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January 5, 2009
Free At Last
My folks moved from Palo Alto to Minnesota a few years back. Not "moderate" Minnesota (e.g. the Twin Cities) but the real Minnesota near the Canadian border. The Minnesota where wind chills commonly reach 50 below. Among my step-father's possessions was a 1993 Limited Edition Mazda Miata, which he had purchased new and driven across the country. This automobile is his pride and joy. Unfortunately the convertible season in Minnesota can be measured in weeks, two or three at the end of summer and two or three in spring. The rest of the year it is either snowing or raining.
So I offered to let him stash the Miata in my garage while he decided what to do with it. I put a Battery Tender pigtail on the battery and kept it charged (the battery is about the size of that on a Moto Guzzi). I drove it when I needed a backup to Biscuits&Gravy. Roomie and I took the Miata on a couple of day trips up to Santa Fe, but mostly the car just sat here taking up valuable space in my garage. In order to keep the Miata accessible as a spare vehicle, I had to pull all the motorcycles ahead of it or alongside of it. In order to use some of the bikes, another motorcycle or two had to be rolled out and parked out in the driveway and the process repeated when I got back home.
Business in the next year or so will bring my step-father back to the Bay Area, and he decided that he would like to have the Miata there instead. Hallelujah! So, finally, my garage lost the cage occupant it has known since it was constructed and the space is freed up for motorcycle breathing room. I can't wait to rearrange the shelves and have a nice neat row of motorcycles in the garage, and a lift free and clear ready to accept whatever bike that is up for maintenance or repair.
Posted by Underblog at 5:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack