unfortunately, Bumblebee was not to bee.
I mentioned in an earlier post that my “release date” was April 23rd so after that date as things slowly reopened in Atlanta, I started moving around. Admittedly still not willy nilly as before but I certainly could not stay within the confines of these four walls like the previous year. Anyway, so it was a nice Saturday in ATL weather wise – it was October, so the temperature was 70-75, humidity was low, sun was out…Asal and I decided to buss a small lime on the patio of a nearby restaurant. I took Lyft and Uber to go to and from and I used Bumblebee.
Now Bumblebee (I learned years ago) was not as sturdy as any of the other scooters I’ve owned, and he certainly couldn’t withstand the jammin that Soca Scooter or Optimus could handle. Years ago, I flew with the ‘bee and when I returned to Atlanta I had to find someone to do some repairs. One of the problems I had was that I actually bought him on Amazon and finding a local repairshop was a bitch because none of them actually sold the brand. Anyway, my car mechanic knew someone who cold solder him back together so we were good to go. Fast forward a few years and one day I was out somewhere sitting on him and I heard something. Looked down and saw 2 screws by my feet and the casing for the wires by the starter was gaping open. Great! Now, the screws were barely an inch and they were actually screwed in upside down so maybe, it’s no wonder that they fell out after a number of years. When we looked at what needed to happen we discovered that while I had 2 screws, there were actually 3 holes – WONDERFUL! Well. We are a resourceful bunch, so some gorilla glue, electrical tape and the 2 screws, and Bumblebee was presentable enough to roll. He was presentable but of course, more fragile than ever. Now, I eh go lie but every time anyone handled him, I wanted to say “handle with care” or something along those lines but did I? No…maybe 1% of the time – UGH! but every time, I was lucky and nothing went wrong…until that fateful night in October after bussing a small lime with ASal in the nearby restaurant.
I requested a car to go back home and Jude came to get me. I heard the usual thump when Bee gets situated in the trunk and thought, “shit! forgot to tell him to be careful”. He got back in the car and we were off. I arrived home (by this time, it was about 9pm) and I heard him saying something as I got out the car and the next thing I saw was Bumblebee essentially in 3 parts. Long story short, Jude got a really good tip that night after walking me into my apartment. The wire that powered Bee was broken and he helped me by holding the 2 ends together. I didn’t really have a choice; it was either let him walk me in on a wing and a prayer or sit outside and figure out how to get in – I took my chances. I donated Bumblebee to a local organisation called FODAC (Friends of Disabled Adults & Children) where hopefully, their mechanics might be able to do a better job than we did so Bee could be used by someone else. These days I’m rolling with Optimus and Max – another foldable scooter, bought from a local dealer and he’s the reliable Pride brand that all the others have been.
Just another day in the life of Stacey!