HIT THE ROAD, JACK

For about three or four years now, I’ve had a scooter in my possession. A formerly pristine, cherry red Genuine Buddy 50cc scooter, all mine thanks to a three-digit payment by a nice man on Craigslist.

My family was too worried about me driving it for the longest, on account of the fact that I was quite “young” when I got it (I was 18, maybe even a freshly turned 19), and they were nervous since I hadn’t had much time on the road prior to then. (My mom taught me how to drive at 13-years-old, back when we had a busted-up Acura and a giant abandoned parking lot five minutes from the house. The lot has since closed and become something else. A warehouse, I’m presuming.)

Well, it’s been sitting there collecting rust since then, and that was sorta the plan until we unexpectedly got the chance to move. Now, with God casting a beam of light down on us, we happened to live right across the street from a scooter repair shop. How fortunate can you get? I asked about bringing it over there last year, but never got around to it on account of having no easy way to bring it in and out of the backyard (which was misery-and-a-half getting it over there. It took ten minutes of fighting through vines and unidentified bugs to even wheel it across the street. I was soggy with humid July air and an Extreme Heat Advisory, a staple for the summertime).

And what do you know! Today, unexpectedly, I received a text that my scooter was ready for pickup. Much cheaper than the estimate, and still in great condition. That then left me scrambling to get the final parts done: I had no license plate. Thankfully, we have expedited non-DMV places out here we can go to, which is why, within a 30-minute window before close, I managed to secure my registration, title, AND license plate in one go. I am now the proud, soon-to-be driver of the vehicle of my dreams :) I’m nervous, so that’s definitely a good thing!

I’ll have to work my gloves around the press-on nails I put on yesterday, and dust my helmet off a little, and work on getting my backpack clean so I can put my things in there, but by tomorrow morning, I’ll get to hit the road and be free! Vehicular independence will open its arms to me.

So much has happened in July, but I’ll get to that some other time. I’ve got to cram the rest of my assignments and be awake for the bus tomorrow, then that scooter will be mine!