What's parked in your driveway? Is it fun, utilitarian, old, new? Are you brand-loyal, or do you just drive whatever you might need at that particular moment in time?


I have a pragmatic relationship with my vehicle. It gets me from point A to point B and carries stuff. If it looks decent while doing so, that's a bonus. But I'm not overly passionate about them. (Ask me rather, about airplanes.) Given where I live in the Megalopolis, it's entirely possible for me to carry out my daily life without owning a personal vehicle.

We have been a one-car family since 2013. Mrs. TriSec's longtime vehicle finally gave up the ghost that year, and we had it ignominiously towed away for scrap and a tax credit. At the time, I was receiving chemo, and we were still recovering from the Great Recession financially, so we never made an attempt to replace it.

Over the years, I've tended to have high-mileage commutes, so I've always needed a set of wheels to get around. I'm not a brand-loyal driver; I have driven whatever suited my needs at that particular moment in time, and if it looked good, that was a bonus. My grand-dad only ever drove Fords, and Papa Trisec only drives Volkswagens, so I get that.

This past year, I transitioned from a mass-transit accessible job to one out in suburbia, and started driving harder again. However - it didn't last. That job sucked dead penguins' dicks harder than anyplace I have worked for since 2004. But I got out, and I'm back within bicycle distance to home again.

But a curious thing happened. When I was last working in Boston, I thought I might get a scooter to putter back and forth the four miles to the closest subway station - and maybe even ride into town every now and again on a quiet day. But when I got the job outside of the city, that commute immediately went to fourteen miles. I would have needed a highway-capable scooter, which would entail getting a motorcycle endorsement to legally drive and register it.

The process was too far advanced (and I spent too much money on it) by the time I got a new job nearby. I almost downgraded myself back to a scooter, but you all know of the motorcycle that's in my future.

I rarely covet "things", preferring "experiences" above all else. But the one thing I have long wanted to drive is a product from the Bayerische Motoren Werke AG. It's way back to 1997 when a car from them first caught my eye. You may remember the movie "The Saint". The baddies in that film drove a BMW 318ti, and I've been fond of that vehicle ever since. Finances never allowed me to even approach such a vehicle - until now.

Around noon today, I'll finally be taking delivery of a BMW G310R. It's not a big bike, or an overly aggressive one. It's actually built by TVS of India, and was designed for the Asian sub-continent, where motorcycles are a daily ride for millions, instead of a weekend plaything for middle-aged white Americans. I'll be using mine as a daily commuter as much as possible, thus freeing up the car for Mrs. TriSec and Javi.

Noted right-wing toolbag and anti-vaxxer Brother TriSec rides a Harley Softail. While I don't speak to him often now, if he and his friends can stand being seen with a little commuter thumper, maybe I'll let politics slide and go for a ride.