Rats

Indeed. I suspect 99% of us got it straight away.

 

Ah, you bought a BMW as your first bike. You at least have the excuse
that you knew no better.

 

Yep, that was definitely the way I, and all my mates, used to think
too.

I must be rich now, tho, cos I'd have happily flushed the few grand
the bike owed me as an alternative to the
wheelchair/crutches/operation stuff I've been dealing with since May.

 

That does ring a bell. For sure in my youth I was always happy that I
was mostly self repairing and cheap at that.

I didn't realise until some years afterwards that my mother used to
stay awake waiting for me to come home[1]. This followed a medium
prang, following which at the parents suggestion I took my car test,
but then confounded them by buying another bike a week after passing.

[1] Not helped by me not always coming home when I said I would.[2]
[2] Fortunately my kids were/are *much* better at letting me know
where they are etc.

 

It's amazing, isn't it? I'd love to know how he does it.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

AONTL. My poverty was always measured in how long the bike was off the
road after a prang.

If only we still healed like we did aged 20, eh?

Then again, my bones were all sorted after 3 months, so I can't
complain.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

Eh? Who?

I really like it, too. If non-BMWs are so much better, I have a whole
lifetime of biking bliss ahead of me, with no disappointments. It's just
expectation management.

In fact, see my comment up there ^ about the K. It's already started!

 

I should bloody well think so. Surely no-one takes any notice of their
parents anyway past age 16, do they?

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

You should have tried living with my stepfather. Fucker thought it
was still the 1950s. I really, *really* couldn't wait to leave home.

 

Well I had left home at 16, but would still go back there on leave
avery few months.

I guess if you're still at school, being 100% funded, fed and clothed
by them, they might think they'd got some sort of right to control
your life. But that doesn't excuse anyone taking any notice of them.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

Heh. I have just had a near-identical discussion with a colleague,
following my little interface with that Peugeot, when she saw my arm
in its sling.

"Oh dear, was it serious?"

"Nah. Low speed shunt. The forks were twisted but I rode it home and
untwisted them there. All I/ve got to do is replace an indicator lens.
Dirt bikes are designed to be crashed."

"No, I meant *you*."

"Oh. Ah. I'll be all right."

 

Notice no, but I realise now, that it's a courtesy to let the people
you live with know if you're not coming home. It saves for instance
being locked out and maybe gives them a little peace of mind for no
real effort

 

Funny that. I'm exactly the same way with my son. Maybe even more so,
because I know what the dangers and obstacles are. It was worst when
he was on his DT50 because (a) it was his first bike so the offs were
more frequent and (b) he had the homing ability of a one-winged
pigeon, so he was always getting lost.

 We're sometimes so thoughtless as

<AOL> And kids still are. Example: son (again). He lost his photo
driving licence for the second time. So we went to renew it online.
Last time we'd done this he'd been given a password. He'd forgotten it
and (opddly) there was no recovery facility. So it wouldn't let him
renew. So I told him to do it on the phone later.

Now he's due to take his car theory test, and I've been badgering him
to book it. He hasn't. Not for weeks. So on Monday, my wife said
she'd make sure he'd do it. It didn't happen.

Why not? Because he still hasn't replaced his licence......

I rant at the idiocy and point out that what did he think would happen
if he gets a tug?

"But the DVLA knows I've got a valid licence."

"IT DOESN'T FUCKING WORK THAT WAY! PLOD WILL NICK YOU FIRST AND THEN
YOU HAVE TO ARGUE THE TOSS!"

 

You didn't have a key?
--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

I ignored my parents from the age of 14, and left home at 16 to join
the army purely so I could be fed properly.

 

Oops, I think I was labouring under the false impression you were the
'other' Jeremy

GWS anyway.

Paul.

 

Ace wrote:

I used to get locked out of the house when I was about 14/15, my dad
would deadlock the front door to try to teach me to get home earlier.
So I took to sleeping in his car, which he always left unlocked. Even
that ended after one particularly boozy party, after which I threw up
all over the interior of his newish Marina Estate.