How can things suck and be great at the same time?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I haven't posted or written in more than 10 days, what can I say other than sorry and I'll try not to let it happen again.  Things have been crazy around these parts these days!  A few weekends back I took an incredible trip with my boys out to California and hit up the International Motorcycle Show, The Street Chopper Release party and David Mann Chopperfest all in one long, amazing weekend!  I've yet to see if the story is going to run in Cycle Source or not, if it doesn't, it is a great tale and I'll share it with you here!  In one place I had to see 20 Knuckleheads!  This may not be a big deal to you, but if you are a Knuckle head maniac like me, it was truly heaven. 

The weeks leading up to the holidays began with great hopes and big dreams and those hopes and dreams dropped as fast as the temps have here in AZ.  Oh yeah, by the way, IT'S FUCKING COLD HERE!  For the last two weeks, we awaken to find the cars covered in a thin sheet of ice!  ICE!  The mountains covered in snow and even snow on the ground in Scottsdale!  Total madness.  I never realized how addicted I've become to sunshine!  I guess all sayings that stick around begin somewhere and this makes me think of the old saying, "you don't know what ya got till it's gone"!  Well I really miss the sun!  When you live in a place that has on average, 350 out of 365 days of nothing but sunshine, 5 days in a row of mid 40's for high temps and rain, rain and more rain, it truly sucks the life out of you!  I don't want to sound like a whiney lil complaining bitch, but if the shoe fits, then wear it right?  I'm full blown hooked on sunny days!

Diane had clients coming in from all over the USA and Canada for the last few weeks.  Originally, she was supposed to ride to California with me but she was unable to because of these clients.  There is nothing I hate more than a person who does not live up to or keep their word.  We've all done it, we've all made a plan and something has screwed it up.  The key is how you handle it.  Do you make a simple, courteous call to the people that you made plans with and explain or do you duck them for days and then when you are finally cornered lie?  Well that is what happened to Diane.  She had clients that were going to arrive on Friday and they were coming here to BUY A HOUSE!  They would arrive in PHX on Wednesday night, take Thursday to look around and go buy a house on Saturday and Sunday if needed!  Wednesday came, no call!  Thursday came, no call!  Friday came, no call!  Now Diane being the kind of person she is, she was not mad, she was scared!  These folks were not flying in, they were riding on bikes all the way from Canada or Alaska, I can't remember right now.  So she is calling, emailing and texting and having a huge heart and knowing the bike life, she thought the worst!  Who wouldn't?  Finally Saturday afternoon comes and she calls again and the guy answers the phone.  "Oh hey, how are you"?  Diane answered "I'm fine, how about you, is everything okay, I was scared to death"?  "Oh yeah, we are in California, we are having a great time"!  These sons o bitches didn't have the decency to even pick up the phone and call.  Diane cancelled a trip that she so desperately wanted to go on and needed to get away, just to be of service to her clients.  When she told them about how scared she was for them they made up some b.s. story and then told her they would be in on Monday and THEY WERE NOT LEAVING WITHOUT BUYING A HOME!  She bit her lip, said no more and awaited their arrival.  I made it home before they ever even arrived!

She took them out for a few days and each and every day they would change the plan with no notice while Diane would change her plans to accommodate them.... I MEAN JUST PLAIN RUDE!  So now she gets blown off and can't get them to answer any messages again!  Out of nowhere, the guy calls up, says we want to buy "house X" and would she please write it up?  Sure, okay!  Hey, a sale is a sale, we need the money to eat right?  So she writes up the contract and if you have ever purchased a home, you know how much paper work that is right?  Calls the guy back to tell him it is all done and not to worry about travelling, she will come to them to get it all signed.  Now that is service!  NO ANSWER AGAIN!  A day goes by before this jerkoff even picks up the phone and now he is making up all kinds of shit!  So in the end, we have countless amounts of wasted time, wasted days, wasted worry, wasted printer ink and a shit ton of stress all for nothing.  They snuck away from town without a call or a final lie for the road!  Diane passed up on other clients so that she could serve them.  She passed up on a bike trip to California to serve them.  She passed up on things she had to get done just to serve them and in the end, rather than make any money, WE FUCKING LOST MONEY  on the deal!  Business is business and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, we know that.  The problem that I have is just plain being jerked around.  Diane deserves so much more than that.  She is devoted to her clients and virtually every client she has had through the years has become a friend!  So leading in to the holidays, deal after deal, buyer after buyer, dropped off, fell apart or just plain disappeared....  This did not do much for holiday spirit or holiday cash flow and it sucked!

In the end though, life is about being able to take care of your own, pay your bills and keep everyone healthy!  When you are damn near broke during the holidays it takes some of the joy out of them.  At least it took all the joy from me in the run up to Christmas.  Here is the thing though, for me, it has never been about getting gifts but giving them, so it bums me out when I can't shower the people I love with them.  The beauty is, the reason that I love these people is because they are each and every single one of them, amazing people who don't give a shit about getting gifts either!  So Christmas arrives and it was a great holiday!  I spent it with people that I care about and what could really matter more than that?  We had friends come in from out of town, we shared a meal, did some home shopping and I don't mean your average home, we went and looked at some truly "sick" homes!  I love big, fancy and crazy "pimp" houses!  I've seen too many homes that after foreclosure have looked like crack houses!  It was a real nice change of pace.  It was just a joy to hang out with them again and this trip we even got to meet their kids and they were an absolute pleasure!

So was Christmas spent unwrapping countless boxes of gifts?  NO!  Was it spent sharing what the holidays should be about?  YES!  I am truly lucky to have these people in my life and be able to share with them and make great memories!  I hope that each and everyone of you had or will have a holiday that warms their heart and makes them feel as good as I do today!  I wish you all nothing but the very best! 

May this upcoming new year, bring us all so much more than the last few have.  There is too much suffering going on in the world and it is time for it to end.  Let us each do our part to pay it forward and help others who need it!  May this new year bring you each great health, much happiness and may you be surrounded by love and joy!

Until we see each other on the road again,

Keep the wind in your face,
Tits in your back
and The Man off your ass!

Your Friend,
Jack Shit