Morning everyone, and thanks for the offer Nick. I'm going to play it safe and stick with the Black Rifle. Paint thinner just has such an awful aftertaste.
I did try a blended Scotch from Costco yesterday, their Kirkland brand, just to see if it was any good, and it was half the price of Crown or Jack. Yes, I know, those 2 are not scotch. It's OK, gets fair reviews, and after one drink over ice it's not bad, it has a slightly sweeter taste that leaves me unsure if I like it. I'll say after the sample last night, I'm still not sure if I'll buy it again.
My sister who lives in CT came down south to visit our other two sisters (they're in TN and GA), so yesterday I ride the GSA to meet her and our cousin near Huntsville, to see the land Mom left us. Used to be a pasture for our grandfather's dairy cows, but it's also been planted in corn, soybeans, and cotton through the years.
The chicken coop, barn, and dairy barn and the other out buildings are all grown over, as you'd expect after 15 years of neglect. Much of the farmland in the county has been carved up and sold for homes, as I suspect will happen to this land as well. It's a little more than 40 acres, not an empire by any stretch (think Yellowstone and 6666 ranches), but my grandfather lived a simple dairy farmer's life.
It was a bit sad, nostalgic and wistful. I recall when I was 9yo Papa had me on an old McCormick tractor (Nick) pulling the disc across that pasture, "breaking new ground." Of course, that was AFTER we had removed all the stones on the land... by hand.
My introduction to farming.
Had a nice breakfast at a restaurant, appropriately named The Homecoming, where they specialize in grits, cut and ground locally. I'm not sure how you can "specialize" in grits, but they've done very well in a short time. My sisters and I ate at their original restaurant nearby, when we tossed Mom's ashes in the Tennessee River. It was her idea, don't judge me. Now the restaurant has moved to swanky new digs in downtown Guntersville, as they started in a wooden building on the highway.
Now, interestingly, I had ridden up there as I mentioned, and when I found the restaurant, I locked my helmet to the bike (I installed an aftermarket one to the engine crash bars a while back), and after breakfast I got dressed to do the farm... and realized I had brought the wrong keychain, the one that did not have the helmet lock keys on it. You don't need the key to lock it, only to unlock it.
We're more than 2 hours from my house, Roz could never find us, and wouldn't want to drive up and save me, and there was no place to buy another helmet to get home. Crap!
Well I had parked in front of a bicycle shop, so went in to see if their bike mechanic had any ideas . I had several, like using a Dremel cutting wheel, etc. But Michael the mechanic had a pair of bolt cutters, and snip! snip! he freed the helmet without damaging the lock or my Neotec 2. Saved the day!
And so that's the news from Birmingham and Guntersville, where at least one rider was dressed warmly for the low-40s temperatures, and learned he needs a better plan for carrying or stowing the key to his helmet lock.
, have a great day on the roads! 
