Monday, July 8, 2013

New Digs

Part of the reason for not posting as much to this blog recently is because we just moved the office.

Ugh!

Double Ugh!

Remind me not to do this again in the next 10 years.

On Friday the 28th of June, the movers came and did the "heavy" stuff.

We're still sorting and putting things away, but we are here now.

We are on the second floor
Just east of the main downtown area is an older warehouse district where many of the buildings have been converted to offices, restaurants, bars, condos and other uses. It's been pretty successful and this part of town has become much more dynamic than the core downtown area.

This is my first day to ride to the new location.

Jack Riepe would like it here. This shop is on the first floor of our new building.
 
 
Airbus has a rather large engineering facility in the area. Sort of remarkable because Boeing was such a fixture in this community for so many years. They are phasing out and moving people to Oklahoma City and San Antonio. Lots of people don't want to go, so some of the employees have latched on to Airbus here.

 
There's even some archways over some of the streets

But when it comes to parking there are some options. There's an outdoor lot dedicated for motorcycles near the front of the Airbus building. It usually has 4-5 cycles parked there. But a block away is a parking garage, also with dedicated motorcycle parking. I opted for that spot. 

Indoor motorcycle parking. Max was a little lonely first thing in the morning

 
 

There didn't seem to be many people, first thing in the morning,  parking their motorcycles indoors and then walking a way to their offices, but later that day........


But later in the day Max wasn't lonely at all.
Only problem with this spot is that there are pigeon roosts in the ceiling.
Might have to watch out for that.
 
 

 And finally a view inside.


And finally from inside my new office.

 
 

Ride On, and Carpe Diem, My Friends






Thursday, July 4, 2013

Independence Day

Went for a bicycle ride this morning. Nice weather. Almost 14 miles, average pace about 12 mph. Not bad for a 56 year old with a heart condition. But that's not what this little essay is about.

I realized a few minutes after I left the house that I forgot to put up the flag. I was hoping that Jayna would remember it and sure enough, when I arrived back home, there it was, prominently displayed on the front of the house. But that's also not what this little essay is about.

I saw something amazing today. Or at least it was amazing to me. 

I saw a family today. From afar, they looked pretty typical, mom, dad, 2 kids. I encountered them on my ride this morning on the bike trails at Chisholm Creek Park.  The two children were small.  One on a very small bicycle with training wheels, the other in one of those big jogging type strollers with mom at the helm. Dad was a few steps away facing back to the rest of the family. 

As I approached I was thinking what a neat idea it was to take the kids out on this bike trail on a 4th of July morning. And they were a fair ways away from the trail head. They had been at it for awhile. I slowed down a bit as I approached and said "Good Morning, How You Doin'!" Dad turned toward me and responded enthusiastically and said something like "Great, How About You?"

But as I rode past I noticed something really unusual.

And incredible. At least to me.

Dad had 2artificial legs. 

Think about that for a second.

There they were on a family outing on the bike trails, all 4 of them looking like they were having a fantastic time. I was impressed.

I had to wonder about what had happened to Dad. Iraq? Afghanistan? I have no idea, but suspect something like that. 

But here they were out on the trail, having lots of fun and not apparently letting the misfortunes of life get them down. In fact, they seemed to be aggressively enjoying the day.

I admire them. Pretty amazing sight on the 4th of July.