A couple or three more hours and I am on the road to Calgary. I am so looking forward to it now that I am packed and almost ready to go.Why am I finally excited now? I just remembered one of the best things about going to the shows besides doing business...HUGS, I get lots and lots of hugs from friends I don't get to see as often as I would like, so while I will miss hubby and my own bed...I am getting pumped up big time!
Our Show 'n' Shine seems to be a pretty big hit so far. The new method of displaying the pictures of bikes, the mini forum, the commenting and ability to add info to your bike...wow - Ali did a great job getting that thing tweaked!
She and I sure appreciate the feedback on stuff - our web site: www.beltdrivebetty.com is YOUR home, YOUR site - we are just the stewards...
Danni from the Chrome Divas phoned me yesterday to tell me that Lise, the gal we put the plea out for a bone marrow donor - well the transplant has been a success and her prognosis is so favorable...to who ever the angel of mercy was who donated..THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.
In the news today: Harley is introducing 12 models of bikes in to India.
Garmin has added Satellite radio to their GPS units
An interesting article out of the States on Motorcyclists and Health Care Tax - it's worth a read...
A lot to do in the next couple of hours so I am signing off...
If you are riding, please ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you. Everyne else, come join our FREE show 'n' shine, visit me in Calgary and stay safe and warm!
Belt Drive Betty
www.beltdrivebetty.com
National VP A.I.M. Can
www.aim-can.com
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Spammers...
I have had a lot of people ask me why our registration form for our web site is so, extensive.
Our web mistress calls it abrasive.
Well, I hate filling out captcha and I resent spammers.
There are only two lines of defense that any web site really has when it comes to deciding who you are letting in. You either do what we do, hand approve everyone we let in the door OR you have a lot of captcha forms that people who want to contribute to the site have to fill out.
When we changed servers we lost a lot of our traffic for a while. It was actually a nice break from the hectic and frenetic pace we were experiencing. Now however as we are notifying all of our link sharing webs and the various riding clubs and coordinators as we talk to them about the 2010 riding season - our traffic is getting back to what it used to be and along with the traffic comes spammers. Every day it seems I am disallowing some spammer who has applied for membership. It's amazing how resourceful and cagey these people are. By hand approving EVERYONE, by checking and verifying the address is real, the phone exists, we are ensuring as much as anyone can the privacy and safety of our members. Our web mistress and I have wrangled with the idea of going to an easier sign up but yah know what, to me, it's not worth the risk.
It's like our news feeds, yes we have the actual feed located in various places on the web site however, the headline stuff is all hand selected. I don't want mountain biking news in our motorcycle news!
So anyway, if you ever wondered why our registration is a bit lengthy - that's really - truly the reason - I resent spammers and the destruction they cause, but I love the open experience of just contributing when you want to without having to fill out captcha codes or running the risk of some spammer jerk hijacking your account like on face book or getting a bunch of spammers following you on Twitter - combating those jerks is a full time job people! Touch wood, the old fashioned way of hand approving people, making sure they are there for the right reasons seems to still be the BEST line of defense!
In the news today: Billy Lane is teaching other inmates to weld and is working on the corrections vehicles.
The Dakar Rally has it's hopefuls.
Roehr Motorcycles is getting into the electric motorcycle game.
There's a lot more in the news today so visit our What's Hot Page at www.beltdrivebetty.com to stay in the know. We scour the news so you don't have to!
If you are one of those lucky dawgs that lives where you can ride, please ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you.
For the rest of you, come on over to the Beat the PMS Blues On Line Show 'n' Shine, you can celebrate being a rider in Canada - the Great White North, by enjoying some wonderful eye candy - 85 bikes registered - over 300 pictures to drool over and you might decide to enter - there's over $4K in prizes up for grabs!
Belt Drive Betty
www.beltdrivebetty.com
National VP A.I.M.Can
www.aim-can.com
Our web mistress calls it abrasive.
Well, I hate filling out captcha and I resent spammers.
There are only two lines of defense that any web site really has when it comes to deciding who you are letting in. You either do what we do, hand approve everyone we let in the door OR you have a lot of captcha forms that people who want to contribute to the site have to fill out.
When we changed servers we lost a lot of our traffic for a while. It was actually a nice break from the hectic and frenetic pace we were experiencing. Now however as we are notifying all of our link sharing webs and the various riding clubs and coordinators as we talk to them about the 2010 riding season - our traffic is getting back to what it used to be and along with the traffic comes spammers. Every day it seems I am disallowing some spammer who has applied for membership. It's amazing how resourceful and cagey these people are. By hand approving EVERYONE, by checking and verifying the address is real, the phone exists, we are ensuring as much as anyone can the privacy and safety of our members. Our web mistress and I have wrangled with the idea of going to an easier sign up but yah know what, to me, it's not worth the risk.
It's like our news feeds, yes we have the actual feed located in various places on the web site however, the headline stuff is all hand selected. I don't want mountain biking news in our motorcycle news!
So anyway, if you ever wondered why our registration is a bit lengthy - that's really - truly the reason - I resent spammers and the destruction they cause, but I love the open experience of just contributing when you want to without having to fill out captcha codes or running the risk of some spammer jerk hijacking your account like on face book or getting a bunch of spammers following you on Twitter - combating those jerks is a full time job people! Touch wood, the old fashioned way of hand approving people, making sure they are there for the right reasons seems to still be the BEST line of defense!
In the news today: Billy Lane is teaching other inmates to weld and is working on the corrections vehicles.
The Dakar Rally has it's hopefuls.
Roehr Motorcycles is getting into the electric motorcycle game.
There's a lot more in the news today so visit our What's Hot Page at www.beltdrivebetty.com to stay in the know. We scour the news so you don't have to!
If you are one of those lucky dawgs that lives where you can ride, please ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you.
For the rest of you, come on over to the Beat the PMS Blues On Line Show 'n' Shine, you can celebrate being a rider in Canada - the Great White North, by enjoying some wonderful eye candy - 85 bikes registered - over 300 pictures to drool over and you might decide to enter - there's over $4K in prizes up for grabs!
Belt Drive Betty
www.beltdrivebetty.com
National VP A.I.M.Can
www.aim-can.com
Monday, January 04, 2010
Getting ready for three grueling weeks on the road...
I love the January motorcycle shows, getting to see a lot of old friends, make new ones and conducting business and I hate the January motorcycle shows. It's an asinine time of year to be driving in Alberta. I miss my husband when I am away, I miss sleeping in my own bed. The expense, the challenges of dealing with shipping companies... Year end and a whole host of jobs have to be accomplished before one leaves and with the holidays it's a sucky time of year to be doing any real work because the rest of the world just isn't into it.
Yes, like most things in life there is an up side and a down side to everything.
The motorcycle shows are no different. The major thing for me that makes being on the road OK and almost wonderful is that I rarely stay in hotels. I stay with friends whenever possible. Not just to save the expenses but to be able to get some one on one time that I'd never get otherwise. Two more sleeps and I head for Calgary and my good friend Perky's place.
Not much in the newsfeeds this morning so I want to discuss our Beat the PMS Blues On Line Show 'n' Shine and all of the cool little tools our wonderful web mistress Ali has added to our gallery. We have a special forum just to discuss the bikes - it lives in the gallery, the link is right beside the home link in the gallery. If you need help loading pictures etc it's the place to go. It even has it's own internal private messaging service so if you are having issues you can PM me, if you like a bike and want to talk to it's owner, you can private message her/him. You can send your favorite bike to someone as an Ecard, make that bike into your Avatar..yes, Ali has outdone herself - again!
We have 90 people registered so far and just shy of 300 pictures (and it's only the beginning of day 4!) lots of eye candy to make the PMS either rev up or calm down depending on the person...
Our sponsors - we need to talk about them. We have created a gallery that tells you about the sponsors prize/s...I would deeply appreciate it if you visit the gallery called "Sponsors Gallery" It's the link right beside the Album List.
Why do I want you to visit that gallery - well, if you were a sponsor putting up some prizes, why would you do that? Because you are a nice person or because you are hoping to get some exposure and an opportunity to earn new customers?
Our sponsors make EVERYTHING we do possible, so while I and Ali appreciate the cudos for the work we do, we'd appreciate you helping us keep our sponsors and keep them happy and working with us by giving them what they need - a visit to their gallery, their web sites or their brick and mortar locations.
Please support those who support us, because in the end run they are supporting you!
If you are fortunate and blessed to live where you can ride, please ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you. If, like me, you live where it's snowing, cold and YUCKY, join our show 'n' shine, it's free and much better viewing that what's outside...
Belt Drive Betty
National VP A.I.M. Can
Sunday, January 03, 2010
2010 Motorcycle Events and other sundry stuff...
I would appreciate it if you riding club people and event people would make sure we have your events in the 2010 calendars. We know it's early in the year, but folks will be planning their holidays soon and we need your information as soon as you can provide it.
Belt Drive Betty and The Busted Knuckle Chronicles is proud to support the Canadian motorcycle riding community by providing event promotion free of charge.
We have a new event calendar program this year which is easy to use.
1. Please take a look to make sure your event has not already been added.
2. To add your event simply click on "Submit Event" which is located on the calendar menu bar directly under the heading Canadian Motorcycle Events.
3. Add the event as if you were helping a friend who has never been to your community before. Make sure you give the location postal code whenever possible as the calendar will generate a Google Map for the visitor. Make sure we have good contact information and that we know what time the event starts and completes!
4. If you see your event but there are corrections or changes, or, if you are having difficulty adding your event through the calendar program, email your information directly to us. Please remember to give us as much detail as possible.
Our event calendars cover a variety of categories:
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HIGHLIGHT YOUR PROVINCE AND THE EVENT TYPE BY CHECK MARKING THEM!
Customer Appreciation
Unlike Let's Ride and Monster - we actively work our calendars and do everything we can to make sure our information is up to date and accurate - so please - help us out a bit - you just never know when someone is going to move to your town or ride through on a holiday and want to hook up with someone of like mind. Having your information readily available will help them find you easier and faster!
COME ON PEOPLE - the Christmas holidays are over and bosses are going to want people to book their summer holidays by March 31st - You Snooze you LOOSE and so does your club and or charity!
In the News Today:
Duncan, BC resident Don Hatton had some more bad luck at the Dakar Rally...
Other than that, so far a quiet news day.
If you are fortunate to be riding, you obviously either live where there is no or minimal snow or you have chains on! Please ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you!
For the rest of us there's the Beat the PMS Blues On Line Show 'n' Shine with somewhere around $4,500 in prizes to give away in 14 categories! The People's Choice award is worth approx $1045! Make sure you visit the Sponsors Gallery (The link is right next to the Album List Link) I am not quite done adding all of the prizes, but all of the sponsors are in there and 60% of the prizes!
Until later...
Belt Drive Betty
www.beltdrivebetty.com
National VP A.I.M. Can
www.aim-can.com
Belt Drive Betty and The Busted Knuckle Chronicles is proud to support the Canadian motorcycle riding community by providing event promotion free of charge.
We have a new event calendar program this year which is easy to use.
(you don't even have to login)
1. Please take a look to make sure your event has not already been added.
2. To add your event simply click on "Submit Event" which is located on the calendar menu bar directly under the heading Canadian Motorcycle Events.
3. Add the event as if you were helping a friend who has never been to your community before. Make sure you give the location postal code whenever possible as the calendar will generate a Google Map for the visitor. Make sure we have good contact information and that we know what time the event starts and completes!
4. If you see your event but there are corrections or changes, or, if you are having difficulty adding your event through the calendar program, email your information directly to us. Please remember to give us as much detail as possible.
Our event calendars cover a variety of categories:
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HIGHLIGHT YOUR PROVINCE AND THE EVENT TYPE BY CHECK MARKING THEM!
Customer Appreciation
Demo Days
Dinners/Dances/Socials
Injured Rider/Special
Motorcycle Awareness
Motorcycle Shows
Motorcycle Sports
Rallies & Rodeos
Ride/Coffee
Ride/Coffee
Riding Club Meetings
Runs - Poker & Other
Show 'n' Shines
Swap Meets
Toy Runs
Unlike Let's Ride and Monster - we actively work our calendars and do everything we can to make sure our information is up to date and accurate - so please - help us out a bit - you just never know when someone is going to move to your town or ride through on a holiday and want to hook up with someone of like mind. Having your information readily available will help them find you easier and faster!
COME ON PEOPLE - the Christmas holidays are over and bosses are going to want people to book their summer holidays by March 31st - You Snooze you LOOSE and so does your club and or charity!
In the News Today:
Duncan, BC resident Don Hatton had some more bad luck at the Dakar Rally...
Other than that, so far a quiet news day.
If you are fortunate to be riding, you obviously either live where there is no or minimal snow or you have chains on! Please ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you!
For the rest of us there's the Beat the PMS Blues On Line Show 'n' Shine with somewhere around $4,500 in prizes to give away in 14 categories! The People's Choice award is worth approx $1045! Make sure you visit the Sponsors Gallery (The link is right next to the Album List Link) I am not quite done adding all of the prizes, but all of the sponsors are in there and 60% of the prizes!
Until later...
Belt Drive Betty
www.beltdrivebetty.com
National VP A.I.M. Can
www.aim-can.com
Saturday, January 02, 2010
AMAZING Response!
I want to thank all of the riders who have entered our show 'n' shine so far.
We have had a few people 6 or 7 who have had some issues loading pictures because they are too large. We have added an image re sizing component to the menu bar of the show 'n' shine page - if that doesn't work for you either Ali or I can help, just drop us an email.
I have had a couple of emails from people who are ANGRY over this - please, it's a free show 'n' shine, your lack of knowledge on how to down size images shouldn't be a cause for anger or frustration - just ask - Ali and I will do everything we can to help you, just remember there's only two of us and how many of you? Well, already 50 entered in the show 'n' shine soooo... We want you to have fun and a shot at some the incredible - fabulous prizes we have. A little common courtesy goes a long way folks - our goal with all of this is not to piss people off but to have some fun and get to know each other better.
Patience might be required and if all else fails - PLEASE, just ask for help, Ali and I are here to serve you.
So far we have 55 people entered and a 140 plus show 'n' shine pictures that have been viewed just under a thousand times!
What a wonderful sight people. It is so cool to see what everybody rides and what about the sponsors of the show?
Alig8r Web Design - I think she deserves a hand!
Then there's our Named Sponsors: Forever Leather & the Vancouver BC H-D Baggers Haw Den - a Meet Up Group (HarleyKat and Kevin) between these two sponsors the People's Choice First Place Prize is worth and estimated retail value of $1045!
Remember - all of our prizes are fully transferable - what that means is:
IF you won something you couldn't use you are encouraged to: Give it away to someone who can use it, trade it in for something you could use (Trade with another winner) OR donate it back to our web site to be used as a prize in another contest or in our BDB Rewards Centre!
In the news today: An interesting article on Motorcycles, Noise Pollution and Rude Behaviour...sounds like I am not the only one to have some strong opinions!
And some news on the Dakar Rally, two articles actually.
If you live where you can ride, PLEASE ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you, everyone else, stay warm and safe!
Belt Drive Betty
www.beltdrivebetty.com
National VP A.I.M. Can
www.aim-can.com
We have had a few people 6 or 7 who have had some issues loading pictures because they are too large. We have added an image re sizing component to the menu bar of the show 'n' shine page - if that doesn't work for you either Ali or I can help, just drop us an email.
I have had a couple of emails from people who are ANGRY over this - please, it's a free show 'n' shine, your lack of knowledge on how to down size images shouldn't be a cause for anger or frustration - just ask - Ali and I will do everything we can to help you, just remember there's only two of us and how many of you? Well, already 50 entered in the show 'n' shine soooo... We want you to have fun and a shot at some the incredible - fabulous prizes we have. A little common courtesy goes a long way folks - our goal with all of this is not to piss people off but to have some fun and get to know each other better.
Patience might be required and if all else fails - PLEASE, just ask for help, Ali and I are here to serve you.
So far we have 55 people entered and a 140 plus show 'n' shine pictures that have been viewed just under a thousand times!
What a wonderful sight people. It is so cool to see what everybody rides and what about the sponsors of the show?
Alig8r Web Design - I think she deserves a hand!
Then there's our Named Sponsors: Forever Leather & the Vancouver BC H-D Baggers Haw Den - a Meet Up Group (HarleyKat and Kevin) between these two sponsors the People's Choice First Place Prize is worth and estimated retail value of $1045!
Remember - all of our prizes are fully transferable - what that means is:
IF you won something you couldn't use you are encouraged to: Give it away to someone who can use it, trade it in for something you could use (Trade with another winner) OR donate it back to our web site to be used as a prize in another contest or in our BDB Rewards Centre!
In the news today: An interesting article on Motorcycles, Noise Pollution and Rude Behaviour...sounds like I am not the only one to have some strong opinions!
And some news on the Dakar Rally, two articles actually.
If you live where you can ride, PLEASE ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you, everyone else, stay warm and safe!
Belt Drive Betty
www.beltdrivebetty.com
National VP A.I.M. Can
www.aim-can.com
Friday, January 01, 2010
Happy 2010...we kick it off with our Beat the PMS Blues On Line Show 'n' SHine
Happy New Year everyone!
I wish each and every person in my circle of influence (AKA My World) a happy new year and I hope that 2010 brings you all you deserve!
We are starting the New Year off the right way around here!
The 2010 Beat the PMS Blues on lin show 'n' shine is officially launched today!
Get your entries in, then start rallying your troops. Get as many of your friends ready to vote for your bike as possible - February 1 we open up the voting for a whole month!
We have so many kick ass prizes to be won!
When we are done with the prize gallery in the next few days you'll see what I mean.
We have golfing, camping, hotel stays, event tickets, an Indian Motorcycle Jacket and so many other incredible prizes!
Enter your bike early PLEASE!!!! http://www.beltdrivebetty.com/index.php/show-n-shine
I know we are giving people a month to enter but last year so many people waited until the last minute that they crashed the server - let's avoid that scenario people - PLEASE!
In the news today:
A man finishes his Gator Chopper...not my bag, but yah just never know who it will appeal to.
AMA PRO Racing announced that Roger Edmondson will be leaving to deal with some unforeseen health issues that necessitate his full attention.
If you are fortunate to live where you can ride, please, ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you!
For everyone else...Toronto Super Show is coming up for you in the GTA and here in Alberta we have Calgary & Edmonton MMIC shows and the Red Deer Motorcycle Show to look forward to - Vancouver 's MMIC show and the Red Deer show are the same weekend. Check out our new events calendars for the low down... http://www.beltdrivebetty.com/index.php/events
Belt Drive Betty
www.beltdrivebetty.com
National VP A.I.M. Can
www.aim-can.com
I wish each and every person in my circle of influence (AKA My World) a happy new year and I hope that 2010 brings you all you deserve!
We are starting the New Year off the right way around here!
The 2010 Beat the PMS Blues on lin show 'n' shine is officially launched today!
Get your entries in, then start rallying your troops. Get as many of your friends ready to vote for your bike as possible - February 1 we open up the voting for a whole month!
We have so many kick ass prizes to be won!
When we are done with the prize gallery in the next few days you'll see what I mean.
We have golfing, camping, hotel stays, event tickets, an Indian Motorcycle Jacket and so many other incredible prizes!
Enter your bike early PLEASE!!!! http://www.beltdrivebetty.com/index.php/show-n-shine
I know we are giving people a month to enter but last year so many people waited until the last minute that they crashed the server - let's avoid that scenario people - PLEASE!
In the news today:
A man finishes his Gator Chopper...not my bag, but yah just never know who it will appeal to.
AMA PRO Racing announced that Roger Edmondson will be leaving to deal with some unforeseen health issues that necessitate his full attention.
If you are fortunate to live where you can ride, please, ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you!
For everyone else...Toronto Super Show is coming up for you in the GTA and here in Alberta we have Calgary & Edmonton MMIC shows and the Red Deer Motorcycle Show to look forward to - Vancouver 's MMIC show and the Red Deer show are the same weekend. Check out our new events calendars for the low down... http://www.beltdrivebetty.com/index.php/events
Belt Drive Betty
www.beltdrivebetty.com
National VP A.I.M. Can
www.aim-can.com
Thursday, December 31, 2009
A much needed bit of time alone...
Hubby and I had a great night out. As part of the President's Choice Awards Night, we won a night out in the Jacuzzi suite at the Stanford Inn here in Grande Prairie. They happen to be one of our business partners in the BDB Business Association.
We had a nice meal, were treated to a monster suite - this thing was bigger than our house!
We had a good breakfast and headed home. You can use your imaginations should you choose to figure out what we did with the time in between! Needless to say it was a much needed bit of alone time for he and I. It was strange being in a hotel in GP, we both felt like we were doing something we shouldn't be, I can't explain it but it hit both of us as funny.
Anyway, I'll be doing a review on the Stanford Inn and how I was treated for one of the upcoming issues of the paper...
I am not combing through news feeds today. If figure that if you want to know what the top ten of anything was in 2009 you'll go find it. I am only interested in two things as this year draws to and end.
My family and you, my extended family. I wish you all of the best that 2010 can offer. Much of what it offers will be up to you - the Law of Attraction in Action...
I intend for 2010 to be a banner year for everyone in my world, my circle of influence.
Have a fabulous evening - PLEASE - DO NOT DRINK/Partake in any altering substance and drive...
Belt Drive Betty
www.beltdrivebetty.com
National VP A.I.M. Can
www.aim-can.com
We had a nice meal, were treated to a monster suite - this thing was bigger than our house!
We had a good breakfast and headed home. You can use your imaginations should you choose to figure out what we did with the time in between! Needless to say it was a much needed bit of alone time for he and I. It was strange being in a hotel in GP, we both felt like we were doing something we shouldn't be, I can't explain it but it hit both of us as funny.
Anyway, I'll be doing a review on the Stanford Inn and how I was treated for one of the upcoming issues of the paper...
I am not combing through news feeds today. If figure that if you want to know what the top ten of anything was in 2009 you'll go find it. I am only interested in two things as this year draws to and end.
My family and you, my extended family. I wish you all of the best that 2010 can offer. Much of what it offers will be up to you - the Law of Attraction in Action...
I intend for 2010 to be a banner year for everyone in my world, my circle of influence.
Have a fabulous evening - PLEASE - DO NOT DRINK/Partake in any altering substance and drive...
Belt Drive Betty
www.beltdrivebetty.com
National VP A.I.M. Can
www.aim-can.com
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