Quote:
Originally Posted by gerryg123
Wait a minute! Wait a minute!
Did Rob and Lisa say that they wanted to be in the report?!?!?!!?
LOL, only kidding....carry on :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by gerryg123
Wait a minute! Wait a minute!
Did Rob and Lisa say that they wanted to be in the report?!?!?!!?
LOL, only kidding....carry on :)
Good one Marley LOL
[QUOTE=marley9808;28079]Wait a minute! Wait a minute!
Did Rob and Lisa say that they wanted to be in the report?!?!?!!?
God I love your humor :cool:
Lol :D
You're not going to believe what happened to me on Saturday night .....
You took your xtabi photo shoot with Brasi???? :eek:
worse ..... about to rush onto connecting flight in Dallas ... stay rtuned.
Sounds great Gerry.....we all need to stop and reflect on ourselves and our lives to better them. Bless!Quote:
Originally Posted by gerryg123
Saturday started off good enough. I Met Rum at Xtabi and had a nice breakfast -- callahoo omelette, dumplings, some other Jamaica-type stuff. And of course a nice cup of coffee, as Xtabi has great coffee.
Unfortunately, the news was then broken to me that my raft had blown into the ocean and floated away with reports that is was rolling up on the beaches of Cuba. But I was OK with that. I budget for several rafts, it's all part of the deal.
The day continued to go well for a bit .....
I motored down to Bar B Barn, my home away from home on the beach in several past reaches. It's like returning home from the army, everyone was there to greet me, except for the security guard, Michael, who has treated me well in the past but I heard was working nights now ......
I wanted to float on the ocean at seven mile anyway, so I visited that little store in the front run by the nice Mideastern lady (Sonia????), bought my raft. The new guard, a younger guy, offered to have it blown up for me, so I said ya mon I will tip you 500j but please watch it until tomorrow, too, for my exclusive use, and then you take full possession of it and use it to your best advantage -- to sell, to give away, whatever. He said ya mon, all good.
The worst was yet to come .....
In the meantime, some pics ....
From top to bottom:
-- A nice local girl at 3 Dives
-- Fried chicken plate at Seastar Inn
-- Francine and Chris (he is the one on the right, lol) at Seastar bar
-- the evil Gasford of gas bikes
-- Nice jerk chicken plate .....
-- In a good mood at Sunset on the Cliffs hotel
-- Massive platter of spaghetti n meatballs at Bentleys
-- Platter getting smaller ....
:D
Later in the day, I found myself with Brasi and a friend at Sunset on the Cliffs. We shared a pitcher of Dirty Bananas, then I headed to Banton's to make sure we were all set for a big lobster dinner later that night ....
That's when it happened: As I crossed onto PeeWee Lane, an oncoming cab was coming, so I had to rush, and as I crossed, I had to break real fast -- but I lost my concentration and hit the gas instead of the break, losing control of the motor bike and CRASHING .... The bike went one way, and I went another. My heart was beating fast cause I knew GAS had a credit-card imprint, so I did not feel the pain.
But then I looked down at my leg and saw the blood .....
:eek:
Holy cow, that's ALOT of meatballs :D
ya Bentley does not mess around .....
Ouch that gonna leave a mark!!Quote:
Originally Posted by gerryg123
Ya, it looked pretty bad, but I was still less concerned about losing some skin on my leg than losing my precious fun tokens ..... There were several locals teenagers thoroughly entertained by the proceedings. They helped me up, helped lift the bike up (it had been brand new and now it was all scratched up -- me, not the bike, lol), and I BEGGED the youngsters to "shhhhh" and don't say anything, cause the scooter place was right down the road ..... But the good news was I was ALIVE .....
What a bummer. About the accident not about you being alive of course ;)
So I was pretty much in panic mode at this point.
I limped back on the scooter, powered my way up the hill to Bentley. He helped clean up the wound and tried to make me feel better .....
No worries about the bike, dude. The bike can be replaced. You can't!
Glad you ok:D
Ouch! I've rented a scooter a number of times but now you got me thinking. So how bad is the injuries, both you and the bike?
Poor Ting.
Hope it don't cost you too much pain and money
B
Alcohol and scooters are not a good mix. Not insinuating you were drunk but it doesn't take much booze to affect bike operating abilities. And yes, I am speaking from experience (at home with my dual purpose). Seeing as you were able to walk away (ride), could have been much worse.
So why are you calling Gasford "evil"? I have had no issues renting from him, have found him to be a man of his word.
glad Bentley was able to patch you up and take care of you...........
and you aren't the first person that has happened to......or the last........
back in 96 I had brought down two newbies and wi decided to rent some scooters.........
well be rented dem high powered 150cc Scooters which was a mistake...........
mi was use to the 80cc Scooters with the bigger tires.......
so one newbie got on his Scooter for the first time and mistakenly opened the throttle full blast..........
well he took off like a rocket and blasted right thru a white picket fence..........
all the neighbors came out to see what happened........mi thought mi newbie friend was dead..........
but some Jamaicans lifted him up and him was okay with some cuts and big bruises........
a very nice Jamaican lady nursed him back to health for the rest of the trip.........lol
him was saying what accident by the time wi got back on da plane........lol
Cool Runnings, Marko
ouch--scary when things go awry on a bike--so little between you and the pavement! And in Negril I am always on edge on the roads, whether walking, riding in a taxi or riding a motorcycle. I rode a Honda 350 XL for years in Northern California and never felt so much on guard as when in Negril. I rented aHonda 250 when there a couple of trips back after not having ridden for decades and it was really a trip. Between the challenge of it being really hard to kick start and the opposite side of the road driving along with crazy Jamaican driving I am thinking route taxis might be the way to go. Either way, vigilance is key. Glad you walked away from dumping it, that is the most important thing.
Attachment 8516
Went on a road trip to roaring river for a good swim one day (photo is bike parked near river). The helmet they gave me was ridiculous, it was too big and not snug but better than nothing I guess. (It is that little black thing on the back of the bike) I used to be into good gear, since my ex boyfriend was a motocross rider he made sure I got the best protective gear.
Thankfully I never dumped the bike in Negril--even though I did break an old rule and did ride in shorts. I never put one scratch on the bike--but they tried to charge me for some invisible scratch which I totally refuted. Make sure you document any existing damage when you rent!
It was nice meeting you on the pub crawl - we also had a blast (at least the parts we remember!)
Hope all ended up OK with the scooter!
Well, my injuries were not as bad as I thought. I was actually fine, just scratched up. But I was VERY concerned about the bike, cause GAS has a reputation of trying to gouge you for extra money, and I knew this one was going to be a doozy.
Shaken but not stirred (I did only have one drink, but you're right, it did affect me), and I scooted back to Chris for some advice on what to do.
Chris looked at it and, having had lots of experience with Gas, knew that Gas would try to charge me the max including new parts -- perhaps as much as 500 dollars. I asked Chris is his maintenance guy, Marcus, could fix it, and Chris said yes. They tried to touch it up, but it was not perfect enough, so we decided that the next morning we would fix it with his body guy for 100 bucks or so, and take our chances.
Gerry I have really enjoyed your writing over the last few days. I too had an unfortunate ending to my Negril adventure last year. I stepped in a stupid pot hole and busted the bone in my knee in three places. That was a pain. Glad to hear you didn't suffer from something as serious as that.
I figured I would rather have Chris' friends make the money instead of Gas, who had reneged on an original agreement about the cost of the rental and had already charged me more than he had agreed to in writing.
But we were fighting the clock cause this was Saturday night, and I was leaving Sunday to be picked up at noon.
Meanwhile, the night was still young. I wanted to go all out on my last evening in Negril, right?
I was set to meet Brasi at Bentley's, though I was late cause of all the drama. Bentley made a HUGE lobster dinner for me -- the best 30 dollars I spent all week.
I sat with him and Andy, who always is with Bentley, and together we schemed about whether we could pull one over on Gas, though at the same time doing the right thing cause the bike would be perfect in the end.
Andy figured one of those teens would tell Gas -- word spreads fast in Negril. I knew that would be bad, and I was hoping no one would say anything to him.
On the way back up the hill, I met Brasi at Cal Jam, a little live-music bar near Seastar Inn. There I met the guy a runs it, a reggae artist named "Crazy," and we hung for a bit.
By this time, Brasi had a scooter, too, so we followed each other to Seastar to check out the Saturday night party. Brasi had to make it an early night, so he headed back to Sunset on the Cliffs. I hung with the yardies, then went to see John Holt at Roots (it was kind of dead, and by midnight Holt still had not shown up yet), so eventually I made it back to Seastar Inn and had drinks at the bar with Chris. He said I was doing the right thing by having his guys fix the bike.
It's been 20 years since Chris arrived in Negril, met Francine, and opened Seastar Inn. The best thing about it is they're still madly in love. They were flirting and kissing, and I heard Chris whisper into her ear: "You were hottest girl up there on stage tonight, baby."
She smiled and quickly replied: "No I was not!"
Then they hugged and kissed again.
Chris implored me to come back soon, and I promised I would. Indeed, he is a great host.
I smoked up, having decided to ignore the Jenny's cake still in my fridge, and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep -- noteworthy considering the events of the past hours.
In the meantime, some more pics:
TOP TO BOTTOM:
Andy holds up the puffer fish I speared ....
Action shot: Lobster dinner at Bentleys ....
Folks enjoying the day at Xtabi ....
Some kids posing near Wise Choice store ....
Yet another drink at the bar .....
Oh no! So sorry about your accident but glad you are ok
...nevermind...
I woke up early Sunday, knowing I had a lot to do.
First, I had to enjoy my last bit of Negril, so I followed my usual last-day tradition of heading to Westender Inn, chilling there, thinking about my Life.
There's a lot I want to accomplish this coming year, a lot of plans to make, a lot of things I need to do to get to where I want to be. I am always trying to improve in all areas of my life -- mind, body and soul.
I want to get healthier, cut down on some bad habits. I want to be the greatest possible dad I can be. I want to be a great employee, better than I was last year, while also continuing law school (without telling my employer still) -- I am a very busy guy!
I also want to treat peeps with love and respect. I want people to be happier when I enter a room. I want my life to mean something, and I want to help others.
Also, I want to have a sheet-load of fun. That will NEVER change. Laughter will always be the most important thing in my life .....
Meanwhile, the damn scooter .....
The clock was ticking. I followed Marcus to a body shop guy in Redground, negotiated a price of 7000J to fix the scooter perfect, plus I gave Marcus 2500j for handling everything. So I was in for a bit over 100 dollars USD, but that's still better than $500 .....
While the scooter was being fixed, Marcus dropped me off at BB Barn with plans to pick me back up again at 10 a.m. .... CLives was picking me up at noon, and I still had not packed.
hope the scooter thing worked out well for you gerry - any pics of the damage to it?