Modern Vespa

Got back from visiting my mom in the hospital back home for the second day in a row. Bronchitis for 2 weeks and worn down and at 91 one has to worry more. Hard day.

Got a notice yesterday for a postage due parcel, poking my wife about having to reimburse me if it was for her ($4!! ). Expected to solve the mystery tomorrow, but opened the mailbox and there it was! Turned out to be a package from Malportados Vespa Club in Mexico City (wife's home town)....My wife ordered a couple of their tees for me for Christmas. Unfortunately there were delays and Mexican mail is forever unreliable. They threw in a banner and some patches to compensate for the delay!

So good end to a rough day. And I'm not bugging her for the postage either.

Wonderful! I got to ride with a bunch of them a couple of years ago. Such a fun bunch.
Hope your mom recovers quickly and completely!

I can post in this thread again? That makes me happy and I suppose I owe someone a thank you for opening it back up to me.

Have to pick all our appliances for the new house in the next few days. I'm happy we're finally starting with the renovations but now is final decision time. We're down to Wolf, JennAir, Dacor and Miele. Sub-Zero forget about due to insane lead times and Wolf will be tight but I'm leaning towards it for the cooking appliances. Vent-A-Hood is a lock for the hood , Miele for the dishwasher and Marvel for the wine fridge.

Any pros/owners of these brands here? I'm open to input!

Thanks.

First met a couple of them when they rode up to AV in Memphis. We arrived around 11 p.m. and they were doing some work on a scooter in the parking lot. I'm all like "THE MEXICANS ARE HERE!!"

I keep getting invited to their events when we visit my wife's family, but it never seems to work out. One of these days....

A surprise gift from a friend!

Somehow I bought another car on the 27th. My son, who we spent Christmas with in Wellington along with his wife and 7 week old baby (our first grandchild), sent me a link to our Trade Me auction site for an ALFA ROMEO Giulietta QV (Quadrafoglio Verde). I decided to have a look but the car was described as having the "normal supermarket dings and scrapes" and the owner said the wheels had been kerbed. I'm glad he told me because I wouldn't have found them.
We drove it, discussed price and I drove it away! I love modern banking, money transferred electronically and it was mine.


That badge.

My new girl Bianca

Nice bum too.

Our happy little 7 week old grandson.

Congratulations pigletpilot, lovely car, lovely baby.

Thanks. The car drives beautifully, the baby is great for one so young.

Hi Harbinger, I don't own a dishwasher but I have dealt with Miele and I know them to be a reputable appliance brand.

Congrats, LOVE Alfas!!!

Same day, thousands of Kms apart

I also bought a car, since our Laguna II started to be needy, after serving us for 400k Kms...

Found this gem in a nearby county. It's an import from Holland, one owner car. Checked up everything and gave a deposit. Total Kms corresponded to all records in Renault's European system up to November when it was last serviced and then imported to Greece, so it wasn't tampered in any way (unfortunately pretty common in Greece, with used cars / imports). Furthermore, I asked around and the specific dealer is one of the best and totally honest on what he sells. It's a diesel with a DC A/M gearbox. BOSE edition with lots of extras (it even has a massage function on the driver's seat). Photos are from the dealer's ad, I'll be getting it next week after the paperwork's done...

Can't wait...

We now have 3 Alfas, my wife's 147GTA, my new to me Giulietta QV and my 2001 156 V6 6 speed manual Sportwagon with 185000km on the clock. It's just starting to show its age and we use my car for trips to see the kids so economy is important.
Love th look of your Renault, under loved here in New Zealand also. Talk to people who own them and they love them. The naysayers have never owned one (Alfa or Renault) but "someone told me . . .)

I completed the continuing education requirements to renew my license to practice architecture yesterday.

24 hours of classes required every two years.

Luckily it can all be done on line.

The deadline is the end of the calendar year, so procrastinators like me have to do it in the middle of the holiday season.

But I got it done.

Probably the last renewal as I had been hoping to retire already.

Maybe next year.

Because an Alfa Romeo came up in the thread above, my first car was a 1750 GTV that I bought used in 1974. I don't remember the model year, but it was probably from 1969 to 1971. I was in college and couldn't afford the needed maintenance, but I kept it until 1978. That is one car I would like to have now.

Bill

Today has been my last day as a Sales Manager in a Plumbing, Heating and Bathrooms Merchants.

I no longer have to commute to work in the rain, snow and ice on my bicycle or put up with working with narrow minded racists and homophobes.


Lets see how I get on with working from home.

Congrats on your final biennium! Did same with my license this month, probably give it most the the next two years, but definitely in coasting mode.

This sketch from the Two Ronnies.
My technical skills don't allow me to post it without the FB stuff.
https://www.facebook.com/Your-Best-56-102868665888431/videos/the-two-ronnies-russian-tourist-bureau/694701228885476/

My yellow boots. I can piss against the wind now

Keeping the footwear theme going...

I was off work for the Holidays from Thursday, December 22, through Monday, January 2. I returned to work on Tuesday, January 3. I ended up being on my feet for over 8 hours. After pretty much sitting on my ass for 12 days straight, my feet were killing me that night.

Then I was on my feet for about 7 hours yesterday. Again, my feet were killing me at the end of the day.

I've been wearing Sketchers for 5 or 6 years. I buy two pair at a time and alternate them every other day, and replace the pair every 3 or so years when they wear out. They were getting worn out this past fall, so I bought a new pair. If anything, that new pair was worse than the old pairs.

Last night I went to the SAS Factory Store and bought a pair of Guardian non-slip shoes. The sales lady was nice enough to give me a 15% off coupon, so they ended up running $199 after tax.

They are incredibly comfortable. I'll pick up a second pair next month (I'll get 20% off that pair because it's my birthday month), and will go back to alternating between the two.

It'll be nice to have feet that don't hurt at the end of a day.

Coffee.

It's not even great coffee, just a latte made from microwaved milk and a couple of Nespresso capsules. But several times a day for the last month and a half, when I am slogging through code, I have this sudden happy thought:

It's time for coffee!

So I push back from my desk and trundle into the kitchen to make my cup of happiness in my favorite mug.

Mmmmm.

Coffee time is the best time, it is what my days are lived for all to often.

Grab a can of Cafe Bustelos for a quick espress fix. And a frothing wand to get your milk so much closer to perfect. Pretty dark stuff so watch your temp and maybe shot a little under what the recommended measure is.


https://www.heb.com/product-detail/cafe-bustelo-espresso-ground-coffee/185467

Try Brooks Addiction Walker.
Very comfortable, last for ages, leather uppers, non slip.

Uh-oh, grandpa shoes territory. SAS are pretty comfortable. I wound up there after having a Morton's neuroma and needing more forefoot room and something moderately dressy.

The irony is I was aware of the brand after seeing many of my older patients (particularly female) wearing them, and I put them into the "grandma shoes" category.

I'm on my second pair now.

For years we used an old Krups coffee / espresso machine at home that we had purchased secondhand for six bucks. One of the lines finally gave out and it started to leak, so I began searching for a replacement line, but it's a line with a check valve, yaddah, yadda, it's sitting in the garage and we brought the Cuisinart coffeemaker we have in the camper home. It's been in our kitchen for about a year now. I think. Covid has totally knackered my timeline.

We were at the local coffee roastery buying beans a few weeks ago. I turned around and saw one of these.




I'd read about them, and they hit all the marks. I looked at my wife and she nodded, so we brought it home.

I spent about a week figuring out grinds and quantities, but this past weekend I got everything all dialed in.

I'm not completely sold. I mean, it does a fine job, but is there $300+ difference in how good my coffee is? Probably not.

But considering we haven't bought a NEW coffeemaker in the 19 years we've been in the house we weren't opposed to spending up a little. Maybe we'll never have to buy another one.

Not sure I know where to post this.

The head of our IT department just stopped in. I don't get to see Josh much; he's a busy guy.

Shortly after I started here we found out we had a family connection. In general conversation he mentioned his Granny (then well into her '90s) lived in Paris, MI. I mentioned my family connection to Paris. The Lydell side of my family was instrumental in fisheries around the state.

Come to find out, Josh's Granny knew my great Grandfather. They were a generation apart, but they were all friends way back in the day.

So we've had lots of conversations about Granny and how she's been doing. I always ask when I do see Josh.

Today he made a special trip in to tell me that they lost Granny over the holiday. 101. And everyone's ok because ... 101. You don't ever do much better than that.

I never met the woman and still feel like I'm going to miss her.

R.I.P., Granny.

My 15 year old daughter today got a certificate from school for training younger children on their sports activities, she also won £100 on her savings bonds even though she only has £600 savings (far better than the 1.5% interest on my savings) and I'm smashing it in my first week in my new job.

Talking like an old guy there. It seems I say that to myself pretty regularly these days...with exceptions for socks and bananas...

Actually think I said that when I bought a nice espresso machine about 10 years ago. It died. Lets just say I wish you many happy and caffeinated days together.

I'm familiar with that model! I don't have one, but one of my former coworkers had one and had convinced himself that it made superior coffee. Who am I to judge? I am not a supertaster, and my capacity for taste and smell seems to be decidedly average. I have a hard time saying anything about wine, except for maybe "Tastes like wine!" or "Juicy!" or "Hints of oak and chocolate". And that last one is a lie. I can't taste any oak or chocolate in the wine. Or plum. Or currants. Or cat pee.

Still, I'm a sucker for over-designed, over-engineered functional art.

here's another one that hits all the marks:

We have the OXO Brew 8-cup coffee maker. https://tinyurl.com/2z96utbf

It does all the things your "over-engineered functional art" does: it emulates the pour-over method, complete with a "bloom" cycle. It then pours the water, waits, pours, waits, pours, until it's done.

It brews "Gold-standard coffee certified by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA)"

It includes a Kalita Wave insert for making four (five-ounce) cups or less (even a single cup). This is supposedly pretty special.

It has a functional design with no little clock or timer, just a few simple buttons.

It does not have hand-crafted hardwood or mouth-blown glass components.

It is relatively expensive. We paid $149 for it. It's now $199.

Oh, and it brews good coffee.

Well there's your problem! Clearly you're not devoted enough to the Temple of the Bean until you've dropped 5 bills on a coffee machine!

(I'm not nearly devoted enough either, as it turns out). If there's one thing you should've learned by now, it's that coffee snobbery isn't about how good the coffee is.

Last Monday for the first time in my life I went to a podiatrist. The problem I'm having is that when they placed my right hip prosthesis they elongated the femur a little bit. The result is that now I feel like I am walking and I am really wobbly.

So to make a long story short the podiatrist molded and inserted insoles and the left one rises my left foot and leg so that it compensates a little bit for the wobble.

We'll see how that works. I have been wearing the shoes and my gait is much improved. This morning was the first morning I woke up and I felt like my hip was a lot less stiff.

Edited for the misspellings I couldn't find

Not exactly new news... but I became a grandfather (Dziadzia for you fellow Polacks) of twins 5 months ago ('like it's something I did!)

It's making me happy today because I just came back from baby sitting for my daughter and spent a half hour letting my granddaughter fall asleep in my arms. It's been 30 years since I had my own baby and I didn't remember how much your blood pressure can drop doing that.

And by the way... they're both perfect!

(any recommendations for baby Vespa-wear?)

Just booked the boat to take my Vespa to Tasmania for a week in February 🛵😀

Riding, family, friends, hiking

5:00AM, Chock Full 'O Nuts, Farberware Percolator. Life is good.

Chris from CLE

Good thing I'm not a coffee snob (or wine, or whisky, or car, or scooter). I just find what suits me and stick with it until I find something I like better.

I don't fit definition #1 below at all. I might be a bit of an intellectual snob (or elitist), though I try not to act condescending to my inferiors.

According to the Free Dictionary: https://tinyurl.com/2ncbh2nu

1. a person who imitates, cultivates, or slavishly admires social superiors and is condescending to others.
2. a person who believes himself or herself to have superior tastes and is condescending toward those with different tastes: an intellectual snob.

That's what happens when you have flawless taste. Everybody thinks you are a snob but you're not really you just have normal naturally normal taste.

There's a big difference between being a snob and realizing life is too short for crap coffee.

Our front office - literally a 30 second walk from my lab - has free coffee. In the academic sense. It's Folgers "brewed" in Bunn industrial boiling water blasters. It isn't coffee, it's a brown lie. The stuff is truly terrible. People will run to the front office and dump sugar, powdered creamer and river water Folgers into a styrofoam cup and guzzle it while running back to their cubicles be perfectly fine with it, and I'm ok with that. That's them. I would rather watch the grounds bloom when I pour 102° water over them before I finish swirling the water over them gently and then hold the warm cup in my hands while I enjoy the steamy aroma. That's me.

For the record, my work cup has "My scooter makes me happy. You, not so much" printed on it.

I enjoy my coffee every step of the way.

It's not snobbery, but I literally have a burr grinder and three ways of making coffee in my desk. I enjoy the process. It's the same reason I used to smoke a pipe as opposed to cigarettes. I had thirty odd different pipes and a multitude of different tobaccos. I enjoyed the whole process leading up to enjoying the pipe. I don't understand smoking cigarettes or doing shots or anything that is simply a means to an end. Probably why I fell in love with scootering to begin with. All of my trips became journeys.

I start every morning by pouring a cup full of water into a tea kettle.

Then get the coffee and filter out of the cabinet and put them into a ceramic drip pour-over.

As soon as the water boils, I pour it into the coffee and it drips into the cup.

Simple and fast, and the coffee is good.

I have been buying coffee from my friend JP, who just last week closed the restaurant he owned with his wife.

It is called Paco's Coffee.

He has been roasting coffee beans in small batches over the past few years.

His coffee is always fresh and tasty, especially coming out of the machine they had in the restaurant.

But now I can only get it at home.

Bill

Finally picked out our appliances for the new house.

Dacor FTW with a Miele dishwasher. Side by side built in freezer/fridge and a wall oven. Cool thing is the top oven also doubles as a microwave and there is a steam feature built in to the lower. There is a 7" panel that displays information and there are a lot of recipes it will step you through with images and video.

We're taking a wall down and putting a large centre island in for storage and food prep. I'm finally getting my pot filler which believe me can be handy as you get older. Besides motorbikes cooking in my other passion. Used to also be tech and geek stuff in general but after almost 30 years of doing it professionally I find myself less interested.

Of course everything is "smart" and has built in Wifi etc, etc. Right down to the fridge and freezer having cameras in them just in case you forgot what you need to pick up at the grocery store. To me that seems a little too gadgety but it's what they comes with.

One of my classes this term is Sculpting for Animators. Today was the first day, and I could barely contain my excitement. I was grinning like an idiot the entire time, and we haven't even done anything except go over the syllabus.

I may have done Wallace's little fist wiggling a time or two, lol.

Seriously, though... We'll get to make at least one armature, maybe two, several different types of casts of our characters, and at least one puppet. It's not a specific goal in the class, but we'll be able to animate our stuff if we want to (there's just no stable place we can keep a set going for more than a day, so it's really just to play around). This is just about the only thing that gets me more psyched up than scooters.