On the road again. . .

After work yesterday I came back to my room, changed, and went out to reinstall the lock on scooter, but I couldn't get it to fit together. It seemed like the piece in the lock that fit into the switch was installed backward, and there was a screw missing to attach the two.  I figured the screw had been dropped and lost, and thought the locksmith would have to reverse that part, so I changed again and ran to catch the 5 p.m. bus back to Khobar and made it with 2 minutes to spare!

I got there and the locksmith door was locked! I figured he left for a break, and text Ron if he'd found an extra screw. About that time the guy came back and we went in and he was grinning and laughing. He got to his workbench and showed me the missing screw that he forgot to put back. Then he got the two parts to align and work perfectly. 5 minutes total!

Because I took the late bus, and since traffic was horrible and it took almost an hour to get down there, it was already time to head for the bus stop. Being adventurous, I thought I'd walk to a different pickup point at the Safeway store. I knew roughly where it was, so I headed in that direction. On the way I remembered the very tight fit it would be to install one of the mounting screws for the lock assembly so I stepped into a hardware store where David and I had gone Thursday morning. I bought a little shorty Phillips screwdriver and a pair of safety glasses. The scooter has an old helmet with it, but there is no face shield and I don't like goggles. I figured safety glasses would do a better job than nothing of protecting my eyes from bugs and wind-borne sand.

I got to the bus stop with enough time to take some nearby pictures right at sunset. Here is one of them, my first shot of the Arabian Gulf.  More tomorrow!

Got back to camp and came to my room thinking I would put the thing together today after work, but the more I thought about it I just had to know if it would work, so I gathered my tools and bits and went out. It didn't take me long at all to put things back together, and I only forgot one thing - to put a cable tie around the wires to keep them from rubbing and shorting out. I'll take care of that next time I have the hood up!

Moment of truth - I put the key in the ignition, turned it, walked around to the other side, squeezed the brake lever (didn't know about this required step on Thursday!!), kicked the starter pedal one time and it started and just sat there and quietly purred. Most of the scooters around here buzz. Loudly. This one was so quiet I wasn't sure it was running at first! Wow! Now I had to get it all put back together - covers and such - and take it for a spin! I'd really worried about putting all these plastic cover pieces back together but they went very nicely. All the lights worked, turn signals worked. Hard to believe!

And it rode smoother and nicer and more stable than the one I kept up for friend while she was gone! I had to work for it, but this turned out well. I rode it to the gas station to top it off - the only one on camp which is supposed to close at 8. It was 8:30 but they were still open. The gas gauge (which works!!) said there was about 1/3 of a tank, and I filled it up for about SR1.5, about 35 cents!  Used the starter button this time to start it and it fired right up again, rode back and parked it. Now I've got wheels and can get anywhere on camp I need to go, which is all I wanted it for! Now I have to go wash it - it's been collecting dust for 6 months!