since i embraced Twitter in the last month or two, it’s helped this process of opening up my world and re-engaging with life, primarily in the form of staying informed on stuff that interests me, but also bringing me into contact with people from various walks of life.

i can’t even remember now how/who/when i first became aware of riding4acause.org and the guys behind it (other than via someone i follow on Twitter re-tweeting), but i was so impressed by what these guys are doing:

a small bunch of straight men, all motorcycle enthusiasts (and fathers, & i’m guessing husbands) and who’ve each had their own struggle with depression, are forming a possy (always wanted to use that word – & i mean it in the John Wayne sense) to go ride across America to raise funds & awareness for male depression in just under a year from now.

isn’t that freakin awesome!??

last week Raz Chorev called on his Twitter followers to submit their stories of depression, to be posted on the site.  for some reason, i felt compelled to submit mine.  i’d never put my story into a single canned message before/yet, so figured this might be a decent opportunity, and also help spread the word.

so for the time being (while mine is the first), here’s my sorry story of depression:

http://www.riding4acause.org/my-story/

if it helps just one guy realise that he’s not alone feeling the way he does, and to get some help & get back on track, i’ll be a happy boy.

& maybe some people might question why i’m being so open about my story, here on my blog, in person amongst my friends, & even on a “stranger’s website”?  aside from the above reason, i also think it imposes some small degree of accountability on myself.  whether that’s good motivation or bad, i’m not sure, but by putting my story out in the open (instead of hiding it from almost everyone for the last 5 years), i feel it gives me even more reason to do whatever i have to do to never find myself back in that dark place.

“Bro, faster please, I lost my pants!”

( COPYRIGHT FREE – PLEASE CREDIT ALASTAIR WALKER )

Allen Millyard's amazing Dodge Viper engined motorcycle

Allen Millyard is one the best custom motorcycle builders in the UK, with a variety of one-off motorbikes, most featuring multi-cylinder engines like V8/V12 Kawasakis, to his credit.

His latest amazing creation made its debut at the UK International Motorcycle Show, which opened today, Friday 27th November 2009.

The Millyard Viper V10 features an engine from the Dodge Viper car, which Allen sourced from e-bay for £5000. The 500bhp motor transmits its torquey power via a two-speed auto gearbox to the rear wheel.  Allen made the entire chassis in his garage, with the front forks featuring Vauxhall Carlton damper units and Hagon springs. Six pot calipers, plus AP Lockheed front disc brakes help slow this 630kgs heavy machine.

But the weight of the bike, and the lack of fairing hasn’t blunted the performance. A recent test at Bruntingthorpe saw the Millyard V10 Viper special hit 207mph, making this arguably the fastest road legal, unfaired motorcycle in the UK. Allen’s special has passed the government SVA vehicle inspection, so it is taxed and insured for road use.

The bike has been ridden at high speed by a professional test rider, who was impressed with the bike’s sheer torque and its stability. The plan is to take the bike to Bonneville to set an ultimate top speed of perhaps 250mph. Lateral thinking engineer Millyard is also seriously considering a limited production run of the Viper V10 machine.

“Everything’s been designed in my head on this bike,” said Allen, ” but I want to build a pre-production prototype and do some proper design drawings, so there’s a kind of template to work from. We could make maybe ten bikes to individual owner specifications.”

Reaction at the UK’s annual motorcycle show, held at the NEC near Birmingham, was very positive, with many bikers commenting that Millyard’s V10, the Norton Commando launch and the new BMW six cylinder concept bike, were the main highlights of the event.

ends.

The one thing that I really wanted to fit in during my time in Vietnam, above all other things, was a motorbike adventure. It is something that I have thought about, talked about, researched a little, but not really made eventuate just yet.

Luckily, there is a time for everything.

My brother came to visit. He loves his motorbikes, and the plan was to go on a trip while he was here. We thought that if we could plan it around the weekend, my partner would also be able to join us. Initially, we thought a train trip somewhere, like Sapa, and then two days of exploring, like we’ve done before, but when I realised that my partner was going to be able to take a couple of days off, the trip started forming in our minds. And what an adventure!

FRIDAY

On Friday, I spent the day running errands, hiring bikes, buying snacks and water, etc. For those of you who are interested in motorbikes, we decided on two Honda XR 125, and one Honda Future Neo.

Friday night, we had booked train tickets and were all set to go on the night train to Lao Cai. However, at the station, we were told that two of the bikes (the XRs) would be unable to go on the train, because they did not have centre stands. Frustrated by the fact that the man who rented them to us had not mentioned this, even though he knew we were planning to go on the train, my partner swore a little under his breath. And thus the adventure started; the lady who we were dealing with thought he had been calling her names, and therefore refused to let the bikes on the train.

He had certainly not insulted her, unless he had said something in Vietnamese with the wrong tones (which sometimes happens to all of us), but the lady would not budge. She had heard a bad name, and refused to help. We called the guy at the rental shop, and asked him to speak to them, but still nothing. He said that we should have just smiled and nodded and given them some money, and not called them names. (Which, as we said before, we hadn’t!) Very helpful.

We were thus stuck at the station with tickets for us, but not the bikes. The most frustrating thing about this, of course, was that there are just no clear guidelines. If bikes like that would never be allowed on the train, then that would have been the end of the story. But if the bikes are allowed on if we smile and nod and bribe, what kind of business are they running at the station, right?

Two random Vietnamese men hanging out at the station eventually struck up a conversation with my partner, and went in to bat for us. For no other reason than being nice guys, I think. They negotiated a deal with the angry lady that the bikes would go on, as long as my partner would sign a statement that said that any damage made to the bikes or to other bikes caused by our bikes would be paid for by us. A handwritten document was quickly drafted and signed, the lady was apologised to, some thank you money exchanged hands, and the bikes went on the train. And so did we.

The ’soft-sleeper’ beds that we had tickets for were the hardest soft sleepers I have ever had the pleasure(?) of travelling on, and this, combined with sharing a cabin with Mr. Farty McSnor-Snor, made this an exceptionally uncomfortable trip. I think I was awake at least half of the night, and the fact that the beds were too short for all three of us made us very sore indeed before even starting. But we were too excited to care.

SATURDAY

Arriving in Lao Cai just after dawn is wonderful, the air is fresh and clean compared to Hanoi, and it was actually quite chilly. Normally, people hassle you for all sort of things the moment you exit the station, but having your own transport with you meant that no one really tried to hustle us into a vehicle or anything like that. The only person approaching us was trying to sell coffee, but he also very happily told us where the petrol station was.

On closer inspection, one of the clutch leavers on one of the touring bikes had snapped, so the bike had probably fallen over in the train. So, the hunt for motorbike levers started. At the Honda dealership (which we stumbled upon after asking a few small repair shops whether they had the parts) we had to wait for a long time, because the mechanic had not arrived yet (although he was due any moment!). But it all got fixed eventually.

I had, in all my foresight, packed sandwiches for breakfast the night before, because I am useless if I do not get food into me. So, munching away on cheese and ham sandwiches, talking to the fifteen or so locals that have come to look at the bikes, was an interesting start to the day. Although I must admit that it is hilarious when the Honda dealer wants to try your dirt bike because, although it being a Honda, he has never seen one like it before!

We drove from there to Bac Ha. It is a two hour drive, mostly uphill into the mountains. Bac Ha is sometimes touted as an alternative to Sa Pa, where tourism is now the main income. But due to the distance from Lao Cai (two versus one hour) and the lack of infrastructure (the hotels available are all very basic), it has not seen as much growth in tourism as Sa Pa. Which is amazing in one way, because it is a real gem. The town itself is like any other Vietnamese mountain town; small, dusty, and nothing much going for it. But the surrounding countryside is amazing, with tall mountains, rice paddies and locals who have not grown sick of tourists and will therefore wave to you and pose for pictures.

We rode the bikes towards the Chinese border (although not to close, as the Vietnamese get a bit jittery about that) in this vast landscape with deep valleys and high, pointy peaks. The tops of the mountains were shrouded in mist, and the buffaloes, chickens and tiny piglets running around makes it feel like ‘real’ Vietnam.

SUNDAY

Staying overnight in Bac Ha to see the morning market was definitely worth it, too. The town comes to life, as the surrounding villages all stream into the market to sell and buy their wares. At one end of the market, food stalls and meat products, not for the squeamish type (including entire pigs heads, and puddles of blood throughout the thoroughfares) the middle section was full of fruit and vegetables. Then a small section of touristy things like scarves and embroidered pillows, which are the same as in Sa Pa, but cheaper.

Across the road, though, near the permanent market, is where the most amazing displays of colours were to be found. This is where the local women barter over the brightly coloured skirts, and there is a flurry of reds and greens, yellows, and, for some reason, fluorescent pink. The Flower H’Mong, which is the minority with the highest representation in Bac Ha, really do honour to their name, with costumes in any shade of colour as long as it is strong.

If you are at the market before 10am, you miss the rush of tourists that come in from Sa Pa on a day trip, and you get to really do some people watching, which is what we were there for. Almost every woman I saw also had a child with large, brown eyes and who were wearing adorable hats, strapped to their backs. Farmers were bringing in their live stock (kittens, puppies, pigs, chickens, ducks and buffaloes) to sell.

When there were too many tourists starting to mingle in the crowds, my brother had a quick hair cut and shave (which was hilarious, but apparently quite painful) before we set off to our next destination.

From Bac Ha, we wanted to take the road to Xin Man for lunch, and then on to Hoang Su Phi. Going up the road, though, it soon turned out that the rented bikes were more bunged up than they had first appeared.

One of the bikes kept conking out in second gear, and as my partner was trying to maneuver the bike and shift gears, it all of a sudden slipped out from underneath him when he hit a patch of gravel. Luckily, he had not been going fast, and my brother was behind him, so he could stop and help him up. I had powered up ahead, and was waiting at a beautiful view further up the road, and had missed the entire accident. But I turned back when they did not show up, and found them next to the road, slightly scraped (knee a little bloody and a sore shoulder) and bike number two had a broken clutch lever.

Quite shocked, but otherwise fine, we stayed there for a while, eating chocolate and being watched by five dusty little kids. They were extremely grubby, and one of the little boys was not wearing any bottoms. Slowly, they were edging closer to us, until they were literally looking over my shoulder into my backpack, where I was pulling out the first aid kit to find some band-aids and some alcohol swipes. Eventually, I gave them each a caramel, which I normally do not do (I don’t like encouraging the rotting of little teeth) but they were just so nosy that they had to be bought to leave us alone. And it worked. After a little rest and when the shock of it all subsided, we continued. My partner now took my bike, which is the same type, although slightly more powerful, as the one we ride at home in Hanoi.

My brother took the bike that had made the tumble and which no longer had a proper clutch lever (we did tie it up with a bungy chord, so it sort of worked), as he is the most experienced rider. I took the last bike, to give my partner a break.

Riding up the mountain, we kept stopping to ask for directions, and it soon became clear that the road to Xin Man was in part a dirt track, with mud and rocks and it also crossed two streams. This was lots of fun, and we went through the most scenic parts of Vietnam that I have ever seen. We even saw a bunch of kids running down a hill towards us with metal hoops, the way you see children roll hoops with sticks in the olden days (or in paintings by the Dutch Masters). Idyllic!

Back on the bitumen road, we had a second tumble. While standing still, the clutch on the bike my brother was driving, suddenly slipped, making the bike surge forward, fall over and trap my brother under it. So a second knee was scraped and a little bloody. And now the break lever, on the other side of the bike, was also dodgy. In the mean time, his alternator was also giving up. “Let’s get dirt bikes” they said…

After yet again fixing it, and this time the clutch holding out, the adventure continues to Xin Man. We ride through Xin Man, and stop for a coffee and petrol, and to eat loads of snacks, before we continue to Hoang Su Phi. We are starting to get a little weary of not making it to the hotel where we booked in time, as we are not riding very fast. We only have about 110 kilometres to do, but the road is not exactly very good, but it is better than we have had so far. The hotel manager seems to think that we can make it, so we try.

We make it to Hoang Su Phi by about three in the afternoon, however, it is another 40km to the hotel where we were planning to stay (a sort of eco lodge that serves as a base camp to people trekking in the mountains), and darkness falls very quickly here.

We decided to attempt it, however, about 15km out, it has become dark, and it has become apparent that the bike my brother is driving has got a very bad light and he needs to drive extremely slowly to be able to stay on the road.

20 or so km in, we drive into the mist, so our speed drops even further, and so does the temperature. We start driving together, alternating the person in front, sticking close together, slowly, slowly riding through the mountains. It is freezing cold, and we are carefully driving along, having regular breaks to drink and snack. Luckily, most other traffic has disappeared, so there is very little on-coming traffic. At one stage, we ride past a little house where the occupants are watching TV. The cracks in the walls emit an eerie blue light in long streaks into the misty night air, it looked like something straight out of twilight zone.

Finally, we arrive at the turn-off to the hotel, which means that we only have 10km more to go. We call ahead to let them know that we are almost there. Then my brother’s bike dies. Completely.

So close, yet so far, and it will not start.

Luckily, there was a group of guys on the side of the road who were either fixing something or looking at something with flash lights, and they appeared all around the bike, pushed my brother aside, pulled it apart, checked the fuel, the ignition and the spark plug, replaced the latter with a spare one that we had in our tool kit, and disappeared again once the bike started. We had just been talking about giving them some money, but before we even had a chance to give them any, they had disappeared into the night. But I hope they know how thankful we were.

The last 9km were almost uneventful after all that. We rode out of the mist, into a little town, through it, over a bridge, and to the hotel.

It was dark, so all we did was have dinner and go to bed, utterly exhausted.

MONDAY

After the eventful day we had before, we decided to stay two nights at the eco lodge. It is nestled in a valley, with great walking opportunities. However, as both the boys were out with sore knees, we instead only went to the town nearby to buy beers, snacks and new motorbike levers (two that were broken, and one extra, just in case). We also went on a short ride around the valley to discover it. It was gorgeous, more chickens and piglets, more farming and wooden houses, and another river. We also saw some of the famous pink buffaloes, including a calf who looked nearly white.

My brother decided to try and cross the river with the bike, because it flowed over a road, and it looked like fun. The locals were staring at me and my partner doubled over and cackling at the sight of my brother flying through the knee-deep water on a motorbike with his legs straight out to prevent his feet from getting wet (he failed). And when he turned around to do it again, we took some brilliant photos of him looking utterly silly.

I was secretly expecting him to fall over in the middle of the river, which would have been funny, but he stayed on.

Most of the rest of the day was spent reading books, eating, drinking beers and playing cards. We needed to recharge those batteries.

TUESDAY

Tuesday we started at dawn, to eat some breakfast and to get going back towards Hanoi. About 10 km into the trip, we stop to look at a view and I turn around to see my brother desperately trying to warm his hands on the engine block of his bike. Admittedly, it was our coldest morning yet, but it had not sunk in with me that he did not have gloves. And, like the scene straight out of Dumb and Dumber, I had an extra pair with me which he could have borrowed.

Riding back to Hanoi (about 270 km) was fun, but long. The road is relatively good, and the weather was getting warmer as we descended, but the trucks and buses all driving on the same roads, and the traffic rules being very different from the UK made it for a stressful drive for everyone, especially my brother.

We stopped for lunch to have Pho, and the warm broth was very welcome in the tummies of weary travellers.

About 100 km out from Hanoi, we pulled over, and my partner felt the bike topple under him. Trying to catch it, he accidentally put all of the bike’s weight on the shoulder he had already bumped when he came off the bike two days earlier, and he pulled a muscle or a ligament in his shoulder. This meant that we had to wheel the bikes to the nearest cafe, and sit there for a while.

When he felt a little better, we kept going, but the delays during the day caused us to hit the outskirts of Hanoi just as rush hour hit. On a day of ancestor worship according to the lunar calendar. So, to say the least, it was busy! We were literally in a sea of helmets, with two bikes that were so cranky by this stage that they refused to idle. This meant that when traffic stopped (as in, all the time), they would conk out. And then we had to kick start them.

Stressful as that was, we were trying our best to navigate the streets.

And then I lost my brother. In rush hour traffic in Hanoi. After dark. And he does not have a map. And he is not receiving my messages. I sent my partner home, no point in both of us waiting.

I wait for a long time, and I try to call him. He does not pick up. I start to get worried. Eventually, I give up, and try to trace his route (I knew he missed the turn off). I do not see him anywhere along the road. I eventually get to a crossing where I know that I need to go left to get far enough east to not hit my street at the bit that is one-way only. I think to myself – he probably went right here if he came this way. Turns out he did. Which did not matter, because at least he found the street. And then he just wheeled the bike along it back home.

When I drive into the parking lot, there is my brother! I am so thrilled, I hug him.

And that concluded our adventure. I was happy I did not have to get up the next day, I was so tired! But we all had lots of fun, and we were glad we went.

BMW’S SENSATIONAL SIX

BMW's concept bike features a new six cylinder engine

( COPYRIGHT FREE – CREDIT MOTORFEATURES/ALASTAIR WALKER PLEASE )

BMW have shown a six cylinder concept bike at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan. Alastair Walker reports.

BMW sprung a big surprise on the Italian motorcycle industry at Milan recently, with a six cylinder concept model – the first production six in motorcycling since the Kawasaki Z1300 of the 80s

BMW’s concept is cafe racer styled, featuring an in-line six cylinder engine, which looked extremely compact. The engine has tiny cylinders, which BMW say are set very close together to save space, with the motor utilising an oversquare bore/stroke ratio. What that means in everyday language is that the pistons are fairly wide and they don’t travel too far within each cylinder.

The concept six has a theoretical peak power output at 9,000rpm say BMW, presumably to help keep the engine temperature down and extend the overall engine life.

Clues like the design of the radiator and the air scoops set next to the engine also suggest that BMW have considered how to keep this monster power unit cool in hot weather.  That’s very important, because the word from BMW is that the big 1600cc six will be the powertrain of a flagship future BMW touring bike. A six pot motor would certainly offer uncanny smoothness and effortless torque for two-up riding.

The concept bike also features the Duolever and Paralever/shaft drive rear end, with a twin-spar alloy frame, suspending the engine at a 55 degree angle. Tipping the motor forwards was a design touch Honda employed with its six cylinder CBX1000 back in 1978, as it helps place weight on the front end of the bike and keeps the overall mass of the bike set nice and low.

With its tiny mirrors, single seat, beautiful cast alloy wheels and sleek styling, the BMW concept machine looks almost road ready, except for the swoopy exhausts, which don’t appear to have an catalyser fitted. The official statement from BMW is that the concept won’t go into production as seen, but the engine definitely looks set to power K-series BMW touring motorbikes of the future.

Great engineering from BMW, a viable touring engine for the future and real publicity coup for the German company at Milan. There’s no word on whether the six will make an appearance at the Carole Nash International Motorcycle Show at the NEC later this week.

ends.

Chiang Dao: The Journey

Motorbikes over a weekend.

Tomorrow’s my scheduled appointment with the specialist. Wonder if he will give me the thumbs up to remove my wrist guard …

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Oh hell..

I think I’ve discovered the disadvantage of just riding a bike and not having a car licence too..

I’ve got a flippin’ great tooth abscess and as my face is so swollen (think John Merricks twin sister and you will get the picture) I cannot get my crash helmet on to be able to get to work.

The evil tooth started aching a bit Thursday evening and I thought it would stop after a day or so.. How wrong I was

My first look in the mirror on Saturday morning showed me the image of the kind of monster you normally see in old horror movies and the pain level was off any kind of scale I’ve ever known, and yes that did include having my kids!!!

One emergancy dentist visit later I’m on 2 kinds of antibiotics and codeine which makes me fall asleep all the time :-S

The result?  I’m off work, after having last week as holiday (boy do I feel guilty about that!) until such times as my face shrinks enough to be able to get my crash helmet back on..

The tooth will be sorted out as soon as the antibiotics are finished.. Flippin thing!!

Well after a few months of tinkering and head scratching I finally got the bike going!!!! It took a while but its worth it. I ended up redoing the whole electrical system on the bike. To start with I replaced the coils inside the stator then the coil that provides spark to the spark plug. With the help of locky the lama. I was able to also hook up the rear brake light. Now i just gota find a nice looking head light for it. And some indicators and a few other bits and pieces. But hey whats the fun if its not a challenge ae? hahaha. Well this is what the bike is looking like at the moment.[gallery]

Throughout the world, where car runs, where our wheel locks(tire lock), www.cn-std.com

The title is pretty much the summary of what occurred on Tuesday night this week.

Here is the part of the post I wrote BEFORE the trip…

Me & Jason go into the big smoke, Icheon City on Tuesdays for language exchange with some of our Korean friends… who are mainly university graduates in their first jobs… They are very cool and we tend to have plenty of fun learning a language a bit different to ours

Anyways… we got the the city on the ‘Autobike’ or motorbike… its called a City something something… which are essentially the farm bikes the adooshis use to get around their rice paddies and such… 

For the record, I  just want to say if I do die in Korea… it will be on the back of this bike…

I am expecting that Jason will want to autobike it into Icheon today. I am expecting to want to bus it in today.

Main reasons – its very, very cold. I put my thick jacket into the drycleaners just then. Im scared of dying in the cold.

If I die, then Dan gets the electronics… Caleb gets my responsibilities & the poster (Dan can make another one for himself) and Mr TL gets my illegitimate children

Information gathered AFTER the trip:

OK I am alive… short description of how I am currently feeling:

• my lips are chapped hardcore through the helmet
• I’ve got a headache the size of a watermelon (this is because my neck hates being contained in scarves)
• I’m definitely a bit dizzy (this post has been revised on Friday as it had plenty of grammatically errors)
• My legs from the hip and the knee, feel like they are either on fire or bleeding – this feeling has been consistent since we went into town
• I wore three pairs of socks and my Everlast High-kicks… my big toes have no feeling… they actually feel like they are frozen through like frozen fish fingers or something
• My eyes are watering worse than when I got mercury poisoning (refer back through the blog) and my nose is leaking worse than my crying kindergarten students
• I am drinking a coffee at home and it tastes and feels the same temperature as running water

Lesson from this post… do not autobike 45 minutes into town second last week of Autumn/Fall in Korea… even with 4 layers of clothing… because you will DEFINITELY get cold.

p.s. it was around -6°C standing still… plus wind… -10°C sounded about right..

me eating jap in 용산역

Status Update:

• Friend cancelled tonight *shock* so I stay in Godang-ri (my sleepy lil town) overnight *shock* lets save some money for Japan!
• I am finding it really difficult to find the in between of dressing like an eskimo and not wearing enough and freezing…
• Listening to ‘Slow Motion’ by Karina Pasian – cover by Randolph & Kat Badar (I am always on Youtube)

Goals for the weekend:

• stop spending money!
• buy mittens, coats, jackets, long-jons, thick socks, beanies, face masks, vests, wind-breakers, uggies, woolie pants that Feb has, scarves, gloves, hoodies, leather jacket and jumpers…
• New goal… find a happy medium in the middle…
• go to Japan

Vroom vroom.

Dhyaan in a Motorbike

 Dhyaan was having fun riding my motorbike.  He always ride on the bike whenever he see that. 

Trans Tasman thinks the motorcyclists’ protest was a perfect illustration of the political and economic difficulties we’re going to face:

The bikes thundered into town down the motorway. Grey ponytails streaming into the wind behind them, paunches looming threateningly over their petrol tanks. You are unlikely to see a greater gathering of engaged, aging baby boomers, outside the upcoming Carole King concert. Their air of aggrieved entitlement reminds one these people will be collecting their superannuation in a few years.

And this is the problem. Speeches to the gathering from the protesters made it clear they believe it’s unfair they should have to pay the costs of the risky activity they undertake.  The rest of us should pay. Extrapolate this to superannuation, and health, and you have the starkest illustration possible of the long-term problem.

No-one wants to pay more – directly in fees and levies or indirectly through taxes – but almost everyone wants the services.

As for the motorcyclists’ case, Kiwiblog has some stats. on motorbike accidents and also spots the irony:

. . .  the same people who support banning pies from tuckshops on the basis it may extend someone’s life by a few months in 60 years years time, don’t think incentives to reduce the number of motorcycle accidents are justified.

It’s so much easier to have the state telling other people what to do when it doesn’t affect us directly than to pay a fair share towards something that does.

Trans Tasman is a weekly political and economic newsletter. You can subscribe here.

panniers

Now I know it’s not the best photo in the world and for those bikers amongst you I am sure you can see through the dust to see how useful these motorbike panniers would be – check out this ‘different’ 2good2tip stall – there’s some great stuff here, you just have to see through the dust – not much different to some of the local sales I have been to really !

Click Here To View Large

A few hours drive in any direction from Chiang Mai are some of Thailand’s most beautiful national parks. This is a lake stitch of Shri Lanna Lake. Must be viewed large.

On my quest to re-organise my flickr account, I am re-editing and deleting a lot of photo’s from my collection. Recently I have been working on photos of vehicles.

As per usual, please do not steal any of my photos. If you wish to use one, please ask me first. Thanks.