Hey everyone. I have started to use a new blog address. You can find it here. Please update your bookmarks. I will leave this here for a while.

http://rippersrealm.wordpress.com/

WOW.....what a trip!!!!

Well hello all. I have to say I have missed writing everyday, but to be on holidays and away with such an amazing woman made it all worthwhile. Our time together...and I do mean together was incredible. Inseperable 24 hours a day for 3 weeks was a test to our relationship and to how far we have come as a couple. How is it that after only 8 months together, two people can be so in tune with each other that there is not one thing that even came close to us regretting being that close. We are such a team that we just naturally do the things that need to be done without having to ask. We get up at the same time, we would get sore butts at the same time on the bike, we like to eat the same foods...blah blah blah...lol.

I am in love with Leanne, and my life has never been so fulfilled and complete. I feel like the puzzle that has been my life has now finally been completed. To know that everyday she is there, and that no matter what happens between us, she will always want to be by my side has given me such an amazing feeling of contentment and peace that all I can do is smile. I get all tingly thinking about the future and what we are going to be able to achieve as a couple. The world is there for the taking and we are jumping on the ride of our lives. Watch out everyone cuz here we come.

I will go into details a little more about our trip over the next little while. We rode just shy of 5000 miles and loved every minute of it.

Thank you Leanne for making this the most memorable trip of my life.

Hmmm, what can I say. We have been on the road for a week and I have to say that life has never been better. Leanne is a great travelling companion, she never complains, never says anything bad or whines. She makes being away from home ok. Too have a beautiful woman hugging me, whispering in my ear, nibbling on my neck is unbelievable. To share such a ride with an amazing woman like Leanne has me tearing up as I write this.

One week down and 2 to go. We are in Calgary right now and tomorrow morning (Monday) we are heading south to the USA. We are going to be travelling along the Waterton national forest which hugs the Rockies. South to almost the bottom of Montana and then going East to Sturgis. We are meeting my good friends Pete and Jo Croot in Sturgis. I have to say that this is going to be a highlight of the trip for me. Leanne will get to meet these two people who have had such an impact on my life. They decided to head to Sturgis and then hang with us. They arrive on August 3rd(my Birthday), and we leave on the 4th. They are heading home on the 5th. We are hoping to go to Yellowstone National Park on the way home as well. That is why we are leaving Sturgis early so we can take our time coming home.

Life is good, and the future only looks brighter as we get to know each other better and better. Thanks Leanne for just being you. Love ya babe.

The night before and secret followers...

The night before our big ride....wow, what a long week this has been. So much to think about this week as we were getting ready for our big trip and also my Poker Business was wrapping up this week as well. We ran a tournament on Friday night, and then we were at the Langford legion Saturday morning at 9 am to get setup for our Main Event. 104 players. The tourney started at 12:30 pm and didn't finish till almost 9. What a great day and in the end Helena Sam was our winner. She won a $1200 gift certificate to Marlin Travel for a trip anywhere she wants to go. Well done Helena.

Now here we are on Sunday, I changed the oil on the bike, did some minor stuff to the tent trailer and now we are packing. It is 11:30 pm and we just finished the packing. Amazing what you can fit into a little trailer. Should be interesting to see how Leanne and I do on our 3 week adventure. What a blast we will have. I get all warm inside thinking about how romantic and wonderful this kind of trip shall be for the two of us. Two souls having been lost for so very long and now finally on the same path to self discovery. Our love is growing into a bond so strong as we figure each other out. This trip will be a true test to how compatible we are and how much we really do enjoy each others company. I am completely confidant that we will make this journey and we shall be forever stronger because of it.

I will try and update while away, but I will have limited access to computers. I will certainly be back at it once we get back. So for all of you followers of Ripper's Realm, and to all of you secret followers, we will see ya soon.

Perceptions...are they what you think they are?

Perceptions are a funny thing. You can look at someone for the first time and think you have them all figured out and then whammo, they do something so out of the ordinary or contrary to their demeanour that it throws you for a loop. Everywhere I look I see people that I know for some reason or another would probably blow my mind if I really knew what they were thinking. I can imagine that is how a lot of people see myself when reading my blog. How can this big, hairy, burly biker guy have a soft side and be so willing to share to the world his emotions.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to have that from everyone. It seems that the world is so caught up in putting on a show or being someone they aren't and in the end you have to ask why? Who is it they are trying to impress or show to about themselves what they really aren't. I vowed a long time ago to be real. A friend of mine from years back once said to me...Rob " make it real, or let's forget about it". That comment or song lyric by Santana is one that will be emblazoned in my mind. What truly is the point of pretending to be someone, something that we aren't. If you can't be true to yourself then how can we expect others to be true to you as well. If all they see is someone that is fake or putting on airs, then why do we question them when they don't give us the respect or the truth that we seek. You can't have it both ways. I did that for so long that I forgot who I was. How sad is that?

I will never do that again. I vow right here and now that Leanne will always and I mean always know exactly what it is that makes me tick. She will never have to guess at what I do, or what I am wanting because I will tell her what I am thinking. Communication is the only way that it will work for us. I know she, as well as I lived in the shadows of ourselves far to long. When the communication breaks down between two people you start to lose touch with each other. You start to take each other for granted, you start to assume that the other person is going to be ok with what you are doing, but in the end, you just don't know for sure. Maybe what you do totally upsets the other person but the lack of communication is so ingrained into the relationship that you are blind to it. It happened to me. I was blinded by my inability to see that what I was doing was making Bonnie unhappy but I kept on doing it. I wasn't aware or more to the point I wasn't willing to accept it that it was my doing that was causing us to be unhappy. I now know that it was me not owning my role in the relationship and that all I had to do was to face up to the things I didn't like and voice them. I didn't do this because I didn't want to upset the apple cart, so to speak. In reality it only caused me to feel resentful and disheartened in our relationship.

What I am getting at is this...be true to yourself. Do not take for granted anything in this world. As long as you are true to yourself, then others will see it, embrace it and only then can they accept you for who you really are and not someone you are pretending to be. Don't be afraid to voice yourself.

Most people are afraid of confrontation because it is uncomfortable. No one wants to put themselves into a situation where we have to face the tough things in our daily routines. Stand up and be heard. Let your spouse, your parents, your children...whoever it is, know what it is that you are uncomfortable with. Tell them you love them, tell them they pissed you off, tell them how much you enjoy being with them....most importantly tell them what is on your mind. You never know when they won't be there and as long as they know what you are thinking then there are no hidden perceptions.

There comes a time in your life and it happens to everyone that you just have to give kudos and thanks to that one person who seems to always be there for you. That person just seems to always have a way of making you feel better by lending a hand, maybe some advice, or just being a friend.

Over the years I have had many opportunities to experience this and last night was no different. I was going over my checklist of things I needed to do for our holiday and one of them was to get the wheel bearings checked on my trailer. I almost forgot about it and it fleetingly came to me during the day yesterday. Now if I hadnt got this done we may or may not have had some issues on our trip. Seized bearings is not something you want to have happen while on the road because ultimately you will break down somewhere in the most inconvenient place. We are heading thru the rockies and I can only imagine the grief we would have had if they hadve decided to sieze up on us.

So I called the one guy that I know that always seems to be there for me. My brother Dan. He is an amazing man who is always willing to lend a hand, or go out of his way to help out. I can never tell him enough how much I have appreciated his help over the years and last night was no different. As it turns out the bearings were indeed in some much needed servicing. They probably would not have made it the whole trip. He had them torn apart and repacked with grease, inspected and done in about 45 minutes. We supplied them with a wonderful Steak bbq dinner with all the trimmings and a nice bottle of vino. Wonderful evening!!!!

So Dan, from Leanne and I, from the bottom of our hearts........Thank you, we love you man. You truly are the best brother I could have ever hoped for. Keep up the good karma as good things will happen to you as well. I just hope I can repay the kindness and helpfulness that you have sent my way.

Thank God for political correctness...lol

How do we define what is right and what is wrong? I am often perplexed at this one. Is this an issue that can be tackled in a short blog and have it do any justice to the subject. I don't know. What I do know is that the world is one fucked up place at times and we are constantly being bombarded with all of it's crap. I see countries that are at war with one another and have been for what seems like forever. Now, to get this straight, I have never or will never be a political or religious person and I do not profess to have any great knowledge of it so don't misconstrue what I am saying. I am just thinking outloud and for no other reason than to throw some other ways of thinking out there.

Whew, here we go...and I know this is going to stir up some issues with some.

Look at all of the things that we do on a daily basis that we have based our values, our morals, our judgements on. How things ever got to the point where our values, morals and judgements are based on what it says in some book that was written a long time ago amazes me. Have we not evolved enough to know that the world was not created by some mythical being and that it, along with everything else on the planet is forever evolving, adapting, changing into whatever it needs to for survival. I can't and will never be sucked into the church's views and thoughts. It just doesnt make sense to me. I am a very black and white person and I find it very hard to believe in a higher being. Now with that said, I am certainly aware of a person's energy and how it can affect everything we do, but that is not from some book or someone's opinion.

What really gets me is how the words, thoughts, and judgements have turned our lives upside down and how we can't always be who or what we want to be because of that little book. What makes that book right? What makes it wrong? Two tough questions. I am not here to tell you what is right or wrong, because only when we look at ourselves and what we do, can we really tell if what it is we are doing is right or wrong. In that I mean that if you can see yourself doing something that is out of the norm, and you are not hurting anyone, not bringing discomfort or pain to someone else then is it wrong. This conjures up all sorts of images, thoughts etc. and it can really be used for anything at all. Don't you think that the person who commits a crime is wrong in doing what they are doing? Of course they are but why? Is it because of some greater being or person has decided that robbing a house is wrong or is it because society has in some greater way made that decision. Now, it that is the case, I am ok with it. I want to live a happy life, one without grief, pain, inconvenience so I, along with most others accept what society has led us to believe is right or wrong, but where do we draw the line? Who in the end gets to say what is right or wrong? Why is it that this always seems to come down to morals and values, and if that is the case who sets these morals and values. Again, it stems from what we were raised with and what we were led to believe as children. Was the church brainwashing us? Were they in some twisted way ensuring that our parents, like their parents, and their parents before them forcing their religion on us, and trying to twist our minds to thinking that if you didn't say grace before dinner, or say the Lord's prayer before school we would be sent to hell. Isnt that a scary thought? Not about going to hell, but that someone would threaten your children or try and brainwash your children into thinking or believing that. That is fucked up. Don't kids have enough on their plates these days than to have to worry about what happens when they die?

People... when we die....we die. Circle of life, evolution, we become the fertilizer in the earth that creates life elsewhere and evolution goes on. Do I or should I care what happens after I take my last breath. Not a chance. That would drive me freaking insane trying to prevent something that I have absolutely no control over. I have often thought about what it means to someone that is religious to have to come to grips with the thoughts and facts about what will happen to them when they die. That is mind boggling to me that people actually waste time in their daily routines thinking or worrying about this. Isnt life confusing enough without adding this into the mix?

You often hear people say they are a christian or that they practice christianity and I wonder at times what it is that defines that? Do I really need to know. Does it mean that I must be a good person, or practice good morals and good judgement. If that is the case then I guess I am a christian as well. I am a good person, I certainly have morals, and I have good judgement in regards to my fellow human beings. What I don't do is go to church on Sunday, I don't have to read a book to be a good person. I think that whatever I do in life is governed by me and not because of something I read or am brainwashed into thinking is right or wrong.

Then next time you say the phrases... "Thank God that happened," or "Goddammit, will you stop that" or when someone sneezes you automatically say "Bless you". Think about why you are saying these things. Do you really believe that some percieved higher being will bring good fortune on you because you thanked him? Do you believe that when you say Goddammit, that you really want God to damn this person? This is so ingrained into our society and our way of thinking that we say these things, not because we believe them but more that it has been brainwashed into us. I for one do not like this and I applaud the fact that children do not have to say the Lord's prayer before school starts, or that they are taking religion out of so many things that are part of our lives. If we are becoming a society of political correctness then I am all for it.