Becoming ordinary

I haven't been able to ride my KLR in over a month because I injured my leg and can't trust it to not be re-injured by mounting and dismounting the KLR (which requires stepping on the footpeg to get over the seat due to its height). I also have to face facts that I'm several hundred years old in penguin years and simply don't bounce like I did when I was young :-(. I like the Wee-Strom as a sport-tourer, but its care and feeding is somewhat expensive and its value as a commuter is low because of the amount of time it takes me to put my safety gear on and off, it takes over 5 minutes before I get on the bike, and over 5 minutes at the other end, and my commute is only 15 minutes in the first place. And like I said, I don't bounce like I did when I was young (and my commute is at high speeds on freeways), so doing without the safety gear isn't something I'm interested in.

If I do away with the motorcycles, I can empy all the motorcycle crap out of my garage, which frees it up for non-motorcycle crap, and keep the Jeep there full-time. I can also move to an apartment downtown when my current lease expires in May 2010, I extended my lease on the current place because the downtown apartment didn't have room for both my motorbikes and my Jeep in its garage (and there is no additional parking available -- it's downtown, duh). The downtown apartment is right by the train station and close to two different light rail stations and pretty much eliminates the need for a second vehicle, which is why it's not a big deal that there is only space for one vehicle in its garage. And also, this makes me much more portable and mobile. If I have to get out of town, I don't have to worry about possessions left behind, I just pack what I need, toss the rest or put it in storage, and drive off into the sunset.

Problem is, then I'm well on the way to becoming ordinary. Just another penguin with a Jeep. Sigh...

-- Badtux the (Motorcycling? Jeeping) Penguin