What Ah Wankah!

*snicker*
Okay, a little background on that pic yesterday, because it was one of those "you had to be there" sort of moments!  Yesterday, the bulk of the day, after repairs, was spent preparing the wood for the basket on the new truck. Not an easy task, given that yes indeed, when we say "re-cycled materials" we aint kidding.  All the scrap wood for this ride derived from a construction tear out of a dividing wall from a residential rebuild. This particular wall was both insulated and had paneling.  For those never having done such work, suffice to say, the wood was riddled with nails and screws.  3 1/2 inch wood screws, framing nails, staples for the insulation, and those annoying, easy to break paneling nails.  Once those were all found and removed, I set up the table and miter saw to rip them done to the appropriate widths and lengths.  In retrospect, I should have done it outside, like the last project, but as it is hotter out there now, and the sun, at this point, was directly above where I would have been working, with NO shade, I took the wimps way out and set it all up in my bay.
Stupid.
Stupid for the fact, that at the end of the day I spent an hour just cleaning up the fine particulate that had settled over the ENTIRETY of the shop!  ARRGH!  Thought the fans going would flow it out the open back door, but no such luck! 
ANYWAY!
At around four PM, realizing the pile of sawdust under the table saw was almost as high as my knees, I stopped to clean what had already been created. Here's the rub.  I have certain allergies, which (and forgive me for those with tender constitutions) can make me break out in a rather discomforting rash, should I endure prolonged exposer to certain kinds of wood shavings.  And as I have NO idea what kind of wood (in some cases) I was cutting into, I though it prudent to clean off myself as well.
Here's where it get's silly.  As you can see in the picture, the lower half of my body is obscured by the grinder "backsplash".  I had removed my shirt, shook it out and had just finished using the air hose to spray myself off when Logan, arriving here from school, walked in and did an awkward "what-the-hell-am-I-seeing" double take.  Relishing in his discomfort, I tossed him my phone and said "take a picture", not quite sure at that moment what I would do with it, save sending it to Angela to freak HER out.  Recomposing himself, more then likely just accepting the fact that "WELL! That's MY Dad!" and snapped the pic.  Once finished, I was in the process of sending it to Angela, when two rather timid ladies came into the shop to  sell a bike, and froze in bewilderment by the front door, as soon as they saw me, STILL obscured by the backsplash.  I SOOOO was tempted to push the boundaries of good taste and etiquette and pull a plagiaristic re-enactment of Billy Connolly's "the Spider Sketch" (check it out on you tube) and look startled and say "THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE!!"  but I denied the urge!  In propriety I assured them it was only temporary and I did in fact have my nether's properly sheathed.  AH-HA!  Priceless look on their faces, though, I must say! 
And, even with all the silliness of a rather slower Tuesday, I still did manage to get all the wood cut to size and ready to start construction on the bed of the truck.  Yep, going to build it separate, then mount and balance on the rig.  Thanks to our friend Bullet, who took the trip down to the shop last night to bring me our rather cumbersome order of parts, needed not only for the truck but the cross country rig we're upgrading, and another couple of fixers, PLUS a few newbie candidates he's had littering his shop.   "Hand's On Bicycles" is the only shop in Florida, aware of us, that actually won't just throw the abandoned or "un-repairable" rides away, but instead donates them to us to put back on the road (or at least salvage).  If only more bike shops would just stop plugging up landfills, we'd all be a lot better off! 
OK, so with that, I have my dance card FULL today!  SOOOO, I'd best get a move on! 
Hope to see many of you pay us a visit today!
See ya!


Oh, yea, before I forget, but a bevy of FIVE kiddo rides out yesterday.  These came from a grandmother who kept them at her house when the kiddos came to play, but thanks to the advent of handhelds and gaming systems, NEVER got used!  They are in PRIMO LIKE NEW condition!
OK, no I'm really outta heah!


ALL UNDER $45.00!!!!!!