Psychotic dogs and diesel smoke!

Well, things have changed in the past few days, and I have to say, things seem to be looking up, loath as I am to admit it.

A few days ago, my parents came back from B&Q (a DIY/hardware store) with a small box containing no less than a dozen 8mm fuel line connections including 2 T pieces. Not only were they sitting right under my nose (we looked everywhere except B&Q!), but they cost under £2, compared to the £6.76 for the one from Aprilia which *Still* hasn't arrived!

So I've been back on the road for a few days and me and the bike are settling back into our old routine. In fact, we're closer than before, and thanks to the summer sun warming my tyres and the road, I'm confidently pushing her harder than ever before. And she just takes it and takes it. She's that good.

Still, after spending the day sitting round, watching tv, chatting on MSN etc, I decided to go out, down to Ship Hill in Rotherham to see if any of my old pals were about. So about 10pm, on go the leathers, and carrying my lid out the door, I get the bike niceley warmed up.
I get no the bike, eager to go on only my second night-ride since the bike broke down 8 weeks ago, flick the switch and the road in front of me illuminates under the glare of the headlight. Great, we're in business.
A quick ride down to get some petrol/gas and some ciggs, and up to Rotherham I go.
It was weird, riding round there for the first time in 8 weeks. I ride up past the police station, and hear the thumping music from the clubs nearby, see the revellers falling over or laughing and telling jokes, see lights swirling inside the clubs. The taxis fill the air with diesel smoke and as a couple of scooters ride past, two stroke smoke leaves it's distinctive smell, while the merest hint of weed smoke seems to underlie the whole thing.
Damn, I'd forgotten what the place smelled like.
I do a couple of laps of the hill, none of my mates are there. No one really to talk to, just a couple of pedbois and 40+ modified car owners, so I head off back home.

Riding back home, I stop at a junction while a guy goes past me on the main road. Course I pull onto the road behind him and head back towards home. I quickly realise that the guy in front is going so damn slow, sticking to the speed limits like superglue. The road widens out and I pull towards the center so I can sea past. There's another car coming towards me but it's fairly far away, I'm confident I can make it. Just before we approach some roadsigns in the center of the road, the road widens further and I see a chevronned do-not-drive-on-these-markings markings on the road. I indicate, and pull out behind the guy, start to overtake and I see the damn fool indicate right, too. What the hell is he playing at?!
I kick down another gear, scream past him, onto one side of the chevrons and almost into the center of the other lane while the oncoming car starts flashing his lights at me. I duck back in just in front of the car, and while my heart's still racing, the idiot just pulls off the road into his driveway. Damn fool.

I'm approaching the next small town on my way home, and I see something fluttering about in the middle of the road. No sooner do I wonder what it is than BANG, it hits me just under my left collarbone with an impact that made me wince. "What the hell was that? A Bat!?" I think. So I pull up in a nearby car park to check myself over for, I dunno. Blood? Fur? Feathers?
Nothing. Damn thing was probably something like a hawkmoth or something. Shame to have hit it really, they grow pretty damn big and live for about 2 years!

Still, I manage to get back home and ride down to the bottom to see if the kid with the motocross bike's out. His bike's there but he isn't. I turn round, and as I'm doing so I see a smallish dawwgeh (doggy=dog) wantering around forlornly. I finish turning round and there's no sign of the owner, so I pull up fairly close to him and stick the bike in neutral while he looks at me expectantly while wagging his tail. Now I work in animal welfare so I know if this guy's not reported found then things are gonna look pretty bleak for him. "Hey little guy" I mumble at him, and no sooner do I get the "He-" out of my mouth than he goes psychotic! Barking, waving his tail like crazy! He calms down a little but starts edging towards me. I fix him with my gaze (just what you're NOT supposed to do to nutty dogs, in hindsight) while I calmly and slowly reach to the clutch lever and put the bike back in gear, expecting him to have another go. He starts another barking session and edges closer. His barks get louder as my engine revs up, and before I realise what's happening, we're both accelerating up the road, him chasing my back wheel, barking all the way up to around 25mph before he starts dropping behind. I scream up the road at a fair rate of knots and pull into my drive, thinking to myself "some dogs just don't WANT to be helped!"

So I sit on my front doorstep, having a smoke, cooling off after taking my jacket off. Listening to the traffic in the distance, the splashing of the neighbour's garden fountain and the tinkle of some wind chimes somewhere.
"No matter" I think, "what happens, I've always got my bike. And If I haven't, at least I've had tonight".

Riding aside, I'm getting pretty excited about my computer. I just can't afford to get the 2GB of memory AND the CPU, but I'm not going to go another month without my new computer while this one continues to throw hissy fits and suffers the PC equivelant of multiple organ failure. I'm gonna get one gig, and the CPU, and maybe next month or the month after, I'll get another two gig, giving me a whopping 3 gig in my new system! Every little helps!

So Now I think I'm gonna get ready for a little sleep, maybe have another smoke, and try to wake up bright and early for work tomorrow. I've got to admit, I'm not entirely horrified by the prospect...



Take care.