rock home with a minimum of fuss.

This is Dennis and I moving trees:

Did I mention that it was hot? Really, really hot. We moved the trees into location then it was time to build the wall. Dennis did the work of putting the first layer down. It was really just a matter of digging to get the ground as level as possible. Once the first layer was down it went relatively quickly.

Missy and I even managed to smile through it all:

This is what it ended up like when all was said and done:

We also installed a bamboo shade above our patio, installed a complete sprinkler drip system, and rearranged some of our potted plants.

Overall it was a very, very productive (yet exhausting) weekend. Needless to say I think I definitely earned this:

Next task is to move dirt into the space behind the retaining wall and remove the boxes that the trees came in. We are hoping that goes smoothly!
Huge thanks to Dennis for helping out with this project. there is no way that we could have done it without his help!

Random pics and thoughts

OK, this post isn’t really going to have a real theme to it but expect some really cool riding pictures in the near future.We repainted our bedroom and put up some crown molding. We actually cheated though and used the non-cut kind. That is kinda a misnomer because there is cutting involved just not with a miter. We got the material from Home Depot and it comes in sections that you just cut to fit. Also used are corner pieces that the long molding fit next to. Here is what it looks like (clicky on the picture to make it larger):

We really like the way that it turned out and think that it really spruced up the room and “completed” it quite nicely. I did learn the importance of using the right tools though. Even though it was “no cut” you still had to cut the long sections and that was not that easy to do with what I had on hand. I learned that having a good table top saw and proper work bench would really come in handy. For the next project I will have those tools!Missy went out of town to Reno this weekend to spend time with her family for Mother’s Day. I stayed home and held down the fort. I really didn’t do too much. Went for an amazing ride on Saturday up Mt Palomar and spent the rest of the day cleaning the bike, changing the oil, and lubing the chain. I am going to be riding up to Fortuna, Ca this week and want the bike ready for that journey. I can’t wait for that and will be sure and post up the ride report and pics next week.

When Missy came home we headed off to the dog beach at Ocean Beach. I snapped these pics while we were there:

Enjoy and stay tuned for some great riding pics!

Tattoo me

Well, this will come as a big surprise to most people but I went out and got a tattoo yesterday. This is something that I have been planning for a while and finally decided to act upon.

I had it done at Flying Panther Tattoo by Bill Canales. I was first told about this studio by a patient of Missy’s but first drove around to some other shops and did some research on the web. The first place I went to was Avalon Tattoo. I won’t link to that studio because I was less than impressed. I really wanted a piece of art done by an artist and Avalon was not that place and that is all I will say on the subject. I went into Flying Panther and immediately knew it was a place that I wanted to go to. Rob was really, really cool when I walked in as was the rest of the staff. Bill wasn’t there at first so I had to come back the next day. Bill and I talked for a bit about what I wanted, what it meant, etc and he agreed to come up with a design for me and I scheduled an appointment for Weds evening.

Fast forward to yesterday. I was not really nervous about getting the work done but I was really, really anxious. I had an idea in my mind of how it should look and just wanted to see the finished product. But good things come to those who wait…or so it is said. Sitting down for the tattoo and waiting for the needle to touch my skin was just killing me. What would this feel like? How bad is it going to hurt? Well, I found out that it really doesn’t hurt too bad but it does take a bit out of you. I was in the chair for 4 hours. I have no idea if that is a long time or not but it sure felt like it. The endorphins kicked in fairly early but they left about halfway through it. Bill is a really cool guy and we talked for most of it which helped out because sitting in a chair for four hours doing anything is a stretch for my ADD self!

The work is of Sisyphus who was a figure in Greek mythology. He angered the Gods in a couple of ways including both cheating death and exposing the weaknesses of the Gods. That is a oversimplification of the tale and I urge you to do a little more research on him. I really liked the essay that Albert Camus did on the myth and that was at least part of my inspiration of my tattoo. At a later point I will provide a little more detail about my take on the myth and what it means to me but for now here is a picture:

Our latest addition

Missy and I have been wanting another Great Dane for a while now. Well, this weekend we adopted Atlas. He is about 2 years old and is just a great dog! Currently we just have the one pic of him but look for more in future posts. It is hard to tell just how big he is in the picture but I am 6’2″ and about 225 lbs.

Our new home

Well, things have been busy with us. We recently purchased a new home here in San Diego. It is an old Craftsman style home but we are uncertain on when it was actually built. The contract says 1945 but our neighbors have told us that the homes in the area are much older than that. in fact the area was named for the Taldmadge sisters who were silent movie stars back in the day. The area was subdivided back in the late 1920′s and our home is pretty close to the gate that was put in back in 1927 so I assume that our home is closer to that era than the 1940′s. In any case we love the house and are currently working on making it a home.

Here are some pics. I don’t think they do the house justice but I am obviously really biased!

The view from the front of the house.

I finally get a garage again! I also really like having the long driveway. It really helps out with the cars and bikes.

This is the view on our street. All of the houses are Craftsman style like ours. I love all the palm trees!

This is our kitchen. If we redo any room in the house it will be the kitchen. It is small but charming and we hate to get rid of that charm.

We have a 1950′s Chambers Stove too. This thing cooks much better than you would expect. It even has a built in broiler/griddle and a built in soup burner.

This is the living room. Sorry the shot is not that great but the lighting was not that great at the time I took the shot.

As we do more work to turn it into a home I will be sure and post the pics!

Welcome home Braden!

I was once a U.S. Marine. In fact, I was an Officer of Marines. I was stationed with the grunts. 1st Battalion, 2d Marines in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina was my first station as a young Lieutenant. I had a lot of good memories from those times including some good deployments. I spent 4 years as an Officer and got out in 2000. I didn’t really keep up with any of my old buddies. I guess I am not really good at keeping up old friendships (a weakness of mine).

Fast foward to when I first moved to San Diego a year and a half ago. I stayed in corporate housing in an apartment megalopolis in Mission Valley. It was a combination of apartments and shopping. One of the shops was a coffee shop that I used to frequent. One day I went for a ride on my BMW (when I still owned it) and decided to have a coffee upon my return. I walked into the shop and there in the corner I saw a familiar face..it was my old buddy Braden who was now stationed locally at the Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar. Braden just got back from his second tour in Iraq and I am glad he is home safe and sound.

Beers are on me my friend.

Pictured: Braden Hisey, Andy Bergen, Joel Hoffman

Motorcycle Bloggers International and me

I decided to join Motorcycle Bloggers International. It is essentially a networking site for those of us who blog about all things motorcycle. I figure it is a good opportunity to check out some other blogs and get some ideas for this site (that I really need to update more).

Well, there are annual awards that are given out every year and if you like, you can go over to the MBI website and check it out. I came to the party late and haven’t really had much time to check it out but it looks interesting and the only way for awards to get better is to vote so I figure it is worthwhile to check out.

The coolest thing about the site is that there is a nice link on the homepage that lists all of the members. That means that if I am not updating this thing enough you always have somewhere else to turn to get your motorcycle fix.

Enjoy!

james

Christmas in Yosemite.

Well, it is not motorcycle related but I wanted to post about it anyway. My wife and I decided to get away for the holiday. We had went to Reno for Thanksgiving and figured that it would be just the two of us (ok…start singing here).

We stayed in a heated tent cabin seen here:

It was actually warmer in the tent than it appears at first glance. There is a gas heater that keeps things pretty toasty once it warms up. We arrived in the evening and it was not on yet. That meant that it took a while for our tent to finally warm up. I didn’t think Missy was ever going to get warm…hehe. I warm up pretty quickly though and found it very nice.

We did some snowshoeing up at Badger Pass with a guide. There ended up being 47 of us on this hike which was way more than were on the slopes. Oddly enough we ran into a couple that were on that hike when we went to dinner the next night at the Awanahee. We hiked around the valley the next day. Everything was really icy so that what should have been a really short hike ends up being much longer than expected. The only fall I had was coming out of the head one night though so it was not too bad. You just had to walk really carefully!

Well, enough talk…here are some of the pics from our trip:

Tag…you’re it

My buddy Peter was recently tagged. It is a blogging game. Kinda a social networking thing. Anyway…the gist of the game is that someone tags you then you have to list 5 things about yourself then tag 5 other bloggers.

So, here are 5 things about me.

1. 1. I traveled a LOT as a kid and as an adult. The drive to travel and experience life has been a fundamental factor in my life.
2. Touring on my motorcycle is one of my true pleasures in life.
3. I LOVE Toyota and the Toyota Production System. Knowing about how their factory works and their continuous improvement work makes me more appreciative of our two cars.
4. We just bought a house here in San Diego. It is a wonderful older home (built in 1945).
5. I was a Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. I got out as a Captain but did not spend any active duty time with that rank.

So, who to tag?

• Anna at excessivevelocity.
• Dylan at twisting asphalt.
• Jeff at adventures of jeff.
• April at let’s ride.
• Marcus at pitted chrome.

Got some props from a great blog!

So, I was checking out Twisting Asphalt and found myself mentioned in this post. I think it is quite an honor as I have been following that blog for a while now. Hope I can take the pressure of increased traffic!

Well, it is time for my 12k service. Unfortunately I have almost 15k on the bike…ooops! Well, it is going in on Tuesday. It runs like a top but it does need a bit of a tune up. I have been trying to do as much as possible myself and it has been a work in progress. I have the 748 that I also need to work on. I really, really need a garage so I can have pieces of the bike neatly put away. Sometimes living in a condo can be a real drag!