not only is it a silly picture, but i couldn’t seem to figure out how to rotate it. yes, i’m a dork.

but really i’m on here to continue THE MOTORCYCLE SAGA…

ch. 1(well… not really, as you know): early last week, i still hadn’t heard from the mechanics about when they planned to be finished. so, since dick needed to call them anyway, he offered to ask them about it. they said they’d be done by the next day. so i called the RDW (like the DMV) to schedule an appointment. the RDW said that i couldn’t make an appointment for several weeks because they are booked, but that i could come in monday or tuesday morning between 8 and 12 with no appointment. worried about how i’d get the temporary license plate in time, i asked them what i could do. they said i could come into their office and get it printed out.

ch. 2: the next day, oh excitement, i heard from the mechanics. they were done, but said they’d need to also replace the tires or they wouldn’t pass inspection. shit. add 400 euros. i call matt about finances, mechanic calls back. i ok it, then when finished with work, hop onto metro then bus out to RDW, where i first get lost, then sit in the waiting room for 40 minutes, then the very nice lady tells me that i could have just called in and had them TELL me a license plate number, since i just get a number that i in fact have to write onto a piece of paper and attach to the back of my bike. silly, huh? anyway, then i wait for the bus back to the other bus back to jane’s house, total time since leaving work: just over 3 hours. then a bus to the train station to utrecht to meet matt and dick and then go to bauhaus concert. details on summer darkness to follow.

ch. 3: call mechanic to find out how early they open on monday, since the RDW actually allows people to begin the appointment line-up at 7:45. they say ok, you can come early monday morning, just call us before you come, so someone can be there to open the garage. oh, and by the way, we don’t take credit. shit again. so matt and i will need to use our american debit cards to get enough money out by monday morning to be able to afford all this, because our insurance just came out of our dutch account, and we are beyond even over-draft limits.

ch. 4: i screwed up and totally forgot that i can only draw a small amount each day from my tfcu card, and matt had left his card in maastricht. but i decided to try, and went to use my card at the train station, on the way to saturday’s concert events. i used the wrong pincode, long story there, and my card was blocked. i skipped all concerts that night because i was stressing too much.

ch. 5: this morning. 7:15. i call mechanic. no answer. 7:45. i call mechanic, explain that sorry, i can’t come in until after 2 or 3, when i can get a hold of my bank finally and fix problems. they, amazingly, seem amused, even happy about this. i go back to bed. matt and i get up around noon, pack up all our stuff, and leave dick’s. we get off the train at just about 2 pm. we see that there is a bank office near the train station, so we wait until 2, call tfcu, and explain the problem. the woman on the phone tells me that i can go to any bank and ask for a cash advance on my card, and take out the full amount, but that it will be impossible from a machine. we go into the bank office. it is not a bank. they tell us where to find one. we find it, they tell us they don’t have money services, but that we can use the machine. we explain the problem, they tell us where the most convenient branch that can help us is. we go there. they say we can only do that at a GWK office, which is a money-changer’s. the nearest one is on leidseplein, nowhere near where we are. we split ways at this point. matt thinks i’m crazy for even bothering any more today, and i’m simply desperate to get this done. matt has plans to meet up with miko, so off he goes.

ch. 6: at the GWK. long line. but good news: there’s no commission on such a large amount. yay! next good news: although the line is very long and slow, there happens to be a busstop for the VERY bus i need right on leidseplein, and i JUST make it, running through tourists with leathers, helmet and backpack in hand. and umbrella. next good news: when i call the mechanics, i find that indeed they will still be open when i get there, over an hour later. yay! then bad news: when i called the RDW to get a new one-day license plate number for tomorrow, their computers were down. luckily, 30 minutes later, still on the bus, when i called back, they were up and running and they were able to give me a number.

oh, but we’re not done yet.

ch. 7: when i finally get to the busstop i need, with help from a very kind young woman on the bus, who also offers to walk me part way to where i’m going, i learn from her that the address i have for them is wrong. they have moved locations in the past 2 months, and no one thought to tell me. so i call them. after sounding both annoyed and amused at the same time, they sent the mechanic, kees, who’d done the work on my bike, to come get me. then it started pouring rain. not just raining, by the way. pouring. then, although i had shaken the bike to listen for gas, and had in fact heard plenty of gas moving around in there, i ran out of gas a few minutes out of the shop. thinking it couldn’t possibly be the gas, i called the shop. they asked if i could just leave the bike there, and they’d go get it later. i said that, considering that i had no idea where i was, didn’t see any busstops, and don’t have any friends who currently have access to transportation, that no, that wouldn’t work. dick’s bike, as they know, has a dead battery. they know this because i’m picking up his new one from them for him tomorrow morning after my inspection. matt left his in maastricht because of all the rain, and everyone else i know is elsewhere. inconvenient. so they put kees on the phone. kees says, are you sure it’s not the gas? i say, yes. he says, just check. i do. they fixed my reserve valve (which used to be broken, and thus useless), and so… happily, i had a reserve tank. and i went to the nearest station, and filled it up. then i headed here. i walked in the door at 7:10 this evening. what a fucking day.

let’s hope that tomorrow goes smoothly. 🙂

oh, here’s a picture of matt looking cute:

yay! so, more news when i have it. oh, but it WAS nice riding my beautiful bike here. 🙂