Motorcycle Workshop: Built Over Holidays

My Motorcycle Shop

Well, not exactly over the holidays, but close to it. I'm building this workshop in my backyard to house my motorcycles. I started by laying an 18'X14' slab with a 24" perimeter and an 18" cross-section all in rebar and No. 6 mesh to make a slab. It's not going anywhere. It's finished off with a four foot ramp onto a patio with pavers. The framing is all in 2'X4's and the trusses are in 2'X6's. The roof is covered in a 30 year asphalt shingle and the edges trimmed in cedar. Three sides are OSB and the front facing is OSB covered in tongue and groove cedar planks. I installed a 14ga steel 6'X7' garage door with lock as my only entry. The windows were salvaged from my house; the front pane is about a 4'X4' glass pane (it's about 60 years old so it's very thick) and the side windows are two, very heavy, still functional steel crank windows. The front window has security bars, but it won't keep anyone out, but it does protect it from footballs and soccer balls. I'm about 85% finished, still need the corner and door cedar trimming and the roof soffit.

Inside I have yet to do anything except I have already run my 12/2 wiring for 10 plugs. There is no insulation and I am debating whether to do that at all since I'll mostly work with the door open and the walls will be covered with heavy duty peg boards. 

I'm open to any recommendations as I try to finish it up within the next couple of weeks.

Preparation for Slab

Freshly Laid Slab

Starting Framing

Cedar on OSB

About 85% Complete!

Motorcycle Riding & Diabetes

Crazy Joe's

This past weekend a few us took a short Sunday ride over to Crazy Joe's in Granjeno (see map location). Crazy Joe's is just a stone's throw from the raised Anzalduas International Bridge as it spans the Rio Grande flood-way and river. If we were any closer we would be directly under the bridge. During the summer months Crazy Joe's is primarily a biker hangout providing live music so it's a nice place to stop for a cool one, come late fall it becomes a winter tourist hangout. It gets crowded with guys wearing shorts and in black socks with dress shoes. They're a lot of fun.

Recognizing that it was a senior crowd I started telling my buddies that I was going to ask the bartender if I could take this captive audience and do an infomercial on diabetes. I figured the majority were either diabetic or know someone who is a diabetic. That's when Albert Chapa pulled up his tee shirt and said, "I've got the OmniPod and I can go up on stage with you! If we  could get a hold of the microphone for our infomercial we could probably charge $15 a head and make at least $500! We had a good laugh.
Of course, once I had seen the OmniPod, I had to ask Albert how it works. Albert said, "it's great for those of us that are insulin dependent and require a pump to manage our diabetes. I wear it all the time, I shower with it, get in the pool with it, and even go snorkeling with it. It has a little control unit like a cell phone that I use to program how much insulin I need. I can look up what I've eaten and program the correct dose on the spot." Albert went on to say, "I've looked at other pumps, but I refused to be tethered to a pump and tube. The OmniPod is tubeless and just what I was looking for. It's worked great for me and this month is my third year with it. I can go on long rides without a worry and if we're going to eat something that's out of this world, I just look it up on my monitor,select it and it will wirelessly deliver the correctly calculated amount of insulin."
So if the day comes when you get diabetes you may want to add this nifty little pump to your list of motorcycle farkles!