Everything around here empties out, natives seclude themselves in AC comfort, wherever it can be found, and it becomes like a ghost town. A regrettably WET ghost town! I am holding out hope that this year will not be as torrential as last year! Oh...that was NO fun! Daily squalls, late morning to early afternoon that just drove more and more nails into the coffin. I lament, just being as still as it has been the last couple of days does not fill me with a great deal of confidence!
Forgive me for being a little "negative". Just been one of those weeks! We've all had them, you know, the feeling like some unseen prankster posted a neon "Kick Me!" sign on your back. Oh, I'm working through it, and did manage to get out two newbies yesterday, having opted to stray from the normal MST3K motif and switch to action in the way of "The Mummy" to energize the day. Finished up the Raleigh which (again, still kicking myself for not taking before and after pic's!) came out surprisingly sweet! Funny thing is, originally I thought it was black, but once she got a real good scrub down (with mineral spirits) turns out she's a deep shade of forest green! WOOF! VERY dirty girl! Then, it was on to three more, before I got to the fourth one that was actually worthy of a rebuild. Yes, the first three ended up being parts bikes. I'm getting better, in lieu of past mishaps, in checking everything before I start the cleaning. These just needed too much of an accumulated fixers to be worthy of the time. Besides, they were the type that offered better parts separate, then would be as a whole (someone put a real nice Bontrager tire and double walled, alloy rim with a Shimano Deore hub on the rear end of a thrashed out Huffy!?) Yes, we are really good at finding the diamonds in the rough! Ended up with the fourth one, a somewhat worn, but still nice looking Royce Union MTB, that got the works!
Funny, this Blog CAN be therapeutic for me, for, as I am typing this it compels me to remember the previous 24 hours or so, and where I am occasionally prone to focus more on the negative, I am driven to relive it all, in it's entirety, and like small bit's of gold slowly surfacing through sifted slag, those better moments reveal themselves. For example, yesterday, while going through my normal routine of morning duties, I went into the girls room to get Miranda out of her crib, and upon seeing me come through the door, she outstretched her arms, smiled and exclaimed "DADDY!" It was the first time she has gone from a noncommittal utterance of "Dada" to a full fledged DADDY! Sad to say, in my own selfish wallowing in pedestrian woes, I only gave it a passing recognition, and not the full degree of awe it deserved. I have the memory, which I shall cherish, but the moment was lost. A sorry result of forgetting to shed it all, and live in the moment. Luckily though, it seems to have signaled the moment I have enjoyed in all my children's lives where they "discover" Daddy. With Miranda, it seems to have been a wee bit of fits and starts, as that recognition has been somewhat fleeting over the last several months. She is a bit of a late bloomer, and as is just, truly remains a Mommy's girl. But, yesterday, I was given a large trash bag full of "hand-me-down" shirts and shorts from Owen's mentor (the shorts going to Kaleb, as my caboose is a wee bit too large to squeeze into a 32!) but the shirts were a Godsend. As one can imagine, my attire gets rather filthy doing what I do, and it was high time my old dud's took on a new role as shop rags. So, after arriving home, doing the whole meet and greet and getting scrubbed up, I sat down on the bedroom floor to sort through my bucket (I have no need for a bureau, when a simple tote in my closet will do) and Miranda wandered in, relishing a game of "belly bump" with Daddy. It has long been a tradition with all our kids, that Daddy's ever expanding and contracting "Santa Belly" is a place of entertainment and comfort. Although he would loathe me to talk of it now, seeing as he has hit the teenage years, Logan, for a time, insisted that he have "Bellies" with Daddy every night before he could go to bed. Well, little miss Miranda, after having a raucous round with Daddy, proceeded to curl up in my lap, as I sat Indian style on the floor sorting through my "toss-em's" and playfully poke at my midsection. It really made the frustration of the day melt away, and in truth, probably did a lot more for me then it did her!
OK, sorry if I got to "saccharine" for y'all, but these are the things I need to continue to focus on, for fear of drifting to "The Dark Side of the Force!"
ANYWAY!
Today....enh. Not sure what direction to drift towards, other then one donation we received today, which seems more of "got bored with it" kind of bike then a "way too much to fix" sort of donation, surprisingly, appearing to have very little wrong with it. Nothing fantastic, but a good minimal effort kind of DBS. Thanks for the Freebie!!
And, had a nice little conversation with a returning regular from the Old Shop. A grandmother, with two more grandkids visiting for the summer, and she brought me up to speed on another grandchild, Logan who s still up home in Vermont, who we remember fondly! A cute, precocious little "whipper snapper", who was a furious little ball of fun energy, and we hooked him up years ago with his first set of wheels, a tricycle. The truly funny coincidence is, that years ago, when they picked out his ride, Angi and I were so taken with this young man, that when he went out into the parking lot to give it a try out, she inquired if she could take a pic to commemorate the moment. With the go ahead, she snapped the photo, and in the sands of time, I only assumed it lost. Then, two days ago, while sorting through my laptop and reorganizing all the old pics, I happened to stumble upon it and remember that moment, with fondness. So, when she came in, and started to mention it, my shock of recognition caught her pleasantly off guard!
That is one of the truly awesome benefits of being the "neighborhood bike shop!" we have shared in the joy of seeing so many folks "growing up" on our rides! Really fills you with a good sense of accomplishment!
So yea, in the end, all other junk aside, I think I'm just gonna hold on to those moments from the last 24 hours, and flush the rest!
OKEY DOKEY!
Check out the pic's from yesterday, and I'm gonna git a motivated!
See ya!
(enh...bummer, I can only get one uploaded, the other one is giving me issues! Sorry!!)
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