Modern Vespa

So I'm off to the Theatre this evening and I'm picking up a friend en route.

The road on which they live is closed because the owner of an illegal weed farm owner thought that it would be a good idea to brandish a Machete at a SWAT team that had turned up to ask him a few questions so they shot him in the stomach for his troubles.

Well it seems that a Dealership local to me had a issue registering a scooter a years ago because the Manufacturer was being a little tardy with its ability to resolve an issue with its VIN number, to the point where they gave up.

So rather than pursue it they seem to have cloned a plate from a scooter which may well be registered in my name as when one of the employees gets run over by a Taxi so the Ins Co calls me and asks for my statement which confused me somewhat when no such kind of malady happened to me.

To prove to them mine's legit I email many pictures of an undamaged scooter together with the registration form, it's VIN plate and it's clocks to tie into its MOT and everything checks out.

What happened next I can't really talk about but there is a Part 2 coming.

Later in the day I talked to a friend about the incident who works quite high up at the manufacturers HQ in the UK just to keep him informed.

He asks me - Do you want me to inform my Line Manager ?

I reply - No, because I don't want to be implicated in the possible fraud any further than I am. Even by default.

I understand he replies.

The next day he tells me he's told his Line Manager.

Part 2 is always the sticky whicket.

Stopped at the local Vespa dealer yesterday for three things.

1. Q : "Hey, you had a line of armored riding shirts. I'm interested in one."

A: "Yeah, if we still have any they might be on the clearance rack."

They were not.

2. Q: "Hey, I'm looking for a 3/4 helmet that would fit in the tub under a Vespa Sprint"

A: "Yeah, we don't have anything that will fit under a Vespa seat."

3. Q: "Hey, I bought some Noru riding shoes here. I wore them out. Do you have any more?"

A: "If we do, they'd be on that rack over there with the shoes."

They weren't.

Guess that was a wasted trip.

Also, as we were getting out of the car to go inside, my wife closed the door on the FIAT. There was a loud-ish sound as if she closed the seat belt buckle in the door. We opened the door to see what happened and as we were looking, the passenger window began to slowly lower itself into the door. With the car off.

So, we made an emergency trip out to the FIAT dealer. Appointment NEXT Wednesday.

When I re-did our bathroom, the base of the underneath toilet fitting was so corroded that no new wax ring would help. So I used one of these:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/PLUMBFLEX-Universal-Wax-Free-Toilet-Seal-Kit-TPCTS/306199481

Much easier, more sanitary, far cheaper than a plumber!

Trash panda woes.

I live on the edge of a small, rural town, essentially in the country. Behind my house is what passes for a forest with a creek running through it.

Wild animals in my back yard are a regular thing from deer, wild turkeys, coyotes and in this case racoons.

One had been particularly bold, even coming onto my back porch.

Then one evening it came into my kitchen through the pet door and cleaned out the cat food bowl.

This must not stand.

I got an animal trap and baited it with more cat food and by morning I had a guest. I drove it 5 miles away and released it.

I was thinking that maybe he had buddies so I set the trap again and I soon had another guest. I released that one in the same spot as the first.

I won't be able to set the trap again until the weekend because I don't really have time to take care of another POW before I go to work.

I don't know if there is a band of them that I can clear out of if they will just keep coming.

Back bumper removed to install a tow hitch which apparently was a plaything for the Hulk before it was shipped out. No idea how TF they bent it *THAT* bad, and the only thing they've said so far upon receiving photos is "oh man that's weird it shouldn't be able to bend like that."

Well no shit sherlock, the question is I have a cross-country move coming up in less than a month, what are you doing to make it right and not delay me?

He's resting under the oak tree in the back yard. That's a long shot.

Well, THAT was a day. Let's hope you don't have rain between now and then...

Fortunately I have a garage and way too many vehicles.

Get a cat-flap that recognises your pet's microchip, and only allows IN for that .

Yes, the RAM driver admitted up front that he "looked down, then back up" and saw that I was almost stopped in front of him. He knew we were in start/stop traffic, and had been for at least 15-20 minutes before the incident.

On the bright side, I dropped my truck off at the body shop yesterday and Enterprise put me in a 2025 Audi Q7.

I was watching police dash cam videos on YouTube last night, and saw one where the Arkansas State Police attempted to pull over a GMC Yukon due to its license plates coming back to a Ford F150 that hadn't been registered in 14 years. The Yukon pulled over to the shoulder, then took off. Multiple officers chased it for 20 minutes, making several attempts to PIT it, all of which failed. The Yukon driver crashed through a fence into a Nestle factory parking lot, where he abandoned the Yukon (which had lost its right rear tire), in favor of a dually flatbed pickup with a water trailer. He avoided several more PIT attempts, and lost the trailer during a high-speed left hand turn in an intersection. He finally ended up crashing into a pond outside of an apartment complex, where he abandoned the pickup and the passenger, and fled on foot.

They pursued him through the neighborhood before ultimately finding him. The vehicle chase took almost 30 minutes, and the foot pursuit took almost an hour.

When the officers dealing with the passenger in the crashed pickup truck were complaining about the situation, one of them distinctly said, "this is why we should be able to unload on people."

I'll speed in most states. But not Arkansas.

Are you sure you aren't trapping the same one again, who has found some free and easy food? That wouldn't be the first time that's happened. Look up "squirrel launchers" on the Tube - they keep coming back for a free ride!

I've heard of those and I'm definitely looking into that.

It would have saved me the $75 I spent for an animal trap that I wouldn't have needed.

I've also heard they also have them with a camera in them and won't let your cat in if it has something in its mouth. That's the one I really want but I'll bet those are hella expensive. I'm going to check, though.

We had one, perfect for our cats. The wi-fi app allows pet-sitters (if you ever use them) to see when a cat or dog is in or out, especially useful if medication is required.

Do you recall the brand name of it.

The only ones that I have found so far require that your cats wear a collar with a RFID chip in it. I want one that reads the chips that were implanted in them.

Ours was the Sureflap from Sure Petcare. There are others, but this did exactly what we needed.

https://www.surepetcare.com/en-us/pet-doors/microchip-pet-door-connect
But don't buy direct from them.

On sale at the moment from Chewy:
https://www.chewy.com/sureflap-microchip-cat-door-connect/dp/187538

the HOA is clearcutting a bunch of mature trees in our neighborhood common areas. Seems to be their MO.

Not sure how they justify there actions being a community improvement, yet if I have a weed popping up through my driveway I'm in violation of HOA rules and they can put a lien on my house.

I HATE f&@king HOAs and the power hungry, petty little tyrants on them.

OFG

Well if they leave the trees, then those contribute to evaporative cooling. Can't complain the environment's getting worse if we leave those up, so let's cut them down and then complain they're gone.

Looking forward to not having to deal with an HOA anymore in a couple years.

I use Firefox latest with Tracking Protection on Strict. I also use Ublock Origin and Facebook Container plugins. But I (almost always) have, with no troubles.
I have Opera and Vivaldi portable available, so I can always get to MV, hence the not a big problem.
In fact, I opened MV using Vivaldi after seeing the error, closed Vivaldi opened Firefox and got into MV just fine.

Are you still seeing problems on your Firefox setup?

Two of my three wide format UV printers are pissing me off.

One of them has been down off and on (mostly off) pretty much since we got it. They keep remoting in and entering an override code to allow it to work, but that code only lasts for two weeks. During that time, a tech will come out and replace a part (or three), but we won't know if the new parts fix the issue until the override code expires. The last time the code expired was June 17. I emailed my contact and told him as such, and nothing was done until this past Monday (July 7), when I received an email from him asking about the status. Now they're having me get information from the machine so that they can generate yet another override code while they continue to work on the issue.

The other one developed a leak in the varnish line, and the techs came out and replaced all of it on June 18th, but we had run out of Cyan ink at that point, so they had no way of testing it. We didn't receive Cyan ink from them until the morning of June 26. I installed the ink, and did a nozzle check, and the only ink that worked was varnish. I emailed my contact about it, and he said he'd look into it. We were closed on Friday, June 27 due to Summer Hours, and we were closed the following week due to the Independence Day holiday. I was off on Monday, July 7.

So we've been going back and forth about the two machines for a day and a half.

Also, our sales rep stopped by to pick up an incorrect ink shipment on June 26, and was talking to my boss and me, and expressing his frustration with the situation. My boss said we probably just got two lemons that need to be replaced. I chimed in with the fact that the serial numbers of the two problem printers end in 006 and 008, while the good one ends in 015. I then said I'd be interested to know if the customer who has #007 is also experiencing issues. The rep got a look on his face that told me he'll possibly look into that.

I feel for you. I know what it's like you don't have the equipment you need to give expected results.

I don't miss that job.

I touched on this in my happy post. I love everything about my new country! My mental health has never been better.

But that's not what's pissing me off. As part of the move, none of my vehicles could be legally imported and registered here. So I sold or gave away everything and bought a brand new, beautiful Amible Green GTS 310. 💚 It took way too long to find a shipper and even they wouldn't deliver all the way to my new home. They would only go as far as Genoa, Italy. Oh darn. I'll "have to" ride nearly the length of Italy on a beautiful brand new Vespa!

Here's the problem. They promised a 4-6 week delivery time. My scooter has been in a warehouse in New Jersey for five weeks. When I asked them if I would receive it in a week, they responded that 4-6 weeks was AFTER it gets on a boat. And they have no guess as to when that might be. At this rate I might have legal residency or even citizenship before I see my scooter again!

This post was not quite
What we were hoping to see
Try again, perhaps?

No, not since I signed into MV with Vivaldi, moments after the reported error.

I'd be curious to know how it's going on Firefox for you. I've made some changes that (maybe) will make a difference.

I much prefer a sticky wicket to a set of fresh tiddlywonkers on the flimflam.

Modern Vespa has always worked fine with Firefox until the last couple hiccups. Even then, with Opera Vivaldi and Edge inboard, I figure I'll get to MV somehow.

I use Firefox and haven't been having any problems with MV.

Third day in a row that I've been caught in the rain on my morning Deadwood coffee ride, third day in a row that I have to get out a bucket and garden hose and clean the bike.

"10% chance of rain" they said...bullshit!

Yesterday's adventure in getting drenched included riding through a deluge that had the cars running along at 50 mph (on an 80 mph Interstate hwy) with their four-way flashers on...I rode around all of them...buncha pussies.

The frosting on this shit cake was the pea-sized hail that accompanied the torrent of water, and getting smacked by them at 60-80 mph tends to leave a mark, even though I was geared up pretty well.

About four miles from home, I was finally forced to seek refuge from the pummeling under a gas station canopy, at least until the hail let up.

When I made it home, I was thoroughly soaked, pouring water out of my shoes and changing every stitch I had on with dry stuff.

Then I washed the bike...again.

That was yesterday, today's attempt resulted in a other rain and road grime destroyed bike that will require yet another washing later today.

My shoes from yesterday's adventure-in-soaking should be dry in another day or two, and my leather jacket, although still 'moist', should also be fully recovered in another day or so.

Dictionary

vi·car·i·ous·ly
/vəˈkerēəslē,vīˈkerēəslē/
adverb
in a way that is experienced in the imagination through the actions of another person.
"she was living vicariously through her children"

Thanks for sharing. I drove to work this morning. Because wet riding sucks.

They genuinely thought I was trying to install this wrong, because "it's just not possible to bend like that".

Well i guess we put the universe on notice boys.

Had tickets for Alison Krauss with Union Station tonight. Mrs Syd doesn't feel good (long story). I didn't go either.

My usual working in the yard scrape.

Thin skin from being old.

Bill

For me, no home project is done until it has a little of my blood in it.

Right there with y'all on both counts! Often I don't know when it ocurred and sometime later notice the blood…