It's a new world record...

 

About 25 minutes for the HOA board meeting last night.  The storm a couple weeks ago caused some localized flooding, which caused erosion in our community park.  The cost to repair is not insignificant, so we called for a board meeting to discuss this in front of homeowners.  Being a single issue meeting, I wasn't expecting a lot of attendance... it was even less than I anticipated.  Beyond board members, a couple spouses, the management company rep, and two people from the landscape company, there were 13 other people.

Of the 4 board members there, the decision to move forward with the repairs was unanimous - the 8 acre park is the biggest community-owned asset; it needs to be maintained.  And in a timely manner.  The management company had a contract for me to sign immediately after the meeting.

On a different topic: more music for me today.  It's time for the every-other-Friday jam with my local guys.  Some good ol' rock & roll is good for the spirit.

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I had the opportunity to try my wireless in-ears monitors with the guys today - it worked great.  For me.  I could hear myself (vocals) really well for the first time with these guys.  Unfortunately, the wireless frequency messed with the wireless transmitters the other guitar players were using.  I turned my in-ears off.  :-(  It wasn't the only thing that went south today.  One of the other guys broke a string.  Another had an issue with his wireless guitar stuff.  And not to be outdone: my Emerald Virtuo just quit.  I unplugged my wireless stuff and tried a regular guitar cord... nothing.  Looking closer, I saw that one of the Fishman Fluence pickups had come undone from the mount and caving into the guitar body.

Well, that's not good.  We took a break while I worked on it.  With no tools and crappy light.  Allan's place is less than 2 miles from our house.  I called Joan and asked, "If you aren't in the middle of something, could you bring me another guitar?"  She asked, "Which one?"  I selected the easiest for her to grab, no case for it.  Not the best one to play with a loud rock band, but the easiest.

Joan was there in about 10 minutes, and brought my Emerald X7.  I asked if she'd want to take a couple minutes and listen to us play something (she hasn't heard us before).  We went inside, she met Allan at the door, and as I was about to introduce her to the guys, she said, "Let's see... you are Tony, you're Roland, you're Joe, and you're Bob."  She got them all right.  I was impressed. 

We played a couple songs for her, then she took off; and we finished our jam.  As always, Joan saved my butt, bringing that guitar so I could keep playing.

Back home, and I'll be messing with that Virtuo.  And probably bring a second guitar for any practices.

 

Mind in the Gutter...

 

No, not mine - Joan's.  Not what you are thinking: Joan wants to have rain gutters installed on the south side of the house... something to keep the water, when it rains heavy - and it will do that again some time, to keep it from pooling around the air conditioners.  She scheduled a guy to come out and give us a price.

Her new friend, Tony, called to confirm and was 5 minutes early in getting here.  Well, that is certainly a good start; none of this "between 8:00 am and midnight" kinda wait things.  He was here about 30 minutes, sketched up what Joan wants, had her pick a color (to match what we have for rain gutters in the front of the house), and gave us a tentative price, with the firm price coming after he checks for one unique piece we'll need around the pergola.

I would call that a positive first meeting.

For the record, the rain that hit here while we were in California were heavier than the area has had in over 7 years.  Also, the first time in over 100 years that there was 5 consecutive days of rain in Arizona.  No, not solid rain that whole time - heavy rain on one day, much lighter on the other 4.

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To go along with that whole rain situation, there is a board meeting for our HOA this evening - yeah, one week after the last meeting.  The bid came in for repairs to fix the erosion in our park thanks to that unprecedented rain.  It's a pretty sizeable number, so we need to discuss it with the homeowners present.  Well, those that want to know.  We'll see how many show up this evening.  

 

Together again...

 

If you said, "Buck Owens, 1964," you get 20 bonus points.  If you said, "Janet Jackson, 1997," you get 20 bonus points.  If you said both of those, you get an additional 50 bonus points for having eclectic musical trivia knowledge.

I got together with Mark, Podge, and Ron today, to rehearse for a gig we have next week.  It's been quite a while since Mark and I got together - he and Cindy have been off gallivanting around the Northeast, from Maine to New York City for the last month or so.  And, good for them!

I had to leave a bit earlier than usual to get home in time to have supper and then get to a community meeting being held by our District 7 and 8 City Council members at the library near us.  That ran a couple hours.  Hoping to see if there was any funding from the City (of Phoenix) to help pay for the damage in our community caused by the lack of drainage maintenance by the City.  Nope... but, "We'll check into that maintenance situation."  The two Council members, and representatives from the Police, Parks, Commercial Development Department, an agency representing homeless concerns, and others, were there to say what they've been doing and answer questions.  Our community was well represented by the questions submitted.

Not sure anything definitive was answered, but it was interesting to find out that this part of town is soon going to "break ground" on a new Fire Station and Police Sub-station.  There is a LOT of home development happening here, and it will be nice to have those services right in our community.  And, some upcoming retail proposals.

 

Go soak your...

 

... head.  If you said, "It's an informal and dismissive way to tell someone to leave," you get 5 bonus points.  If you said, "This probably has something to do with a hot tub, huh?" you get 15 bonus points.

We are coming up on two years in this house.  Well, one year, 11 1/2 months to be more precise.  The manufacturer of our hot tub recommends changing the water every "6 to 12 months."  Time to get on it.  Again.

I started at 6:45 this morning, gathering stuff (hoses, pump, filters, rags); the emptying process got underway at 7:15, using a sump pump.  I was remembering that it took about an hour and a half last time, to empty the water with that pump.  Apparently, I was mis-remembering: it took almost 3 hours.

No big deal, it is my time and I spent it cleaning filters and wiping down as necessary while the pump was emptying.  Fortunately, I had good help in getting this part done...

  At the start and towards the end...

 The filling process went faster than the emptying; less than an hour to fill.  And then the "hold your breath" moment: turning on the jets and hoping you don't have an air lock - it all went well.  The guy who delivered the tub showed me where to put the special "filling filter" to eliminate the air lock issue.  And, I remembered.

So, now, it just has to heat up before I can use it.  And after all the bending and stretching to clean it, I could use a therapeutic soak right about now.  ;-)

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I think we're all aware of the "glitch" with Amazon Web Services overnight Sunday to Monday.  They said everything was "back to normal" by the time we heard of it here on West Coast time (Mountain Standard Time to be more accurate, since Arizona doesn't change).  That turned out to be incorrect (you expected me to say "Bullshit," didn't ya?).

Joan had an Amazon Fresh order in.  Amazon cancelled it.  She reordered it on Monday evening.  No acknowledgement of order from Amazon.  Nothing in process as of noon today.  They didn't cancel the order, but Joan rescheduled the delivery time.  We have gotten used to ordering Amazon Fresh and receiving the order the same day.  Yes, I know this wasn't a "hack," and there are a lot of businesses that use AWS to host their sites, and they have all been in limbo.

I was pissed when Congress couldn't get their act together to pass funding to keep the country running.  While that is a shit show, and something I will remember when it comes time to vote for any incumbent, I feel the Government and anything they get involved with is generally a mess... but don't screw around with my Amazon!

You've probably heard me say that we moved to Arizona to be close to Steph and Dan.  I've also jokingly said that we moved here because this state stays on Mountain Standard Time year 'round - none of that "springing forward and falling back."  But, the real reason is because of Amazon: we can get almost anything the next day; frequently, same-day delivery is available.  Unlike on our island in Texas, where Amazon's 2-day delivery would generally take 4 to 5 days.  At first, it was almost always 3 days, and then Amazon put a fulfillment center in McAllen, TX... and decided to use the Post Office for deliveries to the island, which took even longer.  

X Marks the Spot...

 

"You're looking for buried treasure, Jim?"  No, but October in the desert can be a bit of a treasure.

Maybe the title should have been "X Max the Spot"?  I took Joan's Xmax out this morning.  It was 60º and sunny when I got up at 6:30 this morning.  I put on a sweatshirt to take Murphy outside.  Pretty darn nice.

I decided it would be a good morning for a ride... and Joan's Xmax hasn't been ridden in over a month.  I held my breath when I hit the start button.  It popped right off and purred like a kitten.  A sporty 300cc kitten.

The Xmax is right in the middle, size-wise, between my CTX and the Burgman 200.  Well, closer to the Burgman than the CTX, but you get what I'm saying.  And, I've said it before, but the Xmax is a fun scoot: enough power to entertain you, and flickable for fun in the twisties.  I think "sporty" is a good description.

Not much traffic on the mountain today - I did go by 3 other bikes going up as I was going down.  The first was a powerful sport bike and the rider was hauling ass.  Tough to estimate his speed, but I would guess it at well over twice the speed limit.  He didn't wave back.  The second was a young guy on a non-Harley cruiser.  No helmet, that laid-back cruiser posture.  Too cool to wave back.  The third guy was on a smaller motorcycle and seemed to be enjoying the ride as much as I was.  We waved at the same time.

No, a wave is not mandatory.  I consider it a "Are you having as much fun as I am?" kinda gesture.  A good time for a ride.  It really "hit the spot."  :-)

 

 

Belated...

 

Joan's birthday was Thursday; the reason for our get-away to California.  I had a board meeting (via Zoom) on Thursday evening, so it wasn't much of a celebration that evening.  We made up for it last night...

With my phone (above) - with Dan's new iPhone (below)...

 

Instead of a cake, Steph and Dan went to a French bakery and got us fancy croissants (our new favorites, after my first chocolate croissant on this trip) and individual cake slices for them.  A nice evening.

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Ceramics...

"You going to start making mugs, Jim?" 

No, but thanks for asking.  We drove through rain on the way to California, and got rained on one day while we were there... the van was in need of a clean-up.  While I worked on the outside, Joan went after getting the interior spic & span.  Yes, that's an old person term.  "Spic & Span" is a cleaning product by Proctor & Gamble, but it is also an idiom meaning perfectly clean.

We were both very thorough in our cleaning today; and once done with all washing and drying, I decided to apply a ceramic coating to all the black panels on the van.  There are plenty.  This one is RoadTrek's "Blackout Edition."  Besides the cladding around the wheel wells and on the sides, the van has a blacked out grille (most have chrome grille trim).

Rather than applying Armor-All to all that black trim, I researched and ordered a ceramic coating product made for the job.  It is supposed to "withstand 200 washes."  We'll see how it does with the Arizona sun.

Knowing that my aging back would be feeling it, Joan brought me out a rolling stool.  The right tool for the job.  This product comes in sealed pouches, each one holding a treated cloth - you wipe it on.  Sounds easy enough.  It is - on the side panels.  The grill has a bunch of detail, and you have to get that cloth in between all of that...

 My aging hands are hurting as much as my aging back.  I told Joan she may not get any guitar entertainment for a couple days.  She told me there might not be any cooking for that same time period.  Touche'.

The company that makes this ceramic coating product gives detailed instructions on how to apply it.  They also recommend that you get a "before" photo of the wheel well cladding before you start.  No doubt, that is good for their reviews when people post "before and after" images.  I didn't do that, but here is a photo showing one section done (on the right) and the before (on the left)...

 I can see the difference.  Not including the washing and wiping, that ceramic coating application took about an hour.  It needs to dry/set for a couple hours.

There is enough of the ceramic coating stuff to do the Equinox... which has the "Midnight Edition," which also has a blacked out grille.  I guess we have a type.  ;-)  I'll think about that another day.

 

 

Scooter vs E-bike...

 

 

It's a discussion happening currently on my favorite scooter forum, mostly because the sales trend with new scooter sales has been in a steady decline for years.  Well, here in the US.  The US gets fewer scooter options from manufacturers than the rest of the world.  Is it because we believe "bigger is better" with our two-wheel conveyances?  Not really, because motorcycle sales trends have been down, as well.

Compare that to the sales of e-bikes: which are in a strong growth trend.  In 2016, only 2% of bicycle sales were for e-bikes.  That percentage had risen to over 18% in 2023.  And currently, e-bike sales are on the increase, while pedal-only bicycle sales are down.

It seems that Americans have discovered e-bikes.

For our personal perspective, we bought our e-bikes in 2014.  We bought our first scooters the year before that.  And we had been riding motorcycles for nearly 40 years before that.  We enjoy two-wheel conveyances.

This trip to California was eye-opening regarding two-wheel conveyances.  Oceanside is a beach town (where we were staying); we saw a lot of people on bicycles, most of those being e-bikes.  In 5 days there, we saw one scooter.  Motorcycles were more obvious to us, since California allows "filtering" - what some people call "lane splitting."  So, it isn't unusual when a motorcyclist pulls between you and the car in the next lane at a stoplight.  Yes, that's legal there.  And certainly gets riders through traffic more efficiently than having to wait behind a long line of stopped cars.

But why not more scooters?  Personally, I think most Americans don't understand how practical a scooter can be... they just look at them as "a less capable motorcycle."  When we got those first scoots in 2013, I thought to myself, "Why didn't someone tell me about these sooner?"  Fun to get around on; easy to pull away from traffic at a stoplight; decent storage since most scooters have under-seat carrying capacity.  And, no shifting - twist and go.  But, you still need a motorcycle license and insurance.

Enter the e-bikes.  In most localities, no license necessary, no insurance required, no safety requirements like helmet laws in many states.  Anyone with the money can buy an e-bike... and you can twist the throttle and be doing 25 mph on your first ride.  Or 30 mph on a Class 3 e-bike.  The downside (and it is a big one): e-bike accidents are on the increase.  Rapidly.  Single vehicle, and especially collisions with cars.  My take is that is a combination of irresponsible behavior on e-bikes and people in cars "not seeing" e-bike riders.  Head injuries for e-bike riders are soaring... a bicycle helmet designed to be used in a 7 mph bicycle crash doesn't provide enough protection in a 30 mph crash.

Of course, the ideal would be to not crash - not on a bicycle, an e-bike, a scooter, or a motorcycle.  Here's an interesting take: e-bike sales are increasing faster for the under-25 crowd and for the over-50 crowd.  And both of those groups seem to be preferring an e-bike that has throttle capability.  Twist & go.  Sound familiar?  That's the same phrase I used for a scooter advantage.  Why should people by a scooter, when an e-bike can be had less expensively, no license, easier parking, the opportunity to ride on bicycle paths/trails, and the fact that you can pick up an e-bike and carry it into your house or apartment?

Does that mean that an e-bike is equal to (or better than) a scooter in real world use?  Not in my opinion; different use cases.  But the fact is, young people are using e-bikes to... get around.  And what happens when you put a two-wheel conveyance in the hands of an adolescent?  Yeah, some of them are going to go into "hooligan mode."  Communities are demanding laws to deal with this behavior: banning e-bikes for those under a certain age; not allowing e-bikes in street traffic or on bicycle paths.

It isn't the conveyance - it is the people using it.  And parents thinking that an e-bike will get their teenager out of the house (and out of their hair).  It's that whole "no supervision" thing at play.  Yesterday, while driving in California, we saw a group of about 10 young males on e-bikes cross a highway (against a red light, while turn lanes had a green arrow) - they took off fast (e-bikes offer immediate torque), about half of them doing wheelies across the highway.  From the vantage point of the RoadTrek, I could see the disdain on other drivers' faces.

When we ride our e-bikes (not as frequently here in Arizona as when we lived in Texas, due to the traffic), we are always pedaling, and not riding by throttle only.  I once had another scooter rider ask me what the range was on my e-bike if only using the throttle (not pedaling) - I couldn't answer that, because... I am always pedaling, using pedal-assist.

So, back to the question: are e-bike sales hurting scooter sales?  Yeah, I think so.  But, they are NOT equally capable.  I can go to the grocery store with my scoot and put a couple bags of groceries under the seat; can't do that on an e-bike.  The surface streets around our home have 45 mph speed limits - no issue with the scoots, but you would be a road hazard on an e-bike.  And, that speed disparity can be dangerous for the slow-moving vehicle in urban traffic.

It would have been nice to have our e-bikes on this latest trip - they would have been perfect in that beach town.  The bicycle rack we have would interfere with getting in the back doors of the van (where our electric cable and hose for city water are located) open.  So, we need to figure out a good option.  At some point. 

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Further confusing things: there are e-bikes with and without pedals.  I would consider an e-bike without pedals as more of an electric scooter.  Many of these look more like a motorcycle frame...

 Some of these are "set at the factory" to go no faster than 20 mph, making them questionably legal on a bike path.  It is simple (literally punch in a code) to disable that 20 mph maximum feature, allowing some of these to hit speeds well over 30 mph (up to 50 mph).  Fast enough to be dangerous in the hands of an adolescent who has no training and questionable judgement.  Can you imagine a kid riding one of these at 50 mph on a bike path where someone is walking with their small grandchild??  Or, through traffic where the rider has no idea about traffic laws?

There are a lot of options out there that call themselves an "e-bike."  That's intentional so they can ride the wave of popularity.  And, you have parents buying these for kids... parents who don't know the difference, but the kids do.  "But, Mom, I want that one that looks like a motorcycle!"  

I looked at one online model that will go "up to 65 mph, weight dependent," that gives you a "cheat code": IN THE CASE WHERE YOU ARE IN POLICE TROUBLE AND NEED TO RESET THE CLASS 2 SPEED SETTINGS, PRESS THE POWER BUTTON 3 TIMES QUICKLY. IT’S YOUR CHEAT CODE.  That previous is a direct quote.

Literally they are telling you how to do this "cheat" so when your kid is stopped by the police, they can quickly set the bike as a Class 2, 20 mph bike, when the police check it... "That wasn't me going that fast - this bike will only do 20 mph tops."

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These "e-bikes" that can go over 30 mph are not inexpensive - you're looking at $2500 and up (some are double that); when running at the potential higher speed, range suffers.  You might be lucky to get 30 miles out of the battery at that speed. 

Range on an actual internal combustion engine scooter (like my Suzuki Burgman 200 or Joan's Xmax) will be well over 150 miles, and then it will take less than 5 minutes to top off the fuel tank.  So, riding around the neighborhood or on a bike path/trail (where a "motorized" conveyance isn't allowed), an e-bike is my choice.  Mixing it up with traffic or taking out on a twisty road: give me my scooter or motorcycle.  

My e-bike is a fat tire bike that does fine on what I would call "mild trails."