little mercies

Postscript 1: Assorted Leftovers

Physical Aftereffects
Tendinitis on the top of my left foot (my shifting foot). Now, I understand Daniel’s pain.

Biker tanning pattern in the worst possible way. I saw it a lot on the road. Pale behind the sunglasses. Dark on portions of the face not covered by sunglasses or helmet. (About half the riders did not wear a helmet.) Heavily tanned arms and hands except for those people wearing longsleeve shirts. In those cases, the tanning started at the wrist or just above the wrist.

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Mental Aftereffects

1. A compulsion to go outside to check fluid levels and tire pressure on my bike

2. Wondering why there is no wind noise

3. Leaning through turns as I walk around the apartment or city

4. Frequently looking back to make sure my backpack is tied on properly

5. Left-hand waving to other motocycle riders even though I am walking

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Lots of Emails to Write
The Sony P910i was nice for taking care of mail on the road, but usually after riding all day, I wasn’t much interested in anything more than food and a nap. There’s lots of catching up to do.

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Favorite Transportation Seen on the Road
Kind of breaks my heart that nothing from my old employer (GM) caught my eye, but they have rarely taken any design initiative. Geez, the current Corvette hasn’t had a major redesign in more than 20 years–about the length of time they dragged out the previous version.

The Chrysler 300 and the new Ford Mustang were the cars most fun to look at on this trip. They must be selling quite well; I saw a lot of them. The Chrysler product line is looking good in general, but the 300 is a nice mix of the 30s and the 00s. Kinda boxy with very little glass, but it looks very cool.

The current Mustang marks the first time in about 25 years that the car has taken any significant styling cues from the original car. It looks great.

[An eight year old, white with blue interior, ’65 Mustang was, against my will and for a very short time, my first car. The fact that I was left alive after whining about the car because it did not have an automatic transmission is a testiment to my theory that parents are genetically forced to love and protect their children, even though killing them might be the more appealing, logical option. Thanks Dad.]

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Best Tunes
I heard a lot of rap and country on the way, but I had a 1GB playlist in my P910 that became nightly listening. Below, I’ve listed a few of the songs from that playlist.

“Sober,” Tool
“Perfect Blue Buildings,” Counting Crows
“Sanctified,” NIN
“Black Eyed Dog,” Nick Drake
“Sweet Dream,” Chris Carter (buy the CD!)
“Bernie Lee,” Tricky (recommendation from Jared “Toilet” R.)
“California Love,” Tupac
“Standing in the Shower Thinking,” Jane’s Addiction
“Turn Me Loose,” Loverboy (a sorry, but fun, bit of nostalgia)
“Tonight, Not Again,” Jason Mraz
“Sweet Transvestite,” Apocalypse Hoboken (cover of song from Rocky Horror Picture Show)
“Everybody Knows a Little Bit of Something,” King’s X
“Le Vent Nous Portera,” Noir Desir
“Walk on By,” Isaac Hayes
“Walk on By,” Beach Boys (a 55 second excerpt)
“Turn Me On,” Danny Tenaglia (supplied by Rick E)
“Filthy Gorgeous,” Scissor Sisters
“The Horses,” Daryl Braithewaite
“My Dad’s Gone Crazy,” Eminem
“We Don’t Need Who You Think You Are,” Skunk Anasie
“Don’t Push Me,” 50 Cent
“Hurricane Waters,” Citizen Cope
“Sag Mir Wo,” Clueso
“Languished Prayers,” Daniel Cartier
“Smalltown Boy,” Bronski Beat
“You’re the One for Me,” Marvin Gaye
“Maggot Brain,” Funkadelic