The Sandbar scooter gang is alive and well, even though it's getting cold outside, and we've allowed Chris to be a member even though he has a motorcycle instead of a cool scooter.

A few weeks ago, Chris was lazy or something and left his motorcycle parked downtown for what seemed like days. He didn't seem to be concerned about it's welfare at all. Dave and Joe moved the bike around to a couple different parking places over the weekend, and Chris didn't even notice.

Finally, the Factor said, "We should put the bike inside the bar!"

To which Dave replied, "That's a great idea!"

So they picked up Chris' bike and moved it into the back room of The Sandbar. Yes, you read that correctly- inside the bar. They thought Chris would surely be downtown on Monday, looking for his bike. But he wasn't.

Chris had no idea any of these shenanigans were even happening until he arrived at work that Monday night and found his bike in the back room.

Which brings me to Joe's adventure.

Joe left The Matador, a.k.a. his little red barely-moving scooter, in a downtown parking space over the weekend. Yes, he should have picked it up long before he did, and he certainly should owe the City of Lawrence plenty of little yellow envelopes stuffed with wrinkled dollar bills.

What he did not deserve, however, was the sight that greeted him when he finally got out of lazy mode and went to get the Matador: the scooter, lying on its side, in a handicapped parking space next to the space where it was originally parked, and with a $100 ticket.

Someone apparently was looking for a parking place downtown and his scooter was an easy target. But as easy as it is to simply pick up and move into a planter, they didn't do that; they simply shoved it from one parking space into another one that was much more expensive.

It could only happen to Joe.