Sturgis: I Don't Think So

I've had several of you ask me if I'm going to Sturgis this year. I've been saying for months now that I'm going. I think I even told one person, "Come Hell or high water, I'll be there!" Well folks, the water has just overflowed the levee and drowned me. In other words, I'll not be going after all.

Some of you know that my wife was permanently laid off a few months ago after faithfully serving the same company for 13 years. It cuts our household income in half but I was still determined to get to Sturgis.

Until...
The owner of the company I work for called me in his office yesterday. He let me in on some confidential information that was not public yet. He told me that I might want to hang on to my pennies a little tighter because everyone in the company was probably going to get a 2-week "unpaid vacation" in July. So, the money will definitely not be available for me to go.

As sad as I am about this turn of events, I know that everything happens for a reason and I'm glad that some of you will be there. Be sure to take a lot of pictures for me!!

Riders To The Rescue

"I felt so helpless sitting there protecting her spine while we waited for the ambulance to arrive," said Casey Jackman. In a letter to Dean Akey from the Rescue Riders, Casey related the story of how his wife was still in the hospital after a terrible motorcycle accident on Mother's Day weekend. He wrote of how he had nothing better than a Band-Aid and sun block to help and how he will never again be without supplies or training to take care of someone in need.

Casey's letter emphasizes how we collectively need to support each other and the importance of being prepared. The Rescue Riders is a perfect example of living these values. Dean Akey established the Rescue Rider program about 5 years ago after he was in a motorcycle accident and no fellow riders had the training to help him. The program was developed to recruit, educate and organize bikers in support of each other and the communities in which they live. Rescue Riders receive training such as Accident Scene Management and CPR certification and use these new skills wherever and whenever the need arises. Being regular participants at motorcycle events volunteering as medics, they are able to be first on the scene administering care during the vital "Golden Hour". The "Golden Hour" is the time period of about one hour in which the lives of a majority of critically injured patients can be saved if emergency care is provided.

Dean Akey has been tirelessly promoting the Rescue Riders program by traveling around giving presentations to motorcycle groups. I was lucky enough to have Dean invite me to one of his recent presentations where he teamed up with Tony and Vicki Sanfelipo from Accident Scene Management Inc. in giving the law firm of Hupy & Abraham an award for years of supporting the motorcycle community and worthy programs such as this.

Do you want to ride for a reason? Check out the Rescue Riders program by visiting their web site at www.rescueriders.org.

Sons of Anarchy - Season 2

Those of you who are jones'n for a little Sons of Anarchy, here's some candid shots from the set while shooting Season 2.