When I lost my job a few years back, I ended up having to sell my sports car in order to make ends meet. It was the right call for our family, but it was highly disappointing. Though she’s kind enough never to say so, it probably also cost me some Alpha points with my wife. [On the other hand, in Athol's terminology, it gained me some Beta points for sacrificing what was needed to provide for my family.] At that time, we were living in a situation where we only needed one vehicle. When I got my new job, I started working on-site again (as opposed to working from home), and we needed two vehicles. I bought a cheap-ass “disposable” car to get us through for a while, under the theory that we’d be able to afford a nicer, newer vehicle by the time it died. Well, life has a way of not working out the way you plan it. The car died on me a little over a week ago, and we’re not financially ready to get another car right now.
They say when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Well, we’ve been talking for some time about me picking up a motorcycle to replace the sports car. They’re considerably cheaper both to own and operate – at least, entry level bikes are; you can easily spend as much on a bike as on a car. And as a novice rider, an entry level bike is all I want. As it happens, a good friend of mine just upgraded from his entry level bike, and was looking to sell it. We’d already been negotiating to buy it from him when the car died.
Tonight I became the proud owner of a moderately used Suzuki GS500F.
Note: this is not actually my bike, but a picture I found online.
