SCHWINN 0 Posted August 19, 2009 Some people may not want to talk about events or tragedies but some people have grazed the tip of stories that I am interested in hearing more, not a book unless you have published 1 So Zenosan mentioned hiking around the world twice..... Bluefintune mentioned lost at sea 2500 miles offshore.... Traveled crosscountry on your motorcycle or in other countries.... X-Motorcycle racer with stories????? Yes this could include a little bragging rights but thats ok. Did you invent something?? My life has been pretty basic but I live vicariously thru your stories and pictures... Military ops,,ports, countries... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bluefin2na 0 Posted August 19, 2009 It was 1,500 miles offshore and i had my dead cousin tied to me, and i brought him home to our famile after 3 days and 2 nights at sea. its a long story Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikeslut 1 Posted August 19, 2009 anybody ever met my ex-wife? never invented anything... a couple of near-death experiences... washed up on a coral reef, anaphylactic shock, and a certain heat related issue... but nothing where I had DAYS to contemplate. I think that is where you separate the men from the boys... I'm too juvenile to really "think" much. Fly by the seat of my pants, and live each day to the fullest... days lost at sea, wandering around the world, and other life altering experiences are very cool, and probably help explain the maturity and soul at least THOSE two have. Tuna; never met you, but I already think you are an incredible person Zen; I bust your chops as much as anybody, but never mistake that as a personal attack, or lack of respect.... you are the man Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenosan 2 Posted August 19, 2009 I am not sure "Hiking" around the world is a fair description of travelling around the world living out of a backpac assisted by an Around the World Plane Ticket to help each time. These were Sabbaticals to do research on my academic field Asian Philosophy. I did spend close to a year living in and studying Buddhism in a Monastery in Burma and travelled all over India the same way with the help of an Air India Pass. Same with Western China and Tibet for Taoism and Zen. I have been a Philosophy Professor for almost 40 years. Motorcycles and Ballroom Dancing have been my counterbalance to it all. "San" means teacher, hence "Zenosan" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHunter 15 Posted August 19, 2009 Other than the usual...birth of my kids, grandkids. Nothing as terrifiying as 3 days at sea or military ops. I have witnessed quite a few events here in our wonderful county. Not all of them pleasant. When you realize it's that time: Hollywood is great for portraying things in an entertaining fashion. When the SWAT sniper gets the "green light" and the music starts increasing in volume with a rapid melodic beat. The shot rings out, people panic, medics rush in...all very nice. Not my experience. After six hours of laying in the same position, switching from primary to secondary and back, feet numb, bugs crawling on you, wet, etc....you hear the SWAT Commander on the air..."all snipers, shoot the suspect at the next available opportunity"...it's that time. Not that you haven't been paying attention, but it sure puts your senses on high. A lot things went thru the ol' cranium at that point, mostly training, breathing exercises, focus, listen to my spotter.... Fortunately, the negotiation team was able to talk him out prior to his little punkin' head appearing in any windows. A picture that will never go away: Nine hours of negotiating with a suicidal man hanging off of the overpass from I-8 West to 163 South, learning of his childhood, kids, marriage, job, personal demons, etc. I was primary for about 6 hours of it and really had some emotional "hooks" into him. He shifted positions on the 3 inch ledge he was standing on as people from the Union Tribune building zoomed in on him with the cameras. He urinated on himself. At the nine hour mark, he looked at me...from about four feet away...and his expression changed. Oh F*&$ went through my brain as the realization that he had made a decision came over me. He pushed off. For what seemed like an eternity, he hung in mid air, wild then tearful eyes now as big as saucers. He couldn't turn back. Someone with more experience should have stopped me from looking over the edge at his lifeless body with the increasingly large pool of blood gathering by his head. Life changing...you bet. The reality is that this is so minor compared to what our military members are seeing hourly while deployed. They all deserve our support. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Strega 0 Posted August 19, 2009 One real life changing experience for me was spending 2 weeks in Saudi Arabia. Real hard to complain about much after seeing their lifestyle and outlook on life. They way they treat women is a travesty, I was sooo glad to come home. I hated the middle east with every fiber of my being. I don't ever want to go back. My uncle grew up in WWII Germany as a child and many years later wrote a book about it. You can find it here: "Bastards, Bitches, and Heroes" or here: Hero Books. You won't complain about anything, ever, after reading that book... Some random things: * Graduated top of my class in my masters program, pursuing my PhD now. Maybe one of these days Randy can change my name to Dr. Strega. * Landed a Cessna 182 on I-15 out near Baker after a catastrophic engine failure. Highway Patrol pulled up, and said, "Looks like you have a problem?" I said, "No, the girls just had to pee." He looked very puzzled in his well groomed Smokey Bear. I landed and coasted into a rest top I saw as I was gliding down from 9500 ft.* Choked a belligerent passenger on a flight from Newark to LA and hand cuffed him with zip ties after he assaulted a male flight attendant. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joliet 0 Posted August 19, 2009 I am sorry but this cannot be done properly without beer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenosan 2 Posted August 19, 2009 I am sorry but this cannot be done properly without beer. I have to agree Ken. After a few beers my stories sound much better and I come off looking a good deal more heroic. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Erick 0 Posted August 19, 2009 Most of my gnarly glory stories revolve around surfing, huge waves and broken leashes or boards. Nothing that would compare to Bluefin or Trophy's experience. Although, I decided to chime in with Joliet's beer comment. I'd love to hear some of these stories over a beer. Interesting stuff. Good topic, we have an interesting group here... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHunter 15 Posted August 19, 2009 I have a ton of beer left from the BBQ. Gas fire pit. Warm pool. Jacuzzi.. ....or just save 'em up for the desert trip campfires (after the kids go to bed) Another good book I just finished..reading.. "On Killing" Incredible insight by a Special Forces guy as to the psychological transition/effect of war and proximity combat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
motorcyclenut 0 Posted August 19, 2009 I have seen many things while in the Navy from 1971-1994. 2 Vietnam tours and some other "special" ops during the cold war. Nothing life changing though. Worked downtown San Diego for about 10 years. Seen alot there. Nothing life changing though. Been riding motorcycles since 1964, and have my share of stories. But nothing life changing though. What was life changing? My Dad passing away, after suddenly getting sick, in 2007. He always asked me why I worked so hard after I retired from the Navy. After he passed, I took a look at my life and decided I wasn't going to work 60 hours a week and I was going to do something I really loved (anything to do with motorcycles). So now I ride almost all the time and coach others how to ride. Although I don't have the $$$ I had before, I am the happiest (and healthiest) I have ever been in recent years. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
socalhodaka 104 Posted August 19, 2009 Having only one job since high school, 26 years at the Escondido Times Advocate/North County Times Birth of my daughter Kaylie now 16 and loves motorcycles. Getting lucky with my 3rd wife and now on our 10th year. And the most life changing for me was bringing Aiden home from a Russian Orphanage at 14 months old http://www.aidenrussia.blogspot.com/ Kelly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHunter 15 Posted August 19, 2009 Getting lucky with my 3rd wife on our 10th year. You're a lot more patient than I'd have been..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
socalhodaka 104 Posted August 20, 2009 Getting lucky with my 3rd wife on our 10th year. You're a lot more patient than I'd have been..... I didn't say it right. I was lucky that I found a great wife on the 3rd try, now going on our 10th year of marriage. And it was her idea I become a stay at home dad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hobiee 28 Posted August 20, 2009 I have a couple that have to do with my time in the fire dept in new york 1. Call comes in for another MVA, one of four that day and its only 10 am. Leaving the station in the paramedic/heavy equip truck and hear on the radio the voice of the chief as he pulls up on scene, seems pretty calm nothing to major. dodge k car verses telephone pole head on, car looses of course, chief is calling out where to stage etc and all of the sudden radio silence, not 1 minute later we roll up to a fully engulfed car and chief standing 30 feet away stone still and staring. Vehicle occupant unconscious and burning alive suddenly wakes up in shock i suppose but cannot get free from seat belt and i could not get to the car in time............. chief quit two days later saying he froze up and cannot do this anymore, car was not burning when he got there. I will never forget the smell, life changing you bet 2. Arrive to a fully engulfed house fire with a horribly burnt young male laying on the ground in front of the house. The house has no power and he tried to start the generator , no go, so he strikes a match to check to see if the gen has gas.......i know rocket science isn't for everyone. One and a half hours later fire is under control and we are doing the search through the house and find the six family dogs in crates unable to escape. Digging holes to bury six dogs seeing tough grown men crying, life changing. 3. Mva again. Arrive to find car stuck between metal light post and eight foot concrete retaining wall. Driver pinned in vehicle and passenger 75 yards down the street on the curb. Drinking plays the major role in this accident, big surprise. Jaws of life called in to extract driver who is screaming at the top of his lungs in complete shock, both arms snapped clean in half flailing all over the place. I am asked to hold arms down to stop any further injury while the man is cut from the car. So there i sit holding a mans arms together while his blood sprays all over my face shield as he screams and seems to be trying to get out himself. Finally he passes out but he is still stuck and eventually succumbs to his injuries while i was trying to hold his arms to prevent further injury. Those screams still wake me up years later. Crazy thing is i miss my time in the dept and i don't know why? I will never forget the things i have seen, heard, smelled and experienced, mostly i miss the guys but hey life goes on. I have since married and now have a son so i am starting chapter three i guess. Lets hope there are more to come Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BC330 0 Posted August 20, 2009 Wow, all your stories have me thinking. Most of my life has been dominated by motorcycles, and racing off road. But the first life changing event for me was the birth of my daughter Katie. She was born two weeks after my graduation from high school. AHHH HOLLY SH*#T. Yah thats what I said as I was forced from up and comming off road star, to full time working class guy. She is now sixteen, and a Junior in high school. My next most life changing experiance was my wife. She has helped me through so much( mostly my personal/ mental issues) but we have now been together for thirteen years, and married for nine. Post that we ( my wife and I ) assisted my grandfather through the final months of life. As his caregivers, we had to do everthing. After a while the responsability became to much for us, and we had to hire a hospis to take over. This I regret. I belive that it was their lack of personal attention that ultimatly lead to his early passing. Very life changing. Many other stories to tell, all life changing one way or another. But all are blessings, and make us stronger. Trophyhunter- You are correct..... All of these events pale in comparrison to what our troops go through on a daily bassis. TO OUR MILLITARY MEMBERS, AND THEIR FAMILIES! THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY, AND RIGHT TO FREE SPEACH BC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulmbowers 236 Posted August 20, 2009 I find all your responses humbling. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SCHWINN 0 Posted August 20, 2009 I rode with a large group of bikers every sunday morning meeting at the Kraken Bar in Cardiff, a still good friend of mine owns the bar ( Doug ) and the main bartender is Jimmy Ford. We called ourselves the 10-11 club and had patches. There was a wedding anniversary coming up for Tom and Diane Dicola, 17 years and they asked me to pick a good ride for the coming sunday. I anounce the ride shall be Hwy 94 to Tecate to a bar we were all familiar with called Bar Diana= Diana Bar means the hunting goddess I belive. After the bar thru Campo over I-8, Sunrise Hwy, Julian, Hideout, and back to North County. The group comes out to meet me and others at the Del Dios store down at Lake Hodges. They show up and some have been drinking already, it turns out they have been drinking all weekend due to the wedding anniv rolling party. I am not happy with this but they announce they are going with or without me. We always stop at Hwy 94 and Steel Canyon for ags and a quik smoke or munchie. i am inside the store getting my Dr. Pepper and snickers when a couple of drywallers come cruzin in and say cool bikes to me and we talk a little while in line mean while 1 of the drywallers says hey look 2 of your guys on in a fist fight. Great, I pay and get out there to babysit and 1 says he cut me off back down the 94 somewhere I manage to smooth things and get us rolling into Tecate. I leave the group with some of the guys to got lunch across the park at Trace Amigos Taqueleria. I get back and everyone is pretty smashed, so smashed that they announce that they are not riding the whole ride and just going to ride back to Encinitas. I start yelling at everyone about how far away we are and how everyone has drank toooo much to think about going anywhere, they tell me to calm down and say I give them the same speech all the time about drinking and riding and I announced I will not be leaving with them. They make it about a mile into the U.S when Tom with Diane on back fail to negotiate a corner and hit a natural rock wall. I get to the accident late cuz I what I said. Anyhow Toms lifeless body is taken LifeFlight and Diane got ejected up into the bushes ontop of the rock wall, Knee wide open and is sent by ground. Everyone is speechless, some are crying and some are standing there with blood all over them from doing what ever they can to help before help arrived. I had to call my wife and tell her what happened and ride my bike to the hospital to see what I could do. I stood with Diane holding her while they stiched up her Knee and clean her up and she kept asking me how Tom was, I would leave and hide and cry and come back and say hes upstairs, everything is OK. The funeral was unreal, Tom was the owner of North County Concrete Pumping. The ceremonies started at Del Dios Store in the park in front. There was 6 cement trucks and a whole bunch of guys with trucks and cocrete pumps in tow. About a 100 bikes and lots of cars and the wake was at the Kraken Bar in Cardiff with lots of food. I did escort for funerals back in my younger days with my Gold Wing back when I was younger so myself and 3 recruits of my choosing took care of getting us thru the lights back to Cardiff safely as a group. Its been since June 29th 2003 when it happened. I quit riding street for a year but never stopped riding dirt. I had a 2003 100th Anniversary Standard glide Harley that I loved loaded with everything and sold it cheap after everything that had happened. Tom Dicola RIP Father, Husband, Brother, loved by all and hated by none. Only the good die young. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikeslut 1 Posted August 20, 2009 ok- this was not earth shattering of life altering, but it was weird... I had just moved to San Antonio... My family was still in SD... After pulling my 20th 17 hour shift in a row, I drive home along some small, dark roads... Driving slow, and trying to stay awake, I glance to the left shoulder, and see a body lying near the edge of the road... I know I was tired and all, but it was very clear, but brief; a lifeless, topless female just laying in the gutter... Shocked (not for the last time) I contemplate my choices... 1- I hallucinated. 2- there's a dead chick in the gutter, and I should go call the police... So, instead, I flipped a u-turn and start scanning the gutter for what I was SURE I saw... After a mile of this, I figure out the whole thing WAS a hallucination... Weird! So, I turn around again, still gazing in to the darkness for the body... Creeping along at 10mph, still tired, and questioning my sanity, when I glance up, and a partially clad girl is standing 2 feet from my bumper!!! DAMN! I slam on the brakes, and she turns around to face me. Zombie makeup, with a ghoulish limp, and blood dripping from the corner of her mouth... I'm out in BFE wondering; WTF?!?! Seriously?!? Is this real? More details tomorrow... And every word is true Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tntmo 896 Posted August 20, 2009 More details tomorrow... And every word is true It's almost one hour into tomorrow, where's the details? I'm bored at work waiting for helicopters to come back, entertain me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHunter 15 Posted August 20, 2009 ....it's 2:44. ....so she goulishly limped toward my door, her makeup starting to run, being pushed by the tears now streaming from her zombie eyes..... Dangit, this is BS's story,,,, Sorry Tom....I tried. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tntmo 896 Posted August 20, 2009 ....it's 2:44. ....so she goulishly limped toward my door, her makeup starting to run, being pushed by the tears now streaming from her zombie eyes..... Dangit, this is BS's story,,,, Sorry Tom....I tried. It's okay, everything came back and then they broke it. Guess I have to wait until I wake up to find out the end. Wish I had something worthwhile to add to this thread but I live a pretty mundane life. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikeslut 1 Posted August 20, 2009 ok- up til this point everything was surreal... I slam on the brakes, and the car chirps to a stop... i roll down the passenger window, and ask if she needs help... "yeah, could you give me a ride home?" "yeah...uh...what happened?" "I was driving down this road with my boyfriend, and we got in to an argument... he slapped me, and pushed me out of a MOVING CAR!" (caps are mine, not her infliction) ok- quick wrap up... they got in an argument, he slaps her, opens the door and shoves her out... 50 degrees out, pitch black, and she is out there... one shoe still in his car, her top all but torn off from the impact, crying her eyes out... I give her something to cover up with, turn the heater up, and ask where she lives... East side of SA.... she asks where I live... I tell her and she says his mom lives in the same complex, so just take me there. As i pull up, her "boyfriend" is outside (2 a.m.) talking to his mom. You SURE you want to be let out here? She says it'll be all right... I let her out and walk her over to them, and he starts by saying "I'm sorry, but you had it coming"... I almost LOST IT... she saw it, and thanked me, and said she would be all right... about an hour later, as I am taking out the trash (MY trash, not the boyfriend) they are still outside, and she is apologizing to him!!! That's just ONE of my San Antonio stories... WORST TWO YEARS OF MY LIFE! Who wants to hear a ghost story? I lived in a haunted house for 5 years... (and I don't believe in that crap, but really... I did) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTMrad 512 Posted August 21, 2009 Mine happen to be on the positive side........ Travelling with my parents as a kid.....saw 48 states before I was out of elementary school. That gave me the travelling spirit, which blossomed on motorcycles. Buying my first motorcycle in 1986 was life-changing for me. Then, my 11,000 mile cross country trip on my FJ1200 - NY to California, back to NY in 1992. Then moving to California a few months later after that was a huge life-change, where my motorcycling lifestyle took off !! Many extended motorcycle trips since I've moved here (many of them by myself).....all awesome experiences. One 11 day motorcycle trip in Alaska......being the 49th state I've been to, I only have one left....Hawaii. My experiences are nothing compared to some of the ones listed above. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
