Published in Sidecar-Traveller Magazine

A German publication, it's focus is sidecarists and their rigs worldwide.

I'd been asked before by them for use of my pics, am happy to report that they've once again liked one of my pictures enough to use in edition #48:

I'm sure there's a name for this placement, it's what you see

when you turn the front cover of the magazine.

On a less happy front, the trail I'm on has been extended past the estimated 8 days and will now probably go to 10 days before it's handed off to the jury for deliberation!

Sigh.

Uraling to Jury Duty, learning to install drywall....

One of the major to-do's causing my flying home from Arizona in late January was to attend Jury Duty selection.

February 10, Monday, was part of a group of 150 prospective jurors assigned to a Homicide Trial.  Lucky me, I apparently am everything lawyers seek in a potential juror and I was selected to be one of 14 jurors for the trail.  Twelve of us will eventually render a verdict, with two others as "alternate" jurors to ensure the number doesn't drop below the twelve required.

Good thing they have "spares", one juror got sick and had to drop out soon after the trial started.

Can't say much else about the trial of course, but I can provide pictures of the Uraling done to get to/from the courthouse.  The weather has been quite cold and snowy since before the trial.  I did have to swap out the worn down pusher tire for a new Heidenau K37 as the old tire just wasn't gripping well in the snow and ice.

 Arapahoe County Courthouse

Broncos Training Center located nest to the Courthouse

The two days after the above photo, the sun came out and melted a lot of the snow off the roads though it was still sticking to the landscape.

Here's the view from the jury's deliberation room where the 13 of us, one had dropped out sick, would sit around a table....unable to discuss the trail so far and basically exchanging awkward glances in the ensuring silences.

 The fenced in building is the county jail I believe

Mount Evans

Feb 15, Saturday, after having failed to find any available handyman to do the installation of drywall, I decided to do it myself!  Never thought it'd be that hard to get people to take my money.

Dale B. turned up and lent me a hand with the "mudding" process soon after I had (with Patrick's help), cut and mounted most of the "moisture resistant" drywall panels.

Over the President's Day weekend, Dale B basically did most of the second mud coat application.  Once that was dry, I could start applying "texture" from a spray can, and then priming/painting the drywall to protect not only the drywall panels but the dried mud.

Feb 17, Monday, the truck from Waste Management's Bagster program came by as scheduled and picked up all the old drywall pieces, tiles, the bath tub and associated waste.  It was actually a bit cheaper than me taking it all to the local dump, go figure.

Feb 18, Tuesday evening, I applied the second coat of paint and caulked all the seams where the drywall panels touched the shower panels to ensure no water gets behind the panels.

I believe, this is the 95% final result.  I still have to try and reinstall the wood trim along the bottom edge of the walls.

Not even close to a professional finish but good enough for us!  So glad this particular project is "complete", we'll see how things hold up in the long run.

The court trial continues, scheduled to end Friday afternoon.  I'm hoping to be on a plane bound for Phoenix, AZ this coming Sunday morning.

The Shower is in!

No Moto content follows.

Got the Shower Insert assembly installed and working over the last couple of days.  Lots of work and so glad I had our friend from the neighborhood: Dale B. (Master Plumber) doing the really hard stuff involving pipes and fittings!

 Dale does nice work doesn't he?

I should have known things were going too well.  I got the frame for the shower doors mounted with only some minor issues (must buy a Mitre Box for future work like this).  Then came the big problem:

I had the inner door hanging, no issues.  Then, I went to hang the outer sliding glass door and it burst into tiny little safety glass bits in my hands as I went to hang it!

One second I had a pane of glass in my hands, the next was a big bang and I was looking at Patrick who was as shocked as I was.....nothing remaining in my hands and the floor full of bits of glass!

I cleaned up, and Patrick and I headed to Home Depot to see what they could do about a replacement pane of glass.  I didn't have much hope but would end up being pleasantly surprised.

I explained what happened, and the customer service rep said to fetch another glass pane assembly and I got the box back to him and we opened it back at the customer service desk.  I extracted the one that had shattered and they'll return the rest to the manufacturer for refund.  No added cost to me except for the PITA factor and the worry that the glass is more delicate than I had assumed!

We carefully got that pane of glass back home and mounted without further issues.  Caulking all the seams was next and though not great, good enough for my limited skill set!

Now to line up a drywall guy to replace the stuff that had to come out for the removal of the old tile wall and bath tub!

After waiting the required 4 hours for the caulking to dry/cure, I tested out the shower and so did Patrick, no leaks, all good for now.

Now all that remains for me specifically is to report for jury duty on Monday and see if I'm selected for a trial or not.  Honey-do task is complete, I need not be here for the dry wall installation, Martha says.

So assuming I don't get selected for a long jury trial, I can start making preparations to return to Arizona before the end of the month!

Been under the weather....

I got back to Colorado on Friday, the 24th of January.

By Saturday afternoon I started feeling sick and by Sunday was in the full throes of some flu-like symptoms.  I did manage to take Scarlett, my 2014 Ural Patrol out for a short ride to catch the sunset.

 Pikes Peak

The next few days were spent coughing and feeling tired and achy.

By Friday I was feeling much better and so began the major task I had for my time here before I go back to Arizona to retrieve the URRV and resume camping.

Pretty much did the demolition of the bathtub/shower in the basement.  There'd been evidence of water damage and some mildew under the tub and it was time to rip it out and replace it with something else.

Martha got me one of those "dumpster in a bag" setups from the local big box store and its on the driveway now, perhaps half filled with the debris resulting from the above demolition.

Here's how it looks now, I think perhaps ready for the initial test fit of the Full Surround Shower that we picked up at the same big box store today.

After picking up the stuff, it was time for some riding.  It's been over six weeks (basically the time I'd been gone camping) since I'd ridden Brigitta, my '87 BMW R80 Airhead motorcycle.

We went on about a 65 mile or so loop of county roads riding to the east of the cesspool that is the Metro Denver area.  Very enjoyable in spite of the wind which wasn't too bad but noticeable. 

Sunny with the temperature around 70°F (21°C), it was pretty nice riding weather for February!  Of course, this coming week, we'll be lucky to see temperatures above freezing according to the forecast, we got snow inbound.

Still have some minor coughing going on and some sniffles but I think I'll live.