Ford’s Gets “Real"

Until recently, I have not been a fan of Ford’s Real Hamburgers and that was too bad since it is so close to my home. In my first visit in about five years, I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy a good, if not great, hamburger and remarkably good fries in an environment that was cleaner than I remember. This new, improved Ford’s is worth a return visit, perhaps to check out other items on there plentiful menu.

I discovered Ford’s when my family moved into the Land Park area in the mid-1990s. From the first time I tried one of their “real hamburgers” I was disappointed: the burger was dry and the fries were limp and greasy. Ford’s is an old fashioned independent hamburger stand which frees them from the constraints of a hamburger chain. I was hoping the burgers would taste like they were handmade and original, with a unique taste that you only get with independents. Instead, the food tasted as if they were not trying. I returned to Ford’s, ordering the same thing a couple more times hoping I just caught them on an off day, but the fare was the same.

Over the next ten years my family would check out Ford's from time to time, hoping for a change especially when there appeared to be a change in owners. I once saw a man I only know as “T.J.” working the grill. This was promising since T.J. worked at J’s Café during days, which makes tasty burgers. Alas, it was pretty much the same as usual. T.J. later told me he hated working at Ford’s and quit both jobs soon after we spoke.

There is no question the new Ford’s is better than the ones I visited under previous owners. Off the bat, it is cleaner, the menu board is orderly—the menu is now printed rather than written in whiteboard marker. As for the food, it is better; however, it had nowhere else to go but up. The burger was not bursting with flavor, but what do you expect from what must have started as a frozen patty. The burger came fully loaded though I do not see any reason to stuff it with chopped lettuce. Too much lettuce tends to take away the burger’s taste. Even the sound of crunching through a mouthful of lettuce makes eating this hamburger feel more like eating a salad. The fries were perfect, much better than what they offered in the past.

During my stay two of the three customers ordering food commented on how much they love Ford’s. While I enjoyed my burger, it made me think I was missing out on something—was there another burger or sandwich that makes these customers want to complement the order taker. I would like to think Ford’s instructed these customers to complement the chef because the owner knew The Burger Scoot was in the house, but I know that is not the case.

One last note, under this new ownership Ford’s is taking phone orders again. Five years ago the then-new owners stopped this service and Ford’s lost my family as customers. As inept as they were at making burgers and fries we could always find other items that were agreeable, but the discontinuing phone order feature was the last straw. Now with the phone service back I would bet other customers will return to Ford’s. If I return I'll definitely tell them to take it easy on the lettuce.

Are the Tires on Your Scooter Properly Inflated?
There are many different products out on the market to assist the scooter rider in ensuring their tires are properly inflated, but TireCheck Tire Pressure Valve Stem Caps are the easiest way to make sure your tires are always properly inflated. I purchased a pair from The Scoot Shop at 1619 E Street in Sacramento. All I did was inflate my tires to the recommended pressure for my Vespa GTL, and then replaced my black valve stem caps with clear TireCheck caps with a green indicator. If the pressure drops 2-3 PSI the indicator will display red—informing me that it is time to add a little air.

Conceptually speaking, TireCheck Tire Pressure Valve Stem Caps are the easiest way to make sure your tires are always properly inflated. I am not entirely sold on the product yet, but even if they turn out to be only slightly inaccurate gauges of tire pressure they will still work as a quick check. Of course, you should always check your tires for proper inflation on a regular basis. I’ll have more information on this product after I have used it for a while.

Stress Dreams—a Burgerless Post

My wife has stress dreams from time to time. While some people claim dreams can be interpreted, she thinks not, but believes stress dreams “are a release, a way your body copes with stress.” If that is the case then, in her line of work, it is good that she has these kinds of dreams from time to time. From a spectator’s point of view, however—lying next to her hoping it will end soon—it is not a pleasant experience.

What this has to do with scooters and burgers is that I recently took a motorcycle safety course. I originally took the course back in March of this year. I did fine in the classroom studies and on the first day on the simulation range. On the final day, however, I fell twice. I fractured a rib on the first fall but continued the training while in pain. When I fell the second time, it was during the final evaluation, which was an immediate failure.

After my rib healed, I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles and obtained a learner’s permit, but was too upset to complete the motorcycle safety course. I had failed the course in front of my son, who passed it without a hitch, and shortly after that my wife successfully completed the course. I was the only one in the family that failed. That hurt more than my sore chest.

During the two months riding with a permit and doing well not to think about the safety course that I would one day have to complete, I often would reflect on my falls while on the range. Sometimes they would sneak into my mind while I was riding the scooter. This was rattling, but it also helped me think of prevention. The best thing I got out of the course was S.E.E.: Search, Evaluate, and Execute. This is something I thought about often during rides—especially when I was traveling through intersections, where most accidents happen. I would see me getting "t-boned" by a speeding car. For the first time in my life, I hoped I would hit every red light when I was on the road. If I had to stop I would have more time to S.E.E. rather than going right through an intersection on a green light.

The road itself stressed me out—both while I was on and off the scooter. My wife and I drove the car to a restaurant in Midtown the other day. After parking, we were walking across the street when I saw a giant, deep pothole almost the length of the scooter’s tiny front wheel. As my wife and I sat in a restaurant and looked over the menu I got to thinking, I rode my scooter on this street yesterday. Did I see that pothole on my ride? I do not think so. What would happen if I hit that thing going 35 MPH? DriverSense.com says that potholes can cause critical injury to scooter riders. “Potholes, bumps, cracks in the pavements, and construction sites can all pose a serious problem for a scooter owner.”

Another stressor having to do with the road is that the surface is often inconsistent. Besides manholes and speed bumps, old asphalt with new asphalt patches can be a problem. Along with this there are the rough “seams” that join the two. When I ride over these inconsistencies at a 90-degree or even a 45-degree angle, I do not notice them, but when I am doing 30-35 MPH and the small wheels slip in and out of the seam between old and new asphalt it rattles me.

My wife has rode on these kind of streets and thinks I am over reacting. Still, a tattooed Harley-Davidson biker validated my concerns over this issue (though he was referring to highway riding). He felt the road was pushing him sideways when riding on inconsistent asphalt and that is how I feel.

Admittedly, I have not experienced any stress dreams that I know of, having to do with asphalt inconsistencies, potholes, or getting "t-boned" but I think about them in the waking hours quite a bit. However, I did have a stress dream the night before I was to retake the last day of the motorcycle safety course.

In the dream, an instructor told me—just as one told me over the phone that afternoon—to wear a long-sleeve shirt, gloves, and boots that protected my ankles, and to come a half hour early to fill out some paperwork.

In the dream, I showed up and began filling out a stack of paperwork as thick as closing escrow papers along with a few other students. When I finished, I looked up to find the room was empty. I panicked and ran out to the simulation range, papers in hand. It was now midnight and raining hard. I saw the students on their motorcycles riding the range far off in the distance with their lights on—I am missing the class! When I looked down I was wearing flip-flops. I woke up at that moment. I cannot see how this helped me with my stress, though I will tell you I did pass the motorcycle safety course—finally. Who knows, maybe that stress dream helped.

Well, I guess this post has nothing to do with burgers. I did try to eat at Jerry’s Tumbleweed, a biker's bar famous for their hamburgers, but the kitchen was closed. Next post will be about a burger joint. In addition, since the one in mind is the closest to my house I am sure I should not be too stressed out to provide a clear, calm assessment of the food without freaking out over the pothole out there just waiting to get aquainted with my front wheel.

Before I Get to Scootin’…

Two things about me: I love hamburgers and I love my new scooter. Since I have not posted anything on my Jockomo blog since January of 2009, I thought I would start fresh with a new one. Perhaps this will inspire me to awaken the sleeping Jockomo blog.

While I consider myself a burger connoisseur, I am quite the newbie when it comes to scooters. I rode mini dirt bikes when I was a kid and a street-legal Yamaha DT 125 in my high school years, but that was years ago. At 52, two-wheeled vehicles are as foreign to me as Congolese food. Add to that the peculiar characteristics of a scooter and the experience is entirely new to me. It will take some time getting used to this new toy.

I started out riding my new Vespa Granturismo 200L around my neighborhood just getting the feel of the thing. After riding around the neighborhood and to the grocery store only a half mile from home it started to get boring; I needed a place to ride besides the grocery store behind my house. Since I stopped driving about ten years ago due to health reasons, restaurants and bookstores have been the two places I miss visiting on a regular basis. Now that I have some wheels my two favorite loves—eating burgers and dawdling in bookstores—have been rekindled.

Though it is embarrassing to admit it, I love hamburgers more than I love steaks, shellfish tacos, and even ribs—my second favorite food in the world. I can not tell you how many times I had been to a white-tablecloth restaurant and end up appraising the house burger on the menu, its description, and what it comes with it. As for my love of scooters, that is a new thing. I know little about them.

My burger trek will start close to home and push out from there. In the meantime, I will get use to my scooter and along the journey share my newly found knowledge of scooters while sampling Sacramento’s best burgers. I hope you come along for the ride.

To sum it up: There is an old saying, “It’s not the destination, but how you get there that matters.” I guess if this blog is to have its own saying it would be more like “Lets scoot to a burger and get a little more acquainted with scooting along the way!”