.| UrbanNerd |.

Thanks to all the well wishers who emailed me!

Here’s a quick update: Wife and I went to the Port Authority today to look at my bike. The bike is in surprisingly excellent condition. I grabbed a few personal items from the bike but I will have to go back to have it towed. It seems as if the crash bars took most of the damage.

I spoke with the lieutenant on duty, he was very nice and gave me a copy of the accident report. In the accident report was the witnesses’ phone number (which is excellent news). As I suspected the reporting police officer only took down a partial plate number (NNY). I told him that I thought I overheard the witness saying NNY30B, he ran that plate but it came back to a Buick which is obviously not the vehicle. Also the police report incorrectly stated that the vehicle was a Ford. I told the lieutenant that the vehicle was definitely a black Jeep either Cherokee or Laredo. Unfortunately I was told that there are no tapes to pull from the tunnel as the only star recording when something is happening. Additionally I was told that they can only run a search on plate number and not by color of vehicle or make and model which seems very limiting to me. I’m still going to pursue an online search to see if I can get more information.

It is still incomprehensible to me that someone did this on purpose. As I write this my right hand is in a temporary cast while I await surgery on a Bennets fracture to my thumb. (this means it is both broken and dislocated at its base) Additionally my left hip and knee are very banged up; although not broken, I am unable to walk.

Let me explain why I am in this condition. Yesterday while coming home via the Holland Tunnel, an irate road rage driver was following me very closely through the tunnel. Of course he was driving an SUV, black Jeep either Laredo or Cherokee, late 90′s early 00′s model. After the merge into the tunnel I ended up in front of him (I was riding my Vespa). He followed me closely and obviously wanted to pass. As soon as I got out of the tunnel I slowed down and pulled to the right to let him pass. This was obviously not good enough for this criminal with no regard for life. He sped up and purposely clipped me. I know this was purposeful because he then sped away.

Luckily there were plenty of good Samaritans around. One approached me while calling 911 to make sure I was OK. Another was following the driver in question stopped and told the police what he thought the plate number was. From what I could hear while lying on the ground being attended to by the E. M. T’s the plate number in question was something similar to New Jersey NNV-308 (he could have said MN or MM, and he was unsure if it was a V or Y). I then overheard the police officer say that the plate did not match, so it must have been a partial plate. I’ve not yet gotten the police report, but I am concerned that the police officer did not pursue trying to figure out what the full plate was. I am also concerned that he may not have written down the name and contact information of the eyewitness. The police (Port Authority) only spoke to me briefly and I was given information on where to get the report and pick up my bike. Unfortunately I can only mail for the report I cannot go one person to pick it up. I am unsure what condition the bike is in, I know it’s in one piece, but I heard the officer say something about a leak of some sort. I am going to have the bike towed to scooters originali once I’m able to go to the pound.

I am left with a number of questions, perhaps some of you reading this website may be able to help. What do you believe my best recourse should be? Do any of you know of a good website to use that would allow me to try various license plate combinations to look up this license plate? Should the police have been more vigilant in trying to track down this person? It seemed to me that they were just talking this up to another hit and run. What if the police officer did not even write down the partial plate number in the report? If I find out which correct plate number is by doing online searches can I still pursue something against the driver? Can’t the Port Authority use the cameras from the tunnel to identify this driver? I have left a message for my attorney, will this be the only way that I can pursue this matter and get a response from the Port Authority police?

By the way, lest you think that I typed this entire message with my left hand only, I installed the basic dictation software that comes with Microsoft office. I may upgrade to the Dragon naturally speaking program.

I will update with pictures and further developments as I get them.

Follow ups: Part 2, Part 3, Getting Back to Things, Accident Update, Oh The Pain

Impossible you say? Nothing is impossible, not if you can imagine it (the professor says so)!!. The TomTom Rider is the first GPS designed for use on 2 wheels. Here are the highlights:

-Plug and drive: no installation or activation necessary; just feel the freedom!
- Designed for 2 wheels: TomTom RIDER isn’t just weatherproof, it also gives you a perfect view of the screen thanks to anti-glare screen technology and an integrated sun-visor
- Easy to use: drive mode tailored for simple touch-screen operation, even with gloves

The good people of TomTom promise us that we will be able to “Feel the freedom” in summer 2005. Well even though it doesn’t feel like it today, summer is only a week away, and at last check it’s 2005. I eagerly await them to make good on their gadget promise.

Gotlogos.com will be getting my business soon. For $25 you can get a logo made within a few days. I stumbled across the link to them on Kevin Kelly Cool Tools, who had this to say:

Quick, dirt-cheap custom logos for your blog, website, garage band, or start-up. You give ‘em as much guidance and background as you can jot down, and this outfit will send you one –and only one — finished design a few days later for 25 dollars. It’s a take or leave it job, so inspect their galleries of previous jobs to set your expectations. You can get revisions for $10 more, or purchase more premium packages for fancier “branding” needs. For this price, I figure I can’t lose to much if it fails, but it’s cheap and cool if they get it right.

He actually did try the service out, check out his link to see the results.
Cool Tools Story with logo pic

The funny thing about this article is that the owner had to shut down because of slowing scooter sales. She reopened as a half cafe/half scooter shop. I think she will find that she might have to switch back to all scooters, judging from the pickup in scooter sales nation-wide. But then, it is a jim dandy idea to get a cup o’ java while buying a scoot.

The owners of 200cc scooter shop are back on Hendricks Avenue and this time they’ll be pouring more coffee into an already hyper retail market.
Owner and general manager Melissa Moldovan used to peddle vintage Vespa scooters out of the 4,000-square-foot space across from La Napolera in San Marco. But the market for the classic scooters, which was once on cruise control, is running out of gas.
Moldovan thought a coffee shop would take better advantage of her location in the middle of one of San Marco’s fastest-developing retail corridors so she overhauled her shop, took on a partner and changed the interior from scooter showroom to cafe.
The changeover required Moldovan to shut down for three months. The new look’s wide-open interior creates a laid-back atmosphere.

click here for story

Why oh why does nothing like this happen in NYC?

A MONKEY is on the loose in Tokyo, hanging out at train stations, frightening children and leading to a wild chase by TV crews hoping for a glimpse of the unusual visitor to the metropolis.
The monkey, believed to be a Japanese macaque, was first spotted on April 30 in the unlikely spot of Hiroo, an upscale residential area in trendy Shibuya ward.
The animal has since been heading north sampling diverse neighbourhoods, growling at children in the Yotsuya business district, showing up in the older district of Sugamo and strolling around near the Akabane train station.

Here is my favorite quote form the article:

“There are dozens of TV crews and media reporters in the Akabane area looking for the monkey. We hope they won’t irritate the monkey, which can become aggressive,” he said.

click here for story

Yes I said it: Bipartisan. That is a dirty word lately when it comes to American politics. As a self described moderate, I usually try to dissect things and make decisions based on information and reason, rather than “talking points” from the left and right extremes.

Enter the budget. If there was ever a victim of partisanship it is the federal budget. The budget is reaching critical mass. By 2040 the United States of America will be no better than Argentina. If you don’t believe me, just ask the conservatives. If you are looking for a second opinion, then just ask the liberals as well. I should say, ask the EGGHEAD liberals and conservatives. The non-extremist, intelligent and able to be reasoned with members of each respective party who (low and behold) came to the following same exact conclusion: we are doomed because of our partisanship and our lack of responsibility where the federal budget is concerned. Read this and be afraid:

While Washington plunged into a procedural fight over a pair of judicial nominees, Stuart Butler, head of domestic policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation, and Isabel Sawhill, director of the left-leaning Brookings Institution’s economic studies program, sat down with Comptroller General David M. Walker to bemoan what they jointly called the budget “nightmare.”
There were no cameras, not a single microphone, and no evidence of a lawmaker or Bush administration official in the room — just some hungry congressional staffers and boxes of sandwiches from Corner Bakery. But what the three spoke about will have greater consequences than the current fuss over filibusters and Tom DeLay’s travel.
With startling unanimity, they agreed that without some combination of big tax increases and major cuts in Medicare, Social Security and most other spending, the country will fall victim to the huge debt and soaring interest rates that collapsed Argentina’s economy and caused riots in its streets a few years ago.
“The only thing the United States is able to do a little after 2040 is pay interest on massive and growing federal debt,” Walker said. “The model blows up in the mid-2040s. What does that mean? Argentina.”
“All true,” Sawhill, a budget official in the Clinton administration, concurred.
“To do nothing,” Butler added, “would lead to deficits of the scale we’ve never seen in this country or any major in industrialized country. We’ve seen them in Argentina. That’s a chilling thought, but it would mean that.”
Each of the three had a separate slide show, but the numbers and forecasts were interchangeable.

Will the Senate consider these woes? No, they are too busy debating the filibuster. If they cannot even come to a simple agreement of how to work together when voting for judges, what hope do we have of fixing the budget?

Not surprisingly, the Heritage and Brookings crowds don’t agree on an exact solution to the budget problem… But such haggling seems premature when both parties still deny the problem. “I don’t think we’re there yet,” Walker said. “The American people have to understand where we are and where we’re headed.”
And where is that? “No republic in the history of the world lasted more than 300 years,” Walker said. “Eventually, the crunch comes.”

As usual, the eggheads (AKA us NERDS) have got it right way before anyone else.

click here for the story

If you know me, then you know that I am a U2 freak. I just love the band. My wife shares this obesssion. We have seen them many times, and have even traveled to see them in Ireland when they played at Slane Castle in August of 2001. But if you did not know me, and only saw my personal website (urbannerd.com) then this might cause you to wonder how long I stood on line wearing a Yoda mask last night. While I WAS waiting on long lines last night, it was NOT for Star Wars. You see when one has general admission/floor tickets to see U2, one goes to see Bono & company in all of their glory first. I must have SOME priorities in life after all. The Empire will wait until this weekend.

So exactly how good were my seats? Just take a look at the awesome pictures I got! (click to enlarge)

In another life, this writer would tool about Nashville on a sleek 1950s-era turquoise Vespa motor scooter, an attractive lass in tow.
Sadly, a gangly frame limits my scooter-riding comfort level. Add a pasty face and numerous personality quirks, and interest from the ladies is minimal.
My misfortune, given the romantic, hip and urban image of the scooter.
On the two-wheeled motorized-transportation theme, downtown Memphis is abuzz with scooters. But get this: The little vehicles are retrofitted with three wheels and buggies and provide alternatives to cabs and horse-drawn carriages.
Zipping about the Bluff City with the energy and ubiquity of Metro Councilman-at-large Adam Dread blanketing Nashville’s social scene in the mid-1990s, the scooters represent a clever business idea fueled by a progressive big-city mindset.
And they offer ammunition to refute the argument that Nashville is vastly superior to Memphis.
Let’s not mince words: Many Nashvillians scoff at Memphis, contending the West Tennessee metropolis is sluggish and crime infested, an inferior place struggling to play catch-up to its successful and handsome rival city to the east.
Such opinion is absurd.

click here for the rest of the article

Now that nice weather is here, lets not all get over zealous and start disobeying traffic laws and such. This guy really should not have run the stop sign, intersections are where some of the worst and most deadly bike verses car accidents occur. I hope the guy is okay. Aside from that, screw the author of the article who used the terms scooter and moped interchangeably. IT’S NOT A MOPED!!!!!!
click here for story