Intellectual Property Law

Segue Fully Loaded

Try new things, and keep the mind young.
A few weeks ago, while in beautiful San Diego, a friend and I rented Segues. I had admired the technological achievement, and wanted first hand experience. Although we were given helmets and a half hour orientation, I was not ready to ride on the path a few yards from the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Being raised up, all eyes turn to gawk if not stare. Segues are still a novelty. I felt I wanted an external sign- a student driver plaque, a handicap sticker, a blinking neon sign saying "BEWARE: twitchy newbie with no peripheral vision" - something to deflect expectation from any witnesses to the escapade that my demonstration should reflect on Segues as a device or Segue pilots with an XX profile.
Designed to be responsive to shifts in center of gravity, the Segue seemed to sense my ambivalence via muscle tension. One's body usual expresses intention in the musculature, and my muscles were a symphony of contradiction. The old Jimmy Durante rasping the lyrics "did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to go, but still had the feeling that you wanted to stay?" wormed it's way into my thoughts, bouncing around like nervous giggles.
While my riding companion zipped along like Ben Hur with his favorite chariot steeds, I strained along, tense and poised for some tryst with a gravity induced event. In particular, I reasoned that as I have always been a bit weak in the art of stopping on ice skates (and roller skates) my Segue skills might follow suit. And the abundance of baby strollers, dogs, darting hobbit-sized creatures (oh- children I suppose- my vision was very "tunnel" under piloting stress) - all the activity triggered every "safety first" and "be prepared" fiber imbued by my deep and abiding Girl Scout training.
Nothing of note happened, other than during the Segue jaunt, it rained (sprinkled, I suppose, is more accurate) which is a rare event in San Diego in August. I did not melt and the Segue ignored the rain entirely.
Creep forward to this week. While catching up on August periodicals, I found a Business Week blurb on security at the Olympics.
You can rent the latest model in San Diego, but it doesn't come "fully loaded". Next time maybe I'll try the crouched driving position - I can do it on ice skates - and hope I don't have to a) see anything clearly or b) stop.

Full post as published by Idea Lawyer Blog on September 20, 2008 (boomark / email).