RE-Cycle: A Night Out With The Girls

Saturday, September 21, 2013

A Night Out With The Girls

I would like to say thank you to my lovely wife and daughter in law for shaking the dust off me and taking me out for a wonderful evening. And in extension our son Elijah for not only minding the wee ones but our grandson as well. Not to mention Angi taking some of her hide-a-money to secure me a clean T-shirt, and the loan of one pair of Elijah's CLEAN pants. No, just a T-shirt is NOT cheap, she just knows me well enough to reluctantly accept that anything with long sleeves, or a collar will never adorn my frame, she gave up that effort a long time ago. Once I agreed to wear a tux for our wedding she hasn't asked since. She however was stunning in a lovely little black dress with fire red shawl. Definitely her colors! We hit the restaurant/sports pub at the Countryside mall and after an enjoyable dinner, sat out on the veranda luxuriating in a most mild evening engaging in conversation as they sampled the Martini list and I enjoyed the rare indulgence of Corona (s) with a couple shots of Petrone (something I have never tried before, and in retrospect will shy clear of in the future) Thankfully, no hangover but a slight pressure in the back of my eyes. Hence why I am not a drinker. But that being considered, I quite enjoyed the opportunity to step out of my norm (albeit initially, somewhat reluctantly) and just relish in my wife's chance to breath. Although I don't think me passing out when we got home was her planned culmination for the evening. Another reason why I stay away from the drink.
So ANYWAY!
Seeing as this is MY soapbox, I'm gonna step on up and preach a wee sermon on the subject of etiquette!

Disrespectful people! That's right! And to some extension, prolonged texting!
It is an established fact that we do purchase bicycles from folks. That's our bread and butter! Now 99% of the folks we buy from are well intentioned, intelligent and courteous folks who understand that we are a shop in the business of buying and selling bikes, for a profit. Not a HUGE profit mind you, but at least enough to keep the lights on. There is that 1% though that really "Grinds My Gears!" The ones who think that "We buy bikes, any style any size any CONDITION" means we are going to pay FULL market value for them. As in (and here is where my description may sound condescending, but believe me when I say some people just don't get it!) if it is a bike I am going to SELL for $80.00 they EXPECT us to PAY $80.00 for it!
Yes....let that rationale sink in for a moment.
And regardless of how I try to explain that, by doing it that way, not only would we not MAKE any money, but the mere fact that we would have to tear down, clean, repair AND reassemble the bike BEFORE we could sell it, we would, in fact LOOSE money!
Are you shaking your head yet?
Then there are that small portion of sellers who tell US what we can get for the bike. As in, that Next bike they bought ten years ago for $109.00 at Wal-Mart, then left in the back yard for eight of those years, and bring an ant colony in with it when they want to sell it, tell US that "you know you're gonna get at least a hundred bucks for it, come on!"
It was that degree of frustration I endured yesterday afternoon via text. Now here's where I gripe on that subject! First, please don't get me wrong, at 46 years of age I have long since embraced the usefulness and functionality of texting. It not only allows me the occasional love note during the day to my wife, but the easy access to pictures and what have you from prospective purchases is quite handy. It's when some folks want to engage in long term conversations via text that I find inconvenient. Unlike a phone that can easily be placed on speaker and I can continue in my work as I converse, texting requires me to stop, clean my hands and respond to each one.
One individual was looking to sell a few bikes and text us photos. In kind, I responded I was interested and they should bring them in and I would assess them and offer a price. At this point the back and forth commenced. Each increasingly demanding response was met on our end with reserve and understanding, but conviction. They wanted us to commit to a price BEFORE they would come in. I realize theirs was concern for gas consumption, and the needed cash was to pay a bill but as I tried to explain, without actually "seeing" the bike, we could not commit (pictures are always better then the real thing, and cannot reveal any mechanical issues). Their expectation was that by merely stating we "buy" bikes, we were in fact obligated to do so, at their requested price.
In the end, their inability to comprehend the simple necessity of appraising the items, led to some rather impolite words on their part, and inflammatory remarks regarding my character, as well as the recommendation that I perform an act I consider to be physically impossible.
And THAT good people is what really Grinds My Gears!
ANYWHO!
Managed to put out two new goodies yesterday! A real sweet old Iron Horse we turned into a commuter (which subsequently sold as soon as we opened the doors this morn) and a bang around dual shock MTB "DAILY BANGER SPECIAL!!!" I'll also take this mo to thank all the good folk for their trust in bringing their rides in for refurbing and repair! And we have even more goodies a plenty acquired yesterday. One old Huffy cruiser, that coupled with the Springer front end I've had kicking around for a while, promises to be a real hot looking Rat Rod soon!
So with that, I bid you a fond farewell and see ya soon!