Paid My Dues

For time reference, this all happened yesterday.

So the only thing left for the trailer ordeal was to pick up the paperwork and submit it to the Tag/Title guy to send off to Harrisburg.

Since I had to drive something to get to West Chester, I decided on the motorcycle since it was only documents I needed to handle. I checked the weather – no rain, so the motorcycle would work. Usually I wear my protective jacket, but it’s been hot as balls, so I left it at home. A quick run to West Chester without the jacket should be fine and certainly more comfortable than if I wore the jacket in the heat. I jump on the bike and head to work.

Midway through the morning the shop calls and says the paperwork’s done.

At lunch when I go to head out, the skies are dark and little sprinkles are falling on the golf course.

Damn!

I quickly check the radar. The clouds are present, but still a little thin. Maybe I’d have time to run to West Chester and get this dealt with. I run out of the office and jump on the bike. The whole time I’m cruising along I’m praying,

“don’t let it rain till I get the paperwork taken care of, don’t let it rain till I get the paperwork taken care of.”

I get to West Chester, park at the tag/title place and run over to the shop. They’re conveniently across the street from each other.

I get the paperwork. The old guy behind the counter is cantankerous and generally annoying, but I let it slide. He took care of my stuff.

I run back over to the Tag/Title place and tell him I have a kit trailer title/inspection request. He’s not happy. They are the bane of his existence. He fills out the forms (similar to a regular car title request), copies everything, and says I owe the state $35. He waives his $24 fee because these things are so annoying and says he’ll send it off. I write the state a check and throw him $20 anyway. He’s been good to me. He deserves something.

Now the tough part.

“So uh, how long’s this going to take to process?” I ask.

“Three to five weeks.” was his initial response.

I’ve only got two and a half.

Then he counters and says in all likelihood ten business days.

Cool. So why is this so hard for him?

Whatever. My part’s done. The paperwork is sent off. It’s just a waiting game now.

I walk out the door, and into the rain.

Great. The power of prayer to my rescue.

I put on my helmet, wipe off the seat and resolve to get wet.

But it’s more than just getting wet I’m worried about. The back tire on the bike is nearly bald. The bike is light and just doesn’t handle well in the rain. At every stop light my back tenses up as I ease on the brakes trying to come to a stop without sliding out. I manage town ok. The speeds are low and roads straight. Out of town is a different story. The speed picks up and the roads are bigger. Cruising with traffic at 50 mph while cold rain pelts your skin, sends all the cautionary alarms off in my head. As soon as I can, I pull off onto a secondary road. It’s tree covered and semi dryer.

Whew! I’m safe.

Not quite.

The tree cover is intermittent. Suddenly I’m thrown between dry, off camber, and curvy to slick, wet off camber and curvy. Yeah if this was mt. biking, I’d be in heaven, but it’s not. To make matters worse, the road is rutted, grooved and heavily patched. This causes the bike to track in different directions all on its own.

No really. I didn’t have enough to worry about already.

What cautionary alarms were sounding before are now screaming in my head. I can hardly concentrate over “Oh my god this sucks!”

The bike’s going left while the road is going right. I can’t hit the brakes in fear of sliding. Wet, dry, straight, curvy, down, up, rut, slick, steer, steady is all I can do.

“Why did I take this fn road?!?!?!”

Finally I reach the end. It’s still raining, but the road is more common. It’s straight, flat and wide, and that’s all I need.

I motor the short distance back to the office, park the bike and get back to work.

I certainly hope that sacrifice goes toward something (beyond reminding me of how stupid I can be) and maybe I get the title/tag back in time.

– b