RE-Cycle: Pass The Ham! There Is A Santa Clause!

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Pass The Ham! There Is A Santa Clause!

Kudos to our folks for pitching in again this year! We were actually able to afford to buy a few things for the kiddos to put under the tree! YAY! Suffice to say, I got no shame, this white knuckle summer we endured left us in the red...BIG time! Twer' it not for benevolent landlords, we would have been spending the holiday season in a church basement or something! But, thanks to the milder climate over the last couple of months we are starting to come out of it! Unfortunately, it didn't leave us anything for merry making this season! Thankfully, we are blessed with children who don't do the whole "is that ALL I get?" thing. No, we are fortunate that they (for the most part) appreciate what they get. Angela and I hit the Wal-mart (DON'T JUDGE ME!) yesterday (after some feverish Amazon shopping, of course!) and picked them all out some goodies. Yes, I know, WAL-MART? As much as I chide them, they're still the only real option you have for folks on a tight budget (sad face).
Yesterday was a whiz bang of activity, thank you all so very much! A whole heap of repairs came in, and was humming away on them! Managed to get them all done, so that was sweet! ALSO, put out THREE new sweeties! That flub I started on Saturday got finished up, and was WELL worth the effort! A sweet looking and even sweeter riding "Scratch Build"! Also. we had a ladies Trek 700 Multitrack kicking around the back for sometime, waiting for a set of wheels! So, with the flub being a 26", we used the wheel to get that one up and running. Was going to use them on the Peugeot, but it didn't work out. It needs a set of 27 1/4, and a three speed to boot. Spacing was all wrong. Then, managed to throw together what turned out to be a pretty sharp looking "Daily Banger Special" in the guise of a 26" dual shock MTB!
SO, anyone who has visited us knows that this place is a little like a cave. For some ungodly reason when we first moved in, we recognized that there were NO lights in the front half of the shop. Don't ask me why. I went out and picked up some clip on drop lights to help, but not by much. Well, when I came in this morning I noticed that the light over the video section was out. In fumbling around with the light cover, I had to pop up the adjacent celling tile and in poking my head up there (and getting that bloody insulation down the back of my shirt) lo and behold I noticed there were THREE light boxes up there! Now curious, I had to test whether they worked or not. After some shifting around, I discovered, THEY DID!! So now, waiting on Kaleb to head to the hardware store and get me some light tubes, this place may actually be brightened up!!! HUZZAH!!! Angela was quick to point out that they were my Christmas Present! HA!
ANYWHO!
Got some more repairs in first thing and three more BMX'ers in trade for my troubles! SOOOOO, got me some work ta do!
OH, by the by, yes we ARE open tomorrow, but will be closing at 5pm (or earlier if the muse is upon us) We don't do a heck of a lot the night before, other then the traditional reading of the "Tomten" before tuck in's. Then, begins the mad rush of filling up the bottom of the tree, the eating of the cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer (ghastly combination) and Mom and Dad sigh a heavy relief, flop in bed and pass out, awaiting the mad early morning rush!
SO, without further adieu, I'd best get to crackin'!
Special shout out to my buddy Dan. Ain't seen him in sometime, but always good to BS with a fellow Yankee. And he's way the "nahthanah" (pronounce it just the way it's spelt), a Southy'! Now Angela is probably cringing, as a few minutes with someone from up there brings out the "Masshole" in me BIG TIME!
See y'all soon!