Signal Sourcery

So I bought this device recently from J.C. Whitney (THE place we used to buy parts for VW beetles) called the Signal Sorcerer. It is supposed to be a little device that helps small vehicles to be sensed by electro-magnetically triggered traffic light stops.

It is essentially a small powerful magnet that you mount to the underside of your motorcycle, scooter, ATV, or bicycle. The instructions dictate that you should mount it to a flat surface, parallel to the road, and in-line with the direction of travel. I mounted mine to this part just in front of the kickstand. It is just about the closest part to the ground, save for the exhaust.


As you can see, it's basically a small magnet bar on a foam strip with 2-sided glue. It comes in a small tube, although I've seen differing models that look like little red boxes. After I attached it for 24 hours, you can see that the magnet has pulled itself to one side of the glue strip to make love with the bike chassis. I'm not sure if I want to correct this, but I do know that with it touching the metal, the magnet will discharge faster.

I bought it to try it out on a particular light that never triggers for me until a vehicle comes up behind me. When I tried it out recently, it did not work. I am holding out hope though, because there were no scores in the road that are evidence of the sensor. There are some marked sensors in this town that do not trigger for me either, and I will be testing how they work now.

Game On

So I was at Albertson's to pick up some fried chicken and beer (doctor's orders) and I noticed this newly conjured Pepsi Product, Mountain Dew Game Fuel.

It appears to be a marketing tie-in with Halo 3. I played Halo but not Halo 2 because I'm still mad about the last half of Halo 1, which was just the first half backwards. But I am willing to forgive them if the soda actually tastes good...


It purports to be 'Dew(R) with an invigorating blast of citrus cherry flavor (with other natural flavors)'. It actually tastes like what you get when you start pouring some Hawaiian Punch from the fountain drink machine, and the carbonation is sloppy, so you Do The Dew but are too lazy, hyper, or demented to pour out the punch. Kind of like drinking Hubba Bubba. I will give it to Dew that it's like two liters of Redbull Light, in charm and effects. It should provide a gamer some 'fuel' but mostly it made my belly hurt enough to make me stay up late and play video games until I could sleep. Don't ask me about the dreams I had that night...

Ikari Scooterists

Here's a photo I've been trying to get for a while. Every now and then I pass by the Konami building here. Konami is known for some great games like Frogger, Castlevania, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Contra, Dance Dance Revolution, Metal Gear, and a lot more. I imagine that inside it's like Willy Wonka's factory but the Oompa Loompas are coding sprite loops.

You can tell that's my scooter in the shot because of the battle-damage. This also happens to be one of our rare rainy days. We've had about three this year so far.

Hunt for Red Stella

Lately, on my route home, if the timing is just right I will catch a glimpse of an elusive rare Atomic Fireball Stella commuting the opposite direction. This is the same scooter model I ride, but dipped in a custom Ferrara Pan paint job.

try to ride to live

Have I mentioned how much I hate traffic in the mornings? On my way back home this morning, after having breakfast/dinner with some friends, I encountered some construction work which was bringing 3 lanes down to 1. A few folks were turning around, and I decided to follow suit. I waited for a window from the yellow turn lane, and just as I was giving a bit of throttle to make my U-turn, a sedan came speeding around my left side crossing into the empty opposing traffic lane, and I squeezed the brakes as they came less than inches from my front fender. If I had decided to go any sooner, I could have been in one painful pickle. I didn't see or sense anything until it was right in front of me.

So here's a note. Look in as many directions as possible, even the ones you don't expect need to be looked into. The only truly patient humans are in the morgue.

ride to live, live to ride

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy the early morning ride home from work? It's a relatively calm, cool ride that still poses some traffic challenges. The road gets my heart pumping and the scenery keeps my awe enough to make the same route in a car pale in comparison. It's no woodsy lane, but it's a little bit of country and a little bit of rock n' roll.

zoom

As I was on my way home from work this morning, battling some strong wind, I was coming down a particular home stretch and found myself passing a semi-truck on the right. I had some traffic behind me and noticed a car that had been trying to accelerate to pass me before I got next to the semi-truck.

This car apparently had some place important to be because it cut through the turn/yellow lane on the left of the truck, in a particularly dangerous area. What's funny, is that this person lived in the same area I do and we got home at the same time. If I was in a car, I'd be going the same speed but I can imagine it's frustrating to be stuck behind a semi and a slow-looking scooter.