Go far, go fast

Swiftcurrent has two modes: "go far" and "go fast". I had to do a little shopping at WalMart, so afterwards, I decided to head out Apalachee Parkway and see what the little gremlin could do. I streaked out four miles or so, in "far" mode, until I started to get nervous about whether I could get back or not. I got to the Capital City Baptist Church, about a half-mile before the dump. Then I turned around and investigated a little side road, looking for likely residential properties. Back on Apalachee, where cars were whizzing along at 65+, I decided, what the heck, I'd try "fast" mode. The worst that could happen was that I'd have to walk the bike a few miles home. Boy, what a difference! I felt like I was flying, but I could feel the juice draining out of the batteries. I made it fine back to Capital Circle, though, in record time. It must have been seventy degrees, but I was chilled by the breeze. Beautiful day.

Free Baja!

So I bought some Skyy vodka to make vodka gimlets with. This was after, and related to the fact that I read the story of the silly ad for Absolut vodka that implied that the Southwest should still be part of Mexico. I went on and read the Wikipedia article about the Gadsden purchase. I did not know that the Mexicans had signed over much larger portions of what is now Mexico to the US but their cession was refused - not ratified - by the US Senate because they were afraid that the territory would come into the Union as slave states. So, if history had worked out differently, the US would have had Baja California! And Sonora and Coahuila and Nuevo Leon and who knows what all!! So all that area is US territory illegally occupied by Mexico. In commemoration of the expropriation of US territory by Mexico, I propose we set aside December 30, the day in 1853 when General Santa Ana of Mexico and James Gadsden signed the cession of enormous areas of what is now Northern Mexico to the US. We all need to move to northern Mexico and work for the liberation. Free Baja!

Trunk

Silvercurrent got a nice little trunk today at the scooter dealership. Now I can stow my helmet when I go in a shop or to work. And I can put a modest amount of groceries away. So I don't have to wear a knapsack to go shopping any more. Swifty just became more capable and convenient. I love it that the gas needle on my truck hasn't budged for two weeks. That's real savings. And the truck will last longer and always be there when I need it. I am looking into the situation with the battery, since the scooter guy told me the battery had a memory, so I should always drain it as far as possible before I recharge it. Yet in the Users' Manual it says there is no memory and you can recharge it as often as you like. It would indeed be less convenient if you had to drain it down completely, because there's no sure way to tell just when it's going to run out, like those old VW bugs. My commute probably doesn't even take half of the charge it gets overnight, but I have never yet run completely out of charge (and I don't particularly want to) so I don't really know. It's not like you can roll it into a gas station and refill, unless you have the charger cord with you and can convince the gas station guys to let you charge up enough to get home. If this thing takes off, will there be a market for padlocks for outdoor electric plugs?