Tee Shirt, Shorts, and Sandals Season is Here!

I mentioned recently that last year on the first day of spring on which it was warm enough to celebrate being able to take the scooter out clad in only a tee shirt, short pants, and sandals, I posted a picture of myself wearing the light stuff with the good news on Facebook in one of the scooter forums.  Almost immediately the ATGATT (All the gear, all the time.) legion was all over me, chastising me as if I were a public sinner of some kind.

 

I felt like a transgender person trying to use the legally forbidden bathroom in a southern state or an adulteress in the 1600s.

Today was the first day of 2016 suitable for my preferred mode of summer riding dress and I'm celebrating it.  (It's also the 40th anniversary of the day on which I lost my virginity, but who's counting?)  

I don’t think I ever experienced what it was like to be on the “wrong side” among warring factions in the same way before that.  I’m generally an easy going, average, run of the mill Joe who doesn’t try to make waves and to be perfectly honest I didn’t realize that the ATGATTers were such proselytizers until then, hell bent on converting the rest of us to their way of paranoid thinking.  I certainly didn’t set out to offend anyone’s good sensibilities when I posted that picture and its celebratory caption, but that was because I didn’t know I was crossing a line of near religious belief rather than just into a different opinion as to what constitutes “proper” cycle riding dress.

 I do believe I’ll be posting such a picture again today on a similar if not the same Facebook scooter page, but this year I’ll be prepared to handle the flak rather than to shrink from it as I did last year when I pulled the post over the rebellious reactions to it.  I certainly have the right to my opinion and to my own degree of calculated risk when I ride, and I sure as hell don’t need strangers who dress like clams on their bikes to tell me what I should or shouldn’t be wearing when I’m just riding around town.

We could all quote statistics to back up whatever we happen to believe in, but what’s the point?  It’s nobody else’s job to try to dictate what I should do for my own good.  I still rebel in principle against mandates like wearing safety belts in cars.  When I vote, I choose someone to represent MY interests, or at least the majority’s and not to be my big brother looking after me as if I don’t have the ability to do it myself as I choose.  Likewise, I salute my brothers and sisters on two wheels, until they start telling me what I should be wearing when I’m out on the road.  That salute, unfortunately, turns into a pumped fist awfully fast, and not with a supportive downward pull of the arm, but with a firm upward thrust.

Sometimes You Just Need a Good Hot Dog

In an ideal universe, lobster tail soaked in drawn butter, thick burgers lathered with three different cheeses, and fat T-bone steaks accompanied by long baked potatoes slopped with sour cream would be the healthy foods while celery and lettuce would be the things to avoid.  Unfortunately, when it comes to eating, the universe we’re stuck with is far from that ideal and with heart disease, high cholesterol, and diabetes to contend with, there isn’t much on the various doctors' top ten good foods lists that's worth putting on one’s plate and sitting down to enjoy.  Sometimes you just need a good hot dog, though, and today was one of those days.

 

 Just a two mile ride from where I hang my helmet Abe’s Hot Dogs is never too far away nor inconvenient a drive especially on a sunny scooterin’ weather kind of day.

Abe’s Hot Dogs in downtown Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania has been in business since God knows how long.  It seems like its been there forever, and that’s a good thing for us hot dog connoisseurs to whom a good chili dog is worth its weight in prime steak.  If chili dogs aren’t something you eat out your way, dear reader, you’re missing out on something wonderful not only to the tastebuds but to one’s overall sense of being cultured.  Okay, that’s not my tongue in my cheek there; it must be a delicious chili dog!

There’s the man himself doing his thing as he does day in and day out right there in the front window of Abe’s. 

With Abe (if that's really the current owner's name) working the dogs in the window right there by the door it’s dinner and a show for a very reasonable price, under $3 for two dogs with the works.  (Brown mustard, diced onions, and that secret recipe chili sauce.)  Note that the chili sauce in this case is like chili con carne without the beans rather than the tomato based kind of chili sauce that you can get in a jar at the supermarket.

Any meal is better when one is out on the scooter and it’s no exception as I munch my dogs in a parking lot across the street from Abe’s.  I chose that spot to enjoy my lunch because I knew I’d be able to get some pictures of the dogs and the place itself.

To their credit, there are two entirely different chili dog businesses here in the valley, both using the name “Abe’s Hot Dogs.”  They’ve been in business on opposite sides of the Susquehanna River, though only a few miles apart, peacefully sharing the name since a time when lawsuits over things like using the same name for different businesses were practically unheard of.  (I remember reading once about a gentleman in Scotland whose name was McDonald being sued by THE McDonald’s chain for daring to use the name McDonald’s for his business.)  The Abe’s across the river makes just as delicious but slightly different chili dogs. 

And there it is, ladies and gentlemen!  One perfectly put-together Abe’s chili dog, just the way that God and nature intended for hot dogs to be served!

To be certain, I’m generally much more aware of and abiding by the foods on the “good list” for me, but sometimes, as I noted in the title of this post, you just need a good hot dog.  I hemmed and hawed for days about getting a couple of these delicious treats for myself.  The weather wasn’t right.  I wasn’t that hungry.  I had plenty of worthwhile leftovers in the fridge.  And so on.  But today I had no excuses to give myself and the dogs won out.

Yes, every bite down to the very last was just what the doctor ordered.  Wait.  I did mean that figuratively and not literally.  I’m fairly certain that my cardiologist would not have suggested that today’s lunch fare was a good one for me.

As with riding the scooter, eating “off the list” is always a calculated risk.  I was wondering on my way back from Abe’s if I’ll leave this world a little sooner because I ate those dogs, if the balance between giving up things that I like for the sake of living a little longer is worth it.  I worked with a guy years ago who had big time heart disease who knew the ropes and the risks but continued to eat anything and everything he loved.  I never did decide if I admired him for choosing to LIVE his life to the fullest rather than exist in moderation into a miserable old age.

If you plan to drive through the Wilkes-Barre area and might be looking for some genuine valley food Abe’s is definitely a place I’d recommend.  It’s small on size and seating, but BIG on taste and valley ambiance. 

Since this chicken hasn't taken the scooter to the Lehigh Valley yet, it should be noted that if he did, they would be Yocco's chili dogs filling his belly for lunch.  They're maybe, possibly, in some ways, perhaps a little better than either Abe's, but that's for one's own taste buds to decide.  And if you happen to be passing through there and drop into a Yocco's, you'll need to order a chocolate milk to wash your doggies down lest you get eyed like some out of towner who doesn't know a lick about good chili dog cuisine.

Back in Scooter Limbo

I got awfully spoiled by the warm weather two weeks ago or so.  Not only did I take the scooter out multiple times, but I actually did a once around town in short sleeves!  Not so now with the temperatures making up for the warmth I had been enjoying, and with rain to boot.  I've been stuck in the house and in the car for the past week and not enjoying it one bit.

I took pictures the last time I was out, intending to do a blog post, but then they moved onto the back burner and whatever I might've written then never coalesced in my noggin so I'll stick them in here randomly for the hell of it.  Never mind that things still aren't coming together in my brain, but I only did a single post here in March and felt ashamed when I realized it so here I am with a veritable diarrhea of words but a constipation of ideas posting anyway.

Speaking of the short sleeves, last year on the first day when it was warm enough for me to take my first ride in short sleeves, shorts, and sneakers I made the mistake of posting a picture of myself on the scooter dressed as such to one of the Facebook scooter boards.  Right away the ATGATT people were all over my sorry ass.  I'm pretty tolerant, but I can't stand people with a "cause" whether it's their goal to have every newborn baby sucking on its momma's nipples or trying to shame folks into dressing like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles every time they jump on their scooters to run for a jug of milk.  Do what you want, and leave the rest of us alone.  We don't need your sermonizing!  Riding is always a calculated risk.  It's not like we don't know that.

 I had to drag myself up early this morning to head to the parish church where the 8:00 Mass was being offered for the repose of the soul of my daddy.  (A Catholic thing.)  I sat with Mom and my sister.  Today would have been Mom and Dad's 60th wedding anniversary. Well, I suppose it still is, but without him around to celebrate it, it's kind of a moot thing.  I sat there before Mass started just thinking about various parts of my life with Dad, among them how when I was born he was the age at which my younger daughter is now.  Still a kid, practically, at 26, but with a little mouth to feed and a little butt to kick when it was appropriate.  I was afraid when he left us three years ago I was going to find hundreds of reasons why I'd still NEED him around, but thankfully it hasn't been that way.

Yeah, I guess it's kind of stupid, me writing away here with the pictures having nothing to do with what's coming out of my fingertips, but I've done this too often - getting a set of pictures together while intending to do a post and then blowing them out of the "Scootin'" directory because I didn't use them in a timely fashion.  What's the worst that will happen?  Somebody might post a shitty comment?  I think I can live with that.

Oh... I added a new gadget to my arsenal - a Pebble Classic smart watch.  I debated with myself about getting it for weeks, visiting the store every now and then and mulling it over, convincing myself that it would be a great thing to have, and then just as quickly telling myself that it would be just another thing that I don't need that will fall by the wayside soon enough.  

The novelty is still with me though I've had it for a few weeks now.  It's VERY handy when I'm on the scooter and get a text, or a Hangouts or Facebook Messenger notification, or an e-mail on one of my primary mail accounts.  There's the message right on my wrist and it hardly takes a momentary glance down to see if it's something worth pulling over for, or something I can reply to at leisure as is usually the case.  And if the phone starts ringing, the name of the caller appears so I know if I should tap the Bluetooth and take the call or just let it ring its merry little dinger off and go into voice mail.

Oh, my!  The sun started shining brightly since I began writing here.  Gonna check the temperature and forecast and see if a scooter ride is in order.  As is typical, I have absolutely nowhere I need to go.  Scootering is more of a want to than a need to kind of thing anyway, and I like it that way!