This past Friday I rode my motorcycle to work for the first time. I figured it would be a good day since a lot of people were taking off work due to the long weekend. As I was getting ready in the morning I kept debating – “should I do it? Or just wait?” Wait for what exactly? So I did it, I got on my bike and headed for the road. When I got the end of the driveway in the apartment complex, I chickened out again – “oh my gosh, I can’t do this!! Ok, calm down, I can do this.”

And off I went, into the wild crazy world of traffic. I only stalled once on the way, and I kept thinking, “I can still turn around.” But I didn’t. I went all the way to work, so proud of myself.

Because my motorcycle is brand new there is a break-in period, where I can’t go over 4000 rpm for the first 500 miles, which is about 35 – 40 miles per hour, and feels very slow. I can’t go on the freeway, so I took the road beside the freeway to work. And the speed limit there is 45 – 50. Needless to say, I had a few cars stuck behind me, which I gladly let pass. At this rate it’s going to take forever to get to the 500 mile mark!

Riding to work was good though, by the time I got home I was much better at shifting, and how else am I going to improve other than riding it? And I have to say, I LOVE riding it. It’s awesome – fun, feels great, and is something to perfect. I’m very glad I bought my motorcycle.

I still can’t believe I bought a motorcycle.

Since I bought it, I keep thinking to myself, in disbelief, “holy crap, I bought a motorcycle!”. It’s so exciting and so scary, so crazy and impulsive. I love it!

Tonight I actually rode it for the first time. It was a simple ride – once I figured out how to get going on it. I had a bit of trouble getting taking off – I didn’t quite have it in first gear, which I didn’t realize and was ready to give up. Luckily and unluckily (because it was slightly embarrassing) my new neighbor was hanging around outside. I had explained to him and his friends before I began, that this was my first bike and my first time ever riding it. They were nice, and encouraging.

After I finally figured out how first gear feels, and how to get it moving I went back and forth in front of my apartment for a while. I tried to go around the complex, but there’s a small hill with a stop sign that kept interfering. I gave up on that and kept going in front of my apartment, shifting back and forth between first and second gear. When I was finally comfortable with that I tried the hill again and made it! So I circled the complex twice and parked it for the night. I can�t wait to take it out again!

As I came up the hill and around the turn to the front of my apartment complex, there she was – my car – sitting on the top tier of an auto carrier. I was immediately filled with excitement and pleasure. I raced the crappy Kia Rio into my parking space, tearing over numerous speed bumps without a care. I barely put it in park, turned it off and began running down the driveway to hug and embrace my precious Ford Focus, as the driver had already taken it off the truck. He smiled at my silliness and empathized when I told him how long we had been apart. I checked her over really well and she seemed to be in good condition. I paid him and sat in my soft, comfy seat to drive my beloved automobile into the complex. Ah, how I truly missed the sound of her, the smell of her, and her take-me-to-a-race-track-please power.

I had was so happy to see her. I had to take her somewhere, so Joe and I drove her up to the store to buy a garden hose in order to give her a much needed bath. On the way back from the store it was so nice to climb that hill out front with ease, unlike the Rio which seemed to just barely make it every time.

Later that night I returned the crappy little Rio back to the airport. I couldn�t return it in Hayward because there would be a drop off fee of $75, and I felt that I had already spent way too much money on that friggin thing.

So in addition to all the trouble and hassle this car fiasco has caused me, the grand total for my additional 3 weeks (I had to sign a new contract after the first 4 weeks) was a little higher than I bargained for – $882. Why so high? Well that�s because the jerk-off who renewed me decided to put me down for full coverage. I explained that I didn�t get the coverage the first time around, so why would I get it the second time around? And the nice gentlemen kindly removed the extra fee from my bill, bringing it down to a much nicer total of $322.

Altogether I spent over $700 on that blue piece of crap. Needless to say, I am SO glad that�s finally over.

Yesterday I got a phone call about my car, it is scheduled to arrive tomorrow or Saturday. You have NO IDEA how happy that makes me. I am sooooooo sick of driving this crappy, powerless Kia around. AND wasting so much money on renting it. My anger towards this topic is immeasurable.

Meanwhile, I got a little spontaneous and bought a motorcycle – a Kawasaki Ninja 250. I used a PowerCheck from my employer, E-LOAN. And it really was a simple, easy process. As an employee I get a half point discount.

At the store (Redwood City Honda) it was pretty funny, because the lowest amount you can get on a PowerCheck is $5,000 for a motorcycle, and the bike was only about $3,000. I bought all of the accessories with the balance. Well, they gave me a 15% discount on the merchandise since I also bought a bike, so for the first time ever I was complaining about getting a deal because I was trying to reach a certain price point! We were laughing as we added items to the list.

Now, before you go freaking out on me, let me mention that I plan on being a very safe, conscientious rider. I’m going to take a riding course with Motorcycle Safety Foundation , I got a helmet, jacket with armor, boots, pants with armor, and light noticeable colors. I don’t plan on approaching this like a mindless idiot. And it makes a lot of sense to have a motorcycle around here, because you can ride it all year round, it gets better gas mileage, you can split the lanes when there’s traffic, and let’s not forget, they’re fun to ride on these twisty roads.

I signed up for a store front with CafePress.com – check out my new store! You can also browse through my portfolio and request something special if you’d like (use my contact form).

Yeah, you won’t believe this, but, they actually picked up my car. Yes, it’s true. My uncle called and told me that they put it on a truck today, and it is heading west!

So let’s recap… I signed a contract with a company called Town and Country Auto Transport. They lied horribly and said they’d pick up my car on March 29th. In the contract it clearly states that the pick up date is an estimate, which is meant to cover their butts in a case such as mine, where four weeks later they still hadn’t picked it up. There is no recourse, there is no getting my $150 deposit back, there was simply nothing I could do about it.

So after four weeks of renting a horrible, piece of crap Kia Rio (no offense if you own one, but it’s like driving around in an aluminum can, and has NO power, sucks ass), I gave up and was considering flying back to Ohio in order to drive my car out here to California.

Meanwhile, my car had been sitting in front of my mom’s place and one of the tire’s had gone flat. My uncle decided to get it fixed, got some outrageous estimate because it was irreparable and I told him to take it to Ford (before I left Cleveland I got an oil change and had them remove the snow tires – one of the regular tires was damaged, so I had to buy a new one). I thought maybe there was a mix up when they replaced it, and also knew that they would charge much less for another the new tire compared to the estimate he got. So he took it to Ford and they replaced the tire.

Later that day it occurred to me to ask the guy at Ford (David, VELY nice man) about shipping my car. Unfortunately they don’t do that, but David was an avid car lover and had some magazines at home; which he looked through over night and called me the next day with a list of companies and phone numbers. One of these companies was Prestige Auto Transport, the company that picked up my car today. And in 7-10 days, I hope to be driving my wonderful Ford Focus around the Bay Area, finally!

Matt at Prestige was very nice and offered to try and get my deposit back from Town and Country because David had referred me. So far I haven’t heard back on that issue, but I am still hopeful.

My co-worker, Ryan, and I just saw an accident happen, a first for both of us. I’ve passed the outcome of accidents before, but never actually witnessed one. This guy was driving very fast in a 30mph zone, and I was about to make a comment about us being on a race track, when bam! Sparks and car parts flew… he hit a car that was turning onto the road in front of him.

I think the car was turning a little prematurely, or stopped too far out in the road. I would say that both parties are at fault. Ryan and I stopped, because we saw it happen. No one was hurt badly, but the passenger in the stopped car hurt her ankle. We couldn’t stay too long because we were on our way back from lunch, but Ryan gave each party his business card. That was crazy!

I finally had a chance to take some pictures of my apartment and the view from the hill next to it. Here they are, enjoy!

Congrats to Aaron Booher for correctly guessing the April logo! Try to guess this month’s logo!