Moving to Santa Cruz, CA

After 5 years of trying to find a job and relocate back to northern California, I finally have landed a job in Santa Cruz. This is a beach community on the north part of the Monterey Bay. I will be making scientific metrology equipment, which is a welcome change from making ultrasonic devices for 20 years. I'm very excited to learn something new.

I grew up in the Silicon Valley and left there several times, only to feel the pull back home eventually. This time I am moving back to be nearer my elderly parents, brother, and many old friends.

I won't be able to take my motorcycle at first, which is going to kill me. But I'll be busy with a new job and staying with a friend in the beginning, until I can find an affordable place to live. Then my husband will bring the bike, and alot of stuff down that I'll need to set up house. He has a stable, good paying job in the Seattle area, so will stay there until the stock market comes back a little and job market is such that he can find something in California.

It will be quite an adjustment for us both, but worth it in the end. I'll miss my bike most of all! (just kidding Dave)

I'll be going from a winter like this.....

To winter skies like this......

I'll move just before Thanksgiving and start the job Dec. 1. I will try to keep up the blogging as long as I have internet connection. There may be a slight lag, but I'll warn you ahead of time.

I'm finally going home to stay this time.

A Chance to Win Your Own Customized Harley

Those of you who LOVE the Harleys are going to have a chance of a lifetime to build your own fantasy Harley Davidsen and have a chance to actually win your design!

From Harley Davidsen:

In the "Build It to and Win It" sweepstakes, contestants can customize a Harley-Davidson 2009 model and enter it to win the bike they designed. Using the Genuine Motor Accessories Customizer, anyone can choose a Harley-Davidson model and then select from hundreds of custom options, including Color Shop custom paint sets, Screamin’ Eagle performance components, hand and foot controls, custom front end parts and decorative collections, and place them on a virtual motorcycle. As the bike is created, each new component appears on a picture of the virtual motorcycle, so a customizer can see exactly what the finished custom Harley-Davidson will look like. After customizing, the bikes can then be saved in a personal profile "Garage," along with a convenient, printable list of each component with its part number and price.

A contestant can customize, save and enter up to ten 2009 models between Oct. 15 - Nov. 6 and each will be entered to win. Representatives from the company will randomly select one bike, which will be awarded to the Grand Prize winner after the Nov. 6 deadline.

More details on the contest are available here:
www.harley-davidson.com/customizer

So put your thinking caps on and start dreaming!!!

It's Time for Change

Both presidential candidates are for 'change'. The climate is changing. The financial system is changing. Those of us with money tied up in the stock market, whether it be in a 401K or other savings vehicle, are seeing a big change for the worse.

All of this brings to light that the weather is also changing and it 's time to dig out the winter riding gear. I didn't want to think about it yet, as it is only early October. I can't fight it any more.

Our weather in Seattle has cooled off drastically this past 2 weeks. The mornings are around 40 degrees. The days have been lucky to reach 55 degrees. It will only get worse from now on.

This weekend promises to have a day or two of riding weather. I will dig out my winter liner for my leather jacket and zip it in. I will dig out my winter warm gloves and start wearing them, although keeping my lighter one's handy if the day warms up as I ride. And I really dread going back to the full-face helmet. It's been a joy to ride all summer with a half-helmet, but now it is too chilly for that, so back to the full enclosure. I will also need to wear chaps at all times, just for warmth.

It takes me a little mental preparation to get ready for winter riding. Once I get out there and adjust to the proper gear for the cold, I do feel like a rarity on the road. Not many others are out on motorcycles in the winter, but when you do pass another bike there is always a common wave. Not many of us are that devoted, so I do feel a kinship with others I pass on those cold mornings on the way to work.

Does anyone else ride in the winter and have to mentally prepare in the fall?

Love My Rippin-Kitten T-shirt

My newest favorite tee is the new original design by Rippin-Kitten. I ordered through Pay Pal and Liz shipped the shirt out immediately. It arrived two days later, and it even had to travel across the entire U.S. I was pleasantly surprised that the shipment also included a cool Rippin-Kitten.com sticker as well.

I ordered my normal adult size and the shirt seemed quite large when I tried it on. I washed it and it did shrink the slightest bit, so I am happy that after a couple of washings it should fit just the way I like. The price is very reasonable and also makes a great gift.

Get your own Rippin-Kitten tee-shirt while they last and you, too, can have a cool original shirt.