Apparently, I was tired yesterday!
Got home from the shop around 3.30 pm yesterday. Had Owen, Izzy and Rozy with me, and on the trek to the house we got caught in a downpour. Sent them to the showers, post haste, as they always get QUITE dirty when they come here (go figure) and hung out on the porch, a drowned rat, until they shower was free. Of course, being filthy myself, it is imperative I clean up, as welcome home kisses are minimal until I unstinkafy myself. Once out of the shower, I lay down on the bed to stretch my back, and apparently the last few weeks caught up with me, as I promptly passed out, and didn't wake up until 11.30 pm! Angela, apparently kept the kids quite quiet, as there was no noise to rouse me. Either that, or I was so out of it, it didn't matter. I got up, had a quick bite to eat, watched the rest of "Robin Hood: Men in Tights", with Angela and the boys, then we went right back to sleep. All in all, I had almost 18 hours of sleep last night!
And obviously, I needed it, considering the boneheaded, rookie, novice screw-ups I made yesterday! Oh, curious as to my depths of stupidity?
OK, I have no shame!
Saturday, got in a rough frame with a few parts still on it. Was lightweight cro-moly, so worth some effort, and possibly, looks to be an old school GT hybrid. Or I THOUGHT it was a hybrid! One of the few remaining parts it had was a 700c rear wheel. It fit the frame, so I didn't think twice to check! The front fork was shot, so I dug through our pile to find another 700 fork, and here's where I made my FIRST mistake!
I didn't check the length of the steering tube!
Oh yes. After cleaning, sanding, priming, painting and clear coating it, I mounted it in the bike only to find it was FOUR inches TOO LONG!!!!
ARRGH!!
OK...moving on! Went back to formula, found ANOTHER 700 fork (with the correct length tube) cleaned, sanded, primed, painted and clear coated it, mounted it and it fit PERFECTLY!!!
YAY!
Now, on to the remainder of the bike! This should be a piece of cake!
Yea....right!
Mounted the now cleaned, repacked rear wheel, then, digging through a couple parts bucket found a really nice looking set of alloy, center pull brakes, mounted them, then went to line up the pads on the rim....
and they were three inches too LOW!!
WHAT THE FUDGE!?!?!
It took a few minuets of incredulous fumbling for my brain to finally register...
THIS WAS A 26" FRAME!!!!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
SO...
removing the very nice and clean rear wheel, and the beautifully prepped and painted front 700 fork (third generation) I dug through the bins and found an appropriate 26" fork.
And yes, I ALMOST DID forget to check the length of the steering tube, BUT at least I had enough snap to relize that. All in all, a bike that should have only taken a day, is now going on three days!
Serves me right!
ANYWHO!
Yesterday was almost a bust, twer it not for the gent that came in looking for a road bike, and discovering the SWEET trek hybrid, might have been a forlorn day! BUT, a promise has now been completely fulfilled. The Trek has now gone on to a third generation of riders, and they were quite smitten with it!
TODAY, aside from finishing up my SNAFU, I have to do the EBay (*shudder*) then on to...I'm not sure! I have a few frames I may do another Scratch build. Come to think of it....I have that sweet vintage Peugeot Mixie frame, and now that I have a prepped set of 700's...hmmmmmm? That may hit the rack today!
All right, I must press on!
See y'all soon!!
OH, and by the way, for anyone interested, I FINNALLY found out the skinny on a couple of the "Easter Egg's" from this summers blockbuster "Guardians of the Galaxy". Two things that had me perplexed were first, why Stan Lee had a cameo in it. The basic wisdom behind his appearances was they were always in movies based on characters he and Jack Kirby created. hence why no cameo's in Ghost Rider, Blade or Man-Thing (yes...there was a Man-Thing movie. If you didn't see it...well...you didn't miss much) Well, he had no "official" involvement in the creation of the Guardians. BUT (and I SHOULD have known this one) if you pay attention, his cameo is at the exact same moment in the movie as when we are introduced to Groot. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created Groot, the sentient tree creature WAY back in November 1960 "Tales to Astonish" #13.
The second thing that, while his appearance made me squeal with delight (yes, like a schoolgirl) I could not understand why Howard the Duck appeared in the film (OH, pay REAL close attention, he does not only appear at the END of the film, but when you first meet the Collector, you can see Howard in a cage, when they pan out, over the collectors right shoulder in the back). WELL, while investigating the origins and history of the Guardians in the comic books (I never really read them in my heyday) it turns out, that their adventures were not well received, as they were out of the Marvel Mainstream, and it was not until the works of a few creators, did they develop any kind of following. One of the most influential in their resurgence was Steve Gerber, best known for the creation (and controversy) of Howard the Duck. SO there ya go! Questions answered!
No comments:
Post a Comment