Hello from Oak Harbor, WA

[Rainridrer]

Hello,

I first read "Atlas Shrugged" in a Navy brig as a 19 year old kid. For the first time in my life I felt that there were people on the planet earth who weren't all that different from me. Still, I feel somewhat alone. Often I'm ashamed of human behavior. The frequent and repeated irrational acts of most humans utterly mystify, and frankly, terrify me.

I delight in giving the written works of Ayn Rand to others in the hope of slowly improving the world one mind at a time. I find her books at flea markets, garage sales, used book stores, resale shops, etc. and pass them on. I see little effect of 40 years of that activity, yet I remain optimistic.

I hope to find a haven of rational thought here.

John D. Johnson

Oak Harbor, WA

[Brant Gaede]

Hi, John. My thoughts are the most rational here. Enjoy!

--Brant

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

John,

Welcome to OL.

You will find a fine bunch of folks here.

You look like you are one, too.

Michael

[sbeaulieu]

Welcome, John.

What Brant said is subjective...haha! He's one of the cool cats. Hope your experience here is more than you expect.

~ Shane

[George H. Smith]

John,

What kind of bike is that? Are you a serious biker?

I drove motorcycles for years, but the biggest was a Kawasaki GPz550 -- a fast little sucker. I never dropped a bike, but I grew tired of being invisible to car drivers, and I figured it was only a matter of time until I got into a serious accident on one of the LA freeways.

The incident that finally broke my will-to-ride occurred many years ago as I was riding northbound on the Hollywood Freeway. I was returning home from a party at around 3 a.m., so the freeway was clear, but I was in a very dark area. As I was zipping along at around 65 mph in the center lane, I saw a guy standing on the side of freeway waving frantically at me. Then, as I looked straight ahead again, I was practically on top of a car that had stalled in the center lane, and it didn't have a single light on. There was nothing I could do to avoid hitting the car except turn the handlebars sharply to the left. Fortunately, that worked, but I came so close to crashing that the side of my right leg actually scraped against the car. Another nano-second and I would been airborne, flying over the top of that car to my death, or least to very serious injuries.

That incident, combined with some other near-misses over the years, convinced me to sell my Kawasaki.

Ghs

[Rainridrer]

Shane, Michael, Brant and George,

I really appreciate the welcome. I'm looking forward to getting to know you better.

George, I'm not sure what you would consider a serious biker. I'm not a racer. My '07 Road King Classic is my primary means of transportation. I ride rain or shine; the only thing that keeps me from riding is black ice. I enjoy life too much to risk that! I have been down twice, both times on a '74 650 Yamaha. I'm older and wiser now. I don't think I would ride in the LA area. I've driven there quite a bit.

Work is a big part of my life. I'm a manager at a 150 employee company on Whidbey Island. I have always enjoyed work and would appreciate hearing what some of you do.

John

[George H. Smith]

George, I'm not sure what you would consider a serious biker. I'm not a racer. My '07 Road King Classic is my primary means of transportation. I ride rain or shine; the only thing that keeps me from riding is black ice.

That qualifies you as a serious biker, in my book.

Ghs