Saturdays during Tax Season

We work all Saturdays from the beginning of January to April 15. I got on the scooter last Saturday morning at 7:30 and noticed that the odometer said 5,555. Is that a sign of something? I broke 5,000 miles on my trip to Topeka in October which means I have only ridden about 500 miles since then. Hmmmm. (Note to self; Gotta Ride More!) On my way downtown I encountered a bicyclist. I gave him a wave. A blank stare was all I got in response. Oh well. I was just maybe a little too excited to see someone else on 2 wheels. It rained again overnight last night, but stopped raining just before I needed to go. Two of the last 3 three mornings have been that way. Am I doing something right? With all the crappy weather we have had recently, it is nice to get a little cooperation from the weather. On the way home last night I got mad at a cage driver. On my normal route home I need to make a left turn at the fairly busy intersection of Central and Woodlawn. There are two lanes of traffic in each direction on both streets with additional left turn lanes at the intersection. There were 4 or 5 vehicles, including myself on the scooter, that had stopped at the light to make the left turn. Some cages were in front of me, some behind. Just to let you know, when making a left turn in a situation like this, I almost always make the turn into the first lane I approach, the left lane (Aren't you supposed to do that?). On occasion, I might not, particularly if I need to make a right turn soon after, but in that case I try to be very cautious and always signal my intentions. At this intersection there is an entrance to a shopping center soon after the turn and many people will not enter the first lane they approach, and then proceed to make the right turn into the shopping center. No problem for me, just gotta keep an eye on them. (The never ending effort to watch out for what is behind me as well as what is in front of me. We've all been there.) On this occasion, the cage following me proceeded into, you guessed it, the right lane and stayed just to the right of my ass as I proceeded along in the left lane. Not a problem, I knew where the cage was, but in about a half mile I need to make a right turn to get to my house. The cage was right behind me to my right. I sped up a bit thinking there would be plenty of time to get in front to safely change into the right lane and make my turn. (After All, wasn't I in front of the cage!) Damn cage sped up too. Right on my butt. Well, SHIT! Not being one to start a race on a busy street in the dark, I eventually decided to slow down and let the cage get in front of me before I changed lanes and made my turn. As I got behind the cage, I submitted a (not so friendly) wave of a certain finger just before my turn to the house. Probably shouldn't have done it, but........... It was just a little event. We have all been there and done it. Not turning into the first lane you get to is a little pet peeve of mine. Just felt the need to vent! Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

Time is Money (Blogging? Not so Much)

That phrase is particularly true for me this time each year. At the office we sell time. The more we work, the more we can bill. We don't try and gouge our clients, but we need to survive financially in these depressed times. As a result, my blogging efforts will most certainly decline a bit over the next few months. Posts are liable to be less frequent. What posts there are may be shorter and comments I make on my blog and others will be less frequent. But I am always thinking about riding, and I will try to keep up my reading of the many blogs I follow. I did ride to work today. It rained last night, but stopped early this morning. It was 36 degrees, streets wet, but the ride was wonderful. We have had an unusual amount of fog in the mornings recently and that has hampered the riding a bit. Sure is nice to get out and ride again. I recently upgraded my technology a bit. I upgraded to a newer Blackberry phone and bought a new Lenovo laptop. So watch out! I may do some postings from the road in the future. The local scooter club is planning to participate in a St Patrick's day parade in March. Maybe I'll do a post from the scene of the parade carnage. Tax season is a very mental effort. A high degree of concentration is needed and time is precious because of deadlines. At times I become very mentally drained. So even though my presence in the blogging world may be less frequent for a bit, I promise to stay around and promise to be back with a vengeance! Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

Profiting from Misfortune

Please imagine the following courtroom drama. Yes, Your Honor, the car came from nowhere and made a left turn right in front of me. I barely had time to hit my brakes. The last thing I remember is seeing the car a few feet in front of me and looking deep into the driver's eyes. The look on his face was full of horror, surprise, guilt and remorse as he realized that he had screwed up big time. Even though I was only unconscious for a moment or two, it seemed like days, Your Honor, before I really felt fully conscious again. I still have trouble remembering things, What was your name again? And the pain! You have no idea the suffering I have endured. My hip caused me excruciating pain for months because my left leg was nearly jerked from the socket. And my shoulder, even months after the collision, still reminds me of the incident with frequent sharp pains and stiffness. Yeah Well..... Even though this is somewhat of an exaggeration of the injuries I sustained in my accident back in July, certain attorney friends of mine said that these were the types of things I should say to any insurance company adjuster that might be interested. It was almost a personal injury attorney's dream scenario. I probably could have pursued it even further than I did, but somehow, it didn't feel right. Hell, I was negotiating with my own insurance company. But the legal and financial stars were aligned, the cage driver admitted fault at the scene of the accident and he had no insurance. This combination of circumstances might not sound good, but under Kansas law, I soon became aware that I was entitled to various benefits that I was (1) not really aware of and (2) not really all that interested in, (at the time). I eventually became much more aware of the meaning (legally) of the concept of "Pain and Suffering". Then they started trying to throw money at me. To shut me up? I was confused. What was I to do? Refuse? My attorney friends said they would be glad to help me out (30% fee). But I thought I could handle it myself and knew that If attorneys got involved, it would just take longer to close the "case". It had already taken close to 5 months. I truly was more interested in just getting healthy again. The injuries really weren't all that bad. Yeah, I was banged up a bit and pretty sore for quite awhile. At age 52 recovery from something like that takes a but longer than I care to admit. But there eventually came a point in time when I could sense that the insurance representative was speaking a little more in a posturing sort of legalese. Ever been there? Sometimes it was what she said, sometimes what she didn't say. It was getting a bit wierd. After all wasn't she supposed to be on my side? Why was I starting to get the feeling that our relationship was beginning to be a bit more adversarial. Getting the medical expenses paid was never really an issue and I even refused to do some other tests that one doctor recommended because I thought they were unnecessary. The scooter was repaired long ago, mainly just some scratched body panels to replace. But they damn near insisted that I take some money for "Pain and Suffering". And no, I am not kidding. My attorney friends advised me that I could easily ask for a little more than what they initially offered. I did ask for more $. They didn't bat an eye and agreed immediately. I really wasn't trying to screw anybody, least of all my own insurance company. Apparently though, this money comes from a pool of money that lots of insurance companies contribute to by re-insuring themselves with other companies. So, in effect my insurance company may be writing the checks, but this money really comes from all of us who have ever paid a premium. So I thank you one and all. Darn near like winning the lottery. It's really not a lot of money, I am not retiring tomorrow, but it is sort of a profit. I didn't realize that riding a scooter could be so lucrative. I would really rather that it not continue in that manner in the future. The current legal environment in this industry apparently makes insurance companies do certain things to make people go away and avoid lawsuits. Good or bad, right or wrong, it is just the way things are. I didn't anticipate the possibility of receiving this money. At the same time, it actually bothers me a little bit. The attorneys say I should take the money and enjoy it. But somewhere, somehow, in the back of my mind, I feel like I am taking unfair advantage of somebody, possibly everybody. Ahhh, the money isn't all that important. It has just been a bit surprising how the negotiations and final settlement all turned out in the end, five months later. The worst part of the final part of the process was recalling the memories of what happened on that day. It wasn't exactly fun. I really don't think the money makes me feel much different or better. Maybe I am supposed to feel better now that I have been paid off, so to speak. But somehow, the bad memories of what happened outweigh the receipt of cash. Then again, it isn't taxable!