So after my ring fund was spent fixing my little old car, we decided to venture to Wixon to check out the rings Sharon found for me. All great, one in particular VERY great, but still a bit out of our budget (since, you know, we no longer had any money to give her whether we wanted to or not). But I have faith that we'll find something perfect and that this whole vehicular fiasco was a cruel twist of fate.
To cheer me up, we hopped up to Scooterville to molest some Stellas. I have been obsessed--and do I ever mean OBSESSED--with the Stella since it was released x years ago. Of course, Ryan felt the need to break my tiny frigid little heart with his constant "suggestion" that a smaller, more modern model might better suit my "needs" and won't be "too much for me to handle" so I won't ride into a tree at 35mph and break my precious little neck. This pissed me off, but I'm good at nodding and continuing to plan the glorious day when I ride my clementine-hued Stella home sweet home. It wasn't until the sales dude kept pushing me away from my darling dream scoot that I began to get truly upset. After all, if someone walks into your shop and wants to buy the $4000 beauty, why would you talk them into the $2000 substitute? If anything, try to get them to buy the $8000 alternative, am I right? Apparently not. 150cc is a lot of scoot, and the Stella requires a lot of hands-on grimy lovins. And I am a girl shopping for her "first scooter." I immediately told him up front that I could handle--and look forward to--the indescribably bond with a machine that can only come from maintaining it, and informed him that when I lived in France, I had an actual motorcycle available to me which I rode quite frequently through the countryside amid the provincial flocks of sheep--at age 11. But no dice, he continued to recommend that I opt for the Buddy, a 50cc twist-and-go dream.
At this point, I'm still holding strong in the I-don't-care-what-you-think-I'm-buying-a-Stella department...and then the bomb drops: because the Stella, the apple of mine eye, is 150cc, it is considered the same as any other Motorcycle, and therefore not only does the insurance factor rear its ugly head, but one cannot park their 150cc dream scoot on the sidewalk or in a bike rack or around a parking meter--one must pay the high, high price of a legitimate downtown parking spot, which of course works out to about $15 a day. No 150cc for me. I'm willing to spend twice as much for the scoot, but I'm most definitely not willing to spend that much to park said scoot, as it really defeats the purpose of buying the scoot in the first place, except for the whole dream scoot obsession thing.
Naturally, all of this dream-squashing was too much for a single morning, especially right before work time arrived. I walked out of Scooterville, lit a cigarette, and let the waterworks take over on the drive to Rock Bottom. By this point, Ryan realised that I'd interpreted his advice as an insult, and taken the scoot dude's honesty and knowledgeability much the same. By the end of my shift, I'd digested everything and decided to dream on with a new scoot. And now that a week has passed, I am excited for Stella's stand-in. The Genuine Scooter Co. Buddy 50cc...in Seafoam Green. It might not be the Looker that Clem was, but I think I'll fall in love almost as easily. I'm waiting for my big check to come from school so I can put some money down and wait for the mercury to get above 32. But I can see it now--dorky helmet, giant goggles, riding gloves and all. I just need to come up with a name and $2500. And I've never been so excited for spring.
At this point, I'm still holding strong in the I-don't-care-what-you-think-I'm-buying-a-Stella department...and then the bomb drops: because the Stella, the apple of mine eye, is 150cc, it is considered the same as any other Motorcycle, and therefore not only does the insurance factor rear its ugly head, but one cannot park their 150cc dream scoot on the sidewalk or in a bike rack or around a parking meter--one must pay the high, high price of a legitimate downtown parking spot, which of course works out to about $15 a day. No 150cc for me. I'm willing to spend twice as much for the scoot, but I'm most definitely not willing to spend that much to park said scoot, as it really defeats the purpose of buying the scoot in the first place, except for the whole dream scoot obsession thing.
Naturally, all of this dream-squashing was too much for a single morning, especially right before work time arrived. I walked out of Scooterville, lit a cigarette, and let the waterworks take over on the drive to Rock Bottom. By this point, Ryan realised that I'd interpreted his advice as an insult, and taken the scoot dude's honesty and knowledgeability much the same. By the end of my shift, I'd digested everything and decided to dream on with a new scoot. And now that a week has passed, I am excited for Stella's stand-in. The Genuine Scooter Co. Buddy 50cc...in Seafoam Green. It might not be the Looker that Clem was, but I think I'll fall in love almost as easily. I'm waiting for my big check to come from school so I can put some money down and wait for the mercury to get above 32. But I can see it now--dorky helmet, giant goggles, riding gloves and all. I just need to come up with a name and $2500. And I've never been so excited for spring.