I just had to open my big mouth……
The salvation has come and gone. Eric is still out at the shop and Steve announced early last week he was quitting. Cripes. My two top go-to guys are now gone. Its just myself, Sam who is in his second year, and Brandon who has been there for about 3 weeks. Don’t get me wrong, Sam’s a solid wrench and Brandon has tons of potential, but you can’t replace two guys like that with a flip of the switch. The two of them combined probably have 50 years of experience with bicycles. My weekend trip to visit Nate in Iowa is now ruined, and I will be working 65 some odd hours next week. However, somehow, with all of that, I have managed to get out and do some pedaling. Soooo, I guess things could be worse. Maybe. All I care about at this point is that I get my days off to race, go up to Canada, and 24 Hours.
The latest Mountain Bike magazine had an article with some mechanic’s favorite tools. I was thinking "sweet", some unique ways of guys getting things done. However, I was kinda disapointed. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking on the mechanic’s and their capabilities, but some of the tools were a lame choice. Take the Tri-allen from Park Tool. No offense dude, but there isn’t a bike shop in the world that doesn’t use one of these. Or the tire lever was another choice. Once again, used in every shop. I did like the Scratch Awl. A fancy shmancy version of a sharpened spoke, just adds a little flare to the workbench. I liked that one. Thats what I was looking for. Maybe I’m being to critical of the article, maybe I was thinking right away when I saw the add "oh, cool man, guys finding unique ways to get the job done", and I was doomed once I started reading it. I just would have done it another way. Instead of "Your mechanics favorite tool" how about "Your mechanics most unique tool". I’m all about originality, and I love coming up with new ways to turn a wrench, and fix a bicycle.
As sad as it is, I still have high hopes for the weekend. Apologies to all of you down at Simpson college, but I will not be down this weekend to party hardy. I plan on doing a long road ride after I write this then off to work. Matt and I and some other friends hope to hit up the CC Club tonight. Tomorrow night I’m having dinner at the parents house. It will be nice to go over there for awhile, chit chat with my mom, dad, and pat. I am in need of advice. Buying a new car, insurance crap, yack, yack, yack. Speaking of cars, I am going to be buying the new Civic or Civic SI sedan this fall. I stopped by Hopkins Honda the other day while riding down the Greenway, and got a good look at em’. Ohhh-eee, they look DECE. Oh my look at the time, I gotta get outside and start pedaling. Ta Ta.
daily quote - "Oil prices have fallen lately. We include this news for the benefit of the gas stations, which otherwise wouldn’t learn of it for six months." - Bill Tammeus, Toronto National Newspaper 1991
