Just Jennifer

So it’s been nearly a year since my car broke down and I had to start riding my bike to work.

I road for a full month before other life issues forced me to get back into a combustible engine. I did like riding, I hope to be able to start it up again. We had a few windy days that nearly blew me off my bike, but for the most part, I enjoyed the ride.

Today is a great day to ride, but yesterday it was pouring incredibly, and last night we had walnut-size hail hitting around town. Such is life in March in the Northern portion of the State of California.

I had to ride clear across town to the DMV  in a MAJOR windstorm, to get proper registration for my other car, which was registered as a non-op for 3 years. The “other” car is a 22-year old Alfa Romeo Graduate-Spider with only 72-thousand miles on it, I-kid-you-not! It’s a 2-seater convertible, so I can’t exactly cart my video gear around in it.

I finally dumped the German car that broke down, causing all my earlier drama. It’s a 1997 Audi A4 Quattro, an all-wheel-drive that really likes speed, and corners better than a Roller Derby Queen, but it also liked to spend more time in the shop than on the street. Between the two European cars, I had a whole one, but I didn’t want to put too much wear-n-tear on the Italian job, and I was afraid of the German vehicle’s expenses so I bought a new-to-me Honda Accord (2005). I like this one; it packs my video gear well and is kind on repair and gas.

I’ve been commissioned to shoot another wedding next week. Still camera, which is different for me. Video I know like a pro baseball player knows the feel of a bat in his hands, but still shooting has always been just a hobby for me.

Shooting video, I’ve run second cam for Brent or Ryan once in a while, which I like doing, but shooting a wedding solo can be a pain sometimes. Wedding videography can be a pretty lucrative business, but I tell you, some brides act as if they are the spawn of a demon on the days before the wedding. A good wedding planner can ease a bride’s drama, but sometimes brides and grooms just shoot themselves in the foot all on their own.

Trying to “bargain basement” the videographer or still photographer is not a good idea. I mean, after it’s over, for instance, who’s going to remember (or care) if the table cloths didn’t match the balloons, (I had a friend go ballistic on the caterer over this one time…) but if you have a poorly shot poorly produced video, you can’t redo the wedding to fix that. My hat is off to all of you wedding shooters out there, you do a great job, at great risk to your reputation if a bride goes over the deep end.

Well those are my musings for the week, it’s been awhile.

A recent tally brought surprising results: nearly two-thirds of the Videomaker staff either ride a bike, take a bus, ride-shares, or walks to work rather than drive a car. That’s saying a lot. Even Matt York can sometimes be seen buzzing to work on a little scooter. We’ve had some diehard staffers who don’t even own a car. [Below: Videomaker Bike Rack]

Long before it was hip to be eco-friendly, Videomaker’s hometown of Chico, California was doing the Save-the-Earth thing. We honor, preserve and sometimes battle over our old-growth trees. We’ve been a cycling town for decades, and even have a Velo cycling club, several century-mile cycle clubs, and a world-class cycling team, sponsored by our own world-class beer-haus: The Sierra Nevada Brewery.

This week was “Bike Chico“, a week-long event to encourage people to ride their bikes to work and school. Events around town included Energizer Stations with drinks and snacks for riders; and games, demos and important bike helmet safety tips for kids.

Last week was “Free Bus Ride” week, where anyone could ride any city bus for free all week. I sampled a ride, it didn’t take too long.

This is just a taste of what makes Chico such a wonderful place to live and work. It’s a college town with a small population, and has an honest-to-goodness thriving Old Town Downtown where you can actually stroll Main Street in the evening and stop off at Shubert’s Hand Made Ice-Cream shop, sitting outside on the sidewalk and watch and wave as other strollers go by.We have two marvelous Farmer’s Markets weekly, one selling veggies and goodies early in the morning, and the other more of a carnival, meet and greet in the summertime evenings. We even have outdoor movie-in-the-park night in the summertime.

Karma wasn’t on MY side this week, though, when it came to getting to work. I rode Monday and Tuesday, but decided to drive on Wednesday, due to a stupid need to run errands on my lunch hour. And wouldn’t you know it, my car broke down on the way to the office and I spent the next 2 hours waiting for a tow truck and then getting an estimate. It’s a German car, Audi A4 Quattro, All-wheel Drive. Nice sweet ride… until it doesn’t ride.

COST: Starter and Ignition, $1500, New key, $300, a chance to ride my bike for a few more weeks: Priceless.

It’s going to cost me a couple paychecks to get that baby out of the shop! Stupid gas-guzzling machine!

I guess I’ll be riding my bike more, not less… and taking the bus a time or two.

Chico California a great place to be. Just some rambling musings before I hop on my bike and head for the park. Night, all! Happy Weekend!