Today is
Only
days 'til Americade 2002!
BRMC Trivia Contest
Last month's trivia contest generated quite a bit of interest as well as some very interesting email. To all of you who tried to bribe me and/or threaten me with bodily harm in an attempt to win the contest, that's okay, I still like you. I may not trust you but I still like you. And hey, I probably have a very interesting childhood photo of you on my hard drive right now. That's called collateral! More on that later on in the newsletter.
In any case, Ann Lettal won the contest fair and square, (and thanks for the brownies by the way!), and you can check out her rather lengthy and interesting answer here.
The answers to the contest were:
1. 17 motorcycles
2. 160cc
3. 2
Should anyone have the audacity to challenge the answers to 2 and 3, they can be found on pages 135 and 136 of the 'Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle' by Peter Henshaw.
Upcoming Runs and Events
The Freeze Your Buns Run - New Year's Day
Glen's Little Corner of the Web
Hello fellow BRMCers,
I want to begin
this month’s column by thanking everyone who helped make the Holiday Toy Run possible. Every year Melissa and I try to do something to help out individuals or families who may be having financial hardships, dealing with illness, or are experiencing difficult times. I want to thank everyone in the BRMC family for coming together and bringing a little bit of happiness and holiday spirit to two families who definitely needed it. I especially want to thank Larry Davis for his guidance and support in helping bring this about. I had spoken to Larry about doing a Toy Run around the beginning of December and he and I both agreed that riding in massive runs with hundreds of other bikes was becoming
increasingly unsafe each year. I also felt that by riding in such a large group that the BRMC was not participating on as personal level as we could be. I don’t know about the rest of you but I felt better meeting and talking to the families we helped than if I just dropped a gift off at one of the larger runs. As soon as Larry gave me the green light to go ahead, I said to myself, “Oh shit! I’ve never tried organizing one of these things before.” While I was wondering how to get the ball rolling, I received an email from Lisa asking if I needed help. Lisa was a tremendous help in keeping everyone posted as to what was going on and in keeping me informed as to who was bringing what. I have to give thanks to Tony the ‘Tazman’ for filling some big shoes (and pants). After all, you gotta have Santa and Tony was great for the part. (It’s not every day that Santa comes to your house riding a Drifter and wearing sunglasses). Last, but not least, I have to thank my wife Melissa for all of her help and support.
Then and Now - A Study on the Effects of the Passage of Time
As you know, on
January 1st we say goodbye to Father Time and welcome the Baby New Year. Well, we thought it would be interesting to put together a little photo montage of childhood photos and see if you can guess who each person is. Then you can see them as they are today and see if Father Time did a number on them or what. Some of them are pretty easy to guess. The others, well... Check out the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Now that 2002 is upon us, it's the perfect time to start some New Year's resolutions. I, for one, have never really followed them or I made them so easy that I couldn't help but accomplish them. I resolve to ride my motorycle more this year. I mean how hard is that? On a more serious note, I am making a resolution that I hope all of you will also adopt. I hereby resolve to constantly make sure that my antivirus software is enabled AND current! I can hear you saying right now,'What kind of a resolution is that?!'.
Let me tell you a little story. I suffer from the proverbial Cobbler's Shoes Syndrome; I'm so busy working on other people's computers that I tend to neglect my own. I have Norton's anti-virus program installed on my computer and I regularly scan to check to see if I have any viruses. I never bothered getting the virus definition upgrades. I figured, I practice safe web surfing practices, what are my chances that I'll get anything? Well, about a month ago, my computer started to act just a little strange. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I did keep getting a message about a problem with the registry importing a file, kak.htm. I scanned my hard drive and once again it said I was virus free. Finally, on
December 27, 2001, I decide to download the new virus definitions from Nortons and do a rescan of my computer. I had 3 viruses that were spread in 16 different files. Granted, 16 files out of 195,127 doesn't sound so bad but it only takes 1 to ruin your day. I deleted or repaired the files that were infected and now the system is clean. What was interesting about these viruses was the fact that every single one came from email. One originated from a teacher I work with, one came from the parent of child I teach piano to, and one came from an email from a fellow BRMCer. I have notified all 3 people to let them know. The virus I got from the parent generated an email to me without him even knowing it. It was not their fault that this happened but they needed to know so they can stop it from going any further. I was lucky because I caught it before it could do anything and I had scanned my system with the latest virus protection.
What can you do to minimize your chances of getting a virus?
1. Obtain a GOOD virus protection program and keep it current with the very latest virus definitions. Two of the best are the previously mentioned Norton's anti-virus program and Mcaffee's VirusScan.
2. If you're using Microsoft Outlook, then go here to find the latest security updates and service releases.
3. You cannot get a virus by merely reading an email message. But you can get a virus from any attached Word or Excel document, and from any attached program file. Merely reading the email can not infect your computer, but if you use a file that was attached, that's the same as using a file someone brought over on a disk, and the same as having downloaded the file from the Internet. You CAN'T get a virus from pure data files. This includes picture and sound files. (Such as .gif, .jpg, .mp3, .wav, etc.)
4. If you get ANY Word documents, (they end in a .doc extension), scan it before opening. There are, according to Symantec, over SIXTY new Macro viruses for Word, Excel, and Lotus 1-2-3. SIXTY. It is more important than ever that you scan each and every document you get from someone else before you open it.
5. When in doubt, throw it out. We've all seen those executable files attached to our emails. If you're not sure if it's safe to run them, then DON'T. It's not worth it.
6. Do regular backups of your system. I resolve to perform regular backups of my computer data! That's my other New Year's resolution. Space doesn't permit me to go into detail here but email me if you have any questions about backing up your system.
7. Don't be afraid to ask questions. I would be more than happy to spend a few minutes each Sunday at the 7/11 answering any questions you might have. It's a lot easier to ask questions than it is to try to fix things after they've gone wrong.
'Til the next time, keep the rubber side down.
Glen
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Welcome to the first BRMC Newsletter of 2002. Let's begin this column by wishing all of you and your families a wonderfully happy, safe, and healthy New Year.
We have many things planned for 2002 (is it really 2002?); we just haven't figured them out yet. A few activities already in the air:
A drive down to Daytona trailer week (I always confuse this event) in March.
Our annual trek through the rain to DC on Memorial Day Weekend. This year, hopefully, our Virginia contingent (that would be Charlie) will be escorting us to the parade as a proud member of the Virginia Motorcycle Police Department.
June, of course, means Americade Week, where we all take our little groups for a foray into Lake George and surrounding areas for a beautiful mini vacation.
But, more details on these events to follow later. Right now (as you're reading this)(if you're reading this) we should be on the verge of beginning a wonderful new year. Most of us will have enjoyed a New Year's eve celebration at Bob & Barbara's home, followed by our yearly New Year's day Frozen Buns Run into Montauk. As that day approaches, I have just done what I do every year and and gaze into my cloudy crystal ball hoping to see the future. The images are a bit hazy, but then again, everything I view is a bit hazy (bad case of myopia). This is my report to you on my yearly LSD psychic hallucinations. You can believe or disbelieve as you wish, but I have never been proven wrong, so pay close attention and watch the unbelievable occur.
SOME NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!
George resolves to give up coffee and cigarettes and talking about selling his Goldwing.
Mary resolves to give up Atlantic City, doing the 'squat down and cover your body with your jacket' dance, and wearing red lipstick.
Scott resolves to purchase no more parts or accessories for his Venture...even if they came free with the bike at time of purchase. He also resolves to cut his hair and repaint his bike yellow.
Maureen resolves to straighten her hair and attach blue mirrors to her bike.
Don resolves to sell his Harley and buy a Honda
Linda resolves to sell her Yamaha and buy a Harley
Bob Rags resolves to stop hugging and kissing every guy in the club.
Barbara resolves to stop hugging and kissing Bob.
Joe Mac also resolves to stop hugging and kissing Bob.
Mike resolves to try riding on the roadways instead of the dirt roads and to also begin a major business designing sheds.
Josette resolves to translate Mike's CB communications.
Artie resolves to become a male super model by appearing in Rogaine commercials.
Vicky resolves to stop pinching everyone's butt while learning to speak in soft, dolcet tones.
Kurt resolves to not ride over 100mph as he makes a left turn out of his driveway.
Ann resolves to not smile or laugh for a period of at least 30 seconds.
Glen resolves to not buy every electronic gizmo ever made.
Melissa resolves to buy Glen every electronic gizmo ever made.
Mary D. resolves to ride one Sunday morning when the temperature is below 72 degrees(that's farenheit).
Larry resolves to not buy another motorcycle (well, within a specified date and time, of course).
Lisa resolves to dye her beautiful red hair black.
Darrell resolves to dye his (not so beautiful) black hair red and to not eat 4 peoples worth of Sunday breakfasts.
Marty resolves to one day ride his bike without a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
Ed Babs resolves to not show everyone on earth (and other planets) his operation scars.
Big Ed resolves to attend and graduate from Ms. Daisy's School of Charm and Etiquette.
Uh,oh. It appears my cloudy crystal ball is fogging up to the point where I am unable to view the future without clarity. Of course, that's been my problem throughout my life...viewing things without clarity...so I'll end my predictions here and apologize to those whose future I am not yet able to predict. Don't worry, however; I will, in my own convoluted way, figure out what the rest of you will be facing in the coming year. Until that time, I would like to once again wish everyone the best. Safe riding and a Healthy year.
See 'ya when I see 'ya........lsd
Here are some photos of the Holiday Toy Run we did on December 16th:
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