OK KIDDIES! Time For Another Old Fart Rant!!!

Perhaps is just that some folks need to feel an unwarranted sense of importance.  Or they have fallen prey to their own propaganda, or maybe they just weren't breast fed as a baby but the utterly unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape of some organizations is STAGGERING!!!
Case in point.  In the twilight of our remodeling i found my self in need of a quantity of storage bins.  Heavy duty plastic warehouse storage bins.  Thanks to our buddy Chip we obtained about a dozen 16X10X6 bins that are PERFECT for our needs.  However, I needed more.  So perusing through the Internet I came across a used warehouse supply in upstate New York (can't find any locally) that offered the exact same bin. PERFECT!
Well here's where it gets frustrating!
After realizing the web site has no prices I am directed to ask for a quote.  Which doesn't work.  So I call the number.  Go through the obligatory phone mail transfer to be placed on hold by an "executive assistant".  then I get John, tell him the item I'm interested in, he asks the CID # .  CID?  There is NO number under the item.  He takes down my info and says "Do you want me to email or fax you a quote?  Whats wrong with just telling me? ANYWAY! I say e-mail, and wait.  3 hours later the quote comes in. 
5 PAGES!?! 
OK!
Well, as it turns out my computer cannot translate the JPEG!!
After 15 minutes of frustration I revert to the old stand by.  CALL!
The obligatory transfer.
On hold.
Hung up on.
Call back.
Obligatory transfer(s).
On Hold.
Executive assistant.
STOP!!!!  I am aging rapidly at this point! 
John is not available, may we FAX you the quote?
How 'bout this LADY?!  Why not just TELL me how much the FRICKIN' THINGS COST!?!?!
There's a pause as Denise seems stumped.  Confused, almost flustered by this COMPLETELY alien proposal.  I hear the frantic rustling of pages accompanied by laborious annoyed breathing.
After what seemed an eternal pause she uttered the simple phrase "They're $5,99 a piece"
Wow.  Almost 4 hours of effort for 8 syllables.
I honestly think I heard her brain start to melt when I asked "how much is shipping?"
I'll have to call John about that.

Happiness Is A Full Slatwall

Wow.
What a long way we've come.  It's been almost 4 years since we started this little "part time job until times get better".  And as I pause briefly in my day with a a sense of pride (and a tad bit arrogance) admiring our full slat wall and can't help but think to myself we did what they say can't be done.  And when I say WE I am not referring to just Angi and myself but EVERYONE who has chosen to come in and visit us instead of the corporate shops and box stores, so I extend to you all a very heartfelt "Thank You"! from the squishiest part of my heart! 
The BIG order came in today and I had to rearrange my day to clean off the wall and stock it all.  But it was a blessing of a chore.  When we first started we said we didn't want to deal with new parts at all, but that quickly became apparent that that was an impractical approach, if for nothing else but safety's sake!  And as time moved forward and many folks made many, many requests we came to realize we owed it to them to stock at least some of what they wanted at a price that they could deal with.  It's a real treat that in not being greedy some of our prices even beat Wal-mart! (hee hee)
So I give you some pics of the overflowing booty of goodies!
and also before I forget...
We're putting a call out for anyone who has in their family photo albums ANY picture from ANY era that has candid or even posed shots of folks riding bikes, or standing with them or even any with them in the background.  We are gearing up to decorate the showroom walls with all things bicycles!  Have some of our own stuff coming in, but would LOVE to feature yours!  Especially anyone reading from other countries!  That'd be a HOOT!  So please send 'em to the shop!

Kid's Say the Darndest Things! or (If She Wasn't So Cute.....!)

Thanks for a GREAT Saturday!  With the shop upgrades coming to an end we turned our focus to the re-pairs that have been piling up all week long!  And an ENORMOUS THANK YOU to all the folks for being SO VERY, VERY understanding about the delays!!  Even Chris who I mistakenly forgot to call as he works nights and came in early to pick up a bike that I had not finished!  ARRGH!  But he was a perfect gentleman and gave no worries! 
Ended up selling out of the few remaining adult bikes we had and put a SERIOUS dent in the BMX'ers as well.  Had a bit of a bidding war going on in the afternoon on the Redline, and Hyper too! 
All is finished except the gate separating the re-pairs and the parts bins.  Hope to have those done the first of the week, but for the next couple of days will be focused on BUILDING!  Have SO MUCH stuff to work with!
Cute story.
After work Saturday after taking my hose down, sat on the couch with angi, as we recapped our day's activities, and as the children meandered and played, Izzy (who is FINALLY starting to say a few words) sat down between us and layed across Mommas belly, to which Miranda (yep we're back to that name) kicked her.  Izzy sat straight up looked at momma and asked "baby"?  Momma smiled and said yes.  Izzy then turned to me, looked at my belly, patted it and asked "baby"?
As I said, she's lucky shes so cute.

"It's been a LONG time since I used THAT group of muscles!

ow.
Well, after spending the last five years building bikes for a living I got to stretch my "Handyman" muscles again.  And it is with no mere sense of nostalgia and pride that I say...
I don't miss it.
In the least.
I have become complacent in my easy paced life of bike building while remaining in a relatively cloistered 10 square feet of space with the luxury of movies on demand.
BUT!  The shop looks SPANKIN'!  I must thank the following for their help and involvement in the whole journey.  First to Angie for her input, holding down the home fires and most of all for being understanding and forgiving in allowing me to keep working way past midnight!  To my dad for coming up with the designs (which I only altered slightly) and for toting my butt around to pick up all the materials.  (as well as allowing me to spring for a nice sit down lunch (which i realized was VERY hard for him to not grab the check) and having a nice walk down memory lane talk).  And to my step-mother Anita for LETTING my dad come out and play for a day.  To Elijah and Kaleb for helping their old man out on the build, and actually working without complaint.  Also thanks to the "Habitat for Humanity" store for being their with used building supplies!  Hey we RE-Cycle too!  That's right, the whole project was about 74% recycled material!  And thanks to Terry for scrounging me some choice refurbed lumber and for hauling away ALOT of scrap!
We are ALMOST done!  Have only a couple more things to build out but that will have to wait as tomorrow I HAVE to catch up on all the re-pairs piling up, not to mention we have sold out of ALL adult bikes!  ARRGH!!!  Not that I don't have a MOUNTAIN of material to pick from!  Bought 23 today alone!  SO it'll be another humdinger of a day tomorrow, I betcha!
All right, I best meander on, but will see ya'll tomorrow!
NIGHT!

YO! GO Mo Joes!!!!

Anyone watching Craigslist or checking into the store may have realized that we haven't put out anything new in a few days.  Have no fear though, we have been BUSY!  We have plenty to work on bike wise, but right now we are concentrating on the shop upgrades! 
DATELINE: UPDATE!
1) Shop has been FULLY repainted, as evident from the before and after pic's below.  Took me THREE coats on the walls to cover up all the tire marks and smudgy mechanics hand prints.
2) Placed our order for a multitude of new merchandise (yes I used the "N" word!) But we get requests every day for new tires, seat, locks and lights and so forth so we went whole hog on ya!
3) Should have credit card equipment by early next week!
4) Going out today with Dad to pick up material for counters and such and hopefully start building this afternoon!
So as much as a surprise to me as I am sure it is to you, everything going according to plan!
NOW!  I have to relate this little tale to you because not much in life surprises me anymore, and more so very little impresses!  But, a couple weeks back we received a menu/flyer from a recently opened "Family Dinning" restaurant.  Now we get things like this from time to time, however I was tickled by the name of the place "Mo Joes" (relating of course to the Power Puff Girls arch nemesis, "MoJo Jo-Jo", so I put it neatly with my China One menu.  A few days later as lunch rolled around and I felt to lazy to walk to one of the restaurants in the plaza, I figured I'd try out Mo Joes.  It's a real Burger and sandwich joint with a LOT of choices!  I ended up ordering Angi and I the "Avocado Movado" , REAL bread with REAL chicken breasts, blackened with tomatoes avocado and bacon with ranch dressing.  The awesome part was as the ingredients were fresh you could actually TASTE them!!  Now full in the thralls of pure lust we ordered again the next day!  JUST as good! 
Now here's the impressive mind blowing part. the next day the OWNER comes to our shop to introduce herself, find out about OUR shop and thank us for our business!
Knock me over with a feather!  I haven't seen that kind of GENUINE personalized effort to promote once business since...well I don't know when!  But instantly she made me feel....REAL!  All to often I'll go to a coffee shop, or to pay a bill, or have a sit down meal and the people are so stale and robotic.  It's you and them.  May as well be ordering online! But this woman, I felt as if I'd walked into her home, she greeted me warmly and I sat down to have a home cooked meal at HER dinner table!  It was THAT real! 
OK, OK I'll stop gushing.  But you HAVE to try them out at least once!  They're at 2169 North Hercules, Clearwater, FL 33765 (727) 733-0101.  Tell them RE-Cycle sent you!

REAL hand battered onion rings!!!!! This batch costs only slightly more then them rinky dink ones at the "OTHER" burger joints!
(oh, and they come with more...but I ate a few all ready!)

Now THAT'S a  LARGE fry!!!

So here's the before and after pics.  Yes we used the same color combo as Angie came up with it when we first opened and it has become our "Colors"! What up, Yo?



Another Worthwhile Rant Of Social import!

First, let me pre-qualify the following by stating that I learned along time ago to only voice your opinion when that opinion is derived by experience, study or involvement.  So as an individual that is not one of the spandex clad generation, but rather the "sit-on-your-but-eating-to-much-carbs-and-watching-far-to-many-movies-while-not-exercising" generation, I have some expertise on the matter!
I have NO ONE to blame for my overeweihtedness but me!
So unless you have a REAL glandular problem, you have no excuse for the following.
Anyone going to the mall, or grocery store have seen these people.  I saw one this morning at the kids school, of all places but I'll get to that in a minute.  They sit in their cars in the parking lot, with the window partially down barking orders at their little children of various young ages, as the child has to schlep into the store and do the shopping as momma sits in air conditioned comfort LOUDLY talking to whoever on the other end of their cell phone so that the whole world can partake in their conversation.  Eventually the child emerges from the store with a full cart laden down with a variety of snack cakes, pork rhines, and yo-hoo's.  As this spindly and emaciated child loads the trunk (conveniently opened by the cars occupant via the comfort of remote control) they look longingly at the food that they know they will never partake in.
Folks, I agree that children need to learn responsibility and be assigned chores.  BUT, one should not treat them as indentured servants!
ANYWAY!
As I was bringing the boys to school this morning (Rozy, unfortunately is home falling victim to the latest round of childhood icky's) we took our usual shortcut through an adjacent neighborhood who's access road empties out in front of the schools rear entrance.  Once their you must cross a busy two lane road.  There is no crosswalk, so one of the teaching staff stands on the opposing side to keep watch as many parents, not wanting to deal with the chaos of the main entrance, opt for this access.  the rule is that a parent MUST accompany the children across the road for safety sake.  A very reasonable caution.  Well after giving kisses and "have a good days", I crossed back over to head home.  Once over and headed home I noticed a car discharge it's passengers, two young boys about the same age as mine, and proceed to the roads edge.  The safety guard held up her hand and emphatically stated "you cannot cross without a parent!"  To this the car's drivers side window opened a crack and a bellowing voice retorted "What you MEAN they can't cross!?" The safety guard repeated the directive, and to this a rather large woman squeezed her bulk out of the car to the relived groan of the cars shocks, and stomped to the roads edge.  With finger pointing at the diminutive guard she began, in front of her children and several other young ones, and families assembled, an obscenity laced diatribe that continued even as she drove away!
What can you say to such a distasteful display?  Now I'm sure certain words of profanity have accidentally slipped passed my lips in front of my own children (*ahem*) but I mind my P's and Q's in front of others.  And why get upset at the individual who's job it is to keep YOUR kids and others safe? Because it inconveniences YOU in making you have to get your butt out of the car for a distance of 30 feet?
I quote John Hughes "they make you get a licence to drive, but any asshole can be a parent".
ANYWAY!
In  ever growing anticipation of the shop upgrades the boys came up to give me a hand catching up with re-pairs and stripping down some excess parts.  Terry got to haul away another truck load, much to his delight, and there will be more today.  Managed to put out two SWEET gems as well!  A GORGEOUS XL frame 2008(ish) Specialized Crossroads, FULLY rebuilt, and a Mongoose "Paver" 7 speed commuter.  Also got started on the "Panama Jack" cruiser (it's got a BOTTLE OPENER mounted to the forks!) that will be done shortly.  picked up many new goodies as well!  Two more hard tail MTB's, 24' Mongoose dual shock, and ANOTHER cruiser!  WAHOO!  So my work is cut out for me.
Should be starting to re-paint the shop tomorrow as we make way for the new counters and "re-pair corral" (in what  I'm sure will be a vain attempt at keeping the re-pairs separated from the stock so as to not confuse potential bike shoppers)
Well with that check out the newbies below and I'm back to work!

2008(ish) Specialized Crossroads "XL" frame Hybrid
ONLY $260.00



Mongoose "Paver" 7-speed Commuter
ONLY $110.00!!



You Can Lead An Old Horse To Water...

But You Can't Teach It New Tricks!
Or is that "Worth two in the bush"?
Well once again a BANGER Saturday!  Had an all to familiar conversation with a less then trusting gent though.  Can't say as I blame him, as when I discuss with potential new bike owners the shelf life of the majority of our bikes, some look at me as if to say "oh, come now!  Surely you can't be serious?!"  Well, I am.  And please don't call me Shirley. They think perhaps I am "Pulling the wool over their leg" and it's all a pitch.  Well this gent in particular scoffed, and made a counter offer for the Schwinn Voyager which was just slightly more then I paid for the darn thing.  I politely declined but made a more realistic counter offer.  Again he guffawed, and stated "I'll be in next week when it's been here for awhile.  You'll take my price."  And with an air of affluence (or is that flatulence?  I always mix those two up.) he departed.
WELL.  As if the fates themselves wished to prove my statements for me, the following happened...
Thanks to Arvin for snatching up the Mongoose XR-75, sweet little gem she was!  And to Melnesha for grabbing the cute little Pink Dyno BMX for her little girl!  She will now beat the pants off her brothers!!  And to Mario, a returning customer for picking out the Avalon to get to and fro the job!  Matthew picked out the Schwinn Voyager in question, not batting an eye realizing how GOOD the price was for this sweet ride!  Thanks to Andrew the PERFECT candidate for the Schwinn Continental Big Boy (as always...the bikes choose their riders) as he was, I think a Wookie stand in!  And to Sandy for picking up her third bike with us, the Vertical!
So in effect, we SOLD OUT of all our adult bikes shortly after the gentleman left.  But have NO fear, as I was busily slaving away to put out more goodies!  Those you'll see below.
AND!  got in MANY new goodies to choose from!  4 cruisers, 3 BMX's, 2 MTB'x and THREE Hybrids!!! YAY!  The gem clearly being the GORGEOUS Specialized Crossroads currently occupying my rack! 
And as always THANKS to all the weekend re-pairs coming in as well.  I will single one out, a cool little Fila Torino were overhauling for Chris to mention (and shamelessly exploit ourselves, and pimp the wonderful work we do) that he came here via one of those "other" bike shops in town.  He needs a variety of work done, parts replaced, etc.  When I tallied it up (more new parts then used) the bill came to $116.00.  I cleared my throat thinking it was a tad high.  He was jubilant and said "let's do it!" It was at this point that he explained the "other" shop he had just come from had estimated the exact same work and quoted him $360.00!!!!!  
say WHAT!?!?
See why we're so great? (tongue firmly in cheek)
ANYWAY!
Yesterday was family day.  unfortunately the kiddos slacked off this past week and come Sunday the house needed an overhaul.  But being the benevolent overlords we informed them if they could get it done by noon, we'd at least take them to brunch.  They needed a little help, but got it done.  And as we were in the area we stopped by the shop as Terry had a load of used lumber for the store upgrades he wanted to drop off.  I LOVE the barter system!  He gets my scrap and when I need stuff he scrounges it up for me! 
Now as an added bonus today (to the family that reads the blog to catch up on what goes on with their "big herd of black sheep") I caught a short video of what goes on in our house almost every night around dinner time!  So enjoy! 
And with that I'm back to work!

SWEET SINGLE SPEED CRUISER
ONLY $65.00!!

AWESOME DUAL-SHOCK, RAPID FIRE SHIFTER, 21 SPEED, DISC BRAKE "TANK"!
ONLY $85.00!!!

"LIKE NEW' 18 SPEED MTB
ONLY $70.00!!

Just Like Old Times!

Ah yes!  Yesterday was a real nostalgic walk down memory lane! 
Surprisingly, perhaps due to advanced age and wisdom, or because of learning from past errors, this past week went according to plan!  WOW!  Spent the week keeping up with re-pairs (THANK YOU for your trust and patronage!) Took the advice of some folks (Chip being my "Man on the inside") who have been put off slightly by the cover pic in our blog to shake things up and change it.  Seems that the "Family Photo" seemed somewhat intimidating to some people.  Personally I think it's real cool, and when the photo was taken I was originally surprised when Adam, the photographer instructed everyone NOT to smile (it took A LOT of takes to make that happen.  As you can see Rozy couldn't help it).  His desire was to capture a turn of the century feel.  look at old family photos from that era.  NO ONE smiled!  (But the that was before cable and microwave dinners so what did they have to smile about anyway!) So instead we'll have a rotating cover page of different candid shot's around here.
As the kids were off from school yesterday I took advantage and put the older boys to work with me in reorganizing and weeding out the garage.  As we have done MUCH buying over the last couple of months our garage began bulging at the seems from all that was being packed in there so we had to do something.  After pulling it all out into the driveway (and from the side of the house....and the back of the house...) we separated ALL the bikes for scrapping.  Also as a bonus we CLEANED the garage.  As the kitchen is one of the rotating chores shared by Elijah and Kaleb they have the nasty habit of just sweeping all the debris left on the floor after a day of child's play into the garage without the decency of using the dust pan and throwing it away.  That coupled with a few days of unfinished laundry leads to quite a mess.
After completing this (and hauling off three bags of garbage) we sat down in the driveway and began the task of parting out the 60 or so bikes not being rebuilt.  It was just like old time at the old garage when we would work year round intermittently between the garage and the driveway. The little ones constantly running in and out wanting to "help"!  Owen treated us to an impromptu fashion show of a lovely evening gown and a wonderful pale pink sundress.  A few folks passing buy stoped to talk and ask questions. (about the bikes...not Owen)  SEVERAL vulturesque scrap guys lingering wondering what we were going to do with all when we were done.  Much to their chagrin I had to inform them that it was already taken care of as Terry had dibs, who GLADLY came in for two runs in a FULL truck down to USA Steel on Hercules.  They'll be Tuna cans before you know it!  And of course no good day is complete without a visit from Clearwaters finest!  OH YES!  Pulling into our driveway like a misguided T.J. Hooker, one of our local "Hot Fuzz" got a call from "someone" reporting that the bikes located in our driveway "MUST BE" stolen due to the "Sheer Volume" of bikes. 
yea.
Upon hearing this "tongue in cheek" accusation harking back to bygone days of similar slander my response was shall we say....brisk?  I think it was to the tune of "well that's a bunch of bull $%@t!" and emphatically stated that we owned the local bike shop up the street...and before I could finish the officer responded "RE-Cycle?"
Now I don't know if that's a good thing, or bad?
So anyway, he grinned a knowing grin and stated "well that's an acceptable explanation" and went about his day.
The boys and I had a good laugh and proceeded to finish our chop shop!
ahHA!
Kidding!
Momma took over the reigns at the shop for the day with the intermittent help of the boys going up to do the occasional quick re-pair as we didn't finish the tear down until around four.  At which point I came up and began the task of putting away all the new parts.  WOW, what a bevy! 
So today as Kaleb puts away the remaining parts, I NEED to get back to building as the sales floor has GREATLY diminished with me being otherwise occupied.
So hope to see ya'll REAL soon!

The "Train of Thought" Has Derailed.

Ever have a time when you are incapable of organized thought?  Well now we have common ground to walk on.  Forgive me if my normal ranting seem abnormally discombobulated as I'm pretty much winging it.
As many of you already know, as you were probably perusing it prior to visiting us, Craigslist (among other internet sites) is potentially under assault.  Apparently Congress is working on two bills, PIPA & SOPA (S968 and HR3261).  I quote;
"Corporate supporters of Senate 968 (PIPA) and HR 3261 (SOPA) demand the ability to take down any web site (including craigslist, Wikipedia, or Google) that hurts their profits -- without prior judicial oversight or due process  -- in the name of combating "online piracy.""
As with so much legislature the terminology is vague and broad enough that the potential for abuse and loopholes abound.  No, I do not support piracy, but the Corporate Big Wigs that have our Government in their back pocket could easily sway their puppets into removing our ability to seek out opposing view points, REAL news (such as the non-watered down "On the Battlefront" news bits generated by the real time participants in "Occupy Wallstreet") or even go so far as to eliminate competition in free trade.  Think about it.  Major players in the retail market are sure to have been feeling a little pinch in sales when the average American can go online to Craigslist and deal in a worldwide Flea Market.  When you can go into their search engine and  find almost ANYTHING at a fraction of what you pay retail (in most cases) why go to Wal-Mart or Target?  Obviously, our fat cat Government has NO concern that in most American families the ability to save some scratch when buying necessary items is a vital necessity, ESPECIALLY nowadays. I urge you to read the breakdown of the bill and contact you representatives (it's easy) and tell them what you think.
Who knows!  Maybe democracy will work...for once.
Last night was the first Atherton Men out night.  Which is another word for Wednesday Bowling Night!  I'll admit it's been almost never that we have been able to have a structured "outside the house" regular night.  It works SO well on SO many levels.  The obvious benefits being the chance to be out of the home enviornment, sharing small talk and laughs.   Getting to know your family a little better.  Teaching them good social behavior, but it also allows for another tool in the disciplinary arsenal.  My wife and I learned ALONG time ago, that the act of spanking your child is rarely a useful tool.  Quite frankly with the potential legal risks involved, it's not worth it.  However, as we have been for the better part of two decades home bound, we have had little to "hold over their heads".  Well now the threat of losing Friday Night Movie Night, Sunday Family Day, and now Wednesday Boys Night (and in parallel Girls Night) is motivation for their interactions with each other more civil, chores get done faster, messes are at a minimum, and attitude is a wee bit sunnier!  No I don't think I've reinvented the wheel, but it's nice to be in a place where they get to have fun and we get to have leverage!
At the risk of seeming traitorous to my own belief structure, in concert with the forthcoming upgrades to the shop (No worries, it will still have the same ambiance, just a wee bit more organized) we are considering accepting credit and debit cards.
Yes, I know.  I have often times ranted and rallied strongly against such a thought.  However as we have begun getting more and more busier this last year, and a wider spectrum of folks come in, more and more voice (at times vehemently) the inconvenience of us NOT accepting them.  It has given me pause for thought.  As much as I abhor debt, there are those who wisely manage their money and may not get caught in the spiraling decay of interest payments versus principal.  I have concluded it is the height of hubris to instill my principals into their lives, nor am I qualified to be their conscience.  We are currently shopping around for the right processing company (that won't charge an arm and a leg for the service) and should be ready in a couple of weeks.
Thanks to Thomas for popping in yesterday.  After several visits he finally found the ride he's been looking for in the Schwinn Voyager Hybrid.  Also to Bobby for coming in and falling in love with the Easter candy colored Haro Vault!  And another frequent flyer Bill and his wife that took home the Savannah!  Glad she's happy.
Managed to put out four yesterday thanks to a rainy day.  Nice looking Mongoose XR-75 that really only needed a once over as it was WELL maintained.  A simple little 20" BMX for starters.  A FULLY refurbed "Why did I even start this project" Avalon 7 speed comfort cruiser.  And an Old School Mongoose BMX.  This one a full custom re-build and paint!
Well, Now i am off to build up some more goodies in preparation for the weekend!
Hope to see ya'll REAL soon!

7 SPEED COMFORT CRUISER
ONLY $70.00!!!

BEGINNER BMX
ONLY $30.00!!

"LIKE NEW" MONGOOSE XR-75
ONLY $80.00!!!

CUSTOM "OLD SCHOOL" MONGOOSE
ONLY $90.00!!

 AND AS PROMISED......THE NEWEST STRIP IS IN!!!

To Pooped To Pop

Forgive me if I don't ramble.  It's been a long busy (thank you!) day!  And for once I'm at a loss for anything useful to say!  (ahHA!)
So here's the new goodies!!

OLD SCHOOL HARO
ONLY $105.00!!!

MONGOOSE REBEL!!
ONLY $65.00

(ANOTHER) MONGOOSE HOOP-D!
ONLY $65.00!!

NEXT BMX
ONLY $40.00!!

GORGEOUS AND FAST SCHWINN VOYAGER W/RACK & BAG
$165.00!!!

"LIKE NEW" AVALON COMFORT CRUISER
ONLY $75.00!!!

Exactly WHY Do We Send Our Kids To School?

Some fun goings on at the old Shoppe' today but I'm going to tell tales in reverse!
The end...
OK, maybe NOT so literal.
Kaleb and I worked a little later tonight as we are ONCE AGAIN cleaning and reorganizing.  With all the buying we've done lately we haven't gotten around to stripping down the parts bikes.  Needless to say it was to the point of insurmountable.  Thanks to Terry for coming late for a scrap pick up.  Also cleaned out the back hall!  WOW!  You can actually walk full frontal and not have to walk sideways, bending and contorting under various protruding metal parts in order to get to the bathroom! (I swear I heard  my colon breath a sigh of relief) We're getting prepared to the re-furb and upgrades coming to the shop in the next few weeks.  Thanks to my dad who will be helping in the design and work, as well as being the mode of pick up and delivery for the materials.
ANYWAY.
After finishing up and closing up as we were leaving I realized I had forgotten my coat.  Going back into grab it Kaleb commented that it wasn't cold, to which I responded "Yes, but it will be cold in the morning"  To this he commented "Dad, do you know why it's cold?" (this is his way of opening conversation to bestowed upon me with his youthful wisdom) my response was simply "because it's winter."  He grinned a wizened smirk as if to say "silly man" and retorted "No.  It's the winds traveling over the glaciers bringing cold air here"
WHAT?
There are times my children say things that just stop me dead in my tracks.  As if the shear weight and enormity of their words short circuit my logic centers, sending out waves of bio electric interference that momentarily impede my primary motor skills.
Now, I'm no genius nor am I a meteorologist, but I was under the assumption that the seasons had something to do with the position of the Earth in relation to the Sun.  Maybe I was wrong, so for the briefest of moments I pondered his words...
(at this moment I am remembered of all the times I have gone anywhere with this boy, and in all fairness, as much as the boy can get on my nerves, he is rather like a young Brad Pitt.  Rather handsome with an underlying "Bad Boy" image.  It never fails that regardless of where we go, he is met with a variety of young ladies who greet him, in full "sing song" voice with "Hiiiiiiiiiiii, Kaleb!" Only further reinforcing my belief that ALL women regardless of age, social position, or IQ prefer their men cute, and dumb!)
Then I returned to THIS reality, and could do nothing but shake my head in shame and disbelief.
So HOORAY for the Public Education System.  No wonder Florida ranks so low in standardized testing scores. 
And thanks to Chip for paying us a visit and dropping of the sweet Schwinn Ranger MTB in swap for the old cantilever frame.  I DEFINITELY got the sweeter end of the deal.  But then he usually lets us come out on top!  And thanks for sharing with us his tale of humility recently learned as him and the lovely Joanne were at the Largo Library book store the other day and as they were perusing the isle she came upon a copy of Chips novel "The Practical Cyclist".  Upon seeing the book, he was struck with the realization that his book had been not only discarded to the denizens of the "Store of Little Lost Books" but as it turns out it was a personalized, autographed copy he had given to a "Then" friend.  Well, after realizing this his only thought was whether he should strike his former acquaintance with a snow shovel or a bat.
He opted for an aluminum bat.  Best of both worlds.
Yes, we moved a few more rides off to new homes today, but forgive me as we were otherwise occupied with cleaning and reorganizing that Angi was running the front and I wasn't paying to good attention.  Sorry.  I will give full credit to those intrepid souls tomorrow.
We also did MORE buying as well.  Picked up a sweet Schwinn Voyager (yep another one) and two more Mongoose BMX'ers.  The Schwinn is done and out but will have to post tomorrow as, yep you guessed it, to busy!
Now that I have room to move though, I'll be pounding out some more golden oldies on the morrow!
In closing, some trepidation from various family members regarding our choice of name for our new little girl to be has given us pause to rethink (and KUDOS to my sister for being the only one so far to recognize the sci-fi fandom reference to the name "Miranda" as the "dead" planet that spawned the Reavers on "Firefly".  Yes not the most idyllic of inspiration but we liked the sound of it) At the suggestion of our son Elijah, following on the "Firefly" reference, we are now contemplating "Serenity" as a more apt second choice.
Wish I thought of it first.
Well, until tomorrow!
Night!

The Origins of "Boy's Night Out"

After three weeks we think the kiddo's have finally got the hint!  As Sunday has long since been "Family Day" and as of the first of this year now encompasses ALL in the Family, Mom and Dad promised the children that we would get out of the house and do something special.
PROVIDED!
Provided that they didn't get into trouble for the week and that they did their chores and kept the messes in the house to a minimum.  Well, it took three weeks of being denied access to the outside world and spending all day Sunday cleaning for them to get the point.  They were very good this past week and did their utmost to keep their messes at bay.  So yesterday we treated them to a day out of bowling and lunch!  AH yes, Middle America Redneck FUN!  Seriously though, they really got into it.  Momma, even though her bowling form was somewhat handicapped, slammed out a couple of strikes!  The little guys were enjoying it for a while (at least until they discovered there was a game room) But Elijah, Logan and I had a bit of competition going there. Enough so that we've decided (for the time being at least) that we are going to have a "Boy's Night Out" on Wednesday and go pound out a couple of frames.  It gives them a chance to earn a treat twice a week, and helps Mom and Dad keep them in line when they know they'll miss out.  Mom will have a Girl's Night In to boot! 
Well Saturday, although rather brisk weather wise, still panned out to be a productive day!  Thanks to Jim and his bride for picking out the Trek 830 to explore with. Christine (although initially put off by our "scary" family photo at the top of the blog) came in and picked up the ladies DBS!  Chris and his family took home the sweet Nishiki commuter as he wants to use it as...a Commuter!  YAY!! A convert!  And he brought in a weathered, but salvageable Schwinn Voyager Hybrid (see below) that once FULLY refurbed, makes a welcome addition to the sales floor!  Micheal, after an intense inspection and road test, happily went home with the Schwinn World Sport!  And as always thanks to all the re-pairs coming in to fill out this mornings dance card!
Did ALLOT of buying as well!  The newest addition to our Scrap Guard, "Chuckles" brought in a trailer full!  5 count 'em FIVE three wheelers, an OLD Firestone and an OLD JC Higgins cruisers!  All of which need SERIOUS work, but welcome none the less!  Also got a GT Timberline MTB, 5 more BMX'er's, and assorted bangers, to numerous to count!
So I have a VERY BUSY day today, as well as meeting with my Dad to help in the "Coming Soon" renovations to the shop!
So with that, Hope to see you soon!!

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SCWINN VOYAGER HYBRID
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The Envelope Please...and the Winner Is...

Well yesterday was the day!  Friday the Thirteenth brought no misfortune or bad omens but rather was the day Angi and I had her ultra sound done and found out what color to get for clothing....
It's a...
But first...
I hesitate to mention this as I've been told that defending oneself to bad press may seem like your trying to deny a truth.  HOWEVER, I've always felt that to remain silent in the face of slander is to only invite speculation.  And as has been quoted by other more learned folk, "A person is more likely to tell of a bad experience then a good one".  Occasionally I check out our listing online, updating when necessary, and on Google and yahoo they allow space for customers comments.  A useful tool, as it gives us direct input as to where we may make improvements or continue to focus on what folks like.  As google is the most commonly used we get most of our info there.  The majority of the reviews are quite glowing (Thank you very much!) but there are two recent entries that have me a tad bit stumped.
They are as follows..

Nice enough people but dishonest, unorganized and irresponsible. The owner wrote down and charged me for ordering new parts from his catalog and labor (before he even began work). Two weeks later (I had to call him, he never called when it was finished) he tells me its ready but of course it wasn't, come to find out he used old cheap parts in his shop rather than ordering the parts I paid for.. and he never refunded me. I gave him another week and paid more to finish the work only to end up with the same scenario.. twice! His excuse was he forgot what we had discussed and which parts we ordered (even though he wrote it down twice) ... he refused to refund me. I ended up paying over 200 bucks for old rusty parts and a simple repair!! I will have to order the rest of the parts from Amazon and install them myself. RE-cycle is a decent place to buy a cheap used walmart bike that may or may not work.. but for anything else expect to be ripped off.
AND...

A racket! I bought a bike from them and discovered I liked riding. So, 2 months later we took the bike in to see if they would make us an offer to buy it back so I could upgrade. The guy told me the wheels were warped. Well, if they were he sold it to me like that. What a jerk! I went and bought a new bike from a REPUTABLE bike shop!

It took me a while to figure out who the first one was, and I will mention no names, but he was the only one to have work similar to what was described done.  And I can't figure out the harsh words as he was quite excited when he picked up his bike.  I'll address the concerns in order.  Yes, whenever ordering parts we collect the cost of the parts up front as we have to pay in advance, and should a customer change their mind it is quite difficult (and costly) to return the items. he paid for the remainder of the work in advance of his own volition.  The bike was brought in for a full refurb, and modifications.  He had ordered a new seat and grips but was informed that the handle bars, kickstand, and brake and shifters would be re-furbed in order to save him money (remember our name is RE-Cycle, because that's what we do) In regards to the second time?  as far as the not calling?  We have since changed policies, but then when work was done we would call a customer and in most cases be forced to leave messages.  He did not respond to the message until a week later. When he did come in, his only concern voiced to us was that he decided he wanted fenders (which was only discussed initially in passing, never collected for) He wanted brown fenders to match his bike, but I had to inform him that our supplier only carried black and chrome, and that we could order black and paint them.  He stated that he could get them online himself.  So I have no idea why a refund would apply.  The total of his bill was $140.00.  That's for a new seat, grips, replacement handle bars, shifters, brake levers, new cables and housings, new tires, new tubes, a full tear down, part's clean, reassembly, re grease all bearings and a tune up. Obviously NOT a simple re-pair.  I did it for cost, plus labor because he told me the bike had sentimental value as it had been his fathers.
As the saying goes, "No good deed goes unpunished"
As to the second entry?  Well that one is just pure vitriol.  Yes the gentleman had purchased a bike from us, He had it for a little more then four months, and considering the shape it was in, did some mighty harsh riding.  The rear wheel was bent so bad that it couldn't make a full rotation without jamming up against the brake.  He wanted full credit for what he paid for it, in cash.  I informed him that our buy back policy is 50%, which he was none to thrilled with and left angry.  Obviously he sought revenge.
Yes, I'm well aware of the ideology regarding it's business, not personal, but our family takes a great deal of pride in what we do, and put our heart and soul into this little enterprise.  So it is personal!
ANYWAY!
The temps dipped WAY below yesterday, so things were a little quiet yesterday.  Although in the early hours we do have David to thank for falling in love with the OCC chopper.  You are now officially the coolest kid in your neighborhood!! And Danny for snatching up the slick Ocean Pacific cruiser, a VERY good choice, my good sir!  And to a returning customer who up graded his ride to the Giant Chinnok, from the Huffy Rival he picked up a few months back.  Definitely an upgrade!
Managed to put out two of the highly requested ladies bikes, and am building more today!  Check out the pic'c below.
So with that I bid you a good day, and hope you wrap up real warm and come in and pay us a visit!

Now what is it that I'm forgetting.....
Oh yes!
Her name is Miranda.

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BE THE FIRST KID ON YOUR BLOCK TO HAVE ONE!!!!

IT'S HERE!! 
The Ultra Collectible, SUPER RARE, UBER FANTASTIC!!!
...WARTS AND ALL MINI-COMIC!!

Yes kiddo's, THAT'S RIGHT!  Be part of the few, super special, lucky elite enjoying MINUTES of comic strip FUN!  In This ULTRA-DELUXE, HIGH QUALITY hand bound volume you will find the first 20 or so strips of the HILARIOUS HYJINX of the RE-Cycle family collected in this NEVER BEFORE, HAND COLLATED FORM!
And as an ADDED BONUS, be one of the lucky FEW to find the PHANTASMAGORICALLY  RARE. RANDOMLY INSERTED "Greasy Fingerprint" additions!!!!
THAT"S RIGHT!!
And That's STILL not all!!!!

well....um....no....I guess that's it.

ANYWAY....
Currently limited to ONLY 20 copies!  Hurry in to our shop and grab up your copy BEFORE THEY'RE ALL GONE!!

At which point....we'll print up more...