CH-CH Changes

CH-CH-Changes...

Ah that wonderful song by David Bowie summed up my first “Vespa in earnest” since the move to the Little House!

As I had changed address, I thought that I had best do the formality & change my licence information; way cool, a time to Surf out to that wonderful example of neo-urban-farmhouse-inspired-building being the NSW Roads & Traffic Authority Office, located in the Leewood industrial estate on the cool south side of OJ. On the upside, it also gave me a chance to ignore the painting & other work needed on the little house in order to have, some me time, if only for a little while.



Changing addresses took 10 minutes! Parked nicely in the middle of a spot again...



Anyway, the nice thing about the new address is travelling home! As I did not have to take the most practical & quickest way home (which I probably wouldn’t anyway!), I got to traipse all over OJ & down memory lane about the rather dull working class city that I grew up in…

The sign looks current; it isn't; The danger no entry sign is!

I first rode past the site of the Orange Sale Yards. These were operating on this site for years; it got to the stage where, after agreement between the 3 local government areas (being, Orange, Cabonne & Blayney councils) that the sale yards would be moved to Carcoar. I think the new facilities are probably way better… I can’t help thinking of the young Bogan (that I was) thinking that this place was so cool when we went here on school excursions; oh the joys of Primary school in OJ in the late 1970s!



Ahh, Edward street - so many memories!



Next on my impromptu hoon was a right turn for a spin down the wide expanses of Edward street; there used to be an Auto Wreckers that I spent a vast amount of time toiling away at when I was in my early twenties. It went by the way & the shop is now a welder/sheetmetal fabricators shop these days. Unfortunately for the wrecking yards, the arrival of quality at very affordable prices in the mid-nineties seems to have killed off the industry; such is the way things go…

The Electrolx factory; carpark in the forground

This is the manufacturing hub of OJ, Electrolux. They make refrigerators in this factory. In the past couple of years there have been rumours that this plant will shut down as it is cheaper for the Swedish multi-national to manufacture in Thailand (& bring in these fridges to Oz, as we have a free trade agreement with that Kingdom); I hope it doesn’t go the way of the Sale yards; this factory is part of the reason that OJ is a large provincial city, in many ways it has been the spine that built Orange, yes, mining has added a great additional source of employment to the town, but, the less other industries we have, the more worried I become, OJ used to have fruit co-ops, wool scouring & a textile factory, granted that these were in some ways “the ugly & low paid” industries, but heck, how many coffee shops & restaurants & gyms do we have & do they really replace these manufacturing jobs as far as creating opportunities in these areas? I will let everyone else come to their own conclusions over that question.

Those trees drop sap onto anything underneath them; i am not leaving the Surfer to that treatment!

Oh gawd, talk about nostalgia, I grew up here – it is now a Cardiologists practice (although it does look a lot better than it did when I was a teenager & when I did leave the place), the Galah-like colours are still the same though; as are the slate tiles that Dad & I put down on the front porch in the early Nineties. The medical centre that is beside this house was where Mr & Mrs White lived; they lived in an old weatherboard house… it had large “Art Deco” style furniture inside it & the old gas light controls & fittings too. It became a rental house for quite some time before the developers moved in & created the tasteful modern medical site…

Naughty!

I next shot past the Orange Velodrome, which got me thinking as well; Whene we were teenagers, Megamind (My thoroughly evil younger brother) & I used to ride our 10 speed racing bikes on the Orange Velodrome, mostly we’d race each other & dreamt about stuff… It was the 1980’s & we were teenagers & that is what teenagers did in the 1980’s

This reminiscing about racing cyclists prompted a memory…I have seen professional cyclists following a pace setter on a scooter or other small motorbike; thus I decided to see what it was like to take the surfer for a spin around a Velodrome…

I have to admit, it was cool, it reminded me of the old days, but with a lot less sweating! I did make it to top gear & flat out & was quite chuffed at the result – as the speedo isn’t working I have no idea as to the speed that I achieved!

Other than that, from an official point of view, what I did was rather naughty & should not in any way be condoned or done by others… don’t you love it when those in power say this stuff when they get busted by someone digging up a 20 year old picture of them living it up as a teenager!

As for the velodrome, Mr White once told us that there used to be semi-professional racing conducted here in the 50’s, with large crowds & professional bookmakers offering cheap entertainment to the denizens of OJ… apparently, this scene was killed off by the arrival of Television to the central Tablelands.

I wonder if there was a Vespa rider pontificating about the way things have changed when the cycling races stopped, the reason I thought about this was that I had past by Wade Park (opposite where I grew up). This park once had a greyhound race track around the outside of the footy/cricket oval. The races went to the Bathurst track about 6 years ago… apparently better facilities & more TAB money in the Bathurst track. To be honest, I was a bit sad that the old greyhound races don’t happen there anymore. When I split up with Alissa the Sensible’s Mum & was living across the road from the place, we used to have a great time wandering over to the dog track & watching the “dish lickers” run around on a summer’s Saturday night… As Alissa was about 3 years old at the time she just liked to try & talk to the doggies; but hey, we had fun! It’s a bit sad that the Silly boys won’t get “that fun” in the future either…

I couldn't get any further; all the horsies were in their stables I supose!

Of course, my meanderings then took me past Towac Park; OJ’s own centre of Horse racing; which, in my humble opinion, was in due need of a thorough Vespa-ing… at least the car park bit anyway as I could not work out how to get onto the racetrack!

I have been to the races a few times at this track & usually ended up with a rather large headache & a 10 on the Richter scale case of “never-again-itis”… I don’t actually gamble, so I’ll let you make up your own mind on that one! But let’s just say; I did enjoy these events!

After I got home & was picking up the Silly Boys, I suppose my case of nostalgia was one of those rose coloured glasses days, where you think “gee, looking back, that was cool” when at the time you hated it all; you know what they say “Nostalgia, it ain’t what it used to be…!!!”

So Mote it be!

Leigh

Selling out???

I have accepted Fate

After the move, I now have some time to do some stuff… I have ordered a speedo cable… about time too, the surfer has been showing 357.2km for about 12 months now.

Originally, I was acting the goat & not caring; BUT, it would have been a bit impressive if I could quote a top speed; I was always looking at it the way that the Newtown Rugby League Club looks at its “official attendance”… after every game, it is always the same number (taken from their last first grade home game…) If you’ve ever watched a game at Henson park, you have to laugh at the shenanigans that the fans & club managers get up to; every game that quote the same number of people in attendance as they have since they returned to competition - to a raucous chorus of laughter & cheering.

I was doing the same thing… until this morning at 4:30AM when I cracked & placed the order… am I a sell out?

I hope not, but maybe I can track the speedo & get the economy of the Surfer & such… it will be an interesting exercise

So Mote it Be

Leigh

I'm Sure it was OK!

I’m Sure it was OK - Or, Gee, it seemed like a good idea at the time!

The sign was there for bicycles, not scooters… anyway, I wasn’t taking up much space…

Guilty as charged your honour

That was until I saw the parking cop walk past… straight away my stomach dropped.

Oh well, I have gotten away with my silly business for far too long… here comes my first traffic infringement in a while… I had even taken an incriminating photo of my unlawful actions, so I could not even plead that it was someone else with a ’68 Vespa in town

So I finished my cappuccino & the associated posing & even the quick call in at the Chemist on the way back (as I didn’t want to see the Brown Bomber in the act hitting me with a ticket)

Nothing… Hmm, I’ll just have to wait & see if this is an electronic infringement system that will see me booked & the notice sent straight to the home address!

Bugger

Leigh

The Little House

Hi Anyone - Check out the new digs; looks like a motorcycle ad doesn’t: It’s all about the bikes man!

From 4 bedrooms to four rooms...

Chair, Petrol, Bikes...(I use a green fuelcan for the Vespas 2% 2 stroke fuel)

So Mote it Be!

Leigh

Instant Idiot...

Instant Idiot, Just add Kids... or the most dangerous place in OJ

As usual, EVERYONE ELSE is the "Bad Driver"...

OK fellow parents, we all know that your child is the single most important thing in the world… to the exclusion of all other living things, but how about taking a chill pill when it comes to the daily school run…

I was being Mr Mum & doing the Silly Boys School run & I saw the following offenses (both to traffic rules of the Socialist Republic of NSW & to common sense…)

Double parking

Triple parking

Parking in the Bus drop of zone (as obviously that school bus heading down the road is NOT going to the school)

Talking on the mobile phone whilst driving in a school zone (but only after they have dropped of their own little Eponie’Rae…)

I would also estimate that these are the same people who sneer that “young people today just show no respect for the rules of society…” & complain about the poor driving of the “others” out there in the world. And everyone wonders why motorcyclists get driven over in broad daylight!

Somehow, I can’t see hi-vis riding gear making the least bit of difference to this whilst everyone thinks it is someone else that is the problem…

Anyway, just something to think about fellow inhabitants of Planet Earth

Leigh

On Maters of Size...

So one of the features that the Silver Surfer has, is the spiffy glove box behind the leg shield... A lot of Vietnamese Vespas have these, & a lot have super cool Mod-Squad style Union Jacks & stuff on the doors....

Not the Surfer; Silver door only!

Despite this, I do find the glove box bloody useful.

A diary, mail, house keys, spare shopping bag, water bottle & a spare L plate for the Child Bride... all this with room to spare. How good are the old Vespas! The eagle eyed readers will note the bodgey wiring...

When I go to collect the mail from the post box, I find that the glove box is the best way to cart the letters home. It is also big enuf to fit a water bottle (in the case that I should get thirsty, OR, if the Surfer should get mad at me & decide to break down when I am hooning about the place, which would see me push him home!

Even though the box isn't truely waterproof, it does keep things fairly well out of harms way & I seem to be able to fit a poo-load of stuff in there...

So Mote it Be

Leigh

Leaving Home

Sorry for the lack of posts; unfortunately, I have been rather busy in the old “Fix up the House before you sell it” mode, which was then rather quickly followed by “OH crap, I now have to pack everything up so that you can live in a shoebox” mode!

Due to me valuing my marrage to the Child Bride, this has seen me become a very domesticated house Husband/Home Handyman type for the past couple of months...not to mention the hobby destroying time known to most Australians as Christmas has also stopped my earstwile Cubbing

Short answer of what I have been up to (Cub/Vespa/Lambretta-wise) is “Nuffin’…”

No stupid rides, No short trips to the shops, no posing at café’s… NUFFIN”

I did have time to (rather naughtily) Take Dan for a last spin up & down the street in which we live… (Benny wasn’t interested, so he & the Child Bride sat on the verge & poked fun at us & our nostalgic spin on the Surfer)

Even for a spin in the front verge we have our helmets! (yep, safety-nerd alert!)

Dan just loved playing with the Surfers horn button; which, whilst rather noisey was better than the Kill switch that he was pressing before the ride!

A short circle infront of the Auld House before the Surfer moved - yes, I know it is a touch naughty, but give me a break - I am sharing a memory that no-one would otherwise know about!

The trailer that we bought turned out to be OK for scooter moving; however, at some stage in the future it will need a couple of tie down points in side the tray (as tieing the scooters in was a complete pain in the bum!)

The ramps were el-cheapo units from an autoparts store & the tying in is bodgey-esque in the extreme. But both scooters made it to where they needed to go in one piece

 

Cub wise, I have carefully packed up the Love Cub… mostly into a box with a super-tacky sticker on the outside… so to avoid the confusion with all the other boxes of crap belongings that we have stacked all over the place (with some other random scooter stuff as well). From past experience when I have moved houses (in the long distant past) I know that there will always be a couple of small things that go missing, so I had started to pack the love Cub well & truly before the move (pretty much as soon as the Child Bride & I decided to list the Auld House for sale). 

I have rather deviously, not contacted the Motor Trimmer, as I reckon that it is better to have the seat safe at his place, rather than kicking around in the move & getting damaged...also, he was shut over the Christmas break...

The Sliver Surfer & the Lambretta are now living in a farm shed (which, when you consider that they are refugees from Vietnam probably means that they have returned to a spiritual home (because I recon at some time in the last couple of decades they were some farmers vehicle of choice…)

On the upside, I have access to a rather large shed in which to tinker & fondle the scooters in until  until we get our life together & build the future home of Planet Meaghers (& a scooter repository)

The new home... for the time being

So Mote it be

Leigh