Hey, Come Back!

Sorry for how long I've been absent.  I've been surprised by the quantity and quality of celebrations requiring my attendance over the last several days.

Also, I've been lazy.

Anyway, it was my birthday the other day, and in order to celebrate another triumphant year of evading death, Lady Luck bought me a sweet new bicycle - an Electra Rat Rod.  It's the exact bike I wanted, although I didn't know it beforehand.  It was a complete surprise too - I'd asked for a typewriter or a new music stand.

So, I got this sweet new bike, and couldn't wait to take it out for a good long cruise.  I went to get it out of the garage and discovered the back tire was flat.  I didn't want to risk screwing up the 3-speed hub, so we brought the whole bike back to the shop.

One of the techs took a look at it, apparently put a new inner tube in, said he couldn't find anything wrong with the old tube, and away we went.

I took my new sweet ride out for a spin and enjoyed it quite a bit.

This morning, the back tire was flat.  So, I took it in - again - to get it looked at.  I was annoyed this time around.  I got to the shop and rolled the bike in.  I made eye contact with the tech from yesterday and smiled.  He split.  I didn't see him again the rest of the time I was in the shop.

Apparently I'm terrifying when I smile.  I wasn't sure if I should feel flattered, or annoyed because the guy knew he'd screwed up.  I settled on "business-like" and talked to another one of the techs.

Anyway, the tech who did help me managed to find the problem - a tiny bit of wire sticking out of the inside of the tire.  It looked like a bristle from a wire brush.  He put in a new heavy inner tube and showed me how to put the back wheel on so I won't have to bring the whole darn bike in again.

Incidentally, taking the back wheel off (and putting it back on) is a piece of cake.  I don't know why the stupid manual made it sound like such a big deal - I hate to think the average person is that dumb.  Something tells me the warning not to remove the back wheel was a C.Y.A. inclusion - not a realistic warning.