Allocating the Hours

By plan and by happenstance…

My wife works and since I am far past the age of retirement and have mostly extinguished my business activities, I wash some dishes, do the laundry and ironing, some shopping, and some outdoor work. The remainder of my waking hours are spent reading (both books and internet sites) and writing. In past weeks I have been sidelined.

First, with justifiable fear and trepidation, I installed Windows Live Mail and Windows Live One Care on our computers (we have three). As is usually the case, these two new programs had several glitches that required hours of frustrating attempts to get tech support and when tech support was found understanding the individual that was attempting to provide it. Microsoft offers telephone support for Live One Care but since Live Mail is free but necessary if one wants to continue to use hotmail, the only support is by email.

Centralization and market domination have removed the need to satisfy the consumer and massive corporations like Microsoft provide services at their discretion with only moderate regard for the convenience and satisfaction of the customer. This is an interesting phenomenon since it was not long ago that Japan’s ability to produce zero defect manufactured items set off a decentralizing rage that swept the nation. Now billion dollar mergers are creating mammoth international corporations that protect their decision makers from the unwashed masses by presenting the public with a quasi-monopolistic product packaged to their specifications with a take it or leave it attitude.

Following all those hours of listening closely to English that is remarkably good considering the source but extremely difficult for aging ears, my Windows Live Mail seems to be working. However, I am still unable to properly install my contacts into Live Mail and Microsoft’s email support is hopeless.

Since the computer is the vehicle of my principle activity, malfunctions become full time jobs.

The other time consumer might come under the heading of, “there is no fool like an old fool”.

One of my uncles was a well known professor at a large university. He lived into his late 80s and was active when most men of his age were sedentary. His intention was to “wear out rather than rust out”. I am trying to appropriate his mantra.

In the tedium of my rapidly progressing age I decided it would be a good idea to plan a motorcycle trip around the country doing some interviews in medium sized cities that have large unemployed or underemployed citizens as a result of globalization.

I began shopping for a motorcycle and listing potential visits.

I knew some cities that had been devastated by the loss of major industries but was unable to find a good source that would cover the geography.

When I told the motorcycle dealers I was planning a cross country trip they showed me big bikes, the Harley Davidson Electra Glide, the Honda Goldwing, and the Yamaha Royal Star. Being contrary, I ended up with a Victory Kingpin Tour. It is a good looking, very powerful machine.

When we moved to Florida over twenty years ago I brought a 650 Honda motorcycle with me and rode it around for a couple of years before selling it. During our trips to Italy I fell in love with the Vespa scooters and purchased a 150cc Vespa for around town use. I maintained the motorcycle addendum to my driver’s license and needed it to run the scooter. When I purchased the Victory motorcycle from a dealership located close to a hundred miles away, I thought I would have no problem riding it home.

After riding a scooter for six years the gears on the big bike were difficult and its weight was intimidating. The other problem was turning. The radius on the Victory was considerably larger than either the scooter or a smaller motorcycle; radius is important since many new riders have been killed by mistakenly turning their bikes directly into the path of cars or crashing into obstacles that surround the highway.

After riding the bike jerkily around the dealership several times, dropping it once, and feeling inadequate, I was reluctant to attempt to ride it home. I needed to negotiate two right turns, four stop lights, and a left turn onto the Florida Turnpike; once I got the bike on the turnpike riding would be easy. My son had come with me but he does not have a motorcycle license so getting the motorcycle home was my problem.

Riding from light to light was easier than trying to keep the proper gear on the dealer parking lot. I made it to the turnpike and things went smoothly with the exception of one frightening incident where the bike seemed to feel as if it was on an icy surface. It quickly came back under control and I gave it no more thought until I read in the manual that the Tour model has a limited highway speed.

We have a gated downhill driveway which drops at a right angle off the road and as I turned the bike to go down the hill I was headed for the left gate pylon. I hit the front brake and down went the motorcycle. I was not hurt and the worst damage to the bike was burned shoe leather on the pipes; that came off with oven cleaner and the bike was in ship shape.

I have signed up at the local community college for a highly praised motorcycle course and will not attempt to ride the Victory until after I get more familiar with riding. Several times I have backed the Victory out of the garage, started the engine, shifted the gears, and rode it down the driveway partially letting out the clutch. This has helped me get a feel for the controls and a better knowledge of how the bike operates. I am still intimidated.

The Vespa scooter has taken me around town for six years. During that time it has never been down. That was about to change. A few weeks ago, as I was thinking how much easier the scooter was to control than the new motorcycle and how comfortable I felt riding it, I hit a six inch wide patch of sand in the gutter as I made the 90 degree turn up the slight rise in the driveway into Best Buy (returning a computer part they recommended but I didn’t need); out went the front wheel, down went the scooter and bang went my right eye socket, right shoulder, and knee on the pavement. Since I was able to stand and move, I washed the blood off in the men’s room, finished my business, and rode the scooter home. At the hospital they took a CAT Scan of my head and found nothing. My wife said she knew that already…. Boy, did I look ugly! As my right eye swelled closed my right cheek doubled in size and a dark blue hematoma crept down my right cheek and down my neck. My right shoulder was bruised and I could not raise my arm, my right foot was black and blue from being caught under the scooter and I had skin missing from my knee and wrists. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. Almost two weeks have now gone by and I look and feel much better. I am healing and the scooter is being repaired.

It is now a month since the scooter mishap and I have completed the motorcycle course. The toenail on my right big toe is loose and will soon come off leaving a raw toenail cavity that will take up to a year to heal. I still have a raw sore on my right knee that has not healed and there is a small bump under my right eye that is receding day by day. The motorcycle course was informative and helpful but the bikes they used were 125CC Kawasakis that are quite different from 1600cc Victorys. I did well with the course and the instructor said I should be able to handle the Victory but will need lots of work. I will continue to work at learning to ride the big bike safely.

Al Cronkrite is a regular columnist for Novakeo.com
Al Cronkrite is a writer living in Florida, reach him at: