Buy that motorcycle.

[meaculpa2011]

36. It makes my heart sick.

I lost my beloved 1984 Magna in the Sandy flood. Bought it new and rode it lovingly for 28 years. Weaved in and out of NYC traffic every day and only touched the pavement once. Sat in the emergency room with four cracked ribs and a broken collarbone until a twenty-something ER doctor came with my X-Rays.

"How did this happen?"

When I told her she yelled: "What's a man your age doing on a motorcycle?"

I asked her politely: "What's a girl your age doing being a doctor?"

I probably shouldn't have been indelicate to the person who had my broken bones in her hands.

Thankfully the bike only needed some bolt-on parts.

I'll be eligible for SS in four weeks, but I'll have a new bike before then.

And please, spare me the stories about "I know a guy who had to be scraped off the pavement with a putty knife." I used my confirmation money to buy my first bike at 13 and I'll be riding until they shovel dirt in my face.

There is no life without motorcycles!