Cruisin' around.

Well, I picked up my bike last week. Sweet. Getting the thing out of the dealership was a bit of a nightmare as they farked around with paperwork, checking that we'd payed the money and finding the boots I'd ordered. After about an hour of stuffing around I finally rode out of there on my new bike (so new in fact that it had zero on the odometer).

What a change to the scooter. The power. THE POWER!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!! Its just so nice to have the grunt to accelerate up a hill! I didn't get go on quite the long ride I wanted to (as the weather turned nasty and riding in the wet on new tyres is just asking for trouble) but I still got to give her a decent run.

I love everything about my new bike aside from two minor things. 1: Neutral is hard to find. For those of you who don't know, neutral on a motorbike sits between the 1st and 2nd gears. You do a half-shift with the gear lever while in 1st and the bike clicks into neutral. This is essential to find as when you start the bike from cold it needs to idle for a while and you don't want to sit on the thing holding the clutch in. I think it might be because the gearbox is new and still a little clunky. 2: The windshield sh!ts me. In the rain and cold, it keeps the wet and/or cold wind off your chest. Nice. When you go over 70kph the turbulence it generates around your helmet is so loud that you can no longer hear the bike's engine. Crap. You need to hear the engine so you know when to change gears. I can keep myself warm and dry with the right clothing but the noise thing is a problem. So the windshield's got to go. Its only four bolts to remove it so that's not too much trouble. As I said, they're pretty minor things.

What I'm really looking forward to is a nice ride up into the mountains or up the highway. I'm going to a gaming tourney up in Caboolture soon and plan on riding the bike up there. Should be nice to ride up the highway on the bike. Its just such a sense of freedom on the bike. I can see why its so addictive for so many people. I think I may become one of them.

Simple Joys

What is it that happens to adults that we find it harder and harder to find joy in our lives? Sure, we have the burdens of finding food, clothing and shelter for ourselves and those we care for but surely the burden is not so onerous that we cannot find simple joy in things?

I've been watching my son with interest over the last few months and I am constantly delighted and surprised at just what he can find joy and happiness in. Pulling a silly face at him can make him laugh himself silly. A few nights ago I was lying on the floor when my wife came over and I asked her to help pull me up. Alex squealed with delight and "helped" push me up. I then collapsed back down so he could do it again and for the next ten minutes I was pushed and pulled into a sitting position by my son and wife while he laughed himself to the point of tears. He has also taken to dragging around a tunnel that we have for him. He drags it from one room to another, laughing and smiling all the while.

The simplest things are an absolute joy to him and I love watching him enjoy it and as a result I find myself finding joy in these things, too. This causes me to ponder my initial question: what is it that happens to adults that we find it harder and harder to find joy in our lives? Is it the burden of responsibility? Is it the influence of the modern media and marketing? Or have we simply taken for granted the world around us and can no longer see the simple pleasures it has to offer us?

I know there will come a time when nothing I say will be right and I will be the very definition of un-cool but right now I am one of the most important things in his world and I am going to enjoy it for all its worth. Knowing I can make my boy laugh with just a silly face or playing peek-a-boo is possibly the most wonderful thing in this world. I thank my lucky stars for my beautiful son. Through him I have re-discovered a beauty and joy in the world that I had previously lost.