Weathering the storm, and Dealing with the Aftermath

I are finally back online, after 8 days without electricity, and a total of two weeks without Internet, due to Hurricane Helene.

On Friday 26^th of September we had originally planned to drive to the coast, to visit with friends, but decided to wait for Tropical Storm/Hurricane Helene to pass, before setting out on this 100-mile plus trip.

The heavy rain awoke me early on Friday, before daylight, around 6am. I made coffee, and halfway through my first cup, the lights went out. The storm went through in about an hour.

We have a small battery-operated A.M. Radio, and we listened to local news. Interstate 5 (One of the main freeways between Charleston and the upstate.) was blocked by fallen trees in both directions. Ashville NC was blocked both in and out of the city for 3 days.

We of corse canceled our plans to drive to the coast, and I was glad we had not set out any sooner. I was surprised to find that North Carolina was being hit harder than we had, and the storm was increasing.

The wind took down a small tree behind our house, but our big trees and the house came through the storm intact. No electricity meant no air conditioning, no refrigerator, no stove to cook anything, and no TV. But we did have a gas water heater, and so at least had hot water.

We had plenty of food and by keeping the Freezer closed and packed with ice, kept it cold for three days. After that the perishable stuff had to be thrown out. After three days most shops were open, and we also found a Laundromat to do a load of washing.  

We kept the windows the house closed in the day. Open at night. This way the temperature was at least the same as it was outside. We had battery radio, plenty of battery powered lamps and flashlights.  

We went to bed when it got dark and got up at dawn. The first night I woke up in a cold sweat and I thought I had a fever, the bed was soaking wet. Then I realized, “This is what it is like, with the window open, the temperature is whatever it is outside.

We missed our morning coffee, but McDonalds was open, so we went there, and we stayed an hour while we charged our phone. They had air conditioning too. Most businesses had their own generator.

I would not have wanted this experience, but we came through a lot better than some did. We ate a lot of Peanut Bread and Marmalade Sandwiches.

The Electric Company said over 200 people lost their lives, over a million people in both North and South Carolina were without electricity. They replaced 1,000 poles, and 300 miles of wire.

The Internet providers had to wait for power to be restored before they could repair their fiber optic cables. Which accounts for having no Internet for a total of two weeks.

Please allow me time to get all my personal affairs in order, before I can get back to the Registry and blog, etc.

Dave.

The Blog and Registry are up again

Last week the Dave Moulton Registry was off line. It seems the web hosts servers were attacked, a Fire Wall prevented any damage to the server, but it deleted the bike registry files.

Fortunately, they have back up files, and so after a few days of trying, the Registry was back up on Sunday morning.

I have had some people contact me offering help with the Registry and Blog, I have yet to follow upon all the leads.

Looking at bikes for sale on eBay, I am amazed to see my brands listed as high as high as $3,000 or $4,000.00. which is far more than I was paid when the bike was new. These prices are NOT what they are worth, but they are listed at what the seller hopes they can get.

If you do pay anywhere near these prices, make sure the bike is in mint condition. Be patient and wait for the right one to come along. There are plenty out there, I built around 7,000.  

If you are selling and you are lucky enough to get three or four thousand, how about sending me a few of those dollars. (A twenty would be nice,) Because if it was not for me turning out a fine product to begin with, and for all the work I have done in educating and promoting the brand through this blog, and other platforms, that the bikes have any value.

Have aa great week. Dave

Thank you

I am grateful for all those who were concerned about my absence from my blog and the Dave Moulton Bike Registry. The Registry was down because the hosting fees had expired. I renewed it for a year, and it will be up later this week.

I need help, not just financially, I need someone to take over the Bike Registry and the blog. We are none of us getting any younger. I will be eighty-nine in a few months and time is becoming more precious. I need time to exercise, time to rest, and work on other projects, besides bicycles. I do not need to be sitting in front of a computer for hours at a time.

There will come a time when I will have no choice but to step down. It makes sense to me to not wait until that time, but to take over now while I am still somewhat coherent. The Registry and blog would be a good fit for a Bike Store or any other relevant business. Money can be made from advertising revenue, I used to do that, but it takes time to keep track of revenues and ad running times.

I have never charged for entering people’s bikes on the registry but relied on voluntary contributions. This has never worked, and just a handful of people are over generous to the point of becoming almost embarrassing.

I have put so many hours into these projects I hate to see them just disappear. I welcome your thoughts on this and other related issues.

For those who are concerned

I am eighty-eight (88) years old and in good health for the most part, the problem is, my eye sight Is failing, and my Parkinson’s tremor in my right hand make it difficult to type. I am working with a Neurologist to help with my tremors, and I am planning to have Cataract surgery to improve my eyesight.

This will take time, and for now I will have to put this Blog, the Registry and the Online Store on hold. The Dave Moulton Group Facebook was a good way to stay in touch with everyone but for whatever reason my FB account was cancelled, and they would not even correspond with me to rectify the problem.

I gave up on social media, there is so much nastiness and hate I don’t need it. I will try to post stuff here when I have something to say, and my limitations allow me.

Everything comes to an end at some point, with your interest and care a few of my bikes will last a little longer.

Thanks for your contined interest, take care.

Dave

November 2023, update.

It has been nine months since I posted here, so I feel I should at least post and update. It’s not that I have been idle since February, far from it. Some of you may know that as my bike business declined, I directed my creative thoughts to music, and in particular songwriting.

I bought my first guitar in 1988 when I was 52 years old. It took me a year or so to master a few basic chords and I started writing songs. As had happened before in my life, I was in the right place at the right time. I was located southeast of Los Angeles and Hollywood, and within driving distance.

I was realistic of course, this late in life I was not looking to earn a living playing music, but success is not based solely on money. I was a skilled engineer; it is what I did before I built bikes. I had no problem finding a good paying day job.

If one wants to become good at any art form, it behooves them to start out in an environment where the competition is the strongest, which is what I did. When other songwriters at a level above where I was at the time, told me my songs were good, it brought joy and satisfaction in what I did.  

Fast forward to the beginning of this year, (2023.) and my songwriting friends were telling me I should record my songs, if only for my close friends and family. The project started out as a normal 12 song album or collection on a single CD, then I realized I had songs in excess of this amount and finished with a total or 25 songs on two CDs.  

I produced a quality hard cover companion book of the song lyrics and the stories behind each song. The two CDs are stowed inside the front and back covers. If you would like an advanced copy of the book and CDs the cost for the complete package is $16.00. Postage is included in the USA. Email me at davesbikeblog@gmail.com, and I will send a PayPal invoice. Be sure to include your mailing address.