Sunday, Spokane, Washington

I am the Lone Wolf Harley Davidson Dealership here in Spokane. I've just left my 2009 Electraglide with the Drew Potvin in the Service Department.  I was going to simply store it here for the week till I came back to pick it up.  However, Trev Deely said the ABS brakes weren't working and suggested I have them sort that out here since they had more time.  Something to do with finding the 'right code'.  The service they did at Trev was just fine. The ride down here was without a glitch.
Last night stayed in the Mirabeau Hotel Max.  They brought me a steak to the room without only a steak knife.  The girls at the Lone Wolf had recommended the hotel.  I just figured they must have had a lot of bikers who only ate with a knife. However when I phoned the room service they said it was their mistake. When they got up with the fork I'd already eaten my meal with just the knife but used the fork on the desert.  Great food.  Pool and hot tub.  Loved the place.  It was full of beautiful young people who I realized were there for a wedding.  I stay away from those because in my case they've lead to divorce.  Kind of like avoiding poison oak because that's given me a rash.  I didn't mind when I was young and women threw things at me.  Once they got older they could lift lawyers and judges and chuck them across the room. I preferred china plates. Hell of a lot cheaper.
That's not to say I don't believe in marriage.  For family it's probably a great thing.  It's still a great institution for children.  I don't think there was anything wrong with the women I married other than they married me.  I'm not sure I was all that wrong either given 50 to 60% divorces and a 5 year life expectancy.  Divorce is a punishment too worse than death.  I hear all these guys wanting to legalize pot and I think they should legalize mistakes in love.  I don't think it's wrong to be fined for smoking something not good for your health but having to pay a fortune for being a lousy lover, wife, husband or whatever seems fundamentally wrong.  It goes right against the whole 'love' business.  Except divorce is now trumping marriage like abortions are more fashionable than having children.
I did have a great morning driving my Harley around downtown Spokane. What a beautiful city! I was listening to Steve Bell on the stereo, great singer, great music.  Some music comes over well on the Harley stereo and Steven Bell's music sounds pure and sweet through those speakers. I loved the rivers meeting, all the riverside walks and parks, the quaint old buildings.  Beautiful city.
Looking forward to this week.  I'm looking forward to Aim's wedding too. Despite what I say about marriage, whatever Aim puts her mind to works out fine.  Her beau is French Canadian and has a terrific sense of humour.  The two are made for each other.  Bound to becoming great parents with little beautiful French Canadian Thai babies.
The only problem with this trip was leaving Gilbert. I can't see a dog without missing him.  It just wouldn't be fair to him to spend so many miles on the back of the bike in the heat.  I'd have to make more stops out of guilt.  Next time I do a long ride I'll take him. He's done a 100 miles fine but yesterday was 250 miles and he wouldn't have liked that.
I'm looking forward to work too.  I'm privileged to be able to help such fine people too.  I've arrived at an age with experience and training that makes work relatively straight forward in many ways.  I'm longer doing the same relative thing than I've ever been before and there's merit in that.  General practice, community medicine, flyin services, psychiatry, psychotherapy, head injury, rural, urban island, addiction medicine, then methadone and expert witness.  It's been a steep learning curve at times. I'm happy to be a consulting clinician and do a little more of the same though a day doesn't go by I don't wonder about further scholarship. The Master of Divinity training made for some mighty fine learning too.  A whole different experience from dance and ship's captaincy papers.  Now I'm trying to learn new languages and it's a bit of slog.  When I think of retirement I think of time to do more writing and maybe even teaching again.  I miss classrooms some days but then these days I've been enjoying being alone on the road or the sea again.  Such intense interpersonal experience in the work.  Need for balance.

Looking forward to the conferences I'm booked for, next month in Colorado, Kuala Lampur in the fall, Hawaii in Spring. There's hunting too to do and fishing.  I can't help but feel my life is blessed right now. I'm very thankful