The Rough Draft

So I see I started this though process but never added to it. Well life can get in the way of things.

We opened a bank account for Colin today. He’s over 19 now and as far as the Govt. is concerned, he’s all better. Yep, no programs at all for anybody over 19. Thanks assholes. Sure he’s our kid and our responsibility but a little help here and there, sure would go far. Anyway, he’ll be on a disability plan for the rest of his life, so that’s something and the money will help us out a little too. Cause he sure isn’t getting any smaller.

Still, he makes us smile and laugh and he’s a pretty cool kid to be around. We bought him a Netbook for Christmas and he’s surfing the net with it continuously. Which is allowing us to help him with reading and spelling.

So we’re thankful.

…And I’m aware of it every minute of every day.

Winter can be really hard on those of use who ride bikes in Northern climes. Once we’re down to Zero Celsius, that’s pretty much all she wrote for our season. I had a couple of -3 Celsius days in Yellowstone in September and it was no fun to ride. The bike wasn’t very keen on it either and while that was the coldest morning start I had, it never really got above 2 Celsius on any of the mornings I was, “At altitude.”

On the way home I kept to a lower latitude and stayed pretty warm for most of it. It was strange passing by the exit for Park City, Utah without snow on the ground as the last time I was there, Sundance was on.

Anyway, most of us have little rituals to get us through the cold months. Some work on bike projects through the Winter and if I had a bigger garage, I’d be all over that (my wife not so much). Some hang out online and bitch about not being able to ride. Which is fine but the gloating of our Southern cousins who live below the snow belt and can ride year round, gets a bit grating. Other’s placate themselves buying toys for their ride. Because if there’s one thing you can do really well on a bike, it’s accessorize.

I do a bit of all three but I also stock up on bike media. I’ve got about eight hours of racing footage from World Superbike to go through and Dakar 09 is playing itself out right now, so that takes a bit of the edge off.

Every day brings us closer to Spring and clear tarmac again. Of course we need a couple of good rains to clean the salt off the roads before we can think about riding here but I’ll make it. I always do and there’s nothing as nice as that first ride of the year. Just like nothing quite sucks as much as the last.

So this winter, my bike got a new Tall Gel seat. If I have a particularly lucrative year, I think there’s a set of Hepco Becker Gobi cases in my future (just don’t tell the wife).

DAKAR 2009

So the first week of the resurrected Dakar Rally, relocated to Argentina with, “Special Stages,” through Chile is now completed. While we only get the highlights every night, all I can say is, “Wow!” I knew Argentina and Chile had some forbidding terrain but I had no idea of the diversity. It’s every bit as difficult as Africa with the added problem of altitude in certain stages. I hope as do many fans that the problems in Africa as far as race security can be addressed and that the Dakar can return home eventually but I’ve got to say, this year’s race does not disappoint in any way.

The Argentinian fans have been great and those fans in Chile will be no less fantastic. How it’s all going to turn out is anybody’s guess.

And that’s the best kind of race to follow.

I’ve been forced to watch a lot of Dr. Phil over this last holiday season. SAG is still playing silly buggers and the wife is stuck at home as opposed to her usual stuck at the studio stage because nobody is shooting anything feature film related right now. So it’s Oprah, (who is a real person) followed by the bald one (who isn’t). Yeah, I find him irritating. Though it’s not just him, I find a lot of these types of people irritating.

It could be because I’m Scottish. Maybe be I’m a misanthrope and am missing the sunny, positive message that will change my life for ever.

Maybe.

But I don’t think so.

When somebody is conning you, they have to establish a problem in your life, that only they can solve. It’s why most cons work so well. Most people’s number one need is money. You promise them a greater return than they can get through the usual means and the con is on. Let’s be honest here, cons aren’t always carried out by crooks looking to score, banks can get in on the act too.

No you’re right. They’re crooks too. Selling debt — Let’s be honest, it’s fucking genius.

But back to Dr. Phil.

So he’s giving me the secrets to success. The three things (and a book) that will give me all my tiny heart desires.

You lost me at secret.

I regularly tell my daughter. “Anybody tells you they have the secret key to make your life instantly better. Turn around, walk away and don’t look back.” Because what they offer is a con, not a solution to anything. So Dr. Phil prattling on about his shit, just gets my back up. Instantly.

There is no secret.

Seriously.

You want something? You see what it takes to get it and you do those things. You work hard, you eat a ton of shit, you get beat up, you watch your friends go down in flames beside you and you press on.

Skill and creativity are important in a writer but a thick skull, thicker skin and tenacity will take you further than those guys who are a flash of brilliance at twenty two. This game goes to the grizzled, the bitter and the angry. Oh yeah, and the well read. Always be scanning the magazines, newspapers and books for those next ideas. Keep the ready file fresh. You need something to chuck at a producer after he rejects everything in your arsenal and asks you, “Got anything else?”

A friend of mine once said to me. “Be nice to the people on the way up, you’ll be seeing them again on the way down.”

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

On the way down, it’s all different people. Those people you passed on the way up left. They’re in real estate or teaching (which leads to real estate). They’re gone.

But you’re still here. Your soul looks like it’s been through a shredder but your still standing tall enough to raise your middle finger.

“I got your secret right here.”

So yeah,

Something is deleting my posts on this blog. My last three have gone missing in action. I think it might be the Facebook interface. so I’m terminating the RSS feed from this blog to that forum.

We’ll see if this post stays up over the next couple of days. If it does, I’ll post some new articles in the coming week or so.

Happy New Year everybody.