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[Feb. 1st, 2009|04:40 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Simply Because, Rooney | ] |
Mm: You've left your toothbrush behind at my house.
Chris: No, that was yours. Remember? Your Mum gave it to me when I realised I'd forgotten mine.
Mm: ... ... ... I don't want a second hand toothbrush.
Chris: I didn't use it!
Mm: ...We were away for four days, and you didn't brush your teeth?
Chris: ...Uh...?
Mm: I'm going to go back to "I don't want a second hand toothbrush", and pretend the last few minutes never happened.
*winces*
-Mmaster |
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| Randomness. |
[Feb. 1st, 2009|10:55 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sleepy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Signal The Riflemen, Say Anything | ] |
* Today I bought a $20 laminator. When I plugged it in, it blew the power to half the house. I pulled it out and moved it to a less overloaded circuit. When it had been plugged in for twice the expected time and still hadn't marked itself as 'ready for use', I decided that it was probably faulty and should be taken back.
* I have You Should Lie With Me by Say Anything stuck in my head (which is why I can't sleep). At least it isn't Fabian's ringtone.
* I've been considering getting a motorbike licence and then getting a motorscooter. My parents are less than enthusiastic, but I think they really want me to have some form of vehicle so I stop badgering them to take me places. I haven't made up my mind yet (I haven't done nearly enough research, for starters); but aside from several things that may be major issues (Primarily vision, balance, and visibility, along with the whole "Nothing to protect you if you are in an accident" thing), it would seem to make sense in a lot of ways in place of a car. Admittedly, some of the following is hearsay (or what Liz has told me) - factual accuracy is not guaranteed.
- They're a great deal cheaper to run. And, probably, to purchase in the first place - a quick Google search turned up a fair number of second hand scooters around the $2k mark.
- I wouldn't need to find 120 hours where my parents are willing to sit around with me while I practice.
- I wouldn't be likely to do much freeway driving.
- I wouldn't actually need it that often; I catch public transport most of the places I actually go, but for visiting Chris or doing errands (e.g. I will want to visit Harris Technology some time in the nearish future), a vehicle is a damn sight easier. It's ludicrous that Chris' house is only 15-20 mins away, driving, but the simplest way via public transport is to head into the city then catch a train out again.
- Parking is simpler. The beastie's smaller, for starters.
- More people are getting motorbikes/scooters, so the awareness of other drivers is probably getting higher. Also, availability of rider training is probably increasing.
- I don't have to be the designated driver for my friends if we go out, not that we do very often. But I could spend a bit extra to get a seat-and-a-half, so that if, for example, Chris wants to tag along, he can theoretically jump on the back.
- Scooters don't make nearly as much noise as a motorbike. Though, I actually have a feeling that a properly tuned motorbike wouldn't be half as noisy as most of the ones you hear coming from three streets away - people just want to amp up the sound to make sure they're noticed.
- They have a slower top speed than a motorbike - reducing the chances of accidents, and the chances of serious injury if you are in an accident. Of course, this doesn't account for the behaviour of others on the road - as my father put it, "19 to 25 year old males are invincible". Not that the top speed is likely to be hit very often anyway: most suburban areas top out at 60ish anyway.
- The balance on a scooter is (generally) better than a motorbike, I think - the centre of gravity is lower, and the machine itself is a little wider. My balance isn't great, though, so I'm not sure whether that would be enough.
* The negatives, as I mentioned above, are primarily the greatly increased risk factor over driving a car; particularly in my case, when I don't have great vision or balance in general. I'm not sure of the best countermeasure for those. I'll have to look into it; but as I said, I haven't even made my mind up in the first place, it would just seem to make a lot of sense.
Anyway, it's half past bedtime - and I have work in the morning. Guess it's time to crawl back into bed and see if I actually get some sleep this time.
-Mmaster |
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