Brian is an Army broadcaster, living in the Northwest with his beautiful wife and their four kids. He's a war vet.
Posts in this blog are Brian's own words/beliefs, & not necessarily those of the U.S. Government. Brian puts serious effort into not violating OPSEC. Brian is not responsible for ridiculous anonymous comments.
02 June 2008
posted @ 20:35... Yet another news story about how scooter sales are on the rise because of the high gas prices... [STORY HERE]
This one's from right here. Well, it's actually Everett, which is north of Seattle. The great thing about the story, besides the Ruckus, is the photo. The vehicle in the background provides a great contrast:
It's no secret that even with our gas prices up around $4 a gallon, Europeans don't see what Americans are complaining about. With European fuel prices hovering between $8 and $9, it definitely costs more to drive there. But Ford's most popular European vehicle, the Focus, is still cheaper to drive than their most popular American vehicle, the F-150 truck.
Even with higher fuel prices, the European Focus costs less to drive than the F150 pickup truck. Drivers pay about 20 cents to drive the Focus a mile in Germany, while the F150 costs about 26 cents per mile in the U.S.
Incidentally, my scooter costs around 4 cents a mile to operate. Just sayin'...
posted @ 23:52... What a weekend. Friday morning we took the kids to the zoo. During the experience, the youngest of our family started sounding a little congested. And by youngest I mean she's 5 minutes younger than her brother. Both were born about 3 weeks ago. So we took her temperature when we got home: 100.7 degrees. With a temperature like that, we were advised to get her in to the emergency room. Around 2:00am she was admitted to the pediatrics ward. Some tests were needed, and it would be 48 hours before all the results were in.
The saddest part was either the spinal tap (to check her brain/spinal fluid) or the IV they put in. The veins in her little arms and legs were too small for an IV, so the only other site they could use was right up on her head.
Saturday was the most beautiful day we've had all year, with highs in the low 70's. I had planned on riding around Seattle with some scooter buddies. Who knows when we'd have the chance again. Weather like that doesn't happen every weekend around here. I even had a buddy offer to do some work on my scooter before the ride to help make it a little faster. In some respects, this was the ride of the year, since a celebrity in the Ruckus world is currently in Seattle. There's a guy named Wan, from South Korea. He started riding his Ruckus on the East coast a while back, and has just now made it to the Pacific Northwest after stops in Texas, California, etc. All this on a 49cc scooter, which now has over 10,000 miles. So anyway, the guy is a legend among Ruckus riders, and the ride was a pretty big deal.
But alas, family is the priority, and I was needed here. My wife has been at the hospital with both babies -- the healthy one too, since she's nursing both. This left the older kids and me here at the house to frolic in the sunny front yard. And you know, it's not so bad. I actually enjoy hanging out with my kids. Can't say I wasn't disappointed to not go on the big ride, but I honestly don't mind it so much if it means my kids are being taken care of. And seriously... how selfish would I have been to be up there having fun when my wife is sitting bored as can be, cooped up in a tiny hospital room?
There will be other weekends, other rides, and eventually even more sunshine, so I'm not too worried.
posted @ 22:00... Gas prices send commuters to motorcycles and scooters [STORY HERE]
...well duh!
I just paid $3.42 per gallon today. Thankfully, I only needed the one. It'll carry me around for about two weeks.
The story also illustrates the phenomenon of "grudge purchases." That's where a guy gets so mad that he just poured $100 in the tank of his F250, that he goes directly and angrily to the local two-wheeler dealer to get something, er... less retarded. (That's a big ol' paraphrase, by the way. Sorry if you're offended by the word retarded.)
posted @ 10:17... Free Gas this Saturday! The catch? You have to be in downtown Denver... and you have to be riding a scooter. Erico Motorsports will fill the tank of any scooterist who pulls up to the pump at the Circle K Shell (1300 W Colfax Ave, Denver) this Saturday, June 16th from 10 a.m. until noon. [source: GirlBike]
From the Erico Motorsports site: "Erico Motorsports challenges the people of Denver to shift just a portion of their mileage to more fuel efficient motor scooters. We can all do our part toward reducing the negative impact on our surroundings while saving time and money from our own daily commutes."
posted @ 21:49... Finally, I was blessed with some spare time on Saturday, from noon to about 9:00 pm. Can you believe that? So to celebrate I rode to Seattle. That's right, I rode. I made it from home to the Space Needle in about two-and-a-half hours, and met up with two friends there. Jason is another Ruckus rider, and EZ has a rare 1982 Honda MB8. We rode to Alki Beach, had a hamburger, and rode around some more. We ended up at Cafe Racer, which is a bar/coffee shop in the Ravena/Fremont area. And finally, I rode home. It was an amazing experience. Here are some pics:
We're probably riding Tacoma next. Maybe I'll get some video of that.
posted @ 21:24... I received another one of those messages about the "National Gas-out"or whatever it's called this time. The message, this time in the form of a Myspace bulletin, claims that if we all refrain from buying gas for just one day, it will put such a dent in the oil companies' profits, that they will lower their prices.
Unfortunately, it's not true. Rarely do boycotts convince anyone of anything - especially not boycotts that are conducted for just a 24-hour period. As always, check Snopes.com before forwarding that stuff...
You want to know what will make the oil companies take notice and cause them to lower prices? Lower demand. And how do we decrease the demand for gasoline? Use less of it. Find ways to conserve it. Combine trips, or even eliminate trips that are not absolutely necessary. And of course, drive a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Most of us still can't afford hybrid vehicles, for some (I have to admit), scooters just aren't practical. But chances are, you can trade in your unnecessary gas guzzler for something less ridiculous. Also, keep your vehicle properly tuned up and its tires properly inflated. With gas at around $3 per gallon, you could save around $432 a year just by keeping the right amount of air in your tires.
posted @ 13:25... Yes, I am obsessed. But like it or not, here's a scooter update.
Currently averaging 88.01 miles per gallon, with a cumulative average of 86.87 mpg. Not quite the 100 mpg some folks advertise. I tend to run a wide-open throttle much of the time to keep up with traffic, and there are a lot of hills by the house, so I'm not going to hit 100 mpg. But my gas mileage is still roughly four timeswhat the average American is getting.
Since I bought the scooter nearly a year ago, I have put almost 800 miles on it, and have, to date, spent a little over $20 on gas. It would have been more, of course, but I was deployed for five months.
posted @ 10:08... I spent all day Saturday and Sunday on one of these:
It's a bit different than the scooter, but it was necessary. In order to ride a motorcycle or scooter on post, you need to complete a motorcycle safety course. So this weekend, I did it. All I have to do now is show my completion card to the Department of Licensing, plop down $25 for a Washington State drivers' license, and register the scooter on post. Seems like a lot of trouble, but for this kind of mileage, it's no trouble at all.
46. Pictures of your children "They’re the light of your life. Doesn’t mean they’re interesting to look at (unless it’s your 17-year-old twins on spring break)."
44. Men in helmets "Playing for the Packers? Jumping your bike over the Snake River? If not, let the wind whip through your frickin’ hair already."
I don't care. I shall continue to use my coffee cup that has the pics of my kids on it. And whenever I have more than a semi-permanent desk or cubicle again, I'll be posting pics of my family. Bite me, Maxim... and check out my screen saver.
And the helmets thing... I don't know if they were thinking about motorcycles and motor scooters when they decided helmets were lame. The photo in the magazine is of a guy in a bicycle helmet. But even so, I am a firm believer in wearing helmets, yes even on bicycles. (Plus, helmets make it so much easier for medical personnel to collect your brains after you've wrecked your crotch rocket at 120 miles-per-hour.)
And now, some items from the list that I agree with:
50. Dogs in handbags "Wasn’t picking up their [bleep] enough? If you need a pet you can carry everywhere, check out intestinal parasites."
31. Throwing stars "When used by the ninja as they carried out assassinations in the dead of night, awesome. When used by you to [bleep] around in the basement with your brother, weak."
13. Popped collars "Complete list of people who can get away with this look: Elvis, Elvis impersonators, Dracula. Everybody else, tuck them down."
posted @ 08:37... Sweden to be Oil-Free by 2020 [STORY HERE]
That's awesome. Taking serious steps to confront the pollution/conservation issue is difficult for anyone, especially an entire country. Sweden, as you know, is home to Volvo. And they have committed to be the first heavy industry company to emit zero global warming pollution by the end of this year. It'll be a long time before you see major American companies doing that, especially since most derive their profits, directly or indirectly) from the wanton burning of fossil fuels.
I'll add my two (or twenty) cents, of course... I'll go out on a limb, in fact, and probably anger someone, but here goes. I believe that anyone who drives a vehicle that gets less than 20 miles per gallon (presumably when they can easily afford a more fuel-efficient one) is simply selfish. Sure, you may have plenty of money to burn, literally. But you're adding to the problem. People who just assume there will be plenty of gasoline in the future have their heads in the sand.
I know from experience, of course, that many folks can't afford a more fuel-efficient vehicle. (But somehow they can afford all that gas.) Even though my scooter gets amazing mileage and has one of the cleanest emission systems Honda has ever developed, I know that there will come a day when gasoline will be in such short supply that even this thing will be too expensive to run.
As a side note, Honda unveiled some "green" scooters way back in 2004. Realistically, nobody I know wants to ride an electric scooter - especially not in snow and rain like we have in the Northwest. But doing what we can, however little, helps in the long run.
