Our third year in San Francisco
and counting …Archive for June, 2007
We’re here, we’re queer, we’re exhausted
just a few folks getting ready for the Dyke March
San Francisco Pride Weekend 2007 has come to a close. We went to the Transmarch, the Dyke March, and the Sunday Pride Parade. We hit a few parties, too; when it was time to step up to the karaoke machine, we sang 9 to 5. Oh, and we also went to the beach in the Marin Headlands, took the dogs to Fort Funston, and went out for brunch in Berkeley. It looks like I’ll be resting up from this weekend at work this week.
Here’s a bit of action from the Dyke March (Update: I found out a bit more about the group you see in the clip below; it’s Bateria Lucha, a Bay Area group that supports social justice through music and dance. Totally fabulous.):
MPG
Last night my fuel light came on, so this morning I went and fueled up. This morning gas was $3.719 a gallon at the 76 Station on Valencia, and I put in 1.45 gallons, and spent $5.41. Actually pumping that amount of gas takes about 30 seconds. The odometer on the scooter is now at about 80 miles, so I think I’m getting about 48 MPG right now. This could go up as the engine gets broken in and as I learn to drive better. Of course, it’s already better gas mileage than my Volvo was getting (R.I.P.).
By the way, it looks like the Texas DPS might try to suspend the license of the woman who killed my lovely Volvo. They’ve asked for paperwork from me in support of that … which I’m happily providing.
Overheard: A Harsh Realization
i’m attracted to bright colors
A disgruntled tourist looking at backscratchers for sale outside a shop in Chinatown:
(Disgustedly) “All this shit was made in China!”
Scooter news
A week ago Saturday I became the proud owner of a 2006 Piaggio Fly scooter — 2006 is the last year this scooter was made in Italy, rather than China. The sweet blue color wasn’t released widely in the US — they only had them at the Vespa shop here in San Francisco.
In the picture above, I’m not in my regular riding togs. A friend gave me a good helmet to wear, and I picked up a great armored jacket on clearance, as well as a new pair of gloves. Safety first!
I’ve got a learner’s permit and liability insurance, so I’m street legal, and I’ve done a little bit of work commuting on it. I can generally park for free right outside my office door. I’ve put about 50 miles on it, and used up about half of my first 1.95 gallon tank of gas. I’m getting more confident, but, of course, staying very careful on the road. I’ve never been much of a risk taker anyway. I do feel a bit safer on the scooter than I do on my bike; people do seem to pay a bit more attention to my big(ger) blue scooter than they do to my wee yellow bike.
I’m not good enough yet to take K. anywhere on the back, so busing, BARTing and biking is still our main form of transport. However, in the last 24 hours, I’ve had two occasions to ride my scooter that really got me excited. Last night, I took videos back to the rental place right before it closed, and it took me only 10 minutes rather than the usual 20-30 minutes. This morning, I suddenly found myself having to run an errand before work, so I wrote a note to my coworkers saying I might be 15 minutes late; but, in fact, I got in to work 15 minutes early instead.
After my errand, on the way in to work, I pulled up next to another woman on a scooter, a Vespa, the exact color of mine. We chatted excitedly while we waited for the light to change about what a beautiful day it was to run errands and commute to work.
There’s a scooter rally here this weekend, but I feel a little green for rallying; not quite sure I’m ready for the obstacle course.
Hittin’ the road
K. and I are headed to Texas today … on separate flights! I’m flying out of San Jose, and she’s flying from Oakland. After this we’ll be able to compare notes on flying from remote airports. Is it worth the cheaper tickets? We will see. I’m looking forward to some good Texas eating, though. Pass the salsa, pardner!
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Our third year in San Francisco 