Whew, a long overdue update. Since my last post, I’ve gotten my new bike on the road. I’ve put roughly 5000 miles on it, done the 12,000 mile service myself (oil/filter, rotate motor to change sparkplugs and inspect valve clearance, etc). I also had the bike with me at the Adirondack Buell Rally (great event, by the way).

My commute is shorter now. Due to some changes at work, we’ve moved our Albany office to Clifton Park. This cuts around 15 miles off my commute (each way) - and luckily, it’s these 15 miles that contain the horrible traffic and congestion during rush hour. This saves me around 30 miles of driving per day, and 30-45 minutes of time. This gives me more time, and a monetary savings of $50-$70/month at current gas prices, depending on what I’m driving.

In early May, I took a trip partially down the east coast on the bike with a friend. This took us through Atlantic City, Baltimore, and the surrounding areas - giving us casino time, time at Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags America, and a bunch of relaxing, riding, and seeing sights. It was fun and relaxing.

However, since the trip, I’ve been slacking off in going to the gym - some of this was being busy, some of it was being lazy. I also started eating like crap a little bit again, but nothing too horrible. I didn’t gain any weight back, rather, I maintained where I was at, so I’m not too disappointed. I finally got back to the gym tonight, and did a nice long workout to get back into things.

I plan on getting back into my routine of going to the gym a few nights a week. The 5-nights-a-week thing is a bit stressful, especially during the nicer weather when there are other things I want to do. A few nights a week is a nice balance, though. My goal is to drop some more weight, and then buy a new jacket and pants for the motorcycle - maybe the Spidi H2OUT Marathon set or something. An expensive set, so I want to meet my gym goal before dumping the cash.

Another ongoing goal is paying off my debt. I backpedaled a little on this, however. After I bought the new bike, I also bought a brand new Can-Am Outlander 650 XT, and financed it, giving me another $10,000 in debt. I did qualify for the promotional interest rate on the loan though, which is nice - 3 year, 3.9% interest, so that debt is not a huge deal at all to me. The big items are paying off the last couple thousand on my car, and paying off my loaded up Discover card before the 0% promotional period ends.

If you’re still reading this giant wall of text braindump, then kudos to you!