Sojourn Chronicles

It’s December 31st, the last day of the year. It’s that time to reflect on the past and look towards the future. Here is how the day plays out for me.

7:40 AM–Every year, the media–newspapers, radio, and TV–run out their programming full of the year in review. Frankly, it gets a little tiring, and I find a good classic B&W movie to watch. Just now, ABC Good Morning America is broadcasting “2007: That was the year that was.”  Ugh. Oh my god, more coverage about Brittney Spears! Double ugh–where’s the remote control!

8:00 AM–It’s midnight in Sydney Australia. The fireworks display on ABC is too short. I remember the coverage of Y2K, how the world celebrated with ongoing coverage of the change from one century to the next, 1999 to 2000. Of course, there were those naysayers who said the next century did not officially start until 2001, and everyone was watching to see how all the computers in the world would react at the time change over. We all survived, didn’t we? But, that Y2K New Year’s Eve to New Year coverage was the best.

8:07 AM–Now they’re talking about “2007: The Best and the Worst.” Okay, this will be my last reference to what ABC or any other media is doing. Except … Turner Classic Movies is playing “High Sierra” with Humphrey Bogart.

10:00 AM–I just spent time tweaking a database for a new homeowners directory for our development. The old directory was a good one that needed updating, but it was created completely in MS Word with each homeowner entered three times. I took all of the updated information and created a database, allowing any number of documents to be created or sorted including mailing labels! My how times have changed. Technology allows us to do amazing things. My Smith Corona electric typewriter sits in the basement ready at the call to hammer out an address on an envelope! Or, I could just print a whole sheet of address labels from the new database.

10:30 AM–I just checked the weather. It’s 33 degrees. Here’s the forecast:

Hour-by-Hour Forecast for the Cincinnati Area, December 31, 2007:

11:00 a.m. 40°F	Noon 42°F	1:00 p.m. 45°F
2:00 p.m. 46°F	3:00 p.m. 48°F	4:00 p.m. 47°F
5:00 p.m. 46°F	6:00 p.m. 45°F	7:00 p.m. 42°F

As the evening progresses, it goes downhill. If I am going to get my last motorcycle ride of 2007, I’d better do it this afternoon by 3 p.m.

I always try to get the first ride of the year on New Year’s Day, and I’ve been fairly lucky. That is not looking good for tomorrow. I may have to wait for the first ride of 2008.

11:45 AM–I’m thinking about my web sites, and the best discovery of 2007, for me, is WordPress. It is an amazing piece of community software that allows anyone to publish on the Internet. Okay, maybe I discovered it actually in late 2006, but it is still amazing and getting better.

After a little prodding, and constant posting, I was admitted into the select group of Motorcycle Bloggers International. It is a unique group, and there is a wide diversity of motorcyclists blogging about their rides and adventures. If you are not familiar with MBI, check them out. Just click on the logo. Participating in MBI makes sense for Sojourn Chronicles: a travelogue for life … sometimes on a motorcycle.

Noon–Leftover salad and chicken for lunch. The refrigerator needs restocking.

12:30 PM–It’s 40 degrees. So …

Self portrait. Do I look cold, or like I’m squinting into the sun?

Sixteen-point-nine miles later, with a maximum speed of 59.9 mph, my last ride of 2007 is history. This statistical data is made available by the new Delorme Earthmate GPS PN-20 that Santa brought for Christmas. The self-portrait is on a bridge over the Little Miami River. The route along the Little Miami is one of my favorites. I didn’t ride too far. It was only 40 degrees, you know.

2:00 PM–Off to the grocery store with the lovely Lin. She has today and tomorrow off from work.

4:00 PM–Back from shopping. We had to go to two grocery stores to get everything we wanted. It’s 47 degrees. The sun is shining. Not a cloud in the sky. I saw a few motorcyclists riding.

Regarding those groceries. I remember when $115 of groceries filled nearly two carts. But not today. The cart seemed half full … barely. That’s one thing I noticed in 2007–the rising cost of food. Everybody talks about the cost of gas, but food prices have jumped also.

Am I better off today than I was four years ago. How about eight years ago?

Are the presidential candidate debates over yet? Call when one of them stands out in the crowd.

Am I rambling? Or, is this Adult Attention Deficit Disorder? Or, the onset of dementia? Let me think about this a minute or two.

4:25 PM–I’m rambling. It’s none of those other things … I don’t think. Which reminds me. I never make mistakes. I thought I did once, but I was wrong.

5:00 PM–Our plan for the evening is to fix a nice dinner. Head out to a movie, and then return home for the big event. I’m the cook at our house. I love to cook. The Food Network is some of my favorite programming, especially that motorcycling chef, Alton Brown.

Our entree tonight is pan-seared shrimp with garlic and herbs, prepared in a light coating of butter and olive oil. Then served on a bed of noodles. And of course, a glass of white wine. Delicious.

6:30 PM–Off we go to the cinema. It’s our New Year’s Eve ritual: fix a nice supper then go out to a movie. Return home at a reasonable hour to watch the world celebrate the New Year. Our movie of choice: Atonement, with Keira Knightly and James McAvoy. I am not going to review the movie, but it is a deep movie. The direction is similar to The Hours, where the movie goes back and forth from present to earlier. And the ending provides an eye-opening moment like The Sixth Sense. You’ll be rehashing and rethinking the whole movie after that moment.

10:00 PM–The lovely Lin and I are back home. Turner Classic Movies is showing Shall We Dance, with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Lin says I should have had a PhD in classic B&W film.

11:59 PM–Well, this has been a review of my last day of 2007. The count down is beginning. Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, Happy …..