Sleepless...in Lancaster County...

Did you ever have one of those nights when you just could not sleep? You know what I mean; one of those nights when your mind is racing and you're worried about a whole bunch of crap and you just can't settle down.

It's after 2 am and I have to work tomorrow morning, but I just can't get my mind to stop churning. What with financial stress, job stress, Family issues and what not, I just can't get to sleep. Maybe I should watch something on Netflix...since Comcrap hasn't implemented their 250 gb cap on downloads yet.

I did get a pretty neat pic of a spider outside my door when I came home from work tonight.

I was impressed with it at least.

tempting...very tempting

Well, I went for a drive down to Red Lion yesterday and saw a pretty red '04 Vino 125 for sale (I won't say where because I think I want it). It would be an acceptable upgrade to my 50cc since it's got enough power to go 50+, yet still is within my price range.

I'm praying though that I'll be satisfied with what I have. I want something a little better, but I don't want to be ungrateful or unsatisfied with what I already have.

Well, something to think about as I ride "The Flying Cranberry" around. That's the name I've given to my scoot by the way. Who knows...maybe someone will see me riding, desperately want my current scoot and beg me to take 2k for it. I don't expect it, but that would certainly take care of things.

T-max Sighting

Well, I stopped by B&B Yamaha today since I was circulating fliers for the Sept. 13th ride, and as I was pulling into the parking lot, there was something I had not expected to see just yet, and I was suddenly kicking myself for letting my wife get her Rav 4 a month ago (HAR HAR). There, in black and yellow, was a Yamaha T-Max.
Ain't she purty! I really wanted a test drive, but since I had my son along, that wasn't going to happen, and quite honestly, it's more scooter than I want and the styling isn't really my thing. I like the European styling of the Vinos and the Vespas (to name two of the many). The sporty scooter look is nice enough, but it doesn't thrill me as much as a Buddy International or a Kymco People S.

One of the biggest selling points for a vehicle is styling. In the automobile world, some people like Mustangs, and others like Corvettes simply based on their styling. A vehicle can have all the latest technology under the hood, but if it looks like a rolling turd, no one will buy it. On the flip side, a vehicle can have horrible or mediocre performance for its class and some people will do anything they can to get their hands on one, simply based on its looks. Take the PT Cruiser for example. The original PT was basically a repackaged Neon with retro styling (I believe it still is, but they may have tweaked it some), but because it looked like something out of the 40's Chrysler dealerships couldn't keep them on their lots and some were back-ordered. Personally, I liked the styling, but didn't want one of them for myself since I didn't want to look like every other cookie cutter middle class family guy...so I got a Cavalier instead...and ended up owning the same vehicle as about 1/10 of the rest of the population at the time. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

In much the same way, different scoots will appeal to different people, depending on their taste. Some will like the look and feel of the sporty scooters, some prefer the look and feel of maxi-scoots, and others of us like the retro-euro scoots. It's all good.

"Slow down dude!"

I've griped about this before, but I'm going to gripe about it again, and I reserve to gripe about it more in the future.

It happens to me at least once a day. I'm just minding my business, buzzing along in the middle of my lane in a no passing zone. I'm observing the speed limit (either slightly over or slightly under as permissible by PA law), and enjoying the day. Suddenly, some doofus comes screaming up behind me, decides I'm not going fast enough, sits on my tail for a mile or so, then zips past me at a speed well in excess of the limit.

This happened to me today, while I was progressing along Old Oregon Road, just in front of Landis Homes. Some guy in his 50's or 60's did just what was described in the last paragraph. I was moving at about 39 mph (the limit is 40 on that road), so I was not considered a "slow moving vehicle" in that instance by PA law. I was holding to the center of my lane as required by law and yet, he saw a need to get to the stop sign by Oregon Dairy first.

Unsurprisingly, he was still sitting there when I caught up with him with his windows open and two older ladies in the car with him. I pulled up on his right and bluntly stated "If I were driving a car, would you have passed me illegally? Slow down dude!" He sat there for a moment with his eyes bugging out of his head and his mouth open like a carp. Then I turned and buzzed up the drive into Oregon dairy's parking lot. When I last saw him as he passed out of my line of sight about a half a minute later, he was still sitting behind two other vehicles at the intersection. So much for getting ahead by passing a scootster.

Personally, if someone is in that much of a hurry to get someplace, I pity them. Sure, sometimes, getting to your destination is very important, but why should one risk the life of another just to get to a stop sign a little faster? I will take risks with my own life if I have to and I realize that
riding a scooter is a risky proposition, but I do not appreciate when other people think they have a right to endanger my life.

Smell that fresh country air!

Lancaster County has one thing that there wasn't all that much of where I grew up in Massachusetts; Farmland! Sure, we had a few little farms, and some sheep folds here and there amongst the hills, but the Berkshire mountains aren't really conducive to raising anything other than sheep, goats, and hardy cattle breeds. There is a rather sizable chicken farm along route 8 in Becket or Otis Mass, but that's pretty rare up that way.

On my way home from church yesterday, I saw this beautiful view down into the valley. While the amount of flat land sometimes creeps me out (having grown up in the mountains), I am often awestruck at the beauty of it. It sure makes for some enjoyable scootin' when there's such wonderful landscapes to look at.

I took the pic at the bottom on my way to church. It was just too cool of a picture to pass up. It was kind of inspired by a pic I saw of Joe's from "Scootin' Da Valley". His is a little different since it has his face in the middle of it, but I knew I'd prolly break my camera if I tried that.