Bum Leg Shifting

You could actually operate a motorcycle with a leg that doesn't really work from the knee down. And it wouldn't take a Goldwing, though that bike could also be fitted with it. The device you need is called a "heel-toe" shifter. The stock shift lever of a motorcycle is intended to be tapped down or pulled up. The heel-toe shifter simply extends the lever to the rear of the fulcrum point rather than only towards the front. So you tap down on the front to downshift; tap with your heel on the back to upshift. A lot of Harley-Davidson riders have those. Not because they have bum legs, but because it allows them to wear hip boots and not have to worry about getting the toe under the little lever.

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As for cameras, I think Canon has the market sewn up in the $250 - $600 range. Every discussion I see about digital cameras seems to mention Canon. That's what I have -- I have a Canon A80 Powershot, which is by now ancient history. I got it at Golden Circle three years ago.

I do have to take exception to the "You mean you have a camera that still takes batteries?" jab by your friends. I think that's a positive benefit rather than a hinderance. If you're planning on being out for an extended period and are at all concerned about running low on power, all you need to do is have an extra pack of AA batteries handy. But if a rechargeable battery runs down while you're out hiking in some mountain, you're out of luck.

My MP3 player takes a single AAA battery. I wouldn't have it any other way. On airplanes I have many times had to swap in a new battery. I takes 15 seconds and I have another 10 hours of playing time. Rechargeables can't say that.

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Yes sir, we have transitioned into the "older generation," haven't we? I can't recall exactly what I was doing recently where I experienced something akin to what you describe. I do recall thinking that my time to participate in such things has passed. I wasn't all that sad. I am where I am.

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My daughter by the way is still adamant that she is moving in with me when Alice departs northwards, on my birthday Dec 16th. I'm intrigued to see what actually happens over the next few weeks

Keep me up to date on the goings-on of that saga. :-(

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PS. I forgot to ask, why do you think this blog has survived?

For many of the reasons you cited, and one more ... and it's the reason why e-mail is so popular. What we're doing -- you and me -- is writing letters back and forth to one another. The exchanges of letters between men used to be quite common, but no more. It died in the 1960's and 70's. The advent of e-mail opened the world back up because for some odd reason, electronic mail is not as "personal" as a hand-written note. So two men can send e-mail to one another without any sense of exposure or vulnerability, whereas a handwritten note opens a man up to those feelings. This blog is like that -- an exchange of letters. The difference is it's like a series of letters that have been tacked to a bulletin board. And the world can read them, if they choose to.

Many blogs are one person affairs -- a soapbox where one stands and shouts their views to a world that's not listening. Our audience is really each other. I wonder how common that is -- a two person, back-and-forth blog like this?

Do you know anyone else who does this? Do you have another blog you maintain with someone else?