Moem's Journal
It's not Myspace...wait, it's not even LiveJournal.
Recent Entries 
readme.txt
Hi! You've found me. This is kind of an experimental / placeholder journal, since the way LiveJournal has been changing recently worries me.
You can find me there under the username m03m. That's m-zero-three-m.

Since I'm (for now) primarily an LJ user, these entries have been copied from there. Some have even been copied from MySpace first!
That causes some problems with linkage. And if there's something about site changes and other ongoing events that makes you go 'huh?' because it doesn't seem to make any sense, it's probably about LiveJournal, not Scribbld. I apologize for any confusion and other kinds of inconvenience.

Oh, and copying the entries from elsewhere means losing all comments, as well.
3rd-Sep-2009 05:28 pm - An NZ story
motor in wadi
I suddenly realised that I've never posted anything about the trip to NZ I took with [info]gummihuhn in April. I simply never felt like it. I loved New Zealand, but I don't like writing all that much!
Still, here's a short episode I thought about today... so why not write it down. The pictures are Gummihuhn's.

Click to read it... )

For a different perspective: compare gummihuhn's story... it has more pictures. And if you ever find yourself wanting to rent a motorbike in Christchurch or Auckland, head to the good folks at City Motorcycle Rentals and tell them I said hello.
15th-Apr-2009 09:45 pm - Short impression of the Crown Range, a mountain road
avatar met molen
The yellowing grass, side lit by the afternoon sun, made the hills look like they were clothed in rich folds of golden-coloured velvet.
The road, meanwhile, twisted and turned, dipped and swerved. And we were having a grand time.

We managed to leave Queenstown at half past four with new rear tyres on both bikes, and we are now in Omarama. After a meal of couscous with green beans and a nice big salad, we're feeling rather pleased.
14th-Apr-2009 03:43 pm - Tyre trouble again
avatar met molen
We left Alexandra in high spirits this morning, having been fed and given a bed and lots of good advice by [info]futurecatnz's folks. We were planning to head up north, first making a detour almost back to Queenstown, and then taking the 'old road' back to Wanaka, not because we were especially eager to see Wanaka again but because that mountain road is supposed to be spectacular, and the weather is great so the views should be breathtaking.
Passing the exit to the road, I headed on towards Queenstown first, because we'd need to drench our horses before making them climb up the mountain. And when we were at the petrol station, we saw that my rear tyre was not looking good. It was developing holes or cuts in the sidewall, that you can see the canvas through.
*sigh*
So we called the good people at City Motorcycle Rentals in Christchurch again, and agreed that we would head into Queenstown and see what we could find there, and talk to them again before having anything done (like, replacing a tyre).
When we arrived at Offroad Adventures, a rental shop which has several Suzukis of the same type as 'ours', we were informed that they'd already been contacted by City Motorcycle Rentals.
We were advised to come back in half an hour or so and they'd be able to tell us more. So of course we headed for the nearest internet cafe. What else is there to do?

Large pics of tyres behind the cut. Not for the faint of heart. )
11th-Apr-2009 07:29 am - Back on our wheels
motor in wadi
We have the blue bike back!
Today, it was drizzling, but we got fed up with being inside and immobile, so we decided to walk to the garage where the AA man brought the bike with the flat tyre, and ask about it. It was a 3 km walk along the main road.
When we got there we were told that the bike was ready, it had actually been ready since yesterday evening, but they couldn't get hold of us. And the AA guy could not simply bring it back to us because it needed to be paid for.
It started to rain instead of drizzle by then, so we went for a cuppa in the cafe at the other side of the road, and it was obviously weekend = bike riding time, a group of bikers stopped there to eat a bit and get out of the rain.
By the time our tea was finished, it was practically dry so we headed back to the camp site to get our bike gear.
We returned together on the yellow Suzuki (me riding in front, Gummihuhn riding pillion since it wasn't my bike that had a problem!) and paid 230 $ NZ by credit card. Since the hire comes with roadside assistance insurance, I'm assuming I'll be reimbursed for that later by the good folks at City Motorcycle Rentals in Christchurch.

We are now celebrating with a beer (me), a bottle of Phoenix organic apple-feijoa juice (Gummihuhn), and a bag of lime-black pepper flavoured Kettle chips. Tomorrow, we'll be back on the road again!
10th-Apr-2009 03:45 am - Lots of words from NZ
motor in wadi
Time for a slightly longer update as we may be stuck here for a while, and having the Leeebretto allows me to type while offline and then copy-paste into LJ.

So [info]gummihuhn has a flat tire. In fact it was more than just flat: there is a series of short cuts or tears in the side of his rear tire, looking by their angle as if they occurred while riding, but how... we don't know. Frankly I've never seen anything like it. The AA has picked up the bike but the hard part may be finding a replacement tire, especially as this is Easter. Looks like our route plans may have just gone down the drain.
We're in a nice spot (Haast, on the west coast) and right now the weather is lovely so I'm not complaining too much (it's not like it's going to help anyway) but it would be a shame having to wait here while our scarce days here glide past and there are so many gorgeous roads out there left to be discovered.
A lot more words, behind the cut... )
9th-Apr-2009 10:33 am - Another short update
avatar met molen
This one will be really short because I'm typing on the Libretto today and the keyboard is seriously small. But I want to tell you very quickly what we're up to, and make some notes that I can use for a decent write-up later.

Arthur's Pass was excellent, even though the weather was not. After leaving the mountains behind us, we got some fairer weather, and we reached the west coast without much of a ceremony, the road just sort of bumped into the shoreline.
We went to a town (will fill in name later, map is in tent) to shop for rum, plastic bags to keep luggage dry, and a cup of tea. We found all of that and Internet, the rain radar told us the north was worse than the south. So we skipped the pancake rocks and went south.
The 6 is a wonderful road, lots of rainforest. Some rain, too (only logical). We finally decided to camp out at Okarito beach, after a serious hailstorm.
Lovely spot to camp and nice travellers to talk to.
In the morning blue skioes and the sun creeping down the palm trees. Time for tea. We went to the beach to greet the ocean and look for nice pebbles. I brushed my teeth in the ocean and they got seriously clean.
Today was spent riding the twisties down the coast, and getting my luggage rack welded (it broke). Brilliant weather. Stopped at Bruce Bay for a while, the striped stones stacked up in piles were very special. The rocks had silvery spots where they contained mica.
Eventually we reached Haast, found a camping site, and found that Gummihuhn's bike has a flat tire. We'll take care of that tomorrow. Rather tired now.
7th-Apr-2009 09:53 am - Vewwy quick update
motor in wadi
We left Christchurch around 12, in lovely summery weather and actually riding at the proper side of the road. The bikes were purring along like happy cats and felt so light you could write your name on the road with them.
First came a bit of flat land*) which was great for getting used to things, and a wonderful roadhouse with a talking cat.
After that the mountains that were looming in the distance gradually crept in on us.
We've been riding through the mountains to Arthur's Pass and it was all kinds of wonderful!

Then, when it started to rain, we found, in this order:
- a place to have tea and a sandwich
- petrol
- reliable weather advice, telling us the rain would not stop today
- a honesty box operated bunk house with internet and hot bath!!!!!
(Which is where we are now, being the only guests.)

This last concept will keep me grinning all the way back to Christchurch.

*) Note to self: don't forget about the ever-changing smells from the different trees. Eucalyptus and the Other Ones.
6th-Apr-2009 06:41 pm - NZ trip: a short list of facts (so far)
avatar met molen
  • The first flight was OK even though we couldn't really sleep.
  • The short visit to HongKong was amazing and utterly worth it, and so were the noodles we had there.
  • The second flight was delayed because the plane was broken and they had to put us into a different one and it took them several hours.
  • The other plane was a similarly old clunker (while the first one was fine!) as the one that we would have been on if it hadn't been broken. However, we did manage to get moved to a seat with leg room for Gummihuhn.
  • We did, of course, miss our connection in Auckland and no one told us what to do so we ran around the airport like headless chickens but ended up on an Air NZ flight which was amazingly comfortable. The purser took one look at us and put us next to the emergency exit. Leg room!
  • We had breathtaking views on NZ during the flight.
  • It was great to be greeted by familiar faces and picked up from the airport.
  • We hardly fell asleep on the scenic drive Lytteltonwitch and Futurecat took us on.
  • We loved the tacos but were quite happy to go to bed right after dinner (=tea).
  • We slept well and felt a whole lot better in the morning.
  • Today we went to pick up the bikes and they're sweet. Handling is great. They feel light as a feather and the bike shop folks were really friendly.
  • We're going to bake a nice big stack of Dutch pancakes for tea (=dinner) now.

More later!
26th-Feb-2009 10:24 am - 'Beertje' is going to be famous
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'Beertje' is my motorized tricycle. It's quite old: from 1956. I bought it back in 1990 when I was starting up my business and didn't have a driver's licence; it provided me with a practical and stylish way to get to my customers and bring all my equipment.
Plus, Beertje always attracted lots of attention, which is good if you're running a business.
Read more and see pics! )
24th-Feb-2009 06:52 pm - Feel free to laugh
motor in wadi
...but I've just ordered a SheWee.
It's a plastic device that allows women to pee standing up, while keeping their pants mostly on. Yes, I guess you could call it a substitute penis. Only for one of its functions, though, obviously  :-)
I thought it would come in handy while travelling. Especially when out on a bike ride: there's always so much clothing you need to take off before you can get to the bare essence, so to speak.


Being Dutch, frugal and not inclined to buy the first thing that comes along, I did a little research and found several similar products, all with really silly names:
the P-Mate is not reuseable, the Whiz Freedom (also known as Whizaway) and the Freshette were fairly expensive especially with postage, and the GoGirl, while cheap at a modest 5 dollars, isn't even available outside the North-American continent. [insert really smart pun on 'continent' and 'incontinent' here]
The SheWee, however, could be mine for a mere £11  (about  €12  or $16) which seemed fair.
So that's the one I ordered.
I can't wait for my newly bought freedom to arrive so I can, pardon the pun, give it a go.
23rd-Feb-2009 08:58 am - I like this pic too much...
motor in wadi
...for it to be buried in the comments of a posting.
So here it is.



[info]gummihuhn  took it yesterday, as we were working on my bike.
I enjoy working on the bike and I enjoy smelling of oil afterwards. I'd put the bike back together today except there's a pesky oil leak somewhere that deserves a bit of extra attention, and now that the engine is out of the frame it's all a bit easier to get to. So [info]stoneshop  and I will look at it tonight. And if I get a strong urge to ride today I guess I can borrow his bike.

We also spent some time looking at a map of New Zealand. The trip is starting to feel a bit more like something that's actually going to happen. It's very exciting.
We now know that we'll have nine days to ride around the Southern island, and that sounds entirely possible and very, very tempting.

Oh, and this is the type of bike [info]gummihuhn  and I want to rent. Nice, huh. Feel and handling should be rather similar to mine. And it's BookCrossing-yellow!


4th-Nov-2008 08:51 pm - Some catching up
bedrijfslogo
Three things that happened lately:

- I went to Belgium with [info]aka_phoenix  to be present at yellow-star's goodbye ceremony / funeral. Like Phoenix, I didn't know her personally; yet I enjoyed her very positive presence in the forums, and I have a fond memory of the time when she won a 10 kg box of release fodder in my Newbies prize drawing. Since someone was kind enough to deliver the box to her home address in Belgium I could send an even bigger box so she ended up winning 20 kgs of books, and her surprise and happiness were so great they were contagious.
I'm still glad she won that prize drawing.
Yellow-Star, even though you're gone forever, you'll always be a winner to me.

Phoenix described the ceremony quite well in her journal so I don't have much to add. It was a bit strange for me to be at a religious service, but I'm glad I went. I'm pretty sure that our presence meant a lot to Yellow-Star's father and that alone was a good reason to be there.

- I joined [info]stoneshop  in helping out at a motorcycle trials event. They always need so-called observers to watch the participants closely and see if they touch the ground with their feet, or make other mistakes while riding through the course. They get penalty points if they do.
It's a fun type of event because the sport is not based on speed but on balance and control, which makes it interesting to watch. For a competition sport, it has a decidedly relaxed and non-competitive atmosphere; riders will congratulate each other on good results, or point out tricky bits of the course to each other while exploring the course on foot before riding it.
Each course has different routes for different skill levels, marked with arrows of a specific colour, so each rider can ride at his or her own skill level. It's typically a parent-child event where fathers compete against their sons or daughters. Mothers, not so much; maybe in time we'll see that too.
I managed to punch my finger with the punching pliers that we used to mark the participants' cards to show the results. I'd never thought that was possible, but it was. Apart from that, it was a really nice way to spend a day outdoors.

- Last night I dreamt I found my Leatherman (which I hadn't been able to find for a while, and I was obviously starting to miss it). Then when putting on my working clothes this morning, I found it in one of my safety shoes.

My, this entry sure needs a lot of tags.
30th-Aug-2008 11:02 pm - The stainless steel cow had run out of milk
motor in wadi
...but otherwise we had a splendid afternoon.
We needed a few important things (like a new battery for one of [info]stoneshop 's bikes) so we headed out to Germany today. It was a wonderful summer day; we took the Hondas.
Useful shopping and a wonderful ride with my sweetie all at the same time; does life get any better? I'm not sure I care if it does.

We mainly took the small roads and the dike roads that we both love so well. There were some cyclists but not too many. The twists and turns in the road took us exactly where we wanted to go, as if they knew. The river shone bright blue and the cows and sheep all seemed to smile.

Except for one: the stainless steel cow. The slot machine that you can buy fresh, raw, cooled milk from. But not today, because there was none left when we got there. Oh well... we had such a nice day that I don't even care.

click for full size

20th-Aug-2008 05:55 pm - Choices choices
motor in wadi
Okay, this one is really hard. Maybe all y'all can help me think.

See, [info]gummihuhn, [info]stoneshop and me were going to visit a biker's meet on Dartmoor (*waves at [info]miketroll*). And on the way we would stop to meet a BookCrosser or two, and pick up a teapot for my Teasmade, which I bought on E-bay (or actually, gummihuhn did the buying on my behalf).
But there's a problem. [info]stoneshop cannot get many days off from work, so his time is restricted. And he figures it's a lot of kilometres in rather few days, to meet a group of people he's not all that involved with. We'd be on a rather tight schedule in order to make it to the ferry on time.
I can see his point, and even if I couldn't: if he doesn't want to go, I can't make him go, and I wouldn't want to if I could.

So if he stays home, why shouldn't I go? After all, I've been looking forward to this trip for quite some time.  Therre's going to be campfires, and greenlaning, and lots of biker's stories being swapped. It sounds like a lovely outing and I know that [info]gummihuhn and I make fine travel companions (everything went quite well on our trip to the BookCrossing convention in London).

Well...
it's just that [info]stoneshop and I haven't been on a proper holiday since I don't know when. I'd really enjoy a few days out and about together. Doesn't have to be just the two of us, can be in a group; but I do want him to be there or it wouldn't be the same.
Are there other things I'd like to do with those days off? Well... I've always wanted to go to Prague together. It's my favourite city in the whole world and I'd love to show it to him. Of course, that's about the same distance... but there are no boats involved, so we wouldn't be on such a tight schedule. We could even travel by bus and sleep on the way.

So what's a girl to do? Go for the fun bike trip, get down and dirty on the moor, drink lukewarm beer around a campfire with total strangers and probably have a whale of a time?
Or go for some quality time together with the big guy, in a city which I know I really love, and he may well love it as well?

Dear LJ, I know I've not been around much lately, but don't forsake me now that I come to you in my hour of need. Please advise.
27th-Jul-2008 10:27 pm - Okay, so here's a bit about the jacket I bought
motor in wadi
It's the most expensive article of clothing that I ever bought. And I would never have considered buying it at the original price. Not because it's too expensive, but because it's too much money. (Not the same thing at all!)
But [info]stoneshop had been singing the praises of this particular type of motorcycle jacket, in the most powerful way possible: by demonstrating how comfortable they are, how he never gets too hot, too cold or wet wearing them, and how they last him 200.000 kilometres.
(The durability of motorcycle gear is best measured in distance.)
Furthermore, there was some money coming in.
And to top it off I found one on the internets that was 50% off. So I decided we'd at least go and look at it in the shop, and try it on. I could always decide it didn't fit or that I didn't like it all that much after all. Or that I'd try and find a used one, now that I knew the right size.

So we went to the BMW store, as yes, this is BMW gear. We parked our scruffy looking Honda dirt bikes out in front.
The store looks very shiny, lots of glass, everything looks immaculately clean. You could eat your lunch off any of the bikes in the shop. There was nothing in there that I found desirable at all.
Except for the jacket.



Savanna 2 suits being presented on a fair

It's red. That was one of the reasons I wanted it: none of that drab all-black gear for me.
It's nifty all over. It's full of zippers that allow you to cool off when it's warm. This is the kind of jacket that you can actually wear all year round because it's got all those nifty features. And it's really well made.

To say that it felt comfortable would have been an understatement.
It felt like a second skin. No, heavier. It felt like home. It felt like 200.000 kilometres of lovely roads. It felt like it had my name on it.
And the price was, at 50% off... acceptable.

But there was another issue. Jackets in this series are not waterproof by themselves, they need a Gore tex liner. And the liner is not included in the price of the jacket.
In fact it turned out to cost almost as much as the jacket itself.
So, the deal was off.

Of course, I went back two days later and bought it anyway. Plus the liner.

And now there's a pair of gently used Savanna 2 trousers up on E-bay. Grey (the same kind of grey that the jacket has) with small patches of blue! Wouldn't that look wonderful with the red jacket, on my red-white-and-blue bike?
Keep your fingers crossed for me!
3rd-Jul-2008 05:47 pm - A different way to celebrate a birthday
motor in wadi
Yesterday was the birthday of my favourite ex. He didn't feel like having a great big party but he wanted to come over and bring his minibike, so we could ride it on the parking lot. I'd never ridden one before!
Another friend showed up and brought his girlfriend, and one of the neigbours joined us, and the birthday boy had brought cake and beers and soft drinks. We ended up having a nice little parking lot party, in the rain. It was fun.
Click to see a video! )
1st-Jun-2008 05:29 pm - Writer's Block: Fixing the past.
motor in wadi
[Error: unknown template 'qotd'] I would have hit the brakes, instead of counting on the sheep to stay where they were. So they would not have crossed the railroad I was riding my motorbike on, right in front of me; and I would not have hit one of them and fallen down. I wouldn't have hit my shoulder on the iron rail, tearing a muscle, and the sheep would not have had its leg broken. And the sheperds would not have come to make us pay for the sheep.

Oh well. It makes for a good story now.
29th-May-2008 12:52 pm - Oooh shiny!
motor in wadi
The mailman just brought me the new brake disc that [info]gummihuhn ordered for me in Germany. It looks awesome. In fact it looks so awesome that it doesn't really suit the bike because *nothing*  else about that bike looks remotely this glamourous!



Here's my old brake disc, which needs to be replaced. Click to see the solid steel slice of awesomeness that just arrived.
To make things even better: it was dirt cheap, too.
27th-May-2008 11:04 am - What we did last Friday (now in English!)
motor in wadi
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