Gloves are definitely on the shopping list for Friday, I will also drop the seat height down a half-inch or so. It feels like the bars are too low but I don't want to raise them too far as I have heard you can loose control of your bike if they happen to slip free.
As far as getting it from a bike shop, no I am in the K-12 sector. Despite what the right-wing said in Wisconsin a few months ago about our lavish (dare I say Wall Street-like) pay scale, I shop from Craigslist. But I did consult the interwebz to see what size frame fits my short demeanor...the guy I bought it from was just an inch or less shorter than I.