Pimp My Scooter

I don't actually have plans for pimping my scooter, but these guys did.



Note: This is actually the Yamaha model that I originally wanted to get (minus the modifications, of course), until I found out that my legs are too long, and that I wouldn't be able to steer because my knees would be in the way.

(Via Engadget)

Rising Gas Prices

One of the most annoying things about rising gas prices is the fact that it becomes harder to land on the exact total cost that you want. When you are trying to get it right on the even dollar, it is much easier to go over by a cent or two when gas prices are higher for the same amount of gas.

I plan on getting a lot more practice at the pump with my scooter. I will be paying much less for gas, but with my 1.2 gallon gas tank, I will be filling up more often. I'll be a pro at using the pump.

Christmas Gift Video

I want to start this post out by apologizing to you. I only share this video with you to help you (try) to understand me a little better.

My friend Tim and I (with whom I jumped in the President's pool) made a Christmas video to give out to our friends our freshman year of college. We thought that it would be more special to everyone than actually getting something tangible and we were poor college students so this seemed like a great idea.

I encourage you (and give you kudos if you actually do) to watch the entire video. It is probably one of the most random videos I've ever shot, and it took less than an hour or two to shoot the entire thing, as you will probably be able to tell.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NYR-M5oc54

Kmart

I wonder if Kmart will ever change their "Mr. Blue Light" to a more environmentally friendly light bulb like a compact fluorescent light.

The DMV

I visited the California Department of Motor Vehicles today to get my motorcycle permit for my scooter. Here are a few observations.

-I rode my bicycle there and sure enough they don't have a bike racks to lock up a bike. I wonder if this is to encourage the use of motor vehicles?

-Instead of giving numbers (1 through whatever) out they use a system whereby your ticket has a letter (a through h) and then a three digit number. Mine was G006. There did not appear to be a logical reason for the different letters other than making you feel like you were much closer to being called than you were. It seemed like there was no order to the letters being called, but I think people are more likely to pay more attention to the number and therefore they think they are closer to being called.

-I had to go up to various windows 6 times in my visit just to get my motorcycle permit. There must be a more efficient way.

-I really enjoyed the voice calling out the ticket numbers. I think it reminded me of train station voices in Europe.

I am currently having issues with my DSL here at home. I will be able to post more detail about my scooter including more pictures when that gets sorted out.

My New Ride is Here

My scooter was delivered today.

I don't have my motorcycle permit yet (until tomorrow) so I've only been able to drive it around the apartment complex. I did however buy a THICK chain and lock to wrap around back tire to secure the vehicle.

I'm excited to start driving it around Fresno. Expect a detailed post tomorrow or at least later this week.

(The) Target Wins

Brand New has a post about a tournament of logos created by Fortune magazine. It basically pits a number of corporate logos against each other to decide the best logo. It's an interesting exercise, but they do have some odd pairings. And one has to think the process might be a little flawed if the two finalist logos look so similar, either way it is interesting to see logos fight it out like this. The one thing I don't like necessarily about a tournament style like this is that while the "best team" is theoretically chosen as the winner, you cannot decide the second place and beyond positions based on the results. I'm just really happy (and a little biased) that my company won.

My New Vehicle

I spent a good part of the day today shopping for my scooter. I found out that the Yamaha Vino is not very big and my height of 6'3" means my knees would be spending a lot of time hanging out with the handlebars, meaning I'm too big for it. It was a little disappointing but it didn't phase me. I ended up going with the Yamaha C3 pictured. When all is said and done I should be driving it by Wednesday.

I'm heading back to the dealership to finalize all the money and paperwork tomorrow. I'll post more details later.

Thought of the Day

There are seriously few things better than a remix of a classical song.

I'm not kidding, look it up.

Saving Gas

With oil prices hitting record highs every week, and gasoline prices following suit, I think people are actually starting to drive less, even here in "drive everywhere California". If gas prices keep heading up (and possibly hit $10 a gallon which would be on par with European prices) some major changes are going to have to happen in my driving habits/choices. To do my part, I am considering buying a scooter.

This was mostly brought on with my car being in the shop and having to bike to work.

I've been looking at different models available here in Fresno, and there's actually a wide variety both in style and price. The styles range from modern speed bike looks to Vespas and classic European styling. Prices range from $1800 to $8000. After comparing a number of different models, I think I have decided on the Yamaha Vino Classic.



It has that classic European look, which I like, and it is on the cheaper end of the scale at about $1949.

According to Yamaha and the EPA it gets about 110mpg, which is phenomenal.

I did a little calculation to figure out how much I could save in gas money by driving this to work and back, and makeing errands throughout Fresno, and this is what I have come up with.



The blue line is my current car, and the red line is the car I will hopefully take possession of between August and October. This shows that even with conservative estimates of gas prices, the scooter could pay for itself in 2 years. (This is considering that both the Escort and Smart car are quite fuel efficient, if I had a truck or an SUV I would be saving even more money).

The best part about this is that these scooters are so small and I'm a pretty big guy (at 6'3"), so it should look pretty awesome when I'm cruising around town.