My heart and prayers go out to all those on the East Coast (especially New York and New Jersey) and the Caribbean who suffered such a loss of life and property. Dealing with such an aftermath is unthinkable for us up here living on solid rock, high ground and protected from most of what mother nature dishes out. The most we get is a day off from too much snow which has not happened since 4-years. Additionally, it actually melts eventually and goes away with no damage to talk about. Sandy leaves trail of destruction

With the above said, the warnings from the weatherman prior to Sandy hitting shore was too scary to ignore. Especially the comments about how the storm could turn and meet up with another system that would bring lots of snow to our area. So on Friday before the storm I cleaned and polished my bike and got it ready for its winter slumber. I have an awkward set-up to get the Vespa from the front driveway to its winter resting place in the back yard shed. It has to go up and down some walkway stairs. I can not do it alone and it requires two strong people (I won’t say guys). But my wife is simply not strong enough to lift and push at the same time.

A friend came over and we got it into the back yard. The chrome is wiped with WD-40 and the leather is treated. The gas had SeaFoam since the last fill up so it is travelled throughout the system. The shed is empty. I have two air vents on top and a fan to keep out humidity. The floor is two inches thick of rubber.Three humidity gages and a breathable cover. It is completely a wooden shed built with 2x4s.

In she went.

Yesterday I woke up to a sunny day that was 22 degrees Celsius (72 degrees F). Both the weather network and weather channel kept showing hourly thunderstorms and rain every hour. Yet every time I looked out side, it was sunny and warm.

I could not get her out and back on the road by myself and seriously started to feel the regret for putting her in in the first place. My friend who helps was at work.

Now today it is raining. They say rain for the next three days the cold weather that may lead to snow.

What does this all mean you may ask?

Well, a $ 9,000.00 Vespa will result in us moving out of this home where we have lived for 13 years to get another home with a heated garage for this Vespa and all future ones that I intend to start collecting. In reality, this was one expensive Vespa!