BlueSky

When I was working in FL temporarily (for 3 yrs, 7 months, and 18 days) I obtained a FL CC permit. It is valid in my home state and about 34 total. But a few such as SC don't honor it because I'm not a resident of FL. Some FFL shops would allow me to buy handguns with the FL cc permit and copies of my apt utility bills for 3 months. That satisfied the residency status in their opinion to buy a handgun. Not all would though.

Open carry would just get people nervous around here and attract the attention and concern of the authorities I'm afraid. I wouldn't want to do that. But I have a permit for concealed carry and I do.

I'm not sure anything can protect you from those 82 year old women in Lincoln Town Cars like the one who recently t-boned my Magnum.

There is a utube video about fixing a screeching speedometer on the Gen Is.

I feel for you. I was a victim of downsizing after 21 years. The company was a regulated electric utility and thought deregulation was coming so they reorganized and laid off as many 20 year guys as they could to get rid of most of their pensions. After a while I started working as a contractor doing the same job at power plants all over the east and north. It worked out well for me but was a bitter pill at first. I'm an independent cuss so being a temporary contractor suited my personality.

If you search ebay using Yamaha XVZ 1300 or just XVZ1300 you will find the starters. And look for a 96 or newer to be sure.

I hope that works for you. Could the flooding possibly be caused by a bad float? By the way, thanks for posting your experiences. We all learn when you do that!

It's like most hobbies. They can not be justified financially. You do it because it is what you enjoy. It enriches your life. Unless you are Cowpuc. I'm sure Tweeks and his other bikes have saved him a bunch of bucks compared to driving a cage and especially a motorhome on his travels.

Just before I bought my first bike, the CB350, I bought a couple of used helmets from a classified ad. The large one that fit me was a Captain America helmet! The other one was a gold metalflake helmet that was a little too large for my wife and the Honda dealer offered to take it in trade even up for a generic Dot helmet that fit my wife. He said it matched the bikes he had and someone would jump on it.

The only time I've been sailing was on an 84' catamaran from Key West to the coral reef to go snorkeling! I was surprised at how fast that cat was. The trip was really special! There were only 3 crew members. It would be something to be able to afford a cat like that one!

Neither was the original CB750. It was an amazing bike for its day but no comparison to todays bikes. They were the fastest bikes you could buy when they came out in 1969. A good friend of mine bought a used 78 and put 100k miles on it riding it all over.

I replaced our built-in microwave with a new SS model just because she wanted one. It was sort of a pita to mount it. The hold these women have over us!!!

I don't have a photo. But this is what my first bike looked like. I bought it new in Feb 1971 for $645 and had to learn how to ride it to get it home 60 miles away. https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTY29Y7QtBu-LtNEXop-ZExMNrMupWDW-s91vj6p84rKniqha2s1Q

The retro CB1100 is close to the same design.

I like the sound of loud pipes on Harleys as long as I don't have to listen very long. On my bikes, nope. I think they are loud enough with the stock pipes.

Cowpuc did a utube video on valve stem installation.

Yes, I surely do have that bike. I bought it May of last year as I remember and I left for SC for a contract job. When it ended, the weather cooled off and I have only ridden it about 200 miles so far. Wanna buy it?

You said you are in the Comcast area but Time warner has a $14.95 per month plan for the internet regular price. Maybe Comcast has a similar plan. Supposed to be 2Mbps download and 1 Mbps up. Remember when we thought that was fast!?

The Ft. Lauderdale beach is great now with lots of parking especially compared to South Beach. That's about as far north where the water is still clear. That is one think I love about FL, the crystal clear water. Great for snorkeling or scuba.

Florida was one of the states that had the highest numbers of foreclosures and there still may some steals to be had. I worked in Homestead from Jan 2010 to Aug 2013 and there were so many great house bargains. I was tempted to buy one but southern FL has a high crime rate and you have to live in a gated guarded subdivision to prevent your home from being burglarized on a regular basis. I rented a 1700 sq ft. 3br townhouse with garage while I was there in a nice gated apt complex that was supposed to be individually owned units but everything went bust so most were rentals. Anyway, I could have bought one for $40k at that time. If I had just known how long that temporary job was going to last I would have bought one. I saw a foreclosure advertised that was just a few years old, 6k sq ft on 7 acres of land and it could be purchased for $300k. In 2009 my wife and I drove to FL looking for a home. There is a huge place called Lehigh acres close to Ft. Myers where fairly new1600 sq ft homes with double garages were selling for $50k. The streets in those areas needed lots of work. Some of the homes had been built with toxic Chinese drywall. Those same homes are now well over $100k. All homes had wells and septic tanks.

Congratulations! Enjoy your week and happy house hunting!

Los Olas is what I believe the street name is where we went a lot. It's not far from the beach. It's like old down town. There are lots of small restaurants where you can eat and some unique shops. You can go for rides on large boats that show you around the canals where the rich and famous live.

When I tried to rent a Harley in FL, the dealer was going to put a $2500 hold on my credit card. This was to pay for the first $2500 in damage if I damaged the bike. Is this typical when renting a motorcycle? No way I would do that. This was in addition to the $150/day rental fee.

My son set up Beautiful Widget for my wife's Samsung 5 android. It's by Google I think. My wife likes it better than weatherbug. I stuck with the iphone 6 and still use weatherbug.

Sounds like you are a lucky man!