And no functional pockets. 🤪

Yes, I do know those are at least halfway commercials for product, but I also know that several young ladies I've known over the years have valued the advice and instruction they received, and I arranged it with Dillard's, a high-end store, so I have high hopes that Rosa will enjoy and benefit.

I'd believe ten months. I don't believe ten years.

Modern military people deploy for a year or so, and count the changes in family, in children left home as a hardship.

Ten years would change an infant into a pre-teen.

But people did.

What really bothers me is that this was also a time before long distance communication.

If a ruler were gone from their desmesne for ten years, they would not have had a desmesne to return to.

That was a time when ships were coastal sailing vessels, not open ocean farers. They didn't have dhow, or knarr, or even drakkar. Sailing the Agean was taking your life in your hands.

There was an oil leak no one could chase down. The brakes were constantly needing adjustment. There were persistent minor electrical problems. The kinds of things you'd expect on an antique, not a bike you purchased new.

My one experience with owning a Harley... a 2008 Fat Bob... soured me on the brand. Maybe mine was a lemon, but the damn thing required more maintenance than my antique two-stroke Suzuki.

To some extent, that's mitigated by the size of the gas tank... I have to stop for gas every hour or so /anyway/, so I spend some time walking around and work out the kinks.

At the moment, I would say comfort is my biggest issue, followed by stowage, with lighting a close third place.

After about an hour in the saddle, I really need to take a break, and after three or four, I spend the evening in pain.

I initially intended to upgrade the suspension because of similar articles to the ones you've no doubt watched / read. But I ran out of money, and you know what I discovered? The Ryker's steering and suspension are just fine, stock.

But, I dunno. Maybe if I ever hit a hundred thousand subscribers....

Of course, Milo has literally ten thousand times more subscribers than I do. And I have severe social anxiety. And a chronic illness which would make a schedule difficult to keep.

... and it's difficult to imagine a crowd showing up to watch a guy who never takes off his helmet talk.

I am apparently the research guy, who then defaults to "what can I actually afford that will do the job?"

I was a Peds Nurse. You could tell when kids were on the mend when they started needing to get the zoomies out.

All seriousness aside, I do like sitting at McDonald's on the weekend, watching the travellers come through town. Tired adults getting caffeine, kids getting their zoomies out... life.