Facebook | Your Photos - 2006 Heritage Softail
Check out this website I found at facebook.com
Pics of my new 2006 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail
BlahBlahBlog
My personal soapbox, bully pulpit, and journal
California Motorcyclist Safety Program
via facebook.com
A couple of weeks back I took delivery on what had been a lifelong dream; a 2006 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail. It is a beautiful machine, a real head turner, literally. Lots of chrome, ape hanger bars, Vance Hines pipes, back leather saddle bags and a Harley Air Ride seat for the little lady.
The problem is I haven’t ridden since I got married. It was an agreement we reached that I had other priorities and the bike (used to commute) was an unnecessary risk. Well, the priorities are grown up and on their own for the most part. Hence, a new bike in my life.
28 years is a long time to go between rides. The first time I mounted her and went for a ride I thought, “Oh yeah, this is what its all about!”. I felt all the time between rides slipping away, it was all coming back. Unfortunately, it was all coming back, bad habits and all.
My nephew had told me about the CMSP. He had gone through it. And, as a bonus, the DMV waives the skills test for your license. I thought it was a real deal.
Well it turns out, while that is a plus, its secondary to what else I took away from the class.
The company whose program I went with is a local organization called Ride Rite.
We met at a cafe in Norco for the classroom portion of the class. There were videos, classroom discussion and a written test. Don’t pass the test, don’t move onto the riding portion of the class. I passed.
The second half of the day and the next day were hands on bikes at a local church parking lot in Corona.
It worked like this:
Explain what the exercise was.
Explain the exercise objective
Shown us a diagram of the exercise
An instructor executes the exercise as an example
Questions
Mount up - Practice, Practice, Practice
Theory put into action. Things I thought I knew, I didn’t. Stuff I took for granted, put into a new light. Learned things I never knew.
Now I’m an expert! Hah! I do realize how little I did know and I definitely know which skills (all of them except starting the bike) I need to practice.
I ride (and drive) now with a new awareness. I can see retaking this class (or the next level) down the road.
The instructors for this class, Vaughn and Kristy, were simply outstanding with the patience of saints.
Anybody that decides to ride should seriously consider taking one of these classes.
Until next time,
AgentZ out…
Latest excursions…
The last three weeks have been pretty busy.
I had an opportunity to travel to San Antonio, Texas. Had never been there and it gave me a chance to check out the San Antonio Riverwalk.
The Famous Mission Trail
And The Alamo
More pics from the trip can be seen in my San Antonio Collection
Over the weekend we went out to Malibu Creek State park and trekked around for the better part of the day. The old MASH site is located there
as is lovely Century Lake. 
More images from that trip can be seen in Malibu Creek set on Flickr.
After a quick trip to Phoenix Thanksgiving week I was off the following week to Salt Lake City, Seattle and Portland. While in Salt lake City I had a chance to head out to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. Got some lovely shots there plus this magnificent moonrise over the Wasatch mountains while at the airport waiting on my flight to Seattle.
In Seattle I got an fantastic tour of the Boeing assembly facility in Everett (no pics allowed) and then had a great meal with my buddy Max from Switzerland at the McMennamin’s in Troutdale where we both enjoyed their excellent beers (the Kris Kringle Ale is delightful).
Until next time,
AgentZ
Thanksgiving Dinner
Shared Thanksgiving dinner with my Mother, Sally’s brother, his wife and daughter, and a friend of mine, Max, all the way from Teufen, Switzerland. Dinner was topped off by a both a Banana Cream and Pumpkin pie Josh made from scratch. Unfortunately the pies did not survive long enough to have their pictures taken… Washed it down with a nice Cardinal Zin by Bonney Doon.
Organic Brined Turkey from Trader Joes
Green Bean Casserole, Spiral Cut ham with brown sugar and pineapple glaze
My fave, the green bean casserole
Malibu Creek State Park
Had a blast yesterday trekking around MCSP yesterday with my son Josh and my friend Max from Switzerland. We spend about 6 hours exploring as much as we could.
If you go definitely chck out Century Lake and if you’re a fan of M.A.S.H. to old set but steer clear of the Mott adobes, not worth the time hiking to them.
Its going to be a busy couple of weeks traveling for work so it may take some time until I can post my shots. But, hopefully, I may have more when I return from my travels…
AgentZ
Pray for Obama
Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8
Salton Sea - Revisited
Josh and I had the opportunity to revisit the Salton Sea area this past Saturday.
My Shotz
Josh Shotz
Huntington Libraries Chinese Gardens
Had the opportunity to scope out the “new” Chinese Gardens at the HUntington yesterday afternoon. Here’s some shots from that excursion.
AgentZ
An Anecdotal Story About Why our “Hope” for Change is Crushed
Laws of Physics
From a senior level Chrysler person: Monday morning Iattended a breakfast meeting where the speaker/guest was
David E. Cole, Chairman of the Center for Automotive
Research (CAR), an Engineer with 40+ years automotive
experience, full Professor at the Univ. of Michigan. You have all likely heard CAR quoted, or referred to in
the auto industry news lately. Mr. Cole told many stories of
the difficulty of working with the folks that the Obama
administration has sent to save the auto industry. There have been many meetings where this very experienced
automotive expert has had to listen to a newcomer to the
industry; someone with zero manufacturing experience, zero
auto industry experience, zero business experience, zero
finance experience, zero engineering experience, and
apparently zero brains tell them how to run their business. Mr. Cole’s favorite story is as follows: There was a team
of Obama people speaking to Mr. Cole. They were explaining
to Mr. Cole that the auto companies needed to make a car
that was electric and liquid natural gas (LNG) with enough
combined fuel to go 500 miles, so we wouldn’t “need” so many
gas stations (A whole other topic). They were quoting BTU’s
of LNG and battery life they had looked up on some web site. Mr. Cole explained that to do this you would need a trunk
FULL of batteries, and a LNG tank as big as a car to make
that happen. And that there were problems related to the
laws of physics that prevented them from… The Obama person interrupted and said (and I am quoting
here), “These laws of physics? Whose rules are those? We need to
change that (while others wrote down the name of the law so
they could look it up). We have the Congress, and the
administration. We can repeal that law, amend it, or use an
executive order to get rid of that problem. That’s why we
are here, to fix these sort of issues.” My friends … we are screwed.
Is Arnold really growing ‘nads?
So, is Arnold really growing ‘nads? Here is his rejection letter for bill AB1176. He has become increasingly frustrated by the legislatures failing to take on the serious issues confronting the state. Note the first letter in each line of the two paragraphs that constitute the body of the letter. Coincidence? I think not. I left the URL to the Cal Gov site where this release appeared.
You decide!
Facebook | My Photos - MISCELLANEOUS
via facebook.com
Added this to my online Photo Gallery in Gallery #4 @ Digital Images by JPL
http://www.agentz.com/digitalimagesbyjpl/Gallery1.shtml
Prints now available as well as Standoffs and Gallery Wraps
Facebook | My Photos - MISCELLANEOUS
via facebook.com
Added this to my online Photo Gallery in Gallery #4 @ Digital Images by JPL
http://www.agentz.com/digitalimagesbyjpl/Gallery1.shtml
Prints now available as well as Standoffs and Gallery Wraps
Great Article on “10 Way to Improve your Photogrphy without Buying New Gear”!
An article by Scott Bourne that’s well worth the 5 minute read.
Facebook | My Photos - Where theres smoke…
via facebook.com
Did something I’ve been wanted to try for a while today. Set up a black background, lit a stick of incense (patchouli I think although it has no bearing on the images) and set up an old Vivitar 283 off to the side triggered by my on camera 580EXII. Only processing was done with NIK Define 2.0 (noise reduction) and several were processed with Nik Silvver Effects Pro. Color in #6 is from a gel filter on the flash.
New Print Arrived
I ordered a 16×24 standoff print over the weekend of dusk at the Salton Sea. The standoff print is mounted on 1.5″ gatorboard and the edge is wrapped in black. I was torn between this and a gallery wrap. Maybe the next one will be the gallery wrap. Here it is on the wall in the living room.
Angels vs Rangers
via facebook.com
AgentZ undercover last night at Angels Stadium watching the Angels trounce the Texas rangers and becoming the 2009 AL West Division Champions.
NSM (National Socialist Movement) Rally in Riverside CA
My son and I went to the NSM rally today to photograph the event as it unfolded. They were countered by numerous organizations that ran the gamut from M.E.C.H.A. and the Brown Berets to supporters of Israel, anarchists, and gay activists.
More images here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agentz92505/sets/72157622336155659/show/
and here (Josh’s):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshpl/sets/72157622459824228/show/
Regards,
Jean-Pierre “PETE” LeClair
President, AgentZ
www.AgentZ.com
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Mat 6:34 (NIV)
2nd Breath II
Detail of the sculpture called “Second Breath” from the Skokie Sculpture park in Skokie Illinois.
View the slide show at:
Here
My Review of Bracketron Nav-Mat Portable GPS Dash Mount
Bracketron Nav-Mat Portable GPS Dash Mount - UFM100BL/ Weighted Anti-Skid Base/ Conforms To Your Dash/ Holds Up To Several Pounds/ Easily View Your GPS While Drivaing/ Uses The Stock GPS Windshield Mount
Sticky Issue
AgentZ Riverside, CA 7/23/2009
Pros: Easy To Use
Cons: Poor Interface With GPS
Best Uses: Auto, Boating
Describe Yourself: Power User
California recently enacted a law that severely limits where you can windshield mount a GPS unit. I thought this was the perfect answer to keep it in the middle of the dash where I like it.
I cannot keep the suction cup stuck to the base of this unit ( I bought 2 and both are the same way with 2 different units). This is the only negative. It is heavy and stable but if I can’t keep the GPS mounted to it it loses functionality.
Opus X
A very dear friend of mine sent me a very nice gift today!
A genuine Fuente Opus X cigar.
Now I just have to decide when and where to enjoy it…
AgentZ
New Images are Up
I’m keeping busy with lots of projects. Going out shooting (pictures) when I can and learning Photoshop.
I’ve added new images to my Photo Prints website in Gallery 3. Added are:
- Abandoned Bus
- Albuquerque Window
- Fuscia
- Pomona Towing
- Autumn Frost
See them at:
AgentZ
Easter Cheesecake
As I mentioned in a previous Posterous blog my son Josh was down for the weekend. After our trip to Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Preserve we stopped at Sur La Table at Dos Lagos so I could buy him a Springform pan. For Easter dinner he made a New York style cheesecake and we collaborated on the topping. Its made with unsweetened dark cherries and instead of water we used Late Harvest Syrah (2007) from Wild Coyote Vineyards in Paso Robles. It can only be described as “decadent“!
Now I’m going to go eat it before it melts under the lights… AgentZ
The Garden - One Month Later
It has been exactly one month (to the day) that we got our garden in. Since then I’ve bought steel posts and heavuy gauge wire to start building a support structure for the plants. Everything so far is going well. The plants are all healthy and I’ve added a few more peppers to the mix, 2 more bells and a poblano (for making mole).
As you can see the tomatoes are quite heathy and have really taken off.
The peppers are also doing quite well. They are starting to blossom.
The cucumbers are growing like weeds and I’ve alrerady started training them up the trellis. And the tomatoes are all flowering. We have excellent bee activity this year so I’m hoping for some fruit to set soon on all the plants.
AgentZ
What a great weekend
So, things started looking up on Thursday when we got confirmation that Josh was coming home for the weekend. One of the things that means for is me is, help in the kitchen for Easter dinner.
On Saturday, Josh and I went to the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve in Murrieta, Ca. We hiked and hiked and hiked through stands of California Live Oak, native grasses and wildflowers (or as Josh sees them, WEEDS) out to the “historic” adobes, to the vernal pools and along the overlook trail. Allegedly the “oldest” adobes in California. They are well maintained. Some sots from our trip:
from my set
From JoshOur sets are are available from the image link.
Sunday, we had a great dinner. I made ham with an orange spice glaze (juice & zest courtesy of the tree in the yard) and Josh made a killer New York Style cheesecake for desert. He’ll be making more, I made certain of that by buying him a springform pan at Sur La Table on the way back from our Santa Rosa trip (to make up for his feeling his life was threatened by the imaginary wild animals in the preserve (they were there, just that we didn’t encounter them)).
Yesterday I hooked up with my cousin Bob and we went out to the Claremont HIlls Park (in Claremont CA, a public land trust) and then over to a few abandoned vehicles along Thompson Creek just outside the park. Here’s a shot from those hikes. Image should link to the Flickr set.
AgentZ
Happy Easter to all my BlahBlahBlogging Friends
Here, I have been able to combine a traditional Easter flower, the lily, with traditional Easter candy, chocolate.
This chocolate lily was shot in the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Preserve in Murrieta yesterday while on a photo walk with my son Josh.
Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Easter.
AgentZ
What a deal!
Went to Micheals yesterday looking for some frames for some prints I just had made from our recent Death Valley adventure. While they had most of their frames at 40% - 50% off (select lines) I found a real bargain in the area with framed “art”. I was able to pick up a 16×20 frame with an 11×14 mat, glass & backing for $12.
Mounted and hung the prints in the living room (there’s a lot of wall space there).
The frame on the left is the $12 frame.
Prints are available at Photography by JPL
AgentZ
Nice way to end the week
Did some light yard work the last two days. Deadheaded the flowers, sprayed for aphids, trimmed the grape vines a little (grape clusters are already forming) and weeded & watered the vegetable garden.
The veggies are doing great. The tomatoes love the recent warm weather and are growing like weeds. At this rate I’ll probably have to stake them in another week or two. The cucumbers recovered from their transplant shock and are growing rapidly. Tendrils are already attaching to the arbor. And the peppers are taking off too. Some look like they are starting to set flowers, have to pick them off to let the plants get a little more established before I start letting set fruit.
This afternoon I started a big pot of homemade chili. Whilst it was simmering Sally whipped up a few pitchers of margaritas. I fired up the fire pit and a Romeo (cigar).
Watched the fire burn down as the shadows stretched across the hills on the far side of the valley.
What a nice way to end the week.
AgentZ
What an awesome week!
After the WESTEC show Tuesday I headed up the coast and spent the next 2 days with my boys.
Wednesday morning before heading north up the coast from Paso we watched a video of Jason’s first SLEET class (Student Law Enforcement Education and Training) that he is presenting at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It was cool to watch him in action. Too bad the baterry died so we couldn’t see more of the students hands on part.
We headed up to Point Lobos State Reserve (just south of Carmel) and spent the day hiking and taking pictures. Here are a few too tease.
Us on Lace Lichen Trail:
The entrance to Cypress Cove:
The rest of the Point Lobos set is here:
Thursday we got up and did a leisurely cruise around the back roads of Paso Robles east side and then headed off to the west side to explore. After a couple of short loops and turn arounds on back country roads we hit pay dirt on sant Rosa Creek Road. It ended up taking up right into Cambria where we loaded up on munchies forthe boys and then headed over to Moonstone Beach to take some pictures.
Heres a few to tease:
Start of Santa Rosa Creek Road:
Cambria and Mooonstone Beach:
The rest of the set is here:
AgentZ
Another Great Day
Spent most of yesterday cruising around the WESTEC show at the L.A. Convention Center networking and meeting up with old friends. Still haven’t decided if I’m going to stay in this industry.
Late afternoon I headed up the coast to Paso Robles. Today I’m going to head further up the coast with my boys and grand-daughter to Pont Lobos State Reserve to explore and take pictures. Will post to Flickr account Later.
AgentZ
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