November 4th, 2012! Yes, that was the date of my last post. In perspective, that is actually 83 days or 1,992 hours since my last post. Am I bad?

Actually yes I am. I could argue the point that I began and ended major house renovations (including my office where the computer resides) , Christmas came and went (Entertained two Families and created two complete dinners)  and finally my business demanded much of my time including travelling out of town.

However, if any of my employees or colleagues provided me with such a list of excuses I would roll my eyes in disbelief and reconsider our future working relationship together (just being honest).

However:

The good news is that I am back!

The better news is that winter is 2/3 over and I will be riding again soon…

The best news is that I am leaving to Punta Cana for a week and I just received the underwater casing for my Nikon SLR.

The Renovations

I feel that my office should become part of my blog since I went out of my way shopping to make it “Scooterific” (should be word in my opinion).

I began my renovations on November 6th, 2012 and really worked alone while my wife was at work every day. I completely repaired all the walls, repainted, installed wall paper, boarders in each room and installed complete new flooring. I worked hard each day while balancing my business and completed the renovations on December 23rd, 2012 just in time for Christmas. There are two things worth mentioning about my renovations:

1. My office decor clearly is a statement for my love of my Vespa GTV-300 and
2. The really cool way that I installed a Samsung Flat Screen and cable box/Blue Ray in the bedroom.

The Office Decor

I purchased a new desk that is actually a remake of desks for the past. As you can see in the picture, it is real solid wood and if you appreciate older craftsmanship type of desks, you will like this one. The desk is amazing because it comes in three parts and therefore can be easily moved up the stairs, around the bend and into my office. A real antique desk would never make the turn and I probably would not have started writing again so soon since I would be in the hospital with a back ache in the attempts to lift such a desk up the stairs.

Once I completed the office with the desk, wall paper and so pudding brown paint, I realized that I needed something new on the walls to make this office really special to me. So I search the web for many nights looking for Scooter or particularly Vespa art. There was many to be found, but few that were in my budget at the time. I came across a site http://www.allposters.com/ and found exactly what I was looking for. By the way, it was the Black Friday weekend at this point when I completed the office. There were sales everywhere, but to purchased framed art and have it shipped north to Canada seemed a bit excessive. On line the price was simply too much. However, luckily I called their customer service and they were spectacular. At one point when I expressed m,y doubts about the costs, they responded; “Sir, let me do my magic and then lets see what the price will be”. She then calculated the costs while I was choosing the frames, mats and so on using their website. Finally she said, how about $ 211.98?

I hesitated for a few seconds then repeated the order clearly and slowly. She responded yes, that is correct. We ship Fed-Ex and the shipping is included. Well, I placed the order but really I fully expected that my Visa Card would be nailed hard for considerably more fees than $ 211.98.

Let me tell you this… If you need art go to http://www.allposters.com/, browse and decide on what you would like then call into their specialists to get the absolute best service and price because I received both prints framed before Christmas at no additional fees.

So, you may ask, why these? Well the Audrey Hepburn print is of her riding the original Vespa with the headlights on the front fender which My GTV-300 Vespa is a re-make of this original. I like her movie, I liked Audrey Hepburn and I especially like the Vespa! So this is the first picture you see when entering my office. The second in my opinion is self explanatory. The Vespa is simply awesome and the beauty is highlighted by the dress and those legs. To my surprise, even my wife appreciated this print over my desk.

Here is a 30-second video tour of my new office…

Finally, the other cool thing is that I changed the doors to the wardrobe to Mirror doors and mounted a 32” Samsung flat screen to the ceiling above the doors and added a small shelf to the side for the cable/Blu-ray box. Additionally, I completely wired all of the wires, power and such things inside the wardrobe so that there are no visible wires in the bedroom. Take a look at this 30 second video. This also allowed me to add lights inside the wardrobe for my wife. It is a very clean installation that I am proud of.

What’s Next

Now I will begin again with articles, route adventures and more about Vespa Scooters and more.