Scooter Woes

For those of you who haven't been privileged enough to live through Darren's road to scooter ownership let me bring you up to speed in the events that have led up to this, the "most depressing day" of Darren's life.

About 2-1/2 to 3 months ago Darren became convinced that we could save a small fortune in gasoline if he only had a scooter. Suddenly every third word out of his mouth was "scooter." He started researching them on the internet, visiting local motorcycle dealers, and looking at scooters on eBay. All he wanted to talk about was scooters. He figured that for every 1000 miles he drove on a scooter we would save $100 in gas and yada, yada, yada... I got so tired of hearing about scooters I finally told him that I didn't want to hear the word ever again. I explained to him that there was no money in the budget to finance his scooter dreams. You see, my husband has caviar dreams on a pb and j budget. Foolishly, I thought I could hold him at bay. I told him that if (and when) we sold the Durango he could get a scooter. After nearly 20 years of marriage one would think that I would know better. He found the perfect "deal" on a brand new 250cc scooter on eBay. Now this scooter was chinese made and while they look identical to the Honda and Suzuki models they cost about 1/2 as much. So after all of his whining, crying and belly aching I finally broke down and allowed him to purchase a scooter. That was July 15th. We anxiously awaited the arrival of the scooter. Fifteen days later, the scooter arrived.....damaged......on the day we were to leave for Hillsboro Family Camp. It had broken loose in the crate and the paint was scratched so we began the process of dealing with that. Meanwhile, we are told by the dealer that the MSO (Manufacturer's Statement of Origin) is mailed under separate cover. So while we waited for the MSO (which we have to have to get the scooter licensed) Darren took short rides up and down our road and across Grassy Knoll just to get a feel for the scooter. To make a long story short, we've fussed and threatened, and finally today after a month and a half we received the MSO today. Darren was so excited. He was like a little kid at Christmas. I went to Maysville to get the insurance on it so he could go license it. You know when you hear the insurance agent say "uh oh" that it's not a good sign. She couldn't get the computer to take the VIN. It seems that all VIN numbers have 17 characters and the VIN on the MSO only has 16 characters. So, I had to call Darren and break the news that the MSO was wrong. Sure enough, a check of the plate on the scooter shows that there is indeed a letter missing from the VIN. Now, a deep depression has settled over Darren. I called the insurance agent back and gave her the missing letter and she was able to write the policy. Darren is going to the clerk's office in the morning to try to license it but I expect they'll tell him that he has to have a corrected MSO so we'll be back to square one. He is concerned that it is going to be winter before he gets the scooter licensed and can ride it. As far as I'm concerned, that should be the least of his worries. All I have to say is that I hope they make snow tires for the sucker!