Two Wheel Documentary, My Reading, My Friend, Mongi and His Monster
Before my bike ride Friday night I decided it would be different to strap a GoPro to my helmet and record the experience. Now of course 35 minutes of road flying by on it’s own would not be interesting so I made it sort of a rolling documentary, just talking about whatever came to mind during the sweaty and hot ride. There is a moment during the video where a motorist acted like he never saw me, rolling right in front. I gave him a verbal congratulations for his actions. It’s a long video but there are some funny/interesting nuggets sprinkled throughout.
Saturday morning I was buzzing around trying to get a number of small tasks done. I was picking up Monique to go do my first ever session with a medium, I’m not sure if that is the same as a psychic. Anyway Monique has sessions semi-regularly and although it isn’t something I would look into on my own, I appreciated her invite and was willing to see how it went.
Monque went first, each session is approximately 20 minutes. While she was in there I walked around the store. They had dozens varieties of stones, each of supposedly having different benefits. I found it interesting reading the descriptions of them all. I was curious how the benefit was utilized, did they need to just be in your vicinity or did you need to hold/interact with them while doing something like meditation. Monique told me that I could bring a picture or an object from a loved one if I wanted so I did just that, bringing my mom’s glasses that I have been in possession of since she passed away.
The medians name was Theresa, I immediately got a good vibe about her. She asked what she could do for me. I told her I have never done anything like this before but that my mom had passed away a number of years ago and that I had brought her glasses with me. She asked me to give them to her. As soon as she put them in her hand she said her hand felt cold but that feeling went away after a minute or two. Ironically as she said she felt cold, I suddenly felt very warm which also subsided after a brief time.
As Theresa held the glasses in one hand she wrote with her other hand. She said my mom was here and just the idea of that made me emotional instantly. She wrote a couple pages of things, some of it brought on more waves of emotion from me. It was a generally upbeat and encouraging message which didn’t have a lot of specificity which is ok. However what I did find interesting was at one point Theresa started to tear up as well. She also asked if she died of a heart attack which she did. Lots of people die of heart attacks of course so it is a high probability question. However she also asked if she had a problem with her throat. Mom did have thyroid issues and even a goiter from it at one point so that question rung true with me a little bit.
We then turned to more general things like what the deal is with me. Theresa shuffled her tarot deck thoroughly and then laid out 7 or 8 cards. The big picture ideas were she saw that I have had an internal conflict that needs to be settled. She said there was something I wanted but I am hesitant to go all out for because of fear of rejection. She also said there is great reward/treasure at the other side of the work that lies ahead. Again a lot of this could be generalized to fit a multitude of situations but in some ways it did definitely apply to my life over the last year or so.
After she talked about the cards we just talked like two people. I told her about some of the self help stuff I have been working on, trying to change some of the negative thought patterns that have not served me well over my life. She shared some stories of her own which I found interesting as well. The 20 minutes went by quickly and I came out of it finding the experience enjoyable. I don’t think it is something I would want/need to do on a regular basis but it was cool to dip my toe into a way of thinking that was was totally foreign to me.
After the reading Monique agreed to go to Rural King with me, a store she was at before. I actually needed a few things so it worked out. She most enjoyed seeing the various baby chicks they had on hand. Every time I see them I of course think how cute they are but I never feel obliged to pull the trigger on getting more since I now know the harsh reality of chicken ownership after 8+ years of living it.
We also stopped for coffee afterward. Originally I was going to find a Starbucks since I knew Monique liked their coffee. I was surprised when she said she would be ok with going to Dunkin Donuts, she said she hasn’t tried their coffee. She got a cafe con leche and actually really liked it. We sat in the mostly empty lobby while we finished our drinks. She had to get back to her place at a reasonable time to complete some packing related to her little sister getting ready to fly down to Honduras to visit Gladys. It was another fun experience with Monique. I consider her to be a real friend at this point, which I am thankful for. My Saturday night was spent at home. I was up later than expected and somehow managed to down five White Claws along the way.
On Sunday Mongi, a channel subscriber from the east coast of Florida was scheduled to show up around noon. I once again hustled around making sure what needed to get handled got done was completed prior to his arrival. He had roughly a two and a half hour drive over from the Singer Island area. Mongi (real name Loren) immediately struck me as a likeable guy. I showed him my wheel and 3D printer collection but we didn’t waste a lot of time before getting on the EUCs. We first did a quick test ride up the street so he could test my V12. I got on his Monster Pro which is the largest EUC there is in terms of tire diameter, a massive 24 inches. I had an original Monster which had a 22 inch tire.
The wheel just felt huge and cumbersome. It had been a very long time since I rode anything that large. After the quick warm up ride we went back to the house where I grabbed my Veteran Sherman. I was a little worried when I saw it was only 2/3 charged since we were going to Ave Maria which is at least a 35 mile round trip. Luckily the Sherman has the biggest battery of all of my wheels so both Mongi and I were confident it would have the juice to make the round trip.
It was incredibly hot and humid when we pulled out. I saw tons of clouds that usually turn into thunderstorms so I had concerns we could wind up getting wet along the way. The ride out there went well, I was on my Sherman for the first part of the ride and was carrying right around 30MPH. If my battery was full when I left I would have gone faster as Mongi likes to cruise 35mph on his wheel. We then switched, giving me more time on the big wheel. The more time I spent on it the more I liked it as I got used to it’s physics. Because of it’s size and weight (around 90lbs) it just feels incredibly planted on the road. For hard surface cruising at high speeds it is hard to beat.
When we turned around in Ave Maria I saw lines of black clouds in the direction we were headed, I was certain we would get rained on. I was wrong. We rode right along the rain line but never actually got wet. When we got back to the house I pulled out my Z10 and V10F and let Mongi ride them as well. He then asked if I wanted to grab some food, I said sure.
He had never been in a Tesla before so we took my car. As I found out during his visit, Mongi has a pretty amazing background dealing with speed, danger and excitement. He has done all sorts of racing, jumping, and speeding with almost every type of motorized vehicle you can think of. He has done a number of frame off classic car restorations, he can literally do it all, engine rebuilds, body work and anything in between.. He basically has the skill set I dreamed of having when I was younger.
We went to Pelican Larry’s where we enjoyed a good meal over a couple beers. Mongi has endless stories of his various adventures. He could be retired but he works to keep himself active, fixing pinball machines which ironically is another job I thought I wanted in my youth. We headed back to the house and Mongi headed out to visit his cousin who also lives in Naples. He invited me to come hang at his place sometime which I may take him up on when my schedule allows. He was a cool guy and I’m glad I made the effort to meet up.
Once Mongi left I got to work on a few loose ends as well as editing the video of our ride together. The weekend was one of those quick blurs but I emerged from it feeling like it was time well spent. I got to catch up with my Dad after playing some phone tag, wishing him a happy Father’s Day.