- Homes and Financing
Over the past year we completed the construction of our beautiful Edmonds home. It is absolutely amazing with a view to die for and a price tag that I almost died because of.
Immediately after completing construction on the new home, we had the comps done on the old Lynnwood home and, based on those comps, did a near complete remodel. Well, in that short time span of construction, the value of the Lynnwood home has fallen about $60K due to short sells and foreclosures in the area.
All of this was done in a struggling economy with a business that definitely suffered from the effects of the poor economy. Try getting financing for a jumbo loan with all of this hanging over your head! Yep, very challenging indeed. I am really looking forward to things actually getting back to normal.
- Business
PGS has actually done quite well over the past 8 months, considering. Profits are challenging but we are eking out small ones. We had gotten so far behind financially that it will take years to fully recover but we are, at least, in recovery mode. This has been a very difficult time and our good fortune is no indicator of the state of economy for our industry.
We are doing well because of extremely hard work combined with the fact that we are the best at mapping in our niche market. We can’t relax though….. we are just the loss of a job or 2 away from another collapse and we don’t have the reserves to survive another so soon.
- Leisure
What I miss most right now is leisure time.
The ability to take off and do a trip on a whim. Even 3-day weekends are hard to come by these days. The effects of all of my personal projects combined with the challenges of running a business at this time, just doesn’t leave any time for play. Not that I could afford to do much anyhow.
- Running
Training for the Vancouver Marathon on May 2 in Vancouver, BC.
Training has been going extremely well and I am at least a month ahead of my training schedule right now. This week has been a very short mileage week for me due to my hectic schedule but I’ll up the mileage again next week. I want to take it a little easy for the rest of February anyhow, just to make sure I don’t peak to early. The goal is first, to qualify for Boston, 3:35:59, with a secondary goal of finishing in under 3:30. I’ve been working on speed much more in this program than past and am feeling pretty confident right now. It helps that I have completed 3 runs in excess of 18 miles, with 2 in the 20-mile range, and haven’t bonked yet.
- Motorcycles
It is really hard to find the right one (ones). In the past 5 years I have gone through no less than 15 motorcycles. Of course 1 of those was due to a catastrophic failure (mine) resulting in the destruction of the motorcycle and a few personal structural features. It’s good to have a dedicated small dirt bike, big dirt bike, sport tourer, performance sport, and adventure tourer. I do believe that I am finally at the point where 3 bikes should be enough and have pretty much decided what those bikes should be:
- BMW R1200GS Adventure –
This bike is the Swiss Army Knife of bikes. It will do anything you ask of it and do it well. You can head off cross-country with it and ride in total comfort, carrying enough gear for months of living off of the bike, humbling sport bike riders in the twisties, all while not worrying whether the road is dirt or asphalt.
- BMW F800GS –
Great for around town and commuting but also makes an excellent big off-road bike capable of long days of asphalt to get to the dirt exploring. It has just enough of a hooligan tilt to satisfy the non-conforming side in us all.
- Performance Sport Bike –
This is probably the only bike that I’m going to have to accept as an ever changing desire depending on the latest/greatest in go-fast technology. Right now my dream bike would be the HP 2 Sport:
This bike is sooooo expensive though that it isn’t even on the list of possibilities.
The BMW S1000RR sure looks amazing:
I have got to get down and test ride this bike!
And the older BMW R1100S Boxer Cup Replica would be really cool garage art:
Any one of these would be a welcome addition to my garage.
You will probably note that all of these bikes are BMW models. Yes, I have drunk from the BMW cool-aid. It’s just that once you have driven the BMW’s everything else just isn’t as inspiring. Kind of like driving a Porsche. If you don’t get it….. you never will.
- Automobiles
The lease term on the Jeep that I use as a business vehicle ends next month so I will be car-less. I have made the decision, in the interest of finances, to borrow Sue’s Smart Car to use as transportation in the short term. After the business finances improve I will need to come up with a different option, as the Smart will not be great for doing project recon…. Sue will shoot me if I damage that little guy! I’m not sure if I want to go with a pickup or a car right now. I do know that I hate the motor in the new Jeeps and would not go that direction again.
I really want to do a full rally conversion on a classic mini if I could find a project car.
That would make a really cool car to show up at client meetings with. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the year brings.
Enough rambling for now. I wish everyone a happy and prosperous year!
Cheers!
