Cats and Dogs....BIG cats and dogs!

OKay!!
Not unlike so many other compromises we must endure to live in Florida, this morning we were treated to a blessed break in the heat and humidity upon awaking, with a pleasant temp of 72 and the most glorious of breezes to enjoy our morning coffee...however... by the time Suzanne and I were headed to the shop, the puffy clouds with gray underbellies snuck in!  So, all my fellow Veloists...PRAY they just drift on by so we can enjoy what could be one of the BEST riding weekends we have been given in over five bloody months! 
And we KNOW you have been wishing for it as well!  The last couple days of this past week were FILLED with folks coming in for tune-ups, make readies and repairs as many of you are tenaciously striving to just "get out and ride!" (and we are so thankful to all our regulars who have been coming in and keeping is crawling along, not to mention several new faces giving us a shot at taking care of their "pretties"!)   Oh I am SOOOOOO with you on that!  Yea, we ride every day, rain or shine, but are only inspired to do so as far as we need to get to work.  The thought of taking time to head out on a leisure trek to points unknown is always trumped by the exclamation..."IT'S TOO FREAKIN HOT!!!" (accentuated by a pronounced whine on the word "hot"!) Hopefully...not this weekend!  Oh, I have woken each morning with an anticipation of that first heady breath of fall air!  Yes, it's a smell not unlike that you will get while taking a walk through the woods of New England as the leaves change.  Can't give it a name, but you know it when you smell it!  Not as of yet...but I am so looking forward to that affirmation that this Gawd Awful summer will be coming to a close!
And yes, it has been a few days since we last updated our stock list to the left of this column...I'll be taking care of that briefly!   It has been a busy week, well, with more the rudimentary survival necessities than anything else, but soon...hopefully very soon...we will busy with the demands of a busy, busy biking season!  We are eeking closer and closer to being all the way caught up with everything, and hope we can keep the forward momentum!
We've managed to put out at least one new ride each day.  Kaleb is now on staff permanently, until he finds a full time job of his own.  Next Monday he is going into the Plant and applying there.  I talked with the boss there, and they happen to be looking for an entry level sheet metal laborer.  It's a great company to seek a future with, and if he applies himself he should eventually be making some good money.  Oddly enough, Elijah has also expressed interest in applying for something there, possibly welding.  That would be...interesting, all I can say is...thank Heavens my department is as far away from the welding equipment as possible! 
Today, we are going to bust through the last few remaining goodies we have out back and process through the parts we have been stripping off and absent mindedly throwing into a "we'll get to it later" bucket!  WAY to many of those tripping about! 
OH!  Spooky story time!  Last week, on the way home from work, I was on the stretch of Sunset Point Road between Hercules and Keene, headed West, at around 2.40 AM.  Now, I've told a story of two about Florida's predators, and our run in with a coyote, but as I was riding the barren, quite road, I ride in front of a heavily wooded area of about a block, with thick underbrush, and in the quite of the wee hours, as I approached the beginning of the short stretch of thick woods, I heard a "heavy" rustling in the underbrush.  Now, I don't ride all that fast, especially after 18 hours of working, but that sound put some "giddy Up" in my go, and I started to increase my speed.  As I did so...that heavy rustle became the crunching foot falls of something matching my progression under the concealment of the underbrush, keeping up pace with me.  I'd almost reach the end of the forest, and once breaking free of it, I heard that same heavy crouch and crunch at the end of the woods...and nothing happened!  What the HELL was that!  I exclaimed as I shot through the intersection, all the while looking back to make sure I was not being followed!
SHEESH!
Okay...now...gotta get going!
Hope to see y'all soon!