1950s Chevy at a Suburban Atlanta Gas Station

Welcome to 2016!  As we catapult into the future, it's always a treat to see vintage vehicles--especially when they are in a natural setting!  This 1950s Chevy pickup truck was nestled up against the side of a local gas station.  It fit in well with the vintage look of the building.  It was also somehow re-assuring to see in a world filled with BMWs and other yuppie-mobiles.  It reminds us all of a slower time.

Retro Transportation - The Vespa Motor Scooter

When it comes to transportation, one of the most recognizable retro vehicles is the Vespa motor scooter.  It's also one of the most efficient, according to VespaUSA.com, the 155 cc Vespa Primavera gets 117 miles per gallon and has a top speed of 59 miles per hour.  More powerful Vespa scooters can go up to 80 miles per hour, but sacrifice some fuel economy.

A Vespa Motor Scooter

Vespa means wasp in Italian.  The scooters are made by the Piagio company which was once one of Italy's largest aircraft manufacturers.

A Piagio Vespa PX200 Tampere in Finland (By Khaosaming (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Vespa motor scooters are economical, but they aren't cheap.  Even a 50cc Vespa Primavera starts at $3599.   Local dealers have various used Vespa scooters starting at around $2800.  While knock-off Chinese scooters seem to be everywhere, a genuine Vespa really gives a rider a bona fide piece of Italy.

Requiem for a Palm IIIe

Sometimes it's hard to get nostalgic about electronics.  I've been going through my old gear and I found a refurbished Palm IIIe.  It has feeble capabilities compared to modern smartphones.  I'd look like a geek if I ever used it.  It doesn't even appear to have any value on ebay.

Palm III Personal Data Assistant (PDA).  Photo by Nzeemin at ru.wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

This was a neat little find, but it ended up being donated to Goodwill.  A neat find, but I just didn't have a practical use for it.  Use Palm III devices are available used for about $10 on Amazon.com.  I wouldn't buy this overpriced model.