Beemer Engineering (A Rant)

I freely admit, I love my Beemers. While I've been riding an assorted stable of BMW's since the 80's, Airheads, Oilheads, KBikes, etc; in 2001, after twenty-four years and over a dozen different styles of machine, I finally found my niche. The GS Gelände/Straße (German: off-road/road). BMW's big bore, dual sport machine.

I also like to wrench my own bikes. Give me a technical manual and there's little, if anything, I won't try to fix or repair myself. It's a challenge to try and disassemble, repair and reassemble without any spare PAA (Parts After Assembly), something engineers have taken such pains to create.

The GS is BMW's number one selling machine in the world. Almost since its inception in 1980, it became the premier Round The World (RTW) touring machine. The GS has taken riders where few motorcycles dare to tread and returned them safely. With this in mind and the fact that repairs will need to be done, most likely on the side of a road in foreign far away lands; I am left to wonder just WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING??? when they designed the bike.

I recently received a number of Touratech goodies for my R1200GSA. One of which was a heavy duty bash plate for the underside of the bike. In order to install the plate, I had to remove the OEM plate that came with the bike. Now, there are four nuts/bolts that hold the bash plate in place. Usually no big deal. There was only one small problem. Between the four nuts/bolts, there are THREE DIFFERENT SIZES!!!, requiring not only three separate sockets in order to remove it, but two different styles to boot. I mean, really, WTF are the BMW engineers thinking? Are they thinking?

I gazed skyward, imploring the Motorcycle Gods to enlighten me as to who in their right mind would design a machine of this caliber, knowing full well it will be ridden to hell and back, all over the world, with these types of incredibly stupid flaws? Does common sense have no place in the universe anymore? The God's, being Gods and thus having little time for mere mortals, chose to ignore me. Space is at a premium on a motorcycle as it is. The last thing a RTW Adventure Rider wants to deal with is having a pack a toolkit the size of Wisconsin just to effect repairs somewhere on the road. Why could the four nuts/bolts for this plate not be one uniform size?

I aim to try and find out.

Hyphenated Americanism

I recently read a thread on favorite Presidents. While thinking about my favorite, I had no difficulty identifying one President that I despise; Bill Clinton. Clinton ushered in the age of Political Correctness in this country, giving credence and support to what was once a derogatory (and well deserved) slight...The Hyphenated American. In the course of a few short years, Americans no longer considered themselves Americans. They decided the only way to give their lives any real meaning, and in order to play the discrimination/racism cards to the hilt, was to hyphenate themselves; thus placing their Americanism on the second rung of the ladder of identity. Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans, Italian-Americans, African-Americans...the list goes on ad-nasuem.

I am an American. No embellishment necessary. American. Period. I am also a no-nonsense type of guy, much like my favorite President is Teddy Roosevelt. He was a hard charging, take no prisoners, carry a big stick type of man. His speech on Americanism to the Knights of Columbus in 1915 says it all:

"There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all... The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic... There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else."

Which begs the questions, What is it about my fellow countrymen today and their inability to accept being truly American? Why did simply being an American become a bad thing and what part of being an American do they not get?

It's All About Communicating

The City of Fredericksburg appears to have a major disconnect when communicating with its citizens. During the recent record breaking snowstorms, the salting and plowing of neighborhood streets was spotty and a number of them, simply overlooked. I concluded that city representatives were most likely receiving quite a bit of hate mail because of the situation.

Despite extensive searching of the city's website, I was unable to find any mention of snow removal efforts or the trials, tribulations the city was going through. There was an after action report from the December storm, but nothing on the current efforts. My search for communication continued. I presumed the Mayor, Vice Mayor and each council member would have some sort of blog/website in order to communicate with their constituents about the situation. In this I was wrong. While one councilman has a website, I found nothing on it about the city's uphill battle with the snow & ice. Another council member pointed me towards a FredTalk site that discussed snow removal. It was buried (no pun intended) in the Fredericksburg Community forum.

My point? City representatives need to be more communicative with residents when incidents like this occur. Residents were/are screaming for roads to be plowed. What they don't know (and I only recently learned) is that city plows have rubber tipped blades. These are good only for small to moderate amounts of snow and protect the tarmac better than steel blades. Well, we've had something slightly more than "small to moderate amounts of snow," thus the plows can only be effective to a point. Had this small tidbit of information been forthcoming, I predict much of the venom from residents, may have been ameliorated. Even if council members are unable to do anything, the perception that they too are experiencing the same frustration, pain, heartburn and inconvenience, earns them some capital, understanding and tolerance from their constituents.

I personally would like to see all of our elected representatives with some type of Blog or website. Not only to communicate with the residents of their specific wards, but to all residents. Providing individual views and insight; good, bad or indifferent, on not just major events such as this seasons snowstorms, but on all matters pertaining to the city. Sure, we can read about their positions in the local paper; but that naturally contains a journalistic slant, selected sound bites and rarely provides the whole story. Most people appreciate getting their information, unfiltered. Heck, I know I do. While I may not agree with every position of my elected representatives, they earn my respect for being forthright and allowing me to hear/read it in their own words.

Missed Opportunities and Frustration

I previously wrote about the joy of living in a real neighborhood. A place where we all come together to help one another. With an additional 18" of snow received over the course of last weekend, we once again emerged from our homes to begin digging.

One of the first things we noticed was that the City had not yet come through to plow or scrape. Not one pass on the street. I understand the need to put resources towards the main roads and keep them clear during the storm. As of this writing, almost 48 hours after then final flake has fallen, the City still has not shown its face on Winchester Street. We now have 4-6" of hard packed ice. Both Sunday afternoon and today the City missed, in my opinion, opportunities to do additional clearing, not only here but on the main roads as well. With temperatures in the mid 30's and bright sun, the snow is melting. A heavy slush that would have been much easier to remove. Instead, it will refreeze with the low of 16 degrees for tonite, create havoc for drivers and serve as a hellacious base for the next round of winter weather that is to begin tomorrow afternoon.

Where is Public Works to scrape the streets and massive ice ruts that exist? More importantly where is City Council to oversee the situation? I'm sure there are streets in the same state and residents all over the city, asking the same questions, however, I really don't care about them. I care about the folks in the 5 blocks that make up the length of Winchester St.

The Neighborhood

One of the benefits of living where we do downtown, is the fact that we live in a honest to god neighborhood. We've helped raise each others children, we hold block parties, we come together at random to grill, chill and socialize. We look out for one another. We are intimately attuned to our environment so that when someone or something is out of place, it stands out like a sore thumb. We are a mix of homeowners and renters.

So, this morning, with the sun up and the road having been plowed only once after 10 inches of snow, we came together. A small army dug out all of the vehicles, cleared sidewalks and even drove one of our slightly limping neighbors to his job.

We do not live in some sterile subdivision surrounded by people/families we barely know or even more rarely, acknowledge. There are no HOA Nazis or yearly fees to pay. No one tells us we can't fly the American flag, what color we can paint our houses, how to decorate our front doors and we certainly don't need anyone's permission to put up a fence or dry our laundry on the line outside.

No, we are a neighborhood. A rare microcosm in today's society and there isn't a single one of us who would trade it for anything else in the world.

Stupidity Migrates East

Well, it would appear that my hopes have been dashed. The puritanical ignorance of the left coast has indeed surmounted the mighty Rockies and migrated east, right here to our own neck of the woods.

Superintendent Bobbi Johnson of the Culpeper County Public Schools' has banned the unedited version of Anne Franks ''The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition," because the 13 year old writes about her...wait for it...vagina. GASP!!! Anne Franks Diary Censored by Culpeper County Schools

How dare this girl, suffering from the innumerable atrocities raging around her that only war, racism and bigotry can bring, fearing for her life, have the sheer audacity to write about her body!

I often fear there will never be an end to the Political Correctness that has wrapped it poisonous tentacles around this country. With folks such as Superintendent Johnson and Betti Cadmus SoCal School district bans the dictionary carrying the banner of righteousness, all hope may be lost.

Stupidity Runs Amok in SoCal

Southern California's Menifee Union School District has decided to ban Merriam-Webster's 10th ed dictionary from 4th & 5th grade classes because their precious little snowflakes can ultimately discover the shocking definition for "oral sex" - "oral stimulation of the genitals" within its pages. Oh the HORROR of it all!

I have a couple of problems with this.

1. It's a dictionary for crying out loud!
2. Banning books never/never accomplishes anything.
3. It's a dictionary for crying out loud!
4. I posit that the majority of the parents who raised this concern most likely don't have "parental controls" enabled on their home computers, so now their children can look up "oral sex" using a Google search, which will return approximately 29,600,000 results.
5. It's a dictionary for crying out loud!

It is my sincere hope the Rocky Mountains prevent this level of stupidity and censorship from migrating East.

Menifee USD

RCDV - Empty Bowl

This annual event raises money for the Rapphannock Council on Domestic Violence. Pay your $$, choose a bowl made by area potters, sit and eat your fill of over twenty-five soups, chili's and other goodies created by volunteers. Bread, drinks and desserts included. Music and entertainment also provided.

This Sunday 5-7:30PM, Elks Lodge, Rt 2 (going towards the Country Club). Tickets are still available at Liberty Town studios. Come on out and support an excellent cause!

A Suspension Bridge in Fredericksburg

Growing up in Fredericksburg, I've always been exposed to Civil War history and the importance that the Battles of Fredericksburg The Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Chancellorsville played. While not a die hard Civil War buff, I do thoroughly enjoy biking all of the battlefields in the surrounding counties and stopping to read (and reread) the historical markers which provide me bits of knowledge and reference.

While reading "The Great Bridge," The Epic Story of The Building of The Brooklyn Bridge, I was awed to learn that during the Fredericksburg Campaign, a suspension bridge had been built across the Rappahannock River! It was constructed by Washington Robeling, son of John Robeling, architect of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Washington Robeling served as designer, engineer, architect, and foreman for the thousand foot long span which was constructed in two weeks. The bridge, unfortunately did not last long (about a month), having been ordered destroyed by General Burnside, during a retreat back across the river.

Dr. Grossett has moved!

I am extremely pleased to announce that my wife, Dr. Sandra Grossett, is no longer associated with Access Eye of Fredericksburg.

After seventeen years, Dr. G. decided it was time to move on to greener pastures and a more positive work environment. She has joined forces with Dr. Brad Church and Dr. Myron Wasiuta of Total Eye, in Culpeper Virginia.

Dr. Grossett's patients can contact her for an appointment or exam at 540-825-8220. You can visit their website at Total Eye.