Cover the obvious. Well vacation (and a soft heart, my wife's, not mine) won over and the video game is back in residence. So I am serenaded by the dulcet tones of "IT"S MY TURN!" "I hate that game!" and "DAAAAAADEEEEEEE!!!!" Hooray for me!
I just hide on the lanai, drink coffee and play pool.
Still waiting to find out if we are going to get the house on the hill, we want. Cross fingers, toes and eyes! Heaven knows we need the room (not to mention a functioning kitchen!)
Eldest son made an appearance last night with lovely daughter in law in tow. They won't be buy for dinner tomorrow, just pie and coffee later (OH that went over well! Just like the last Linkin Park album!)
Very busy in the shop today, lots of re-pairs, and sold the Avalon we posted yesterday and the Green "Bling" Mongoose from a couple days ago.
Ever have one of those projects you "think" you had planned out well, and you go to great links and hard work to finish it only to come u[p a piece or two short? Yea, that was my day. Several weeks ago got in a "Mongoose Black comb" frame from one of my scrappers. It was a wreck! No tires or wheels, or major components in tact, but I LOVE the design of the frame! So I stashed it away in the garage waiting for when I could collect all the parts I needed. See it has front AND rear disc brakes, by I have no 6 lug disc wheels, I got every thing else but not those. Well couple days ago bought a bevy of used parts, someone called in on my Craigslist adds. Low and behold NICE set of 6-lug. COOL! So brought the frame up, sanded, primed and painted slick Cast gray, and black paint scheme, gathered up and cleaned all the parts and today when I came in I set about to assemble. Mike went down to Bullets to get me a nice set of thick streets to top it all out, and it wasn't until 6 hours into the project that I realized I had NO rear caliper! OY!
So here I am wanting to get some more goodies ready for Friday ('cause if you think my lovely wife will let me out tomorrow....well you don't know my wife's adherence to tradition (more on that later)) and I basically work to a halt at the 11th hour. Oh well, I posted pic's below just to show it 98% complete! Gonna have to wait 'till Monday to get the parts I need!
Zombie-Boy has FINALLY finished all his specials and started on two more (I'm taking odds on how long THESE will take to get done) Matt's been hummin' away on re-pairs and put out nice 20" Schwinn today in between. Mikes been playin' errand boy most of the day, as well as a couple re-pairs.
OK, on to the story i promised from yesterday, which by the by also doubles as a "What I'm Thankful For" story.
My tale is prompted by a couple of comments I re-cieved in re-gards t a re-mark I made a few posts ago about my children and comparing them to homeless beggars.
First...folks (most) of you seem to "get" my humor, to those of you who do not? Well I will not insult your intelligence with a false apology. I am who I am and I make no excuses. My daddy has taught me since I was 15 (some day I'll tell you why it took HIM that long to learn this lesson) "as long as you keep your sense of humor, you'll be OK" It is that wisdom, once learned that has gotten me (and to some extant, my family) through some pretty harsh times. But in all fairness, I try not to indulge in ethnic or personal slanderous humor unless of course I myself can fit into the category I am "funning" about (LORD, can I tell you some Polish jokes! Why? Because I'm polish!) Same can be said for my making an occasional Homeless snipe.
Yep.
About 5 years ago I and my family fit that bill. You see my anger (as any long time readers can attest to) towards inconsiderate and oblivious drivers stems from personal experience.
In September of '05, while on my way down N Fort Harrison from Dunedin, headed into Park Street Station at 5.30 am to catch the bus to work, I was struck by one of those Honkin HUGE 4X4's with the big side mirrors for towing a trailer. The mirror struck my left shoulder blade and threw me several yards, head over heels ( I held onto my bike a LITTLE to long after being hit) and the driver never stopped!
Trip to the hospital later, nothing broken (surprisingly) but severely bruised and a couple torn ligaments. Well needless to say my job was with a drywall company. And if you can't pick up a piece of drywall, a bucket of mud or even hold a drill gun up...you are useless.
Fast forward 2 months. I'm trying to earn the same money I was by doing telemarketing to no avail. SO by December we are more then broke! And our Landlord, not a patient person, opts to have us removed. SO, 1 week before Christmas, we are making like Nomads. No family in the area, no money to travel, we spend what little cash we have to get a hotel for the night and try and make plans before check out the next day. Her Mom steps in and offers to take my wife and the youngest, while I offer to stay behind with the oldest so they can stay in school and I can look for work. Not the best plan, but all we had. A friend offered to let the older ones stay at her place, but it was small, so most of the time I camped in the van. Well for the next few months it was a combination of living in the van (after a week at the friends it wore thin) and cheap motels when we could afford it. Well it took some doing , but by March of the following year we had managed to save enough to send for Angela and the babies, and get back into a home. But it's been up and down, and believe me when I say even to this day we are still playing catch-up. But through it all (with a few exceptions) we've managed to keep our sense of humor.
At times of year like this it;s that kind of reflection that makes ME Thankful. Given everything I'm thankful that all my kids are with me (even when I may crack wise about it, its all in good Yankee fun) and Especially, Thank you for my wonderful wife. I don't know of many people who would have gone through what she has gone through and still have stuck by my side! And I am also very Thankful for all the wonderful folks we have met and served doing this little shindig we do, and for their continued desire to help the little guy keep on pluggin!
So Please I tip my goblet to you all, and wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving. And re-member it's OK to pass out after you eat, no matter what the wife says!
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| LOVE th elook and ride of these things! Mongoose Black Comb Only $190.00 (when finished) |
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| Stealth V-brake shifters |
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| New Meaty tires, front and rear disc brakes |
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| opted to change standard spring shock with fluid shock for stiffer reactionary ride |
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| Cool Schwinn Falcon! Only $40.00!! |
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