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It started when I came in the office door this morning. Barry was just arriving, and he said something to me and used the word “believin’.” That got me into Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” From there, somehow, it quickly morphed into a Big Hair Thursday. We started singing Tesla tunes, and Def Leppard, and Van Halen, and who knows what else. Jim came in, and we were all rockin’ out together. Jim yelled out “Bill, sing another one!” And Barry said “Do ‘Photograph’ by Def Leppard!” So, I launched into it. As I came back around the corner, I found that Jim set me up! There he was, video camera in hand! We had such fun, I declared today as “Big Hair Thursday.” I encouraged the staff to sing/use hair metal song lyrics whenever possible. Gina had her Internet radio turned onto the hair station all day.

Videos:
I sing Def Leppard in my faux Axel Rose voice
Pete head bangs to Quiet Riot, whilst I “Rock on!”
Barry air guitars to something

I was perusing DrumForum.org, with iTunes playing in shuffle mode in the background. Harry Connick’s “Jill” came on. I stopped, turned up the volume, closed my eyes, and listened…

“I know a girl
Who says she loves me
She says she needs me
And I have reason to believe her
Good reason
Like when we kiss
My eyes won’t open…”

Dear Lord, let me one day write something that good. And I love the recording too. The sax player, Jerry something or other, is so deep in it it almost makes me cry. And the band… The band is in a room. You can hear the room. It’s almost like they’re recording the whole thing live, with Harry and his vocal close mic’d, and then almost like the band is just behind him, pouring themselves into the tune.

Hey, here’s something special for you. Here’s the tune. Take a listen. The bandwidth is on me. If you like, go out and buy the album. (I liked the album so much, I bought the concert DVD!)

I’ve been watching the scooter market for some time. It’s been close to two years, I would bet. With gas prices going up, up, up, and with a lot of my driving being in town, I thought a scooter would be perfect. This year, though, used scooter prices are through the roof! Last year, the $800 scooter was easy to come by. This year? No way. Even Chinese scooters were selling for $1800 at the dealership 1/2 hour from here. In fact, I was bemoaning that fact just this Monday at my Kiwanis meeting.

Today, though, one of the Kiwanians I was talking to at lunch called me. She said she saw a scooter for sale (two actually) just a few miles away. I took a little ride with JP this afternoon to take a look at it.

It was a 2007 blue and white Honda Metropolitan. I called the number on the sign. The guy said that, though it was unregistered, I could take it for a test drive if I wanted. The scooter was parked at a friends house that had good visibility to the road, and that friend had the keys. I went up and knocked.

After a two mile jaunt, I knew I really needed (!) one of these scooters. It was fun, economical, and still could travel 35 mph, even with big ol’ me on it. I talked to friend who was “selling” the bike for the owner. He told me the scooter had been on his lawn since 4pm yesterday. He said he had 4-5 people look at it yesterday, and 7 people look at it today. It had nine miles on it. It seems the lady who owned the scooter crashed it on mile two. When she did, she broke her arm and wrist. Her husband, who was on the other scooter, saw the whole thing happen. After that they decided scooters were not for them. So she had a brand new scooter, just repaired, with a total of nine miles on it.

On the ride back to the office, JP and I talked. He mentioned at the price the guy was asking, if I didn’t like it, I could sell it again and get my money back. And, since it was a Honda, it would be reliable, and parts and service should be easy to come by. I called Susan, and spoke with her. She agreed that it was a good price, it was the style I liked, and since it was local, perhaps I should spring for it.

So I did!

Even though it wasn’t registered, I drove it home. I had so much fun, it was crazy! It would maintain 30mph just about everywhere, and could get up to 40mph with a slight downhill run. There was one big hill on the way home, and it slowed down predictably then, but it was quite a big hill.

Of course, now I’ve bought a scooter, and it’s almost winter, and it’ll be raining the next two days! 🙁

1. There is no need to get so testy so quickly.

2. Where in the heck did the boys drag my shotgun off to?

3. Making a gigantic mess out of the whole thing is all I managed to do.

4. Prospects for investing aren’t looking so hot right now.

5.“Feel the funk, y’all; have a good time!”  is the message.

6. Simplicity and tranquility are elusive.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to supper out with the family, tomorrow my plans include playing a gig in Brunswick,  and Sunday, I want to enjoy the company picnic!

On the way to work this morning, I was listening to the news on NPR as I usually do. It seems they’re running some features on living in Maine, and the costs of doing so. Yesterday, they had some admitted left wing economist (yes, the NPR reporter said his guest was left of center) say that the average Maine household earned $45k a year, and it it took, on average, $50k to live in this state. I mumbled something at the radio, and went about my day.

Now, this morning, I yelled at the radio. This morning’s economist was talking about the price of health care and day care. He mentioned something about how some people have the “luxury” of having one parent stay at home full time with their children.

Listen, buddy: It’s a choice, not a luxury.

There’s nothing luxurious about working your regular day job, and then going home and working on your home computer, designing web sites for extra scratch. There’s nothing luxurious about spending your Friday and Saturday nights miles away from home and family so you can earn money to take the kids out for a donut on Sunday morning. Sure, my ’95 Ford Taurus wagon has leather seats and air conditioning. And hey, I’m not knocking it. I wouldn’t consider it luxury.

No, instead, my wife and I made a choice. We decided we wanted to raise our kids with one parent at home. In my case, Susan felt lead to be the one to stay home, but it doesn’t have to be a “mommy only” thing. So she stays home. I go to the office. We both work hard–just at different things. Our home is modest; buying a new couch is something that requires some thrifty shopping. Our cars, though not heaps, are both over 10 years old. Our vacations don’t require plane flights to anywhere. Our last meal in a “fancy” restaurant was paid for with $50 worth of gift certificates that I bartered for with web design work.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m not claiming poverty–far from it, in fact. But very often, things need to be put in perspective. My family has a full time parent at home. Though we’re not poor, we’re a mighty long way from Obama’s $250k rich, and a mighty long way from McCain’s five mil rich. And yet, we somehow figured out how to be able to keep Mom home with the kids. It’s far from a “luxury.” It’s a choice, a decision. If you really want to do it–if you really believe it’s the right thing to do–you can make it happen.