My kind of shopping...

This could also be called: "buying while I can," which is really my kind of shopping, buying. Basically I went to REI and bought a couple of things, well four things but writing about two of them would be too much information. The two things I bought that I will write about were the Spot, for my motorcycle trips later this year and possibly next, and a Halo head covering for use under helmets. Well, bike helmets but I will use it under my motorcycle helmet to help keep my hair from going all directions.

My father has planned a 10,000-mile round trip RV drive to Alaska in his Roadtrek this summer. I am planning on going along. To get to the start, I will be riding my motorcycle another 2,000 miles each way. So, I am buying stuff that will allow me to make this trip, future trips, and preparatory trips, not that the Spot is directly related to that. I am shopping for saddlebags as well, small enough that I don't have to make any physical changes to my motorcycle. This will give me a sissy bar bag, an eighty-five liter backpack, and two approximately 11"x10"x6" saddlebags. I still haven't figured out how to attach the backpack. It is not going to be on my back but backwards on the passenger seat. I also need to figure out a wind and rain cover so it doesn't get beat to death at my motorcycle speeds.

If you are interested in receiving a Google Map email of my location on this and other trips I may take, you can either comment on this entry with your email address or, if you know my email address, send me an email directly. I will be doing some research to see if I can get the Spot's postings directly into Facebook. If I figure it out, for those who aren't yet my FB friend, I will let you know how to become my FB friend and keep up with my travels that way. (My recent experience with Facebook is worthy of another blog entry or two.)

Just one more unrelated comment, which I was originally not going to post. Last week I applied through my current mortgage vendor to refinance my mortgage. They declined my application for a 30-year note that was at a lower rate than my current 15-year note and also over a third less monthly payment. They "sell" the mortgages they write to Fannie Mae and Fannie Mae doesn't buy mortgages that don't have associated income streams. My investments, severance package, stellar credit rating, and payment history on a substantially more expensive mortgage doesn't count for anything. I have written President Obama on this but do not expect anything to come of that. After all, most of the bailout money is going to people who caused the problem rather than to help people who can benefit the most, and thus help the country the most.