Scooter Adventures

Perhaps you recall, or maybe you never knew, that early last summer I bought a little Honda scooter when my Honda Civic that I had owned for 12 years passed away. (I can say a car passed away if I want to.) Here is a picture of me on the day I bought that scooter. 

Then I moved to Tucson, and brought the scoot with me. It was very handy to have. I live far enough from campus that I don't want to bike there. I also have an internship, and like to buy groceries and things like that. So having a scooter was the next best thing to having a car. 

One day, not long after returning from Christmas break, I got hit by a car! It's true! I was on my scooter, stopped at a red light. The light turned green, and I zoomed off. Well, someone ran a red light right into me! Fortunately, the car next to me, waiting to turn left, saw them coming, honked, and gave me enough warning to slam on my brakes. The car nicked the front of my scooter and drove off. My scooter fell over, though I was still standing up, and thankfully, completely okay. 

The insurance company has totaled the scooter, but since it is still driveable, I kept it and took a salvage title on it. But I was pretty freaked out and fed up with driving this tiny thing that nobody can see me on. So my dad helped me buy a car in February. I bought a 2005 Honda CR-V. (Yes, Honda's got my loyalty.) Here is a picture of me with my new car at the Frozen Yogurt place in Tucson owned by the mom of the guy who I bought the car from. (The reason this is picture-worthy is that the guy actually is from Tucson, but now lives in Denver. We bought the car from him in Denver, and I drove it right back to its home in Tucson. Small world, eh?)

So now I have a car, and it is wonderful. I have a lot more freedom. I can eat a lot more frozen yogurt. So I almost never ride my scooter anymore, because I don't really need to. It mostly sits chained up in the carport space that a lady who worked in the apartment complex office when I moved in said I could use. I share the space with another guy's scooter.

It is, however, very convenient to have a scooter when I need to go to campus during a big high-traffic event. Parking that scooter is a breeeeeeze. Way easier (and cheaper - free) than parking a car. Just such an event took place this past Friday. I was meeting one of the teachers and some of the students from my internship at campus, so we could work a booth promoting our school. It was a big carnival and UA expo, and I thought it would make sense to ride the scooter. 

When I got down to where my scooter is parked, there was a huge orange sticker stuck to the handlebars that said something like, "YOU ARE PARKED ILLEGALLY". Well shoot, I thought, I didn't know. That lady who told me I could park here doesn't work here anymore, and I almost never use the scooter, and nobody would have known how to tell me to move it. I realized I would have to find another place to park when I came back, and I geared up, and backed out. As I was checking down the parking lot for cars, a tow truck was driving towards me. He stopped a few spaces away, and I backed out, and he looked at his clipboard and watched me pull away, and I thought, "woah! That tow truck is coming to bolt-cut my chain and tow away my scooter!! What incredibly fortuitous timing!" 

I don't know for a fact that that's what was happening. But I'm the only one who was parked illegally there, and nobody looked like they were waiting for a dead car to be towed. So I zoomed off before he could ask my name or where I lived or anything. Close call!