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Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Happier Then a Puppy With Two Peters!!

That was a TUESDAY!?!?!
Oh Please, oh please, oh PAH-LEEEZE give us more of THOSE Tuesday's!
WOOF!
Every now and then the cosmos aligns just right, and predictability goes out the window and you get blessed by a anomaly.  I'm used to Tuesday's being a day I get a lot of busy work done, as it is traditionally a slow day, visitor wise.  But yesterday blew me out of the water!  Suffice to say, four rides went out to new homes, and several folks came in to get their own up and running again.  Not to mention, several DIY'ers came in scrounging through the newly refreshed parts bins.  In the end, it was a record breaker.  Literally!  I was so happy I sprung for garlic bread to go with the spaghetti for dinner!  OH YEA!  I'm a generous dollaraire!  Thank you so much to all the fine folks that helped me put a smile on the kids faces last night (they're like their old man, they LOVE garlic!)
The ONLY thing missing (and I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth, here) was the acquisition of any fresh meat!  The showroom is getting a wee bit thin and we so need an infusion of new materials to work with!  It's rare, in ANY business, to be plagued with NOT having enough to present, as apposed to most places problems, having to much!  And some folks wonder why we don't have an occasional sale!  NO overstock!  Well, unless you count forks.  Yes, we have A LOT of front forks.  But...it would be strange to have a sales promotion for just..forks. 
PRIME EXAMPLE!
The one ride I did build yesterday, a pretty sweet looking dual shock MTB, had been out on the floor for about 15 minuets when a gent came in looking for an inexpensive ride.  As that was the last one under a hundred  we had, I pointed it out.  He did the whole kicking the tires bit, looked at the price of $90.00 and said "I'll give you $70.00".  Now, I'm not against wheeling and dealing (somewhere in my lineage I must have had an ancestor who worked in an Arabic Bizarre) but our policy is not to negotiate on price for the first 72 hours.  These rides are priced to sell, and usually DO so in less then 48 hours.  Anything left after three days is considered an old man around here!  I stated this to him, and you could recognize the look of disbelief on his face.  Now, last thing I want to be is a high pressure salesman who applies a line each time to sell the goods, but what I state is just reality.  As if to prove my point, as the first gentleman hemmed and hawed, absent mindedly looking at the other bikes we had, another bloke walked in, lighted upon the ride, did the tire kicking bit, and asked if he could take it for a test drive.  The first gent looked on, slightly curious, and I said sure.  He went out in the parking lot for about five minuets, the first guy keeping one eye of curiosity upon him, but lingered, obviously interested in what would happen.  When he came back in, he noncommittally stated "nice ride" then hesitantly inquired "How much?" When I stated $90.00, his left eyebrow arched up, in a Spock inspired fashion and exclaimed in mock surprise "That's IT?" 
At this point, the first gentleman, clearly, was convinced I had NOT been giving him a line.  To save him the embarrassment, I chimed in, that the other gentleman was interested in the ride as well, and as he was the first one in, had first dibs.  I inquired if he was still interested, or could the other gent get it.  He cleared his throat and stated that he was indeed intending on picking it up, but that he was just looking for another one for his wife.
As I said folks "If I'm Lyin', I'm Dyin'!"
ANYWHO!
So, today, I am continuing work on a VERY fun project!  Please forgive me, as yesterday I stated I had an older "Raleigh" MTB to refurb, it is in fact a Peugeot!  Don't know WHAT I was thinking!  Anyway, I've been threatening to start taking before and after pics of a bike, just so folks can see how and what we do to bikes when we say "FULLY RE-FURBED"!  This one is a prime example of the two extremes.  I will make a special entry, hopefully later today, chronicling the bike from beginning to end of production. As it is a full repaint as well, the difference is already strikingly apparent!
ON THE HOME FRONT!
Ugh.
The battle lines have been drawn.  Elijah hit his deadline, two days ago, to find a job.  He has not, in fact, secured one, and more as a result of not really trying.  I know, it's hard out there, BUT he, at nineteen, is a PRIME candidate that hiring companies are looking for.  Pliable, young, and cheap.  Oh, I could go into a tirade about laziness and lack of drive, ambition, tenacity and gumption, but suffice to say, the biggest issue is his lack of respect and appreciation for the help and support both his mother and I have extended.  Frankly, I can handle it if he has issues with me, but when he disrespects his mother (through a variety of subtle and not so subtle glances, tones, statements etc) I find myself in a constant loop of diatribes, lectures and out and out threats of physical harm.  None of this seems to have any impact other then making him MORE determined to be an ass.  I can only temper my desire to go at him with a nail studded 2X4 (in hopes of teaching him manners of course) by realizing that I, too, were once an egomaniacal, brain-dead, arrogant, all knowing teenager. 
Something's going to give.  I do not look forward to that moment!
ANYWHO!
A very sincere apology to the gent making the trek down here to look at the Schwinn Crisscross...that was no longer here.  (insert contrite look of embarrassment here) Seems it's been a few days since I updated the "What's Still Here" column on the blog.  We are truly sorry for the inconvenience, and I have rectified the situation, as it is now up to date.  But PLEASE, in expectation of any future forgetfulness on my part, call before coming out, just to make sure what you see over there IS still here! 
I'm gonna get back at it, if for nothing else, the bloody computer is running real slow this morning! You know, when you type a sentence real quick, then look up and the letters are STILL slowly appearing on the screen, but miss, like every three letters, so you have to keep going back to retype them!  I mean, that last one I wrote, right back there, I had to retype it three times.
Opps, and that sentence explaining the first one!
Crud!  That one too!
OK....I better stop.
See ya soon!



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