I’ve redone my former birkeyblog website into a new one powered by WordPress. The old one was hosted under my Apple .MAC account using a software product called BlogStudio. This new WordPress site gives me a lot more control and access to cool new features that I’ll be adding over time.
Many of my old posts do not show up properly yet. I will be going through each one to clean up the code and make them work. Give me some time, and it will all be back, better than ever. I hope you like it!
I am now officially a “biker” (as in motorcycle owner and rider). I had been contemplating and talking about getting a motorcycle earlier this year when gas was at an all time high. A co-worker heard me and said he had a motorcycle sitting in his garage he was thinking about selling. We talked and made an agreement. It wasn’t running at the time, so he brought it over in a trailer. I replaced the dead battery and tried to fix the charging system. It took a couple more months to get it running well with help from the mechanics over at Motoworks Chicago. It is now running very well… thanks Johnny!
It also took me a few weeks to get all the title and license transfers done, taking the written and riding tests for an “M” license at the Secretary of State. I also had to buy all my safety gear: helmet, gloves, jacket, pants, saddle bags, bungie net, and I already had the boots!
So, I am finally a fully legal biker with all the recommended safety items. Last week I rode it to work a couple days. I plan to get in a few more times as the weather permits. It’s a really nice size bike. Not too big, and not too small. Easy to handle, quick, and not overly loud nor vibrating too much.
Over the winter I plan to get a tear in the seat fixed, and potentially to replace head gaskets that leak oil ever so slowly. I may also replace the exhaust system.
Loads of fun!
My sister recently scanned and sent me these two photo images from the past. They were taken back in 1972-1973 when I was freshly graduated from York High School, and involved in a music duo/ministry with a friend named Ray Nickel. We called it Nickel, Birkey & Company. We both played guitar, sang and performed at churches, camps, retreats, banquets, weddings and the like. Notice the nice long hair, cool shirts, jeans and boots. Very hip!
At the time of these photos, I had been playing guitar for only a few years, after picking it up my Freshman year of high school, after dropping out of playing trumpet in band and orchestra at school. I started playing on my Dad’s 1948 Martin D-18, then saved up enough money to buy a Guild F-112 12-string from Biasco Music for about $250, with a hard shell case (pictured here).
Those were quite the days. We played some Simon & Garfunkel, Seals & Crofts, Peter, Paul & Mary, Bob Dillon, and many others, as well as many jazz and pop standards. We played for worship in our church, as well as added more artistic/creative friends to help us put on “multimedia” shows with our concerts, using slide photography, projections, lighting, art, illustration, drama, and music. We were really on the cutting edge!