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Sunday, April 26, 2015

“For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen.”

Oh folks!  You dance a precarious tight rope when you give a Leo compliments!  Heh, Heh!  Thanks to all the folks who came in on Saturday, not only for giving SO MANY newbies a home, but for all the wonderful kind words!  And I really, in all modesty, do appreciate the fact that you enjoy my meaningless ramblings here!  To the gent from Chicago, down to visit his daughter and see the newest addition to his lineage (CONGRATS SIR!), boy was he beaming about it being a ten pound baby boy!  Heh, given the diminutive size of his daughter, as he described, I'm sure she is going to NEED someone around to help!  I appreciate the fact that from reading way up there, you decided to come in and check things out, and yes, in fact I AM writing a book, three actually.  Someday, maybe I'll have the time to actually write them all down!  I'm trying!  To the young lady paying us a visit from Tampa, thank you.  We are so happy you're going to be enjoying riding in the footsteps of your brother, and soon outrun him!  Yes, bikes in the "Big City" are a heck of a lot more convenient then trying to DRIVE to all the attractions Tampa has to offer!  And, with all do respect to everyone else that came in, my favorite conversation HAD to be with the young man, who apparently INSISTED to his folks, that when they visited from Europe, they HAD to come in and check us out AND communicate with a fellow "Mysterian"!  HEH!  And I thought I was a big fan!  And where as I value your opinion sir, I still say Mike was funnier then Joel.  Sorry. And the gent who is still searching for the perfect ride, we'll keep looking, and no, have no fear, I seriously doubt this blog will ever get overly political or foolishly convinced of it's own self importance! 
SO, as mentioned, yesterday was a Hoopla of FUN!  Don't hold me to this number, but I'm pretty sure we sent twelve home!  Not our record, I assure you, far from it!  (For posterity, that number stands at 37 in one day.  Set back when we were working out of the garage, and I won't take credit for the numbers.  I was slaving in the garage while Angi was doing all the "barking", and the boys helped load them up!) On top of that, we had a bevy of repairs come in, first thing, so that's what I was up too the majority of the day.  I did finally become able to get to work on the classic Cannondale, but don't get your saliva frothed up, already have a deposit on that one. 
Also, twas a day of donations, thank you ALL so very much!!  Mind you, most were in rough, mostly, beyond help shape (and we HATE to say that!) BUT, of those going to the scrap yard, we did manage to salvage quite a bit of goodies!  One Fuji MTB, with a unfortunate case of permeating rust on the frame, gave us a bevy of really nice Suntour alloy components!  SAH-WEET!!!  We do have a classic Specialized Hard rock, that is going to need a LOT of TLC (not to mention parts) but is going to make it!
Tuckered out, we packed it in, relatively on time, and headed to the house!  Somehow, the level of "agitation" around the homestead was at a peak, and it took a little doing, but eventually the frayed nerves quickly devolved into sarcasm and rough housing, and once that was all done, we chilled out for the evening.  Angi, somewhat melancholy over the fact that she was unable to attend the Marilyn Manson concert in upstate Florida last night, decided to pop in her available videos from him, and have her own personal audience.  I kept the kiddo's occupied while she did so, and after "bonding" with Miranda with some wrestling, tickling and a sock puppet show (which I don't think she was TOO impressed with, as she pulled it off my hand, studying it, then discarding it on the floor) I put the girls to bed, with a VERY heartwarming round of repetitive "I love you Daddy's"!  Oh, makes me freaking MELT!!   At this point, Owen, Logan, Elijah and I sat down for a couple hands of Magic which is always a crap shoot as to whether or not it degrades into a verbal war, or argument over rulings.  It was during this that Owen made an observation, thereby giving me an opportunity to teach him  a very important tenant of parenting.  As everyone in the house is WELL aware of the battle of wills going on between Elijah and I, he inquired as to how we could be sitting, playing and joking with each other the day after we seemed to want to kill eachother.  Simply put, the two most IMPORTANT qualities a parent can possess when raising children is Forgetfulness and Forgiveness.  If you take anything a child can and WILL do to you, as they grow into their own, personally, it will create a level of animosity, bordering on hate, that can and does drive an insurmountable wedge between you.  I refuse to spend my twilight years in remorse.  The only wish I have, for myself, in life, is I go to my deathbed with NO regrets! 
Once the Magic was played, we degraded into the video games, popped in Need For Speed and the living room immediately became doused with bravado, competitive egos and the heady stench of testosterone (and, much to Angela's chagrin, something a tad bit more fragrant...as we had Jambalaya with Sausage and Black Beans for dinner!)  YEP!  Five men, one couch, Methane and a propensity to "Out DO" each other!  Personally, I think Elijah won that round as Kaleb's eyes started to water!!
SBD!!!
Oh yes, I can be a sensitive man, but at time I can thoroughly devolve into a "GUY!"
ALRIGHTY ROO!!
NOW, on to an important Public Service Announcement!!
As of Monday April 27th, 2015 (for those without a calendar...that's tomorrow) we will be reverting to our SUMMER HOURS!!!
The new Stretch will be


Monday-Friday 9am-7pm


Saturday 9am-6pm


Sunday CLOSED!  (FAMILY DAY IS BACK!!! YAY!!!!)
BUT....
As a new, Angi Inspired Addition, we now offer
24 HOUR SALES AND SERVICE!!
That's right!  Next time, if your out Pub Crawling and have an issue, just give us a call at (727) 831-9742 and we'll meet ya at the shop within thirty minuets and get ya rolling again! 
OKEY DOKEY!
Now, I gotta git and put that Cannondale back on two wheels!
See ya soon! 


3 comments:

  1. I am fascinated by your 24-hour sales and service offer. (But promise to not call you at 3 a.m.) (You're welcome.) But DO keep us all posted on how that works out and if people do really make use of it!

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  2. Oh, no worries there! I envision, if this DOES work it will give me a stockhold of choice stories to tell!

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  3. Yeah, this might fall into the category of "Be careful what you wish for..."

    ReplyDelete