Moving, Laundry, and Scooters

[rowyn]

I said I'd do a longer update during lunch, didn't I? I've been trying to catch up a bit on my friends list; I'm around 30 entries back, I guess, and only going to get farther back over the weekend.

I have bruises all over the front of my thighs. Hiring movers doesn't seem to have spared me that. At least I've only got a couple of little ones on my arms. Moving always does that to me. It's the way the boxes bang into my legs when I'm hauling them around. Also, I lift with my legs, which means I'll crouch down, put the box on my thighs, then push up -- which probably causes some of them. They don't really hurt, and I don't notice it when it happens. The paper cuts from packing annoy me more.

Most of our stuff is still in boxes. I started to unpack the kitchenware, but Lut spends more time in the kitchen than I do, and is more particular about arranging things in it, so I'm going to try to leave that to him.

One of our piece of furniture -- a Techline armoire that's, I dunno, 84" tall or so -- doesn't fit in the house. I wanted it in the basement. I really wanted it in the basement, because there are no built-in closets in the basement. THe house came with a couple of 5' Techline armoires down there, but they're not in great shape. Never buy Techline products -- they're really disappointingly flimsy. Anyway, the 84" one is too tall for the basement ceiling. By about a quarter inch, the mover said after he tried to set it up. Drat it. There's no space for it on the first floor, and we have plenty of closet space on the first floor anyway. (Each of the two bedrooms has a 7' long closet, with a ceiling of, I dunno, 7.5'? The first floor ceilings are pretty generous.)

I dunno what I'm going to do with it now. Try to sell it, maybe. If I lived near kagetsume I'd try to get him to cut down the boards to fit. :D But I don't think Techline products cut well, anyway. It's double-weight pressboard or something like that.

I haven't bought a scooter yet. I really need to do some research on that, before I go to the scooter shop downtown and plunk down a wad of cash for their very pretty ones. I am probably going to wind up postponing buying it for a couple of weeks, at least, until I know how much money I have left after more essential projects have been attended to. My bank account balances are still health, but I haven't bought a washer/dryer yet, for example. Among other things.

Anyone have any recommendations on washer/dryers? Greywolf? I know you just got one, how do you like it? :)

Information on motorscooters would be cool, too. I found out that my state does not have a limit on speed for scooters; I can buy one that goes 55! Whee. :) The only limit is on engine size; has to be smaller than 49.9 ... cubic cm, maybe? I'm sure one of the motorheads out there would know.

Another cool thing about motorscooters in this state: no vehicle tax! No required insurance! No licensing, even! As Lut put it: it's a very libertarian vehicle.

I'll get back to work now. Anyone with advice on washer/dryers or scooters, please leave a comment. I'll check 'em before I leave for the day. Otherwise, I'll be offline again until I get back to work on Monday.

Comments

[koogrr.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you could answer a question for me.

I've been trying to get this into perspective. For a couple years I commuted by bicycle in downtown Toronto. Frequently I was run off the road or almost into poles. Once had an accident with a car. Pretty much everyone I talked to who cycled regularily had been hit by cars.

It's been my general thoughts that bicycles were more dangerous to ride, as they couldn't keep up with traffic so there was always the danger of being hit from behind, or passed-and-cut-off. Plus the driver attitude that: "It's a TOY for your BACKYARD, not a real vehicle for the road!"

Granted, one can't easily get up to a speed where a spill sands skin down to the bone, but one can certainly get up to speeds where launching over a car is possible. Sliding around on the road surrounded by other vehicles is never good, regardless of the method to get there. Anyhow, having no motorcycle experience to compare with, I have no idea if one ends up on the ground more or less often on those than with bicycles.

What are your thoughts on the relative safety of bicycles vs motorcycles when the bicycles are used on regular streets without the caveats of bike lanes, etc.

[jim-lane.livejournal.com]

Hello, John!

OK, here goes:

Speaking as a retired journalist (I worked over 20 years as a photojournalist, but I also wrote news, features, etc.) I can say that I heard LOTS more scanner rescue calls for BICYCLE crashes with injuries than I did motorcycle/scooter/moped crashes (which ALWAYS produce injuries). However, we have almost NO "dedicated" bicycle lanes, and most bicycle riders do NOT wear helmets. Bike lanes make a BIG difference, and without them a poor rider must contend with innattentive drivers who will simply squeeze the bike rider off the road...and never think twice about it. I lost count (in the years I road a bicycle on the road) how many times I had to dive off the edge of the road to keep some moron from nailing me. And yes, I *always* rode with a rear-view mirror---and I watched it, too! On the other side of that coin, *kids* often ride with NO sense of responsibility, even to the point of DARING the car drivers to hit them. So, yes, a larger-than-normal amount of car/bike crashes involve kids, often kids who were NOT riding responsibly.

Powered two-wheelers, when ridden properly, are (to me!) much safer than bicycles when ridden in traffic, but they are still FAR more dangerous than cars, mainly because the rider has NO crash protection other than a helmet (if worn) and clothing. I've hit the pavement while riding a bicycle, as well as while riding a mid-size motorcycle---and either way, the pavement is REALLY hard. Luckily for me, I've never tangled with cars, trees or curbins, or I probably wouldn't be writing this. About 6 years ago a female TV desk reporter/anchor in Jacksonville, FL, was riding her bicycle, and she took a fall. Don't remember WHY she and the bike parted company, but the result was she went head-first into a curbin. Even though she was wearing an approved bicycle helmet, she suffered critical head/neurological injuries, and never made a full recovery. To my knowledge neither she nor anybody else did anything "wrong"; it was "just one of those things" that happen to bicycle riders, although in this case it nearly cost a beautiful young woman her life and career.

As for riding motorcycles on the street, I had more problems when I was riding SMALL motorcycles/mopeds than I did when I rode BIG bikes. People in cars don't "see" small motorcycles, even though they have bright lights and often bright, garish paint. (I know; I had one that looked like a bumblebee, with a HUGE, bright headlight---and moron after moron simply "didn't see me"...) When I road GoldWings (huge Honda tour bikes) I had almost NO problems with people not "seeing" me. The Wings appear the size of a small CAR to other drivers; the small motorcycles appear as BICYCLES (which obviously doesn't go all that fast) and drivers' brains simply don't register them as fast-moving VEHICLES.

Hope these observations don't "poison" you (or anybody else!) to the FUN of riding two-wheeled vehicles, motor- or human-powered. Riders simply have to understand the dynamics of how their 2-wheeled steeds handle and respond in emergencies (an ex-motocross champion taught me how to ride dirt bikes in the woods, and that experience saved me countless times while riding my big Wings on the road) and ALWAYS ride with the attitude that EVERY car/truck driver is "out to get you"---because every so often, one of them IS!

Regards, and safe riding!