Tales From The Garage

Spring is just around the corner. Went to the garage where my bike is stored, to change oil, filter, check brake and clutch fluid levels and install the battery. During winter season my bike's battery sits in my apartment kitchen connected to a battery tender.

My bike has been hibernating, sitting in the garage since last October. Haven't even started the bike all winter, I haven't checked it in several months. It's still cold outside, here in Philly the cold weather is still lingering. I hate cold weather with a passion. We are in mid-March and now there's talk of more snow sometime next week.

I received a rent increase notice from the garage landlord yesterday. Personally, I feel the rent increase is unreasonable since he hasn't made any property improvements to the unit in seven years. Besides, he shutoff power to all the garage units in 2013 after half of the storage facility caught fire. I was fortunate that the section where my bike is stored was not affected. He is lucky there is no other motorcycle storage facility in the city, totally monopolizes the storage units market in Philadelphia. 

Depending on the weather, tomorrow I will be changing the rear brakes. Ordered the rear pads last year before the Dragon trip just in case I needed them. I don't want to have any issues when I visit Toronto, Canada this summer. 

Planning ahead and proper maintenance to my bike before I leave on a trip is a must. I would rather be safe than sorry. 

Behind The Shot : Photo Postcards In Your Own Backyard

Sometimes I look at images of exotic destinations, they seem to be a lot of fun and exciting spots. Unfortunately, due to financial constraints or lack of free time, the majority of my shooting is done in locations not far from home.

One example of this is my favorite hangout place, New York City. In addition to the amazing city skylines, NYC have lots of historic landmarks that offer a wide range of potential compositions.

The Big Apple is a popular choice for landscape photographers, many of whom travel from distant states and other countries to shoot there.

Often, we think great images happen by luck, or because a person have expensive equipment. The truth is many great images are taken after years of return trips to the same spots.

A Day In Court

Several months ago I received a summon for jury duty; I reported for jury duty today. Some people make it sound worse than it is. Due to the type of work and field I am in, I am always selected. Always (sigh).

Jury duty is a civic responsibility, and as a responsible citizen, it is my duty to serve as a juror.

It was reported last year that more than one-third of Philadelphians (250,000 residents) don't bother to respond and ignore jury duty summons each year. Maybe the $9.00 dollars per day as compensation has something to do with it.

This time I received a higher number in my jury duty panel. Inside the courtroom the judge read out the charges against the accused person, it was a case of sexual abuse among siblings. The judge said it will take at least five days to hear the case, unless the defendant plead guilty before trial.

When the judge said five days I felt a little uneasy because I have a doctor's appointment that I cannot miss next Friday. In fact I've been looking forward to see my primary doctor this week to receive the results of multiple diagnostic and blood tests I took recently.

I am not a religious person, (I'm spiritual but not religious) especially when it comes to organized religion, but I was "praying" inside the courtroom and hoping they would select the jurors early before it was my turn.

Fortunately I lucked out, I didn't have to sit in the jury box. Before my jury panel number was called by the judge and attorneys, they selected the jurors after questioning the people ahead of me in the courtroom. I was given a jury fee check and was dismissed before noon.

I was a very happy camper when I left the courtroom, and didn't have to report to work until tomorrow.

Eduardo Pagan Alega que la Ley Jones Contribuye a la Prosperidad de Puerto Rico

Eduardo Pagan es el presidente de la Asociacion de Navieros de Puerto Rico y Gerente General de TOTE (Totem Ocean Trailer Express) Maritime para Puerto Rico y el Caribe.

Este vende patria tiene la desfachatez de hoy escribir una columna en el periodico El Nuevo Dia donde el alega que la Ley Jones contribuye a la prosperidad de Puerto Rico.

¿Cuanto le habran pagado a este charlatan por escribir esa columna?

Este lacayo del imperio explotador de Estados Unidos es vice presidente y gerente general de una compañia que es beneficiada por la Ley Jones. La Ley Jones no se hizo para los puertorriqueños, la triste realidad es que quienes se benefician de esta ley colonial que mantiene todo mas caro en la isla son los sindicatos americanos y la compañia naviera estadounidense.

El bolsillo puertorriqueño por los pasados 100 años ha sido exprimido por esta ley colonial que le ha sacado hasta el ultimo centavo desde el 1917 al pueblo. Este individuo es una de las muchas marionetas que Estados Unidos utiliza para defender lo indefendible. Eduardo Pagan practicamente esta diciendo que ser colonia es lo mejor para Puerto Rico.

Esta es simplemente otra columna hecha por mandado de los grandes intereses del gobierno americano.

Behind The Shot: Elfreths Alley

I was in downtown Philly shopping for clothes a couple of years ago when I finally decided to visit Philadelphia's oldest street, Elfreth's Alley. I am one of those people who always carry my camera with me everywhere, so I figured why not, let's see what all the fuss is about.

Surprisingly, it wasn't as crowded as I expected. Unfortunately, there is a lot of construction equipment to the right of Elfreth's Alley from 2nd street. I had to tilt shift my camera, recompose and focus my image to the left side of the street.

It was a partly cloudy Sunday, hence far fewer visitors and much less congestion. Despite the expectation of rain, some tourists ventured to visit and walk through the ally just to check it out and take pictures.

In busy tourist destinations is difficult to shoot with no people or distractions in it. I spent at least two hours just waiting for the opportunity to shoot five bracketed images taken under different exposures, without people in the shot.

After editing, even though I had to crop the final image to remove the construction equipment, I am very happy with the end result.

By far, this is the most popular and shared image from my Facebook photography page.

Kofla Olivieri Rides The Tail of the Dragon

Deal’s Gap (aka the Tail of the Dragon) is without question one of the finest roads in the US. It is located in the beautiful Smoky Mountains at the Tennessee/North Carolina border where US 129 intersects NC 28. 318 turns in 11 miles.

Riding the Dragon is a lot of fun. Riding it fast is a challenge which brings motorcycle enthusiasts from all over the world to try their skills against it. Crashes are common on every given weekend (as the Tree of Shame can attest) and more than a few have lost their lives while trying to challenge it.

Have you been to Deals Gap and ridden the Tail of the Dragon? The Dragon has been on my bucket list for a while, I didn't think it would happen so soon. Last year a group of friends from the Philadelphia area invited me to spend a week with them at Deals Gap.

I figured I was more than due for a vacation, so why not ride my bike to the Dragon, hang out with my Philly friends and relax while exploring the area. I wasn't yet sold on the idea of riding solo to the resort, but decided to make the reservation anyway. I expected the round trip to be over 1,500 hundred miles.

Asi No Se Puede Pedir la Estadidad

El fraude arropa al gobierno de Puerto Rico. Y pensar que este chanchullo se ha destapado gracias a un caso de violencia domestica de parte del exlegisladron Ramon Luis Rodriguez Ruiz hacia la exdirectora de su oficina, Soniel Torres Suarez.

El mismo dia que este legisladron acude a su juramentacion como representante, imparte instrucciones para iniciar el despilfarro de fondos y la creacion de corporaciones fantasmas en su gobierno.

Estoy 100% seguro que esto es parte de un patron de corrupcion sistemica que permea en la politica de Puerto Rico.

Mientras tanto, ya estan perfilandose los candidatos del partido de los rojos y los azules para gobernador en las elecciones del 2020. Unos acusan y critican a los otros y les exigen cuentas sobre el desbarajuste que azota a Puerto Rico.

Si ellos se miraran en el espejo, veran quien es culpable de fraude, de la malversacion de fondos y la corrupcion en Puerto Rico. @asinosepuedepedirlaestadidad

Como dijo el prócer Ramon Emeterio Betances: ¿y qué les pasa a los puertorriqueños que no se rebelan?