10:37 am - Weds 7/4/07
Motorcycle, Scooter, or Little Red Wagon?

Thurs 7/3/07 (7:00 p.m.)

At work.

I have a phone shift tonite, from 5:30-11:00, which normally means I'd be stationed in the OPS office.

But since the website is acting up--as it always does when we have a blockbuster on our hands (Like Transformers)-and guests are having a hard time buying tickets online, and I can't sell tickets from the OPS office, I've been re-located to the Dome box office, to sell tickets over the phone (We only use the Dome B.O. on weekends, so I'm not having to deal with walk-ups; I'm just selling tickets to folks who can't access our crappy website).

(Editors note: After moving to the Dome, I didn't get a single call all night long. Either the website got fixed, or they forgot to route calls to me, or something. But anyway, back to our regularly scheduled program...)

Wish I'd brought a book...

I've been reading Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance, but I couldn't find it as I was leaving for work tonite, and couldn't decide on an alternate choice.

I first tried "Zen" years ago, but quickly bogged down in concepts beyond my comprehension. And sadly, the passing years haven't made much difference, because I'm still finding it pretty tough sledding (Though I guess you could say the difference between "then" and "now" is my willingness to at least struggle with "concepts beyond my comprehension". But anyway...).

Speaking of motorcycles...

Part of my daily web-surfing routine has become checking out the motorcycle listings on Craigslist.

I don't know anything about motorcycles, but stylistically, I know what I like--I'm a "cruiser" man.

And I've noticed that Honda Shadows and Kawasaki Vulcans are comparatively inexpensive to get used--Depending on model year, they're usually priced between $3000-6000.

I've also been looking at scooters, both on Craigslist, and on the Vespa, Honda, and Suzuki websites (In addition to "googling" particular makes and models for reviews).

You lose a ton of "coolness points" on a scooter (Though I think some scooters look kind of cool, or at least "fun"), but two advantages, in my mind, are 1)you can buy a new scooter for the price of a used motorcycle (And know you're not inheriting who-knows-what mechanical problem), and 2)they're automatic, so there's not as big a learning curve (with shifting and what-not).

And while size matters--I'm too big for a lot of scooters, both practically and aesthetically--there are models out there with more than enough horsepower to haul my tonnage around town (The highest-end scooters have the horsepower of a medium-sized motorcycle).

For those of you reading this and fearing my imminent motorcycle/scooter-related demise, fear not--I don't have the money at this point for the requisite motorcycle safety course, the gear, the license and registration, or the vehicle itself (Half my savings are tied up in a cd, and I intend to keep it that way. And the money's not exactly flowing in the way I'd like right now, so I might need the savings I can get at for luxuries like rent, food, etc.).

But I've got a 17 year old car with a couple major problems waiting in the wings (Broken axles, steering, etc), so at some point, I will need to address the issue of a new set of wheels, whether it's a motorcycle, scooter, or little red wagon.

When my thoughts turn to four-wheeled transportation, I have the occasional fantasy of a fancy sports car or luxurious SUV (I am a guy, after all), but I mostly find myself thinking about sub-compacts.

Cause, really, I'm just one man, so why do I need an SUV? And I'm just one man who doesn't have a major "need for speed", so again, why do I need a sports car?

I don't even play sports.
(END)

I'm worried now that I've written a very boring entry that will be of no interest to anyone.

But didn't I recently say I was going to give up worrying about what people thought, and just write whatever I was going to write...?

Anyway...when I think about cars, or vehicles in general, a number of considerations come to mind--safety, reliability, gas mileage, handling, ease of parking, etc--but whatever the vehicle, a dream of mine has become being able to buy something new.

I think it would be a nice feeling, to buy something I actually like, something that isn't someone else's cast-off, and be able to say "I earned that".

Pat, a native New Yorker, moved back to New York a couple years ago, but has recently migrated back to LA (He was eager to "go back home" when I knew him at Borders, so I'm curious why he's back in town).

Anyway, we're going to Carneys, a train-car restaurant specializing in chili-everything; chili-dogs, chili-fries, chili-sodas, etc.

We went there once before, and I really liked it, so I'm expecting to have a good time

I'm not working today, but later, I'll be going to work, to pick up a keyboard a coworker is giving away.

Not too long ago, I wrote off-line about "The Secret" (Basically, wanting it to be true, but feeling it was really more a "good state of mind"--to think about the things you want in your life as a way of getting them--than any sort of cosmic "Law of Attraction").

Anyway, since I've been thinking a lot about getting a keyboard, when I saw a notice on the bulletin board at work that Kimberly wanted to give away a keyboard, I couldn't help but go "Hmmm...".

But even so, I think with "synchronicity", the "Law of Attraction", and so forth, people are employing "selective memory", recalling one vivid coincidence, while forgetting all the times they thought about something and it didn't immediately fall-into-their-lap.

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