A Rose By Its Proper Name

I DGAF what you call this:

... or this:

... or even this horrendous, useless thing:

But this is a moped.

... and this, dear People of Earth, I now proclaim to be an...

... autocycle, or autobike.
Please update your lexicon, accordingly, and immediately. Fines will be issued.

It's Been A Long Time.

Meet Goldie Hawnda, a 2002 Honda Reflex. She's mine, now.

h a t i n'

I have not been on a scooter for almost TWO YEARS.

Like It Was All A Dream

... oh so long ago...

I'll Be Back

Planet Janet

Black Card (Premium) Member #8 at the Smyrna Planet Witless, opening late September, 2014, just a mile away from me on Nissan Drive. Gotta have the sticker to win goodies.  :)

1P1P: Romeo Void

While Ed takes Goldie Honda (another bike of vintage provenance, a 99cc Honda) around the block to keep the carb open, I try to make up with Romeo, their kitteh. The only non-feral cat I can recall that wants absolutely nothing  to do with me. Romeo makes me think I am no Jackson Galaxy, after all.  :-/

1P1P (One Post, One Photo, First of Many): Honda Lust

My next scooter... is not  a scooter, at all. It's a small displacement motorcycle, the $3199 125cc 5-speed Honda GROM. How badass is that!

Scootin' Saturday

Laundry day!  I have an over-the-shoulder canvas duffel bag which serves me well.

Got the G-POP Bluetooth speaker paired with the PC!  Still had to go to Big Lots and get a cable, but that was for the external HDDs I have.

Pissed off kid with flattop. Seen at any Shell station.

Safety shirts!

Fallen Friends Not Forgotten

Rest, my friends.

Through A Window, Wanda

About time for the bark busters to come off, I think.

Good Move(s)

The move to Smyrna saved me over 20% on my insurance.

I picked up some odds-n-ends for Wanda at the dealership where she was uncrated, today. Had to order them, last weekend. I asked the service guys how much it would cost to have both tires changed. $175. That's with me supplying the tires.

Stopped at a place right on the Smyrna/Murfreesboro county muni line on my way back. They'll do it for $80, same day.

Did I mention my six-mile commute?

Long Time

Yes -- I live in the sticks, right now.

Tuesday, I'm moving into Smyrna. NissanTown.

Y'all gotta come have a beer.

Catching Up

Ramps to the moon: the intersection at Briley & Robertson, looking west at dusk, 2/20/2014.

February, 2014 was a freezing, foggy, freezing-fog-fuck of a month for me -- let no one understate that to you. I for one am glad to see it go... and I hope it ends up far up the ass of a groundhog, not even sanded, sideways. Any groundhog will do.

My electric bill was $202, the highest yet. To heat under 1000 square feet, people.

Getting to work many days was a test of endurance. The work was often taxing for the old man.

Some days were better than others. We had one day that was fully 75°F!

... but the reality was COLD, bitter fucking cold. Almost the entire month.

Consolation prize: I bought a refurb Dell Optiplex 755 to toss with my assorted peripherals to make up my first multi-core 3.0GHz CPU machine with 4GB of RAM. I'm living it up, 2007 style.

Naked

With today reaching 61°F, I decided to shave off the scruff for the first time in years. I also used the AF-655 to ride, tonight, a welcome change from the AF-M1.

Sunset over the Cumberland River, from Cleese's Ferry. I wanted to get the crescent moon in there.

Except for the black mirrors, this looks just like my last car, a 1994 Ford Mustang convertible.

Also...

... many miles on Wanda now. Taken on 12/3/2013.

Today's Random Road Debris

A child's shoe. This made me sad for some reason.

Stella By Starlight Wanda By Raindusk

At Ed's (again!), tonight. I returned his rain jacket that I borrowed Sunday night, so he and Michele could ride to the meetup in comfort, but instead, we have metaphysical conversations, beer, and pets.

Dear _o__ Plumbing...

Logo and phone number pixelated to be un-dickish.  :)  This photo was taken at a red light en route.

Hey good folx,

I was riding home from work on my Honda PCX 125 Tuesday afternoon, when the driver of your fancy new van #2 (with the spiffy vinyl wrap of the water drops... looks really good, btw) seemed to not  take my hint (left hand aloft, finger & thumb at "pinch," and spread apart, slowly) about his following me a bit too closely in said van. He was making a call out to Green Hills (or south of there, I assume; he turned off of Woodmont onto Hillsboro headed south) after 5:00 p.m.

Now, I'd prefer that you not single this employee out, but I would  appreciate if you could bring this up to all the drivers -- for them to be cautious of following any  vehicle too closely, but especially motorcycles and scooters. Riders are not very well protected against even minor collisions, and even one at-fault rear-end collision with a cyclist could be pretty hard on the ol' insurance premiums (and they're high enough already, no?). Hey, May is Motorcycle Awareness Month, so it might be a good time to just bring it up and get everyone's attention. Fender-benders are "small money" for all parties when compared to hospitalizations, as I'm sure you are aware.

Not that this has any bearing on the topic, but I just want to mention that I send y'all business on a near-weekly basis. Y'all sent my folx a nice, big deli tray and dozens of killer cookies this past holiday season (thank you -- the goodies were delicious, and appreciated by all). Of course, in my work, I send people to several different plumbing contractors in the area as well, depending on their needs, but your company comes up often as one of several good choices in a lot of circumstances. It stands to reason that the less time I spend in the hospital, the more time I can steer some of this work your way, and I am always happy to do it. Your company has an outstanding reputation for doing quality work in a timely manner at a reasonable price, so I feel no hesitation in recommending your firm as one of several to my clients

So again, I hope you will try to remind everyone at _o__ to be especially aware of those of us on two wheels. If your employee is late for an appointment and needs one of us to pull over and get out of the way, flashing the lights from low- to high-beam a couple of times will usually receive a courteous response.  :)  Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Last Week's Action Shot

... taken by Ken Mastri, whose Tumblr I would link here, but I forgoot!.