You Should Always Get AAA.

I was riding along, minding my business, when out of an orange colored sky something came and decided to snap the throttle cable on my scooter.
AAA, hershey, learning the hard way, scooter, thingamajig
Yup, I was just starting to pull into an intersection when suddenly I was unable to go anywhere. The scooter was no longer responding to the throttle and I had just enough momentum to carry me through the intersection where I walked it into a nearby parking lot. I looked it over and discovered that apparently the throttle cable snapped somewhere underneath the scooter.

Now normally I would not have minded having to walk the scooter a little ways to get help. Especially if I had run out of gas, which have done previously a number of times. But this was a little beyond my ability fix on the spot.

So, it turns out I needed to walk the scooter home from downtown Orange, which was about 2.5 miles, since I really couldn't afford a tow truck. And, even though we have AAA for our car, we do not, however, have it for my scooter.

I realize that 2.5 miles is not that great a distance to walk, but when you are pushing a 500lb scooter, while wearing black pants and a dark blue golf shirt, and the temperature is in the upper 90's, it starts become a little daunting. Especially since there is a rather large hill between you and home. Of course the hill I speak of is the bridge over the 5 fwy on La Veta heading into Santa Ana.

Being a little dehydrated I decided to stop at the CVS on the way and get something to drink and a little snack so I don't collapse while traversing over the aforementioned hill.

Now I am a people watcher and while I was standing outside the store drinking the water and eating the thingamajig I had purchased I noticed a guy kind of wandering around near the entrance to the store and talking on his cell-phone. As I casually drink my water and eat my thingamajig I notice this guy is becoming increasingly agitated with whatever the person on the other end of the "line" is saying. To the point where he is becoming quite loud and profane on his end of the conversation. Yes, I probably could have said something to him, but seeing as he was becoming increasingly irate, and a bit animated, I decided to move on. After all I had my own problem to deal with.

From here I decided to take my time, and pace myself as I approached my biggest obstacle, which was not helped by the fact that I had a pretty good wind in my face and I was heading into the sun.

Well, the hill was not as bad I as I expected, of course that was due to me taking a breather a few times on the way up, and the gator-ade I also picked up at CVS. I coasted down the other side and made it home without further incident.

I guess the lesson learned from this one, which I have no idea how expensive it is going to be yet, is when you are thinking it might be too expensive to pay for the additional AAA coverage for your scooter, or motorcycle, it will probably save you from walking the thing home on one of the hottest days of the year.

Our Stupid World

Dumpster Divers...
county property values, diving dumpster, fear funny, recycle city, recycle reuse, recycling trash bin
Recently in a rare occurrence where I was watching the nightly news on KTLA, there was a story about people in my city who, in an attempt to combat dumpster divers, were given lockable trash bins. One lady that was interviewed said she felt violated, and another said she did not like it because it was her trash.

Now I understand that there is an inherent danger when dumpster diving where someone could get injured by reaching and getting cut on something. And, there is the whole adverse affect on property values for homes in the area to consider.

But if I was too lazy to take recyclables to a center and get the cash for it then anyone else who decides they want to take the risk of reaching into my trash bin and take those recyclables and getting money for it, then more power to them.

The only thing that I would be concerned about is making sure that people I do not know are not coming on to my property without my permission. Basically I would have a message posted on my trash bins that would state that anyone who wants anything in there is welcome to it. They just have to follow a couple simple rules.


* they can only search the bins on trash day, after I bring the bins to the curb, and before the garbage truck arrives.

* they may not come on to my property as it would be trespassing and I would reserve the right to rebuff them by any means permissible under the law.


Other than that I really see no problem with this.

My New Favorite Comedian

If you have not heard of him yet, you soon will. He is one of the most popular, clean, and talented comedians I have come across in a while.
comedian, don't say to your wife, subway, tim hawkins, time of your life
Here are a couple of excerpts from a recent concert.

Rider Camaraderie

About a year ago when gas prices had jettisoned past the $4 mark I decided to use our stimulus check to get a motor scooter so I could save money on my commute I had no idea I would be embarking on such an unexpected and interesting new experience.
biker motorcycle, my scooter, ride experience, riding activities, road rider, scooter news, speed scooter
Prior to this new venture to save money I had sworn I would never ride any kind of motorcycle, much less a scooter. But, necessity succeeded in changing my mind where nothing else could.

After I took the rider course and put together my new scooter, I suddenly discovered how fun and relaxing it turned out to be. That is when I am not almost being run over by Fedex trucks, or nearly getting run off the road by some lady in an SUV.

And, to be honest, now that I have been riding for almost a year, I really want an actual motorcycle. Of course this will have to wait until I am able to pay off some credit card debt and put something aside for this.

Something else I discovered shortly after I started riding is an unexpected camaraderie amongst fellow riders, both on motorcycles and scooters. People I don't even know started giving me a brief wave or a quick nod while coming past on the other side of the street. It was like I suddenly joined some sort of club or fraternity of some sort.

Yes, I realize that I am being a bit naive, geeky and showing how much of a newbie I am, but this was cool! At first I would not reciprocate the greeting, other than a quick nod, due to my relative inexperience on the scooter, but once my confidence level grew I started responding in kind.

Now it is not all the time do you see a fellow rider extending a quick greeting, but it happens often enough from day to day.

So, long story short, if anyone has been leery of getting on a motorcycle or a scooter, it is not all that bad as long as you are safe. And you never know when you will see a fellow rider coming the other way saying "hey there".