Daddy's "On Deck" Saturday!

Oh what a weird week! 
With the power out at the shop Angi and I have been doing a split schedule here.  With the August heat, it gets a tad uncomfortable!  I come in the mornings so that I can use the milder weather to get repairs done and work on newbies (when we have them) then she relieves me in the afternoon's.  Originally, she was set to come in around two so I could then head towards my night job, but she was coming in around noon time, so  I took advantage of that, and went home to take a nap.  There's where it got odd.  With the split sleeping times, I began to loose track of what day it was!  Toward the end of the week, the first thing I would say to Angi when I woke up was; "what day is it?" This morning, even before I spoke she just muttered " 's Saturday", then went back to sleep.  I could have sworn it was Sunday!  It hasn't been all bad though, we are persevering.  If we can hold out (and hopefully get the electric paid soon) we'll make it.  Having tighten our belts as taught as a medieval corset, we have high hopes!  The good news is, that the kids go back to school on Monday!  NOW, maybe we can keep some food in the house!  One of our benefactors gifts was taking Angi on a shopping trip to get staples for the house.  A very blessed act, however, the children being home and all possessing healthy appetites (or just out of boredom) pretty much ate it all in a day!  Of course when asked "who did it" they all pointed the finger of blame at each other!  Most times, we jut don't bother to ask.  When you have one or two kids it's pretty easy to know who did what, but with seven at home?  You pretty much just shrug, sigh and chock it up as an occupational hazard.  It sure beats hours of "heated" debate and denying temper tantrums to finally come to the realization, you'll never know!  And some folks wonder why we do our meal shopping every evening!  You leave anything in that house intended for meals, and someone is sure to gobble it up!  Heck, I caught Owen eating butter once!  With a spoon!  Out of the fridge!  And he had just had lunch! 
Oh yea...welcome to OUR world!
And I have come to the conclusion that either it's because of all the hectic activity, between work, stress and trying to get the kiddos ready for school (we somehow lost Izzy's birth certificate, so Angi had to take another bus trip yesterday to the doctors to get a notarized letter stating she is who we say she is, and is as old as way say she is.  Angi was none to thrilled with that!) or heat really effects the bones and muscles as much as the Northern winter cold does!  Both Angi and I are as crippled as if we spent a December week in New England outside shoveling snow!  Funny how the body can remember that pain!  UGH!  Thursday was really bad at the warehouse.  And I wasn't the only one feeling it!  The heat was SO oppressive, and having no AC in the warehouse, even the fans were blowing hot air!  Everyone there was moving at a snails pace, and by one AM had all pretty much packed it in and were just trying to keep comfortable until the 2.30 punch out time rolled around!  Needless to say, I was somewhat hesitant to roll out of bed in the morning to get to work on time!  BUT, I made it!  And a good thing too!  We actually got somewhat busy first thing.  One of our regulars came in, and they have been having a rough few months as well!  Back in May, while out for dinner one evening his wife was walking around their truck to get in, while talking on the cell phone, and paused behind the truck. At that point, her husband had gotten in the truck to start it up and somehow the van had been left in Reverse instead of park!  Oh, you can guess the rest!  She came out of it with a broken tibia, an has spent the last three months recovering.  Finally ready to get out and start riding again, he pulled out their bikes from the garage and went in to get her and upon returning...discovered both their bikes had been stolen!!!  JEEZE!!!  Well, they were lucky to have recovered hers a few days later, as predictably, it was a neighbor that stole them!  Unfortunately, they had also done some damage to the bike, and cannibalized some of it!  LORD! Luckily, it being a really nice Trek Urban Commuter, with a little love (and many parts) we were able to get her up and running again!  They just came in and picked it up, and thrilled with the results, are headed out on their way to enjoy a morning of riding before the afternoon heat hits! 
Also, we had a visit from a very sweet lady, Pat, who really wants to get into riding but her most recent effort was on a friends bike that proved to be too small for her, resulting in some very sore thigh muscles at the end!  Remember folks, if your knees go above your waist line when you're riding, it's too small!  She was unsure what she needed but knew she wanted to keep it simple.  I showed her Angi's old Ross three speed, and she liked the kitch!  One ride, slightly wobbly at first, but quickly she was deftly navigating the parking lot.  Now in love, she quickly claimed it as hers.  Not only that, but when she returned to pay for it, having been reading the blog she knew of our current woes, and made a very kind contribution to the cause!  Thank you SOOOOO much miss Pat!  And let the old Ross know that Angi says good bye and sends all her love!  I have the distinct impression that she's going to a good home!
Also, got a visit from our returning angel, Clyde, who brought even more glad tidings to us last night!  Not to mention, Jaesa, who dropped a large bag of school supplies at the house as well!  Oh, and I HAVE to mention Carl!  Here's a pip of a guy! He's one of our scrappers,  a real "Old Time Hustler" who is always bringing me goodies and trying real hard to beat me up over price!  It's all in good humor, though, and I know he's just trying to get the best price for his efforts. Many is the time we have had hearty disagreements over the "true" value of some of the rides he has brought in, and he always tries to play the part of a hard ass.  But, having become recently aware of our "situation" he has come in over the last few days with some bikes, that primarily are parts bikes, but has been adamant that we not pay him anything, and just "take care of him" when we can.
Wow!
let me tell you folks, if nothing else, this all just reaffirms my belief that people are, basically, under whatever pretense or façade they try and perpetuate...good! 
This is, by definition, Karma.  Angi and I have always believed that no matter what you do, always try and do it well and honestly.  You may not always be rewarded immediately, but eventually good things come to you!
Oh, that was fun!  Just had a visit from a young family, looking for road bikes and the two kids were so cute!  The little boy was so fascinated with everything, after a few minutes I was following him around with a handy wipe!  This is a working shop, and thusly, the back area comes with a complimentary coating of grease! 
All right, I best get a move on, as I have a couple of rebuilds to get to as there are some folks out there looking to the near future with optimism! 
Here's hoping!