Head Games
Use it………or Lose it.
Feb 1st
As of late I have been pondering my Hare Scramble race last May. I thought back to how poorly I did. Only being able to complete 45\90 minutes of the race. Pathetic if you ask me. Sure I was on a heavier machine than I should have been. Sure I hadn’t paced myself properly. Sure I had never raced something like that before. But should any of that really have mattered? NO. I can’t blame machine. I blame only man, and that man is myself. At the time only 23 and while not overweight, I sure as heck wasn’t (am not) in proper physical and mental shape.
Now what does that have to do with anything? Scoop is this. On top of competing in Trials events, I know that I can win in Hare Scrambles. There are a few “local” races for me to compete in before my Trials season gets underway, but I’ve needed motivation and more-so a reason to get into this. Reason: I need to be in better shape. No two ways about it.
So where does this put me now? Well for one I’ve hated what I’ve done to my BMW bike. Sure it rides great, but I’ve come to a realization of what I should have done (hindsight 20/20). I’m left at a place where I want-need a proper competition off-road motorcycle. Problem is that that doesn’t solve my non race winning streak. A better, more fitting machine will most definitely make things easier on myself, but that’s not the entire equation.
I need to address the other aspects of the race. Most of which drop down to my past and present physical condition. Now 24, I have realized I am greatly out of shape. It was depressing seeing for myself that my laptimes in the race were better than most other competitors, but due to my poor mental condition and my even worse physical condition, I couldn’t make it the full race. Down right depressing. I know I am a better rider. That didn’t matter. Slower riders ended up in better positions than me not because they were better riders, but because they could make it. I couldn’t.
And that right there is why I sucked it up and joined a gym with Kim. I finally have another form of motivation. I have other motivation, but this one has more or less pushed me over the edge. I will win at least A (1) race. I will NOT feel like total crap after. I realize that this is going to be more or less a serious change in pace of life. All for the better. So now I sit here with blisters and cuts on my feet after running more than I have in my entire life; legs not wanting to move, and arms that when attempting to bend straight, shoot pain through them like I’m being stabbed. No doubt in my mind, it WILL be worth it.
Andrew
Purchasing a home. Thoughts at the end of a day.
Jan 21st
I have found myself in a position where I am purchasing a home. My fiancee and I have calculated that it will be approximately the same price to buy this home as it would be for us to rent a home. I never understood why people talked about this process being long and drawn out. I understood that there would be paperwork, signing things, scheduling inspections, tests, you name it. I knew all these things had to take place, but again, didn’t understand the magnitude of all of them.
Now I would tend to ask myself; “Why would you go through all this hassle?” I ask myself this over and over. Nevermind the fact that I hate cold weather, or the fact that the Midwest has got to be one of the worst places in the world for enjoying motorcycles. I’m just overall not in the mood to deal with things like this. Not sure if that should be classified as a fault, or what, but it is what it is. I guess there had to be something attracting me to actually buckling down and purchasing a house. I think something that spoke to me was this:
Now I know that all the property in the back won’t be mine, but I gotta say that it is quite rad seeing a river (ok a creek) flowing in the background, and the sunset falling across the tree line was surreal. On top of that (and less spectacular looking), the place has a very large garage 
. Finally a place to store my motorcycles and still fit my car (and in the future Kim’s). But here I go forgetting about the insanity that is known as purchasing a house.
. Finally a place to store my motorcycles and still fit my car (and in the future Kim’s). But here I go forgetting about the insanity that is known as purchasing a house.I’ll spell it out quick and simple. If you can and really want to. Buy a house 100% cash. I say this because I’m not doing that. Want to keep your sanity? Buy a house cash. Cut out all the middle men. Get rid of all the people trying to get their money out of buying a house. I mean no discredit to the people working all these different institutions. However, it is so insanely transparent that there are 50 hands grabbing into the money pot you are selling out, that it will drive you mad.
Oh what’s this I see. Oh I have to pay for someone to tell me what the house is worth? Interesting. I can tell you what I’m paying for it. That right there is how much it’s worth. You don’t need to look into it any further. Done and done. I need an attorney? I’m buying a house, not trying to get myself out of jail. 50 dollars here, that’ll be another 300 dollars here….Don’t worry I only charge 85 dollars. Where the crap does all this come from? Like I said, everyone wants their piece of the pie and when the economy is in the crapper…they’re gonna do all they can to get every last drop out of you. Have no fear, you won’t pay a dime for it now. ”We’ll add that to your closing costs.” haha you gotta be kidding me. Closing costs. What a joke. Closing costs = thousands of dollars for paperwork. I wish I were joking, but I’m not.
So now you are probably thinking I want to go out and shank anyone who is involved with this home buying process. I don’t. I can’t say enough good about my real estate agent Jim Starwalt, or all the individuals he has helped me with making sure that all of this process has gone as smooth as possible. They understand the insanity of all this, and have left me comfortable (but yes a bit stressed) about the entire process. I can’t say enough positive about them. (Hopefully those reading will read the entire thing 
)
)And with that, I am off and on my way to look into costs for doing floors, walls, etc. I’ll leave you with a picture of the toilet
Andrew
