Webmastering Biker

Installing the stumbleupon toolbar and hitting the stumble button has been both an insight and a curse as I've got thoroughly addicted to stumbling sites that other people have found. As a social networking/web 2.0 application, stumbleupon has been a phenomena in the simplicity of it's idea yet it's genius in understanding the complexities of social interaction and human curiosity. It's been one of those things that I have understood more the more that I have participated, and I have genuinely been intrigued by the humour, style and creativity of the sites that people find.

On a stumbling session I will find usually a smattering of decent humour, well designed sites and inspirational artwork that I wouldn't have normaly found if this facility wasn't available. However, there is the very rare circumstance when you find something that is truely remarkeable that mere words can't describe. Pure luck of hitting the stumble button found myself looking at A Mother's Journey a photographic masterpiece following the traumatic events of a childs final months battling cancer. It is no wonder that this work won a pullitzer as the energy and emotions are captured so vividly and dramatically. It is hard to not be touched by looking at these photographs and following a journey that some would say is the hardest a person can take.

It is nice to be reminded that there is a human touch to working on the web sometimes and I for one feel better for knowing and sharing such important sites like this and being reminded that the internet is not all about cool widgets and clever designs.

One of the main benefits of being on a bike is that we don’t get stuck in traffic having the ability to filter through stationary and irate cars crawling at really slow speeds, so when I filtered the other day through a particularly long bout of congestion it was a surprise to end up at a full stop at the beginning of the queue. Apparently, not even bikers get past waiting when the motorway is closed, as it was in this case due to an accident. The accident didn’t look at all serious and there were no ambulances so while waiting I took the opportunity to do what is a rarety, having a look around the motorway while at a stop…it was really boring.

It was then no surprise that after a few minutes another bike ended up along side me having experienced several miles of stationary cars. Now, bikers are usually a social bunch of people who share in some way an affinity with one another in experiencing the same lifestyle. If you watch bikers pass one another on the motorway, some will wave or nod and it is customary to nod to another biker if you a travelling in the other direction on a road. So, when this biker pulled up along side me, I guess we both felt the need to converse or acknowledge this situation we were in and in a comradely way bond in a bikerly way. There is one difficulty in this and that in keeping the elements at bay we usually wear such things as neck protectors and helmets which tiresomely prevent the optimal expression of speech. Here then is a transcript of the conversation that we had:

Biker: Hrmph, mumble (nod) mumble (gesticulate wildly) mumble, mumble some more for a bit (guffaw) mumble?

Me: Sorry, didn’t quite catch that.

Biker: mumble mumble mumble etc. (only a little louder)

(Haven’t the faintest idea what he just said, but would be pretty rude to ask again)

Me: Yeah, (laugh) isn’t that the darndest thing. (I have never used the word darndest and am not entirely sure where I picked up the Americanism but it sure seemed appropriate at the time and it didn’t matter anyway because he couldn’t hear me anyway)

Thankfully, the road was cleared and traffic started again which was lucky as it was becoming quite embarrassing.

Apologies for the long absence but it appears that our home computer decided that it didn't like us any more and stopped working. This has happened to me before and I lost quite a lot of work a week before a college deadline when a lightening strike blew my Mac up, so I know what a pain in the arm it can be, but the Missus was none too pleased at losing all her work and photographs. Another reminder that though technology is here to make our lives easier, over reliance can mean a whole heap of inconveniance when things go arm over tip.... and yes, I am still a little shy with using certain language on such an open medium, so you will have to get used to the annoying connotations.

Anyway, I haven't posted up anything bike related in a while, mainly due to me being reliant on public transport while it has been fixed up to pass it's MOT. What a bloody nuisance that was. I'll have nothing to say bad about my Yamaha (pictured above), it is after all over 18 years old and can out accelerate many cars today. It was also very cheap to buy and insure, being a classic motorcycle, as well as being economical to run (or at least compared to your average family saloon). Unfortunately, MOT time is when the odds are then stacked against my poor machine as the bits that keep falling off need mending and things like indicators and the such need to pass pesky safety standards. All in all, the bike has cost me as much as it cost to buy to keep it on the road. Do I regret it? Of course not. Will it pass next years MOT? We'll see...