Election '08

"Not talking about it because it is "uncomfortable" doesnt mean you have to ignore it altogether... educate yourself. " Random Scholar(bursting my own buble ;))

Ok so its been a while since I've dived into the political realm here on the Blog... We are in a leap year, and most of us know what that means. This november we go to the polls... but hopefully we go more prepared than with what the media is force feeding us. If you havent done any research into who is potentially going to running our country than you can count yourself blissfully ignorant. however blissful you may be, you ARE ignorant. If at the very least take a look at all the issues important to you and find out where our candidates line up with those issues, and learn about those issues. Here is a list of sugested web links to get some ideas:

http://www.politifact.com/

http://uspolitics.america.gov/uspolitics/elections/index.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/topics/topic.php?topicId=1102

http://www.votesmartflorida.org/mx/hm.asp?id=home

http://www.vote411.org/

and please people... if you dont find the info you want to know on any of these sites dont stop there... search for it. Dont show up at the polling computer and christmas tree your ballot!! A lot of people wonder why nothing ever gets done to make this country a better place.. this is what you can do.

Can you believe it!? Nader is still alive!

Independence Day Ride

This Friday 9:30 am.. Loyce Harpe Park(formerly known as Carter Road Park), Lakeland. Ill be there on the Karate Monkey. Im sure Ted will be on the Chester, and Jeff will be there with hot dogs and mayonaise. What better way to celebrate our nations independance than to utilize one of our many freedoms.. Getting dirty. Wanna go? lemme know!

Humanitarian Award of the Week..

Sunday at the Fish.. A poor hispanic imigrant came into the shop with serious repair needs. His bike really needed to just be thrown away.. but this was his only source of transportation.. what else could he do? Normally he would have been turned away, seriously what can a bike shop do about it? Well, my manager Joel remembered that we had taken in a donation bike to be given to Mike from Gods Pedal Power later in the week.. Joel took it upon himself to get the donation bike and get it into working condition and gave it to this man. I was awe struck. The look on this mans face said everything that his language could not explain. It was an amazing thing Joel did for this man. Its this kind of dedication and love for the community that makes a bike shop stand out.. on top of that, in the week that I have been there I have seen other forms of community involvement, such as donating old parts to the Tampa Bike Co-op, and hiring poor unemployed bicycle mechanics :). My humanitarian award of the week goes to Joel and the Flying Fish.

Work on my day off :)

I told Margaret I would clean up her bike today.. i didnt tell her i would do a total over haul! Ha HA! I hope you like!

The State of bRiaN Address

Ok... it must be obvious by now that this month has been a pretty dry month on thee olde blog here.. I assure you there are plenty good reasons.. And I intend to share with you those reasons. June... ah.. june... what a relationship I have with the hot month of summer, how beautiful her name. Well, I have spent the last weeks spending time with my son, and doing a lot fo fun things with him. Also I have taken the time to finish a few good books. I finished Wicked finally which was ok... I didnt quite like the way it ended but I should have expected that... eh? I havent had too much time for riding.. mostly to the park to read. Though this morning I was motivated to get out and ride the Quantum a few miles. It was my first real(not lazy) ride in a long time. I rode around Pinellas Park and took in some scenery.. I brought the camera.. but i didnt take any pictures. This ride was for me. pure. peaceful. just a good ride.
Other big news.. I got a job 4 days a week at Flying Fish Bicycles, a great shop and it seems so far to be great people. I miss Ted at my old shop, but the management at this shop is far more competent and way less asshole than that of the previous two. The workload is much more intense and I am constantly busy.. gives me time to think. And they are willing to let me work part time through out the school year which will be good!
Oh and for thosee who care my birthday is tuesday. :)

heres a pic of the quantum with them new bar tape I gave her today.. i sacrificed the black tape because the fixie needs some love and I had this red tape lying around. Im not usually a fan of colored tape, but i think she looks ok. more subtle than i had a t first imagined.

Garden of Eat'n

So as one of our summer projects, Caleb and I are planting a vegetable garden in the back yard. We havent decided on what types of veges yet but today we dug the bed and had a blast doing it. Heres a couple pics!

FREE Bicycle Repair!!!

OK so ive gone and lost my mind! I quit my job! Now im doing it for FREE! i posted the following ad on craigslist as a means of "testing the waters" and so far the response has been amazing! I have worked and bled for shops and when the dollars dont make it your reviews come out bad no matter how hard you work... theres always got to be some trimming of the fat. This time I was tired of the man telling me i wasnt cutting it so i fired him!

"free service to bicycle commuters and recreators in the Pinellas Park/Clearwater/St. Pete area.

I am offering this service as a means to promote the use of the bicycle as an alternative to the car as a means of transportation and as a way to make our community and our environment healthier.

Free repairs, tips on maintenance and repair, ideas for trip planning and advice on how to make your trip or commute a safe one. You dont need to bring it to me I will come to you or can pick your bike up for more extensive repairs. I do not have many parts so parts will need to be picked up at the local shop which I can do for you as well, but will cost a little. I do plan on building a collection of free parts so donations are accepted as well.

please call me at 727 564 0099(9am-7pm any day) or email me at brian@brianridesbikes.com

im posting this to see if there is an interest in this sort of thing as I plan to start a non profit if it is a needed community service. I used to work as a professional bicycle mechanic and recently quit due to the materialistic and consumerist nature of a sales oriented, profit motivated bicycle shop. I love working on bicycles but i cant stand the greed of the sales and profit driven bicycle shop owners and managers I have worked with in the past. I love the response i get from seeing someone happy with my work, and to me my work is a functional art. let me know what you think of my idea. let me work on your needs!"

If you live in my area or can get over to my area i will help you with your needs. With the interest that ive gotten so far and the work that I have already done just today on day ONE Im going to pursue taking this more seriously and possibly setting up a non-profit org. for now im available any day any time to give you a hand, advice, or a lesson on how to take care of your bike.