Wanting less drama and more fun

We’re almost out of dog food, so I’ve driven in to town for a Panera breakfast while I wait for the pet food store to open.
My MyPanera membership earned me a free oatmeal, so I only spent $2.05 for two cups of coffee (more if I want).
This seems to be the season for drama – drama at work, drama in the lives of friends and neighbors. I’m very tired of drama and will be very happy when the dust settles, assuming that will ever happen.
This is a picture of me not liking the drama that swirls around me.
On a more positive note, my German Polizei motorcycle jacket was an enormous fashion hit at the European Riders Rally last weekend at Burkesville, Ky. Got several compliments and gave the Sportsmansguide.com URL to a couple of guys, including one who said he’s been waiting for more than a year for a buddy in Germany to send him one of those jackets.
I was comfortable most of the time, but the temperatures in the 90s on the ride home Sunday had me longing for one of my mesh jackets.
My new Browning cold weather sleeping bag arrived on Monday, in plenty of time for the BMW RA rally in Copper Mountain, Colo. next month. The problem is that I’m not all that keen on freezing my ass off getting in and out of the bag and waiting for the day to warm every morning. Also,  the bag takes up a lot of space in my waterproof “camping stuff” bag, which will necessitate replacing my Thermarest air mattress with a Big Agnes Q-Core air mattress.
I saw the Q-Core last weekend and was astounded to see that it packs down into a bag (5”x10”) about one-fourth the size of the Thermarest. And guys who use it say it beats Thermarest for comfort. It definitely looks like the way to go if I’m going to continue camping at rallies and elsewhere. And, since the Q-Core isn’t self-inflating like Thermarest, I’ll want the tiny Microburst inflator from Camp-Tek.com that runs on a pair of AAA batteries and can blow up a Q-Core about 25 times on a pair of batteries.
Last summer, I stocked up on riding gear. Looks like it will be camping gear this summer.
In the meantime, I’ve decided to skip the RA rally.

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Two days later: I ordered the Q-Core from REI, where they're having a big sale through the end of the month. The bill came to $139.95, but after my discount it was $111.89. I joined REI nearly 40 years ago when I was in my backpacking phase. I haven't bought anything from them for maybe 10 years when I visited their Portland, Ore., store with my son Sean. I'm happy to say they still have my membership number on file. The Q-Core is expected to arrive next Wednesday.