Paul on a bike, except when I'm working on the new house...

So, I'm used to riding a bike in Seattle, so that requires a bit of defense planning, and who really uses that lower bottle cage anyway....good news is that I can beat people with a senior citizen, cause this is a real old piece of hardwood.

Hmm, had a weird call come into work today, some Snake Farm Ins. rep with a claim number, checked the number, it was real, but the only thing I can think it could be is this idiot with a car who tried running into me as I was walking on the sidewalk, she looked right at me an kept coming out of a parking garage and almost ran over my feet, instead the basket on my bike connected with the side of her car, she tried saying I hit her, an I told her to F*** off, an left, she hit me, pedestrian on the sidewalk. No wonder I want out of this city, when pedestrians can't walk on the sidewalk without people in cars trying to hit them an then calling the cops, saying hit an run. Cops took my info, and that's been the last I heard of it. I know I didn't give them my work number, so that's suspicious, and really, what can they do, I'm a pedestrian who was walking on a sidewalk, true this could interrupt the sale of the house, but I doubt it, but then again I could use my h...

The days go slow when you're waiting for the engines of commerce to finalize. This weekend I did get to build something, probably one of the things I'll miss out on the road, but I'll have other things keeping me busy. But today I made a bracket for the two wheel trailer that I'm going to tow behind the single wheel.  I snagged this trailer for free, the tow arm was broken where it connected to the front of the trailer, no idea why that wasn't metal instead of the lame plastic they used.  I replaced it with a piece of Trex decking, so that should last, and then the bracket that goes on the axle, then a pin goes through it into the hitch.  I welded two bits of angle iron, which took a couple of minutes, then it took nearly two hours to use all those bits I never got around to using, cheap bits, but I finally drilled the right size holes.  One for the axle, and two for the pin. I just keep finding stuff I want to take with me like FOOD, that will get used, and then...

Well plan B to buy a place that seemed to good to be true, well it wasn't all that great, when buildings are built side by side, they depend on each other, so when I used Google Earth to look at the building from above, and I noticed the place next door didn't have a roof, and you could see through out the back. So back to plan A, biking down the road to find that magic place.  I think I should be able to find a place equal in price, or buy land and build one. Told the boss people that I'm leaving work, I think Oct 1 should be a good official date, and that should be enough time to make sure the check clears. The manager sees the same bleak future here as I do, higher property taxes that pay for nothing, because they always want more, and more, doesn't matter if you have it either. An on Oct 1, I'm on the road.....

Got the new tent, small, but it will do, the next bigger was 2lbs heavier, and weight is something I'm focussed on, and I might loose some stuff as the trip goes on, making things lighter. Also the reflective mat looks like it will last a few months. Looking forward to Texas, dreams of what I can do with the commercial place I have my eye on, small studio apt in back, lay down a 2x6 floor on top of the cement slab, allowing room for plumbing.  And then workout room, art production, and bike shop/storage. Re: Bike shop, I think if it doesn't work, it will at least look like I'm trying to do a business instead of just some crazy guy with some bikes.... And a Dog, there's room in back for a Dog to have someplace to pee in the morning.   I just wonder about what kind of fence they might let me put up. Took my cycle truck to the store today, first time in a few years that I've used it with the rear wheel I actually built for it.  So I'm back to 2spd auto-shift ...

Hiya peeps, just sold another bike today, thin the herd before I have to pack things up. Got this Peugeot from the free pile outside of Recycled Cycle, I can understand why they left it out there, it's a 62cm really tall frame, and if I were to charge for labor, would have gone broke. But lets go back to that day when I brought it back from the free pile, and it was pooh poohed upon by my coworkers. I fixed it, spent hours on the rims, and even though they are 40 year old single wall rims, that had seen some sort of repairs long ago, I got them to ride smooth. Added bars, grips, levers, rear derailer, brakes, new cables, new on the stem shifters. Road it to work for a week, it was really fun, and it was almost like riding a tall bike. Found a guy who was 6'4", and was selling a really small Peugeot since it was too small for him, so I offered to sell him mine. I had to pay for tubes, everything else was free. Gratuitous plug for free stuff, giftcards for foo...

The downsizing continues, sold a desk I turned into a vanity, used so much free stuff to make it something a girl just had to have.  Couldn't believe they rented a van to pick it up.  I used a piece of acrylic mirror, cut it to the size of a piece of beveled glass I had, and yes, it looks like a beveled mirror should look. I might even miss this fixing stuff up stuff, turning free stuff into money. Skillz, I haz dem. Just waiting for the weather to improve so I can get to unloading major amounts of stuff I snagged for free. Okay, back to thinking about my trip, I'm surprised at how calm and confident I am that this is going to at the worst be just 'kind of fun', and could be down right amazing. Note to others, getting my dental stuff done before I quit the job, and yes, I'm getting a root canal from a dentist that is so amazingly gorgeous, I mean wow, this woman so hot.  Makes it hard to concentrate on the smart things coming out of her lips.