Max is Back!

What more can I say!

I am so glad to have him back. Even though it was only a week getting repaired, Max is everything I remembered about him.

He even came back with some new farkle!

Lloyd, my good friend and scooter doctor extraordinaire installed some little flashing lights on the end of the handlebar. They are nice and funky. Just for fun! I suppose If driving at night, I may be a little more visible to other drivers. But just a little, as they are not exceedingly bright, at least not to the degree of the famous K Beemer that we all have heard about that lights up the night sky in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The Lambretta was a nice loaner and I appreciated the use of the scooter very much. But it wasn't Max.

After the replacement of the body parts, he sure looks great! Lloyd, as is his usual practice, washed him up as well and Max literally shined.

It took a little longer than expected for the repairs because one replacement part that came in was scratched a bit and once Lloyd got into the handlebar to check on the turn signal issues, another part, a turn signal relay, needed to be ordered.

But he is back now, and looking great.

Just in time too because Max and I are planning a little trip up to Topeka later this month so I can attend a high school reunion (35 years). It will be my first trip of any great length for me.

The interstate takes a pretty straight shot from here to Topeka totalling about 135 miles. But I intend to take some county and state roads to provide a better opportunity for picture taking. The scenery should be fantastic for the trip. I am not sure at what stage the trees will be in their annual change to winter mode, but an area I will travel through is known as the Flint Hills, and they can be very beautiful. The Flint Hills run generally along a ridge from north to south in the east central and southern part of Kansas and consist of gentle rolling hills, but primarily grassland with few trees.

The northeast part of the state where Topeka lies is much different than the Wichita area geographically because there are many more hills and trees. I am also planning a little day trip to a small town just east of Topeka to take some pictures for an upcoming Halloween post. I have already written the post, but badly need some pictures for it. Stay tuned.

Name Tag from previous reunion. Topeka West High School. Go Chargers!!

They say you can't go home again. A comedian I admire said once about high school reunions that people are the same and don't change a whole lot except for the fact that many of them are a lot bigger in stature than they were as teenagers. At the 30 year reunion I was about 65 lbs over my pole vaulting weight in high school. Many classmates noticed and I took a bit of ribbing for it. But for this reunion I should be only up only about 30 lbs.

One thing is for sure! Most of the guys have a lot shorter hair than we did in 1974.

30 + years of sitting at a computer and doing taxes can certainly have an effect on people.

Current reunion plans are for a homecoming football game Friday night and a mixer on Saturday night. It will be a chance to relive some old memories of a place I lived from age 9 to 17. Many of the memories of living and growing up in Topeka are good ones. Other memories, maybe not so much. It will be good to see some old friends and relive some old times. Picture taking will be an important part of the trip as well. There will be much potential fodder for future blog posts to tantalize or bore readers of this blog. I leave you with a couple of cartoons from the office.

This one I suspect is a recreation of a recent event in Bobskoot's office.

And "The Far Side" has some good accountant cartoons as well Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed