Pit E. Full

The World's Greatest Rehab Pro and Yours Truly.

I sit here... on a rainy Sunday.
Bathed in the soft glow of of the fickle lights 

On the Christmas Tree From Hell.
I notice the four family socks
Hung gracefully on the fireplace mantel.
I am surrounded by little things
Aimed to comfort me as I heal.
Water, coffee, cell phone, laptop
TV remote, extra  blanket, dog Molly.
I am fresh off major surgery
A week tomorrow.
The results exceed my expectations.
I plan to ride across the United States in May.
To participate in the Rolling Thunder Rally for Veterans (POW/MIA) in Washington DC.
This surgery is aimed to get me there.
The trip was on my "bucket list" before the term was invented.
Julieann is spoiling me, yes more so than usual.
She is trying her best to anticipate my every need.
She is succeeding.
I am riding high on pain meds and good old TLC.
I should be ashamed of myself.
I'm not.

*For earlier posts that anticipated this situation please refer to "Cairo Practica, Cairo Practica II and III and Rack'em!"

For an update on the surgery 'its own self' see:

"Minimally Invasive" - The Sordid Details

A "Badass"' Book Review

Suddenly, it seems I have an abiding moral obligation to quote this entire critique by pal and fellow blogger, Annie King.  Over the past few years, I have had the pleasure to get acquainted with Annie through her terrific stories, poems and observations on life. Annie's amazingly accurate critical review follows:

"TC's Hog" latest version

“It’s Never Too Late to Have a Happy Childhood.” The significance of that line sinks in after multiple re-reads of it within the text of Tom Campbell’s entertaining biker book:Badass: The Harley-Davidson Experience. Tom Campbell is a family man, a Harley owner and rider, a medical consultant, and a reluctant poet. You can read his prose and poetry on his blog, Travel On - Cycles of the Lifestyle Kind. CABG is a recent favorite of mine, along with an entry about his trip to New Orleans.

Badass: The Harley-Davidson Experience is part advice book and part travelogue, chronicling Tom’s ride from his home in Sacramento, California to Sturgis, South Dakota for the annual biker rally. In the second half of the book, Tom expands his narrative style with longer entries and descriptive passages. One of my favorite sections is an entry that has nothing to do with motorcycle riding at all, but everything to do with life: If You Think Motorcycles Are Dangerous, ‘Tri’ a Triathlon! The writing is vivid, and you feel every scrape and bump and exhilarating moment along the way.

Finally, in the Epilogue, Tom admits he is more milquetoast than badass (as if the reader hasn’t figured it out!), and his confession is all the more endearing as he thanks his wife, in an earlier section, for her support. I believe he is more explorer, nature lover, and student of life than milquetoast, but we will leave that assessment up to Tom!

For anyone who has ever ridden or driven a motorcycle, and anyone who wants to take that special ride with Tom, you can follow his journey to happiness by reading Badass. As the tale of one man’s journey, and the portrait of a good guy, the book is a joy to own. (But if your name is Billy, and you rode with Tom to Sturgis, or if you like both orange juice and milk with your morning coffee, don’t read this book!)


Thank you Annie King!  You are a nice person!...and really astute!

Flappin' Cheeks

“Al had decided he was going to become one with the road so he left his detachable windshield at the hotel.  I glanced over at him while we had the baggers mellowed at 3,000 rpm  (about 80mph) and his cheeks were plastered back around his ears.  He looked like he was pulling around 8 G’s, but it was just the wind making his face into silly putty.  I wanted to slow down so he wouldn’t look like he was suffering too much but I managed to overcome the thought and he kept flappin’."

(photo rt: TC, Willie G. Davidson hisownself and Alonzo "El Coyote" Munguia - rear with hat is Bill Davidson, Willie's son and newly appointed CEO of HD as of April 2010 - I have Sharpie authographs of both on the vest I am wearing in the picture)

Signed Hand Leather Bound copies available at: www.badassbook.com