Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum
General Discussion => Campfire Talk => Topic started by: boggy on December 25, 2013, 12:04:30 am
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Wife and I had enough of New England weather and after 36 years we sold our place, packed our bags and headed west. We are now located in San Diego's North County, 20-30 miles north of the city in a quiet beach town.
We love Boston and it was tough to leave family and friends but we are weather people and living for a handful of perfect days a year is nuts, especially when costal North County has them on tap. Winter is 60's to 70's in the day and low 40's to 50's at night. That means surfing/riding weather in the day and fire/good sleeping weather at night.
Cost of living is on par with Boston, aside from buying a house which it seems you have to be qualified to cut open someone's brain to be able to afford to do. People are very nice too. Hello's walking down the street and sort of shocking customer service in stores and restaurants, comparatively. Driving, while being SO fast here is pretty civil with rarely a horn honk. Not something we are used to. Have to actively resist honking.
So Redcat + ERC and the rest of you nutters in New England, I humbly apologize for throwing in the towel. I do. I'm watching the weather back home and it makes me feel like I've abandoned everyone. Still routing for the Sox and Pats... The C's and B's... but just from a little further away. I will still have to fly in for my Fenway-fix next season.
Anyways - This has been a dream of ours for decades. My good friend lost his wife recently and the one thing he repeated to me over and over again was, "life is short, don't wait for your dreams." It IS short - and we had enough of waiting. If you want something, go after it and don't stop until you get it. Stop waiting... Tomorrow is too late for too many of us.
Be good. Be well. Merry Christmas everyone... Happy Holidays however you celebrate, and have a fantastic new year.
Boggy
PS
Surf's up.
PPS
Bare - I'm looking for a DRZ400SM. As soon as I get one I'll give you a ring. Trying to get the Enfield sorted out but that's another thread entirely. :P
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We knew it was coming, boggy - didn't we, gang?
Did you find a job, or do you work at something you could take with you?
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Good for you boggy! For what it's worth, I moved to Denver from Wisconsin 4 1/2 years ago with only $380 in my bank account. The first year was rough, but it was the best decision I ever made.
Good luck to you and your wife in your new home!
Scottie
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Way to go boggy.
The longer your there the more you will enjoy it.
Just a hint from a "zonie": Even though your roasting, put on your light jacket when the temperatures are below 50 degrees. That way, the locals won't get the idea your from out of state, up north.
Oh, living in the San Diego area you need to know, a "zonie" (like in my website name Arizoni) is a person from Arizona who spends time (and fortune) visiting there in the summer.
They don't like our visits but they sure like our money. :)
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Good on ya, boggy!
I moved to Albuquerque some time back for the same reasons, bought a house and am loving it! Sure beats the heck out of letting the cold beat these old bones to powder. :D
Now that I've been here in San Diego so often I almost (that's a-l-m-o-s-t) wish I'd moved here. Seriously more riding days. 8)
Congrats on the move, and pay attention to Arizoni. ;)
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Good luck boggy I'm staying put. Redcat was riding on Saturday I guess he won't move either. ERC
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Wife and I had enough of New England weather and after 36 years we sold our place, packed our bags and headed west. We are now located in San Diego's North County, 20-30 miles north of the city in a quiet beach town.
Boggy
Good luck to ya' & I don't blame ANYbody for getting the hell away from the East Coast coast. I've been in RI since 1960 & have watched the State self-destruct year by year since then & still I'm here so I can't bitch. It's the worst state to live in by ANY measure or statistic.
I planned my escape for 15 years (to Baja) & then a bunch of monkey wrenches got thrown in.
Now I've spent 25 years getting my house paid for* & bullet-proof for the rapidly approaching day when I'm totally crippled & useless & have too much invested to move.
I applaud you for your big move, but my choice wouldn't include California (IF I could move). That state's full of more business, jobs & revenue-destroying lunatics than RI which is why both these states (& many others) are on the verge of total fiscal & budget collapse.
* Paid off my 1989 fixed 30 year in 15 by cutting out tanning booths & haircuts ;)(http://)
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Now I've spent 25 years getting my house paid for* & bullet-proof for the rapidly approaching day when I'm totally crippled & useless & have too much invested to move.
That happens to most people..The years fly by and are lost forever for ya
15 years note is the way to do it.Works for me
So why was this song so popular
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDRLZFgEoGw
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Boggy, Welcome to my world!
Buy a Eurobike if you can find something that will work for you.
Let my know when your ready to ride!
Bare
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So why was this song so popular
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDRLZFgEoGw
I remember the song well, but it wasn't specifically about Boston. It was about a girl who was just trying to get her wandering (as a lot of us were) boyfriend to settle down. In one place. I don't think he ever did. Everybody wanted to be in Topanga Canyon, Telluride or Eureka in those days. Still do, I suppose.
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I miss San Diego so much. From North County you'll definitely be riding on 74 (Ortega Hwy) soon enough. :) Also head down to Cuyamaca Peak and the Laguna mountains...towns of Pine Valley and Julian are excellent points to pass through.
Hit up the Chicken Pie shop in North Park for me sometime and definitely visit Ocean Beach for Hodad's burgers and Ortega's Mexican restaurant on Newport Ave. While there take a spin out to the end of Point Loma to see Cabrillo national monument.
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Oh yeah Boggy your enjoying yourself now but in a week or two you'll saunter into a packey and ask the clerk for a six of Gansett and all you will get is a blank stare. Then one day you and the wife will get the urge for a stuffed quahog or a nice bowl of decent chowder an there'll be none to be had, o yeah your laughin' now but there won't be any more Bulger Brothers or back ups on the Tobin. Your gonna be gone for the closing of the Callahan Tunnel and just try to find a decent St. Patrick's Day Parade out there. I give you a month and you'll be back here shoveling your car out with the rest of us with a big smile on your face!
Good Luck Brother!
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Well said Redcat. ;D ERC
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a six of Gansett
No matter how much I try (as a semi-assimilated Neo-Rhode-Islander), 'gansett always tastes sickly-sweet to me. Ugh. I actually prefer to drink the in-laws' Ballantines. Which is kind of scary.
But if you're in North County, Stone Brewery is a short drive inland from the coast. :)
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you are completely correct AgentX there are several great beers brewed in New England and Narragansett is definitely not one of them.
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No matter how much I try (as a semi-assimilated Neo-Rhode-Islander), 'gansett always tastes sickly-sweet to me. Ugh. I actually prefer to drink the in-laws' Ballantines. Which is kind of scary.
But if you're in North County, Stone Brewery is a short drive inland from the coast. :)
Of all the thousands of gallons of beers I drank all over the country from California from Eureka to Baja to Florida to Rhode Island & the whole MidWest & Southeast playing beer alcoholic from sometime in the mid-'50s to December 1986 when I quit EVerything, Narragansett had to be the worst of them all. Not only in the drinking, but in the hangover. The hangover from just TWO Narragansetts was not like a normal hangover. It was a horrible sledgehammering inSIDE your head.
Part of the original entrance architecture from the Narragansett brewery was made into a monument in the middle of the first & only rotary ('round-about) here in Narragansett (where it's fun to sit in the parking lot in the summer & watch people who can't spell yield crash into each other). To this day I have to look away as I go by it or I get a horrible head-hammer-hangover ;) :)(http://)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXpaj8VgC1M
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It's not all that bad moving to another part of the Country. Sure I miss all the brats, and beer and..... Wait a minute, that's right. I can still buy brats here and Colorado has more Micro Breweries per capita than any other state in the country! I miss the family from time to time, but I sure in the hell don't miss all the drama that goes along with it! I'm doing all right. :) Everyone always wants to tells me in Colorado how beautiful Wisconsin is and I ask them "Really? Were you there when the windchill was -50*F for an entire week? Or how about how the humidity is 100% ALL summer long at 95*F with more mosquitoes the size of turkey vultures than there are fish in the Atlantic Ocean?" Screw that place! Change is good! :D
Scottie
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Boggy must be working on his tan. 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
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Hey Boggy
Some more words of advice:
Resist the temptation to write or E-Mail your friends back in New England to mention or show photos of you sitting beside the pool in your shorts, sipping on a cool one, with a Christmas tree in the background.
I know for a fact that people in the area ranging from the Mid-West to the Atlantic ocean have been known to build sculptures of Arizona buried under a 50 pound block of ice and California with a reproduction of the San Andreas Fault which they whack with a chisel daily hoping the West side will fall into the bathtub (ocean).
They seem to have no humor at this time of year when they think of a friend enjoying a sunny 65 degree day while they look out of a frosty window at the bleak, dark gray, frozen world they live in.
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Haha. I stepped away to 8) and missed all the fun.
Narraganset is a terrible, overrated beer which means it's perfect for the hipsters. They can keep their PBR too. Not when there was all the fresh Sam Adams and Harpoon you can drink. The beer out here is fantastic for sure. Lots and lots of quality microbrews. I'm filling up growlers now which has been great.
Quite the romantic portrayal, redcat. Yeah... maybe I would like to be back shoveling out the truck for the 3rd time in 24 hou.... NAHHHH. I'll keep my perfect days thank you very much! Man, the Callahan was my back up route home when the Tobin was jammed. Now there's now way out! Looks like I just made it. Everyday was like an evacuation scene in a disaster movie.
I'm VERY very fortunate in that my work let me take my work with me. 8 years with the company and I'm incredibly grateful they are giving me this chance. Working out of my house, east coast hours (which means plenty of surfing/riding time in the late afternoon!).
Hodads, I have been to down in OB over a decade ago on my first visit to San Diego.
Arizoni, I hear you about the photos. People are cursing me left and right from back east. I tell them, "you made your bed." And then I go lay in hammock.
Thanks for all the good words. Cannot wait to get out riding more regularly once I'm settled. Got some new motocross bars on the Enfield and I'm ready for some SoCal scramblin!
This is a shot from Christmas day. It's my miracle.
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Haha. I stepped away to 8) and missed all the fun.
Narraganset is a terrible, overrated beer which means it's perfect for the hipsters. They can keep their PBR too. Not when there was all the fresh Sam Adams and Harpoon you can drink. The beer out here is fantastic for sure. Lots and lots of quality microbrews. I'm filling up growlers now which has been great.
That's funny, I consider Sam Adams hipster beer and PBR for all the White Trashies like myself. Sam Adams is awful, it is one of the very few beers I refuse to drink. Here in Denver, no one drinks PBR but the Bikers and Hot Rodders. In fact, you can go into just about any bike or hot rod bar and get a PBR tall boy for $2. Nothing hipster about that. LOL Actually, Coors Original, PBR and Bud Light are the only mainstream beers I drink. If I want a beer, I'll tend to buy a micro brew, usually an IPA of some sort.
Scottie
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Never took a liking to Sam Adams anything but they advertise alot. Bud light is such a easy drinking beer that you sometimes you forget it's beer after you had two or three..Geary from Maine is good beer but haven't tried anything out of Rhode Island ....Haaaaaaaaaaa I remember it was such a big deal to get Coors on the East Coast back in the 70's...Coors - Nothing wrong with Rocky Mountain Beer. ;)
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That's funny, I consider Sam Adams hipster beer
If I wasn't such a cool, easy going west-coaster now, I would insist that we fight. Actually, that is interesting to hear. It's obviously local to Boston but I wouldn't see any local hipsters drinking it. Way too pricey. Or NOT pricey enough. Whichever they are not resisting against at the time. Like 'Gansett, PBR just does not taste very good to me. Bud either. Or Corona. Not with all the limes in the world in it.
Actually it'd be interesting to know which cheap beer is the most popular here. For cheap beer I'm a Coors man too, GM. I don't know if there is Rocky Mountain water in there or not but those Silver Bullets go down quick.
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Last time I was in Ireland, there were only three beers whose availability you could bet on in just about every pub in the country we visited: Guinness, Budweiser (the American one), and Stella Artois. By far the most popular one every where we went was the Stella - followed by Bud. The Guinness came in a distant, touristy third...
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Guinness tastes much better in Ireland (Even better in Dublin, coz it's so much fresher.), but Stella is my 1st choice. Can't stand Bud.
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If I wasn't such a cool, easy going west-coaster now, I would insist that we fight. Actually, that is interesting to hear. It's obviously local to Boston but I wouldn't see any local hipsters drinking it. Way too pricey. Or NOT pricey enough. Whichever they are not resisting against at the time. Like 'Gansett, PBR just does not taste very good to me. Bud either. Or Corona. Not with all the limes in the world in it.
Actually it'd be interesting to know which cheap beer is the most popular here. For cheap beer I'm a Coors man too, GM. I don't know if there is Rocky Mountain water in there or not but those Silver Bullets go down quick.
Coors IS really, truly, sincerely brewed with Rocky Mountain water. It's actually really cool to drive past the brewery (though I have yet to do an actual tour, always so busy). The brewery is right on the foothills, Clear Creek comes down out of the Rockies and literally flows directly through the brewery, where the water goes purification and treatment and then used to brew the beer. I'll try and get a pic of the Blackhawk next to it when the weather gets a bit nicer and I can get my alternator replaced.
For the record, I drink more micro-brews than any mainstream beer by a pretty huge majority. One of my favorite beers now is actually brewed less than 5 miles from my home, Dry Dock Brewery. They just started selling at to local liquor stores this spring, tho I've had it before that. But I tend to buy something different most times I visit the LQ, and every couple of weeks I'll ask if there's anything new. If there is, I'll usually give it a go, which is I how I found out about the O'Mission gluten-free beer (which still comes in at an ass-kicking 5.8%) available in Lager, PA, and IPA.
Scottie
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Well good on you boggy!! Moving to a more rider friendly climate
is GENIUESS. You will not regret it. 18 Months ago I left a lifetime
of cold, pissy-wet, dreary, gray, hot and humid central Illinois
for over 300 days of sunshine and less than 10" rainfall a year
on The Western Slope of Colorado. My wife has been back 4
times but I have yet to go.
Enjoy the bountiful sunshine and the endless choices of
terrain. A mate of mine in San Diego claims that some days
it's hard to decide if you're going to ride in the desert, beaches,
or mountains!! Tough choices, right?
Good on You and don't look back - Mike
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San Diego has the best weather in the country...Irish beer I prefer Beamish but I've only found it here once....Redbridge is a good tasting Gluten Free Beer...Like alot of you guys I been drinking all those micro beers (huge selections)...Every now n then I get the urge for a six pack of Rolling Rocks or Coors.....I never been a one beer drinking man...GM
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That's funny, I consider Sam Adams hipster beer
I do not think that word means what you think it means...
Sam Adams is not exclusive/trendy/crafty enough to be drunk by hipsters in earnest, nor cheap/blue-collar enough to be drunk ironically. Whatever that actually means.
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I do not think that word means what you think it means...
Sam Adams is not exclusive/trendy/crafty enough to be drunk by hipsters in earnest, nor cheap/blue-collar enough to be drunk ironically. Whatever that actually means.
Sure I know what a hipster is. It's all those douchey a-holes I want to punch in the face when I go out. ;D You guys are all cool enough, but I've never met anyone I liked who drank Sam Adams. In fact, I'm not sure why people even drink it at all, it's one of the worst beers I've ever had. I'm pretty sure when the bottled beer expires they just mix it back into the "fresh" stuff.
Scottie
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I don't want to punch anyone..I just don't care for the beer... 8)
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I don't want to punch anyone..I just don't care for the beer... 8)
LoL I was joking around. I don't actually fight unless it's in a ring or cage. But it's about 5 years since I've done any of that. :)
Scottie
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Well Boggy the latch on my shed door let go last night in the wind and when I discovered it this morning there was a nice layer of fluffy snow all over everything inside including my Enfield. See all the fun your missing.
So I have to plead ignorance here because I got no idea what a hipster is.maybe it's an urban concept. I like Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA. A nice bitter brew and I have to add I've never disliked anyone because of the beer in there hand.
The reason European beers are so great when consumed in Europe is because they aren't required to pasteurize them which kills a lot of flavor. Cheers
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I've been getting pictures + curses all morning from everyone
back home back east. My last known address was a temperate of 1 degree Fahrenheit last night. Insanity. When I told everyone I was moving to SoCal they said, "Ohhh, why?" Now they just say, "Ohhh."
Here you go redcat, a pretty funny photo-illustration that breaks it down for you. We all have a little hipster in us - we just don't know it. But like the Force to a Jedi, the Irony must flow through you.
http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/2012/11/02/evolution-hipster.jpg
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I've been getting pictures + curses all morning from everyone back home back east. My last known address was a temperate of 1 degree Fahrenheit last night. Insanity. When I told everyone I was moving to SoCal they said, "Ohhh, why?" Now they just say, "Ohhh."
Here you go redcat, a pretty funny photo-illustration that breaks it down for you. We all have a little hipster in us - we just don't know it. But like the Force to a Jedi, the Irony must flow through you.
http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/2012/11/02/evolution-hipster.jpg
LOL!
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Started surfing in Portland ( the right one). In '64. Higgins .
Moved to Phoenix one summer when the surf was particullarly awful in SoCal. Needed the work.
Currently building a hollow wood surfboard out of redwood; 6'9" single fin
Have pretty much given up on California crowds in the surf...Maine is not that much better.
Got my eyes firmly set on Baja
Welcome home
D Matt in Glendale, Az
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Thanks Boggy, That was very funny and very helpful, T
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That is really cool - And funny you should mention as I was just reading about Todd Redwood Surfboards and the process of making them. Amazing craftsmanship. I can't find what I was reading but here is the website.
toddredwoodsurfboards.com
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hi Boggy, went to www.grainsurf.com/forums, from there to Riche"s template shop, bought plans for $20, they sent me a pdf, emailed that to the fed ex print shop while i was there. they printed out the ribs and rocker stringer full size...pretty cheap. just layed it out on 1/4" baltic ply from home depot. then will jig saw out the skeleton. then on you tube check out Gallaghers 6 part video , Hollow redwood surfboard for Balints makes it easy, no shaping involved... then i go to Home depot and pick out the cleanest redwood 2x4"s i can find.
Been a few years scince i lived in North County, I imagine you'll be the only surfer on an Enfeild...I'll say hello!
Best, Matt
ps...Wahoo Fish Tacos in La Jolla!
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We have Wahoo Fish Tacos all over Denver. I've never been there but I here they have good food.
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Just checked out their site. Very cool. It's great they offer some kits and templates, encouraging others to build something by hand. I think we are on the crest of a hand-made good boom. Lots of stuff popping up. Matt, it would be great to see some progress pics - I'm sure folks here would dig it.
I've spent a lot of time in York. Summers are obviously great there, but Winter is pretty sweet when the tourists are away. And really quick to get to from Boston. Grain Surf looks like great company. Really cool stuff.
I just picked up my first board. A "new to me" 8 foot Doyle tri-fin. Took me a while to find one I could afford, and one that looked good. Because if I'm gonna look like an idiot out there, flopping around in the waves like a out of shape harbor seal, at least my board will have style. It reminds me of the Mach 5 from the old Speed Racer cartoons, but we've been calling it the "O'Doyle."
(Sorry about the palm trees - I know it's a kick in the ribs during these frigid times).
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If you haven't had a burger at Hodad's in OB yet, I'm gonna smack you.
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If you haven't had a burger at Hodad's in OB yet, I'm gonna smack you.
Haha... I HAVE! I have. Just not in the past decade so maybe only a 50% smack. I've only been down in the city a few times since we've been here - Mostly for airport runs, but I did get to the Ballast Point brewery and to Bronx Pizza for the closest thing to a proper slice that I could find. Man, who do you have to know to get good pizza out here!?! There are thousands of people on Yelp who evidently have not have never tasted a proper slice or they wouldn't be dolling out so many 5 stars. I almost feel as if it's my responsibility to open a pizza shop here!
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I will tell you something Boggy and I'm not being sarcastic here but when I was living in Seattle back in the early 80's it was impossible to find decent pizza. It's a West Coast thing. There now I've done it!
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looks like the cold weather is affecting everyone about the same Boggy, check out the latest map
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The Weather Report For North Dakota.... Also applies to Chicago area, and many other places!!!!
Native American Indian weather broadcast straight off of a reservation TV station in North Dakota:
Finally, a weather report that doesn't take 10 minutes to explain with multiple graphics and words that you have no clue as to what they mean. This is direct and to the point!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8hGIF9FljM
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This one is more like it !
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Don't let them get you down Boggy!
(http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g237/azcatfan/MCplow.jpg) (http://s57.photobucket.com/user/azcatfan/media/MCplow.jpg.html)
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The "updated" version of that map is pretty hilarious. "LOL" for California seems pretty on the money and I like that New England is addressing Winter as if it's a person. Although I believe it should have been spelled "fahk you." Actually, for California they should be saying "oh it's in the high 50's... I'm freezing!"
The North Dakota report is the kind of straight forward, no frills delivery that is completely dead in the "news." They are all shows now. Every single station. Cronkite is rolling in his grave.
Although I love that pic of the plow the scenery looks positively dreadful. I still have nightmares that Winter will still fahking find me. Sweet sled though! The frame is incredible. Why isn't any company producing a machine that looks like that?
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Hey Boggy, Winter has found you, this is it! And yes 50o is cold!
I have a couple of grandsons that went to Boston yesterday for a week or so. They can get a good taste of that stuff! They live in San Clemente.
Bare
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Ah! Das Zundapp mit plowinpushin.
Vot vill they think of next? ;D