A minor rant.

So I didn't post anything yesterday since I didn't really have bugger all to say.
We had our second evening of Dutch lessons. Nico came with actual workbooks, and I now have homework.

*sigh*


I know I said I didn't mind having homework, but there's still something about that word that sort of gives me the shivers.
Shouldn't be a big deal, and I'll most likely knock it off later today.

And no, that's not what's bugging me.

Here's the thing:

As is the case with most days, I rode in to town to pick up a few things, came back home, put everything away, threw a few things in the Wonder Machine and decided to tackle an issue with the old cruiser that had been left behind by the owners.

You may recall that we had to wait a little while (like two months) for our shipment from Canada to arrive, and that I had in the mean while been pedalling my arse around on the old single speed "gazelle" that was here in the garage.
It's a perfectly serviceable bike, except that the back tire needs to be pumped up just about every day.

Such fun.

(and...my compressor is safe and sound...back in Canada)

So I thought, "well, I can replace an inner tube, right?" and picked one up a few weeks back.

Well, no...this thing has more contraptions on it than a street walker in Times Square, and after taking a good long look at the situation I realised that, I might get the back wheel off, but I might never get it put back on!

Hey, I even started undoing stuff and chickened out.

I mean, there's a carrier, a chain guard...and some mystery contraption that looks like some sort of torsion bar.
I couldn't even begin to figure out how to get the chain guard off. It looks like it was wired on.

So I figured fine, I may as well bite the bullet and pedal it up to the bike shop on the other side of town, drop it off and walk home.
It's not like I need the bike any time soon, but the next time we have visitors, I'm sure it will come in handy.

So after an eye-watering ride uptown, I got to this bike shop at around 1:15 I guess it was, only to discover that all the doors were locked!

Huh?

I'm thinking, "what am I missing here?" It's Friday, not the Monday when they do in fact stay closed....did I miss an air raid?

While I do realise that in the case of a small outfit where the owner has to step out for a few minutes, or even for the whole lunch period, there might be a case for locking the joint up, but they have quite a number of people working there. There were two mechanics on the last time I went there. (Well, not sure if you can call someone who fixes a bicycle an actual "mechanic", but you know what I mean.)

There was no such thing as a sign on the door, only the one that said that, they were at that very moment, in fact...open.

Ever feel like you're in some other dimension?

I did see someone sitting in the office eating his sandwich, and I guess it must have been a really good one, 'cause he didn't look too interested in customers.
and no, I didn't knock on the door. I mean, how futile is that?
(this just came to mind....someone once said, "it's like wrestling with a pig, you're gonna both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it")

Fascinating really, since there doesn't seem to be any thing like an economic downturn when it comes to bicycle repair.

Maybe the "work council" has some sort of choke hold on lunch. Who knows?

The only conclusion that I can come to is, they have all the money they need and certainly don't need anything I might have to offer.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me, judging by the number of bikes sitting outside (at least a dozen) waiting to be picked up by customers.

I'm guessing these would be people who don't have a car, since it will be the car that I'll be using to take the bike to the shop in Hengelo.


Maybe not tomorrow.

Maybe not for a few weeks.

Doesn't matter.

Ain't goin' back there.


All I know is, as much of a nuisance as it will be to cart the bike in the trunk all the way to Hengelo, I won't mind, 'cause when I get there, I know they'll be open.
My impression of the bike shop in Hengelo is, they're actually working in this century and not the last one, when people used to close up shop for several hours in the day time and go home for lunch.

We'll see how it goes.