I'm An Idiot!

I thought there was a Patriot Guard Riders funeral mission today. I got an email from the MA Patriot Guard for the cemetery in Agawam on October 25th. We were to meet in the usual spot on Main Street at 12:45. Problem was, I thought today was the 25th. I didn't realize I was off a day until I pulled into the lot at 12:47 and was the only one there. I pulled my phone out and checked the email and it said the 25th at 12:45. Then I looked at my watch. Shit! Oh well, it was a beautiful day for a ride. I went to the cemetery anyway and placed a brand new shiny penny on all my relative's gravestones. Then on the way home I stopped at a friend's house that had been after me to stop by. He and his wife live in a lake community in his grandmother's old house. Next door to him was a totally dilapidated seasonal house that was falling down for decades. He had pursued buying the property for many years, but the family refused to sell. They finally had to sell and he bought it. He put up a nice garage/workshop/man cave where the house had been. I didn't stick around too long because they were headed out for lunch.

The other thing about today turned out to be a quick dry run of bringing a handgun in and out of The Peoples Republik on Massachusetts. Rather than carry it locked and loaded on my hip as I normally do, it was unloaded and secured with a cable type lock in the hidden compartment in the trunk. The magazine and ammo were locked in a separate compartment in the fairing. Carrying this way is a test of FOPA, since the bike is locked when parked and would only be searched if I wrecked, in which case I would be travelling through MA to a state where my firearm is legal. When I got to the convenience store near home to get a snack, I got some practice strapping on my holster, loading my pistol, and placing it in the holster right out in the open unnoticed. I then went in the store for some junk food and a soda. When I headed out for home, my gun was in the holster under my leathers as usual.