Agreed on the above. There's nothing magically protective about being only a mile from home. You can get slammed coming out of your driveway...
Link to original page on YouTube.
The soaked T-shirt thing is amazingly effective. It's a very old idea. I also wear a skull cap and do the same with that... it will make you COLD even on the hottest days. Sure you get wet, but so what? Sweat makes you wet. Big deal.
And please... go take the MSF course and learn to ride better. If you're still "green" after three years and traded a real bike for a scooter because you felt you couldn't handle the motorcycle, it's a safe bet that some training would do you a world of good.