Bartering Bandits, Being Broke, and Burgers

I finally bit the bullet and got rid of the bandit. My first motorcycle, a 1992 suzuki Bandit 400 (GSF 400,) just wouldn't stay running for me, no matter how much money I poured into it. It was a fun little bike, but I hadn't ridden it in months, mostly due to its unreliable nature. I didn't want to get stranded on the side of I-45 again. So, seeing as my everyday commuter, the bigger, badder, and generally more useful and fun motorcycle, the Suzuki TL1000s had started having electrical problems, I decided it was just stupid to have two broken bikes. So in a deal with Andy at Metric Motorcycles (a good guy who owns a local bike garage) I've bartered my bandit for his services fixing and tuning up the TL. That required a Uhaul rental, two trips across Houston, and many hours out of the day, but it was worth it. I even stopped for a Bubbas burger with B. for lunch. mmm... Bubbas.

Really, I had no other choice. Seeing as the problem with the TL is electrical, and I have no way of accurately diagnosing, much less fixing the problem on my own, added to the fact that I'm broke, have almost $3k in medical bills (not counting physical therapy bills which haven't even come in yet) and a poorly-aging car, I can't afford to pay for the repairs, and really can't afford not to have my TL working. So there it is. It's been fun, little Bandit. I'm sure Andy will take much better care of you than I have.

Yesterday was a slow day with a bunch of Half-Life-2 on the X-box. It's a great 1st person shooter, with a story as much fun as I remember the first Half-Life to be. Later in the evening, I went with B. to her parents house up 290 in Fairfield for some burgers her dad cooked on the grill. I'm such a sucker for cheeseburgers. Her family is really nice, and Fairfield reminded me of parts of Delaware. It was cold and rainy most of the evening, with a low in the low forties last night. Nice contrast to the 84 degrees we hit on Saturday, when I was lugging bikes in and out of the uhaul motorcycle trailor. Yeesh. I wish it'd just stay cold already.