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i got into my first motorcycle accident of the season...and i wasn't even riding: somebody rear ended my bike while it was parked outside my house this morning.

ironically, i was on the phone with my godmother's son alex, talking to him about getting a motorcycle license. i watched a car pulling out of a driveway. as soon as i thought, that car sure is backing up awfully fast, i saw it hit the front of my motorcycle. i screamed something into the phone and hung up, running across the street barefoot to the scene of the accident.

a woman got out of the car and said, "is that your motorcycle? i didn't even see it there!" i wasn't listening, too preoccupied with taking the rain cover off of the bike so i could inspect the damage. "it doesn't look damaged," the woman said, suddenly becoming a motorcycle repair expert. i ran back inside the house to get the key (and to put on some shoes) so i could start up the bike. steering seemed fine, bike started up okay, there didn't seem to be any visible damage. which quite frankly was surprisingly since she backed into it pretty fast. she must've just hit the front tire and rocked the bike a little bit.

i told her things looked fine but i got her information anyway, as a formality. also at the very least i wanted to make her feel responsible for her reckless driving, because she didn't seem to be very apologetic, more inconvenienced than anything else. i'm sure if i didn't see the accident, she would've just driven away. "are you visiting?" i asked, pointing to the driveway she pulled out from. "no, all this road construction, i just got detoured," she said. i found out she also lives in cambridge.

hopefully this fulfills some sort of vehicular crash quota and i'll be safe for the rest of the season.

the morning drama inspired me to finally get my annual motorcycle inspection sticker. before i could do that though, i needed to make a grocery run. i researched recipes online, but couldn't find anything inspiring. i decided to pick up a rotisserie chicken for lunch then use the leftover to make chicken broth for a rice noodle soup dinner.

after eating, after moving my plants outside, i got ready to take the motorcycle for inspection. that's when i ran into bruce, back in town for the summer, although returning briefly to pittsburgh for a friend's funeral in a few more days.

instead of the nearby riverside kawasaki in union square to get my inspection done, i decided on greater boston motorsports (GBM) instead. being an authorized honda repair shop, i could ask them questions if i discovered the bike had some problems.

the ride from cambridge to arlington heights via mass ave was unpleasant, a gauntlet of stopped cars making left turns, merging vehicles, pot holes, road constructions (reducing the road to a single lane), and incessant traffic lights. on a more positive note, the bike rode fine. this was my first ride since the start of may, and i was a bit tentative, but i quickly got the hang of it. nobody notices me on the bicycle, but the motorcycle (all shiny with chrome) just draws attention.

the $15 inspection went off without a hitch. i was afraid it wouldn't pass because the rear tire was getting old (some minor crackling) and might need to be replaced soon. i managed to ask about the front disc brake, which i had some concerns about the wear patterns and the squeaks, but the mechanic said that was normal.

riding down route 16 into fresh pond, i stopped at a light next to a roadside panhandler in his 50's. he asked about my motorcycle, "what is that, a yamaha?" we got to talking. his name's spencer and he used to ride harleys and indians, even competed professionally in motocross in the 70's and was ranked for a while. "you have any injuries?" i asked him. he smiled, which pretty much said it all. anyone who rides for a long time eventually breaks a bone or two. he pulled down the collar of his t-shirt to show me the scars on his shoulders. "broke my collar bone, my sternum, cracked ribs, broke my back twice, i competed broken for most of the year." "take care!" i told him when the light turned green.

i stopped by the cafe briefly on my way back home (picked up some fresh chinese bread my father had made, trying to copy something he saw in china). i worked on some video buffering solutions for client E before sending out a new version of the program.

in the evening i made my chicken broth rice noodle soup (which i can eat for 3 more nights, not sure if that's a good thing or not) while watching the celtics beat the cavaliers to take the series 3-2. just one more win to advance to the conference finals! all the other conference final teams have advanced (sweeping their opponents), so all of NBA is just waiting for this series to be over.