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Folks, this has been a difficult year for all of us and that includes online stores and shipping companies like the US Postal Service, Fedex, and UPS. In a year where most of us are stuck at home, working from home, and many of us not really wanting to go to the big stores like Walmart, etc. many of us are shopping online. In fact, spending has surged for online shopping, way more than any previous year due to the pandemic.

Have you been a victim of #CancelCulture? I have and it's absolutely ridiculous. To think that there are people in America and Canada and indeed, all over the world that think that if you have different views or beliefs than they do, that you have no right to exist and indeed you should be canceled and ruined, the sooner the better.

Leather Lollipop was my first online store. I now have three online stores. In August of 2020, I received an email from the "legal department" of Shopify (my previous ecommerce platform or web host). The email was a threatening and I suppose it was meant to scare me into doing their will. The email said that I had so many days to remove any and all products from my store that depicted the Confederate Flag. They said that under their Acceptable Use Policy, they considered the Confederate Flag to be "hateful content". Though nowhere on that page of Shopify's site does it mention the Confederate Flag, I was told that THEY feel it is "hateful content".

For the husband who phoned his wife to say I love you one last time before his plane crashed.

For the wife who stopped in the stairwell to call her husband and say I will love you forever.

For the mom's and dad's who kissed their kids goodbye in the morning and died that day.

For the parents who had to stay calm while enduring the agony of what they knew would be the last phone call from their adult child who was seated aboard a plane that they knew would not land safely.

If you are a Vietnam veteran, first let me say thank you, I appreciate your service and sacrifice for our great nation!!

Many of our dearly valued customers served in Vietnam.

Vietnam vets earned and deserve the benefits offered to them for their service. If you are interested in finding out the various benefits you've earned, please check out this Vietnam Veterans Benefit information site. Hopefully you will find some information there that can help you in whatever your particular need is.

Did you know that vest extenders have a variety of uses?

Many think it's just a decoration and indeed that is one of its uses. Here's a couple of other ideas though.

Have you gained a little weight but don't want to buy a new vest or have to have all your patches re-sewn on to a new vest? No need to! Wear your vest extenders to create extra room with your current awesome vest with all your cool patches.

What are novelty helmets? Novelty helmets are motorcycle helmets that are not D.O.T. (Department Of Transportation) approved for safety.

Why would someone wear a novelty helmet that is not safe? The answers are as varied as people are. Some people don't like a helmet that is thick with padding because they don't like how it looks. Novelty helmets are very lightly padded so as far as looks go, they fit smaller on the head and for many people that alone is the reason to wear them.

Some people wear them because the helmet laws in their state require them to wear a helmet and they put on a novelty helmet in hopes that they won't be pulled over because wearing no helmet ups the ante of being pulled over for not wearing a helmet at all.

Some people are very sensitive to anything that has a bit of weight to it, some say they get headaches from wearing a DOT approved helmet, so they choose to wear a novelty helmet.

Whatever your or their reasons are, just make sure you know the risk. You take that risk when you make the decision to wear a novelty helmet, but we do sell them because as an adult, you have the right to make your own decisions about your health and safety. We do not make judgments upon our customers and friends, so we offer both novelty and DOT Approved motorcycle helmets.

What is your opinion? Do you wear a novelty or a DOT helmet? Tell us why if you're so inclined.

Do you remember your first time riding with someone on a motorcycle? Whew, I sure do!

In fact I nearly caused us to wreck our beautiful new bike, so I'm happy to say that I later became an expert pillion.

So, here's my story and I'm sticking to it!

When you first become a passenger on a motorcycle, you don't just simply jump on and ride, there are a few things you need to learn and understand.

For me, the hardest thing and the thing that nearly caused us to wreck was I did not understand "leaning for corners". For example, when the motorcycle is turning left or is on a curve to the left, you need to lean INTO the curve, so you lean in left. For me, this was completely unnatural, I felt that I would fall or cause the bike to fall if I leaned into the turn. I thought I should try to sit up straight for fear of falling over. WRONG! Doing that I nearly caused my husband to lose control of our bike, but thankfully he did a fantastic job and we did not crash. I am also thankful that I was wearing my DOT approved motorcycle helmet lol.

So, to the newbie passenger rider, that is a very important thing to learn, lean into the curve or turn, turning right, you lean right, or turning left, you lean left. Now, don't go overboard and try to lay the bike down, but definitely make sure you are leaning into it. Once I learned that concept and got over my fear, riding was so much more fun!

The next thing I learned is that if you are riding a motorcycle down an interstate and you have large semi's passing you, be aware (so you aren't scared into nearly crapping your drawers like I was), is that the wind from the semi will push your bike sideways. If you know that may well happen to you, then it's not quite as scary as you have that knowledge previously. Unlike me, I had no idea it would do that and it was VERY scary!

There are other things you should learn as a first time passenger, such as whether the rider wants you to get on or off the bike first or second. Usually the passenger gets off first and on second, but depending on the motorcycle rider, he or she may prefer to do it differently, so ask questions and be prepared, and you'll have a much more enjoyable and safer ride!

We welcome all of our friends and site visitors! We know you could shop anywhere and we are so grateful you have chosen us today! We have been in business since 2003. Over the years, we've done a lot of learning and I feel that today, we are