Cheap kids bikes, the senior tag sale, my motherinlaw and Les Miserables.
05-10-13, 08:16 PM
#1
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Cheap kids bikes, the senior tag sale, my motherinlaw and Les Miserables.
That's this evening's theme. Ok, we're poor. I'm not ashamed of that. I have all I need and my family is doing alright. My wife teaches at a fancy "Waldorf" school and we're in the faculty housing. The kids get to go to the fancy school and they do their best to take care of us.
My daughter' 8th grade play is Les Miserables. Ambitious for 8th grade but they've got a hard driving teacher and a bigger budget than the Shakespeare group that I work with and they really pulled it off. Not just pulled it off but knocked the goddammed place over. I haven't seen so many adults in tears when it was over. My daughter was Cosette. Kinda hard to see your daughter in a wedding dress but kinda comical to see her towering over Marius (the 2nd grade teacher's little red head boy). If anyone sang better than my girl it was him. The dude who played Jean Valjean might not have sang as well but he did have a giant part. Really big.
So my mother in law is in town to see the whole thing. I like hanging out with her but tonight the other cast is starring and my daughter is an extra, they trade off like that. Everyone gets a turn that way. My wife, motherinlaw and younger daughters really wanted to go anyway but I've already seen what I wanted to see. Tonight's Cosette is arguably the prettiest girl in the 8th grade and my daughter spends a lot of time in her shadow. I guess I'm sending a message that I don't want to see who's prettiest. I want to see my girl sing cause no one sings like her. Fatherly pride aside, she'll brake your heart with her voice.
What's this got to do with bikes? I've got the evening to have a refreshing beverage and fix a bike or two. The senior tag sale is tomorrow so I'm tuning up a couple of the kids bikes that have collected in the yard. The neighborhood knows me, the kids come over when they've outgrown their bike and trade it in for the next size up. The landlady raised the proverbial solitary eyebrow at this till I gave her daughter a jogging stroller and then put her kids on a couple of bikes and then a couple of yearly upgrades. She understands now.
Anyway, I've got a pile of kids bikes in the yard and there's this huge tag sale tomorrow so I'm putting some bikes together. 2 done so far, single speed Xmart stuff. 2 more to go. One of them needs a derailler. Don't know if I'll get to that one tonight. Cheap derailler bikes and wine don't always come together well. I think the next one is a wheelless frame and a busted frame with good wheels. One bike will come out of this I hope. Clean yard, 3 happy kids.
Why is the rum always empty?
My daughter' 8th grade play is Les Miserables. Ambitious for 8th grade but they've got a hard driving teacher and a bigger budget than the Shakespeare group that I work with and they really pulled it off. Not just pulled it off but knocked the goddammed place over. I haven't seen so many adults in tears when it was over. My daughter was Cosette. Kinda hard to see your daughter in a wedding dress but kinda comical to see her towering over Marius (the 2nd grade teacher's little red head boy). If anyone sang better than my girl it was him. The dude who played Jean Valjean might not have sang as well but he did have a giant part. Really big.
So my mother in law is in town to see the whole thing. I like hanging out with her but tonight the other cast is starring and my daughter is an extra, they trade off like that. Everyone gets a turn that way. My wife, motherinlaw and younger daughters really wanted to go anyway but I've already seen what I wanted to see. Tonight's Cosette is arguably the prettiest girl in the 8th grade and my daughter spends a lot of time in her shadow. I guess I'm sending a message that I don't want to see who's prettiest. I want to see my girl sing cause no one sings like her. Fatherly pride aside, she'll brake your heart with her voice.
What's this got to do with bikes? I've got the evening to have a refreshing beverage and fix a bike or two. The senior tag sale is tomorrow so I'm tuning up a couple of the kids bikes that have collected in the yard. The neighborhood knows me, the kids come over when they've outgrown their bike and trade it in for the next size up. The landlady raised the proverbial solitary eyebrow at this till I gave her daughter a jogging stroller and then put her kids on a couple of bikes and then a couple of yearly upgrades. She understands now.
Anyway, I've got a pile of kids bikes in the yard and there's this huge tag sale tomorrow so I'm putting some bikes together. 2 done so far, single speed Xmart stuff. 2 more to go. One of them needs a derailler. Don't know if I'll get to that one tonight. Cheap derailler bikes and wine don't always come together well. I think the next one is a wheelless frame and a busted frame with good wheels. One bike will come out of this I hope. Clean yard, 3 happy kids.
Why is the rum always empty?
05-11-13, 06:36 AM
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Sounds like my former life.... which was good, but different from my current one. 
Aaron
Aaron
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Webshots is bailing out, if you find any of my posts with corrupt picture files and want to see them corrected please let me know. :(
ISO: A late 1980's Giant Iguana MTB frameset (or complete bike) 23" Red with yellow graphics.
"Cycling should be a way of life, not a hobby.
RIDE, YOU FOOL, RIDE!"_Nicodemus
"Steel: nearly a thousand years of metallurgical development
Aluminum: barely a hundred
Which one would you rather have under your butt at 30mph?"_krazygluon
05-11-13, 08:41 AM
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Tis' the season for school plays and band concerts. Nothing beats seeing your kids up on stage, especially if they enjoy it. We had 4 shows the this pat week and each one makes me so proud they are my kids.
Great story SB !
Great story SB !
05-11-13, 11:09 AM
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Sweet story, even if drunkenly written.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
05-11-13, 01:53 PM
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fantastic!
05-11-13, 07:03 PM
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Well, never did get to those other bikes. The girls got home and I spent the rest of the evening with the wife. Both bikes did sell, though. Thanks for being such good listeners, everyone.
05-11-13, 09:50 PM
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I need pictures to make this work......I know....I suck....but still, I really wanted a picture of a bike.
