Finally. My host‘s SQL database has been screwed since Friday afternoon, so I haven’t been able to post anything since then, not that that much has been going on. This weekend is my 29th birthday. One more year to go until I’m the big 3-0. Kinda freaky when I think how fast life has gone by sometimes.

I really really want a scooter. I’m thinking about either the Stella or the Yamaha Vino Classic. My only problem with the Yamaha is I don’t know if it’ll handle my 200#+ ass. The max load is 165#, but I’ve seen reports of people as heavy as 300# riding them with no problems. Members in this Yamaha Vino Club recomended that I upgrade the back tires for the higher weight. The Stella is bitchin though, but at $2,699 I’ll have a hard time financing it with my god awful credit. I think this is what they meant when they said “You’ll regret it when you can’t finance anything.” Now I do. I need to get these two credit cards off my record. I think they’re like, $800 total. I’m thinking about asking Alberto or my mom to lend me the money to pay the collection agencies, then I can pay them back with direct deposit so I wont screw that up as well.

Gina is trying to talk me out of the whole scooter thing. She says it’s a mistake and that I’ll regret it the first time it rains.

Pros and Cons of the Whole Scooter Thing.
Cons:

• Rain. Ok, big con but, I don’t drive in the rain anyway – unless I have to. As it is now my car handles bad in the rain, I’m scared as it is now because my car doesn’t have anti-lock brakes and I hydroplane frequently. Not fun. With a scooter I can just take the bus (which I actually enjoy, but do it rarely) or wait until the rain stops.
• No cargo room. Ok, this is also an inconvienience. But, I can get baskets and stuff for the Stella and it can carry more than you think. Plus, for those big grocery runs I usually go with Alberto or Julie, or someone else anyway. Either way, this isn’t THAT big of a deal. I just wont be able to buy as much stuff at one time by myself. No big loss. My major concern was laundry, and that will no longer be an issue after this weekend when we get our washing machine.
• Scooter Payment. My scoot’s note plus insurance will be less than my car’s current insurance alone.
• Safety. Whatever. If I’m going to worry about the relative safety of me going 80 in my CRX and going 30 on the scooter then I may as well buy an SUV and wear a kevlar vest to the mall.

Pros

• Reliability. My car sucks. It’s falling apart. I can’t get a brake tag, my horn is broken, my CV joints are clicking like crazy, the foam in my seats is flying all over the place. It will be nice to have something NEW for a change. Something where I’ll have a warranty in case something goes wrong. Something that I know will run the next time I try to start it.
• Simplification. This one is kind of new-agey for me, but I feel I need to simplify in order to get ahead right now. I considered selling my car and just hoofing it, but that is a bit too drastic. I need something to get around on.
• Legal. My car is a rolling violation factory.
• Cheaper than a brand new car. I refuse to buy another used car. Unless I can put down a sizable down payment, I can’t get a new car. And it’s been my experience that unless you have enough cash to buy a $3000+ car outright, you are going to get scammed by some greesy used car salesman. Yes you.
• I want one. That’s pretty much it, no explanation needed.
• Misc. Most of my other points I covered in the “Cons” section.

Dispite Gina’s certainty that I’m just buying it because I like the way it looks – so what? I bought my CRX because I liked the way it looks, and because I knew it was a good car, despite my friends and family’s warnings. In the 6 years that I’ve had the Honda those same friends & family have gone through an average of 2.5 cars each. All I desire right now is a reliable means of transportation that I will enjoy owning. Buying some crappy butt ugly blue used Ford tempo because it was the only one that I could finance from some guy named Louie is not my idea of a wise purchase. Been there, had the t-shirt and the car note.