Longerview.
Shifting gears, widening aperture, taking a step or two back. Somewhat disjointed.
When I’m think about my leg I focus on the next few weeks, the next month. The healing and physical therapy isn’t very rapid, but my view of the situation is based on relatively small and surmountable measures of time. Im scheduled for an X-ray this coming Thursday,and under my orthopedist’s advice I’m working to gain about 10 degrees of flexibility a week. My return to riding bikes with a wide margin of safety is continually a month or so away. It doesn’t help that I’ve almost completed the build of my Soma Doublecross. As soon as I get some PAUL canti brakes on there I’ll shoot some glamour photos.
While mending I’m occupied on a day to day basis at the bike shop. It’s been about a year since I started working at Pullins, and I’m enjoying taking on new responsibilities. While this may be long enough to know where to find any tool I could need, I’m still not very seasoned in gauging the seasonal tides and ripples in business.
We’ve started receiving 2009 bikes from Diamond Back and Marin, and it’s interesting to see how they, among other suppliers, have had to raise prices and cut costs. In many cases the wholesale price of bikes we carry has gone up a little while the quality of the components they are equipped with has gone down. In other cases the prices have gone up by a significant margin while the quality of the bike remains steady. Some larger companies are more able to absorb rising production costs, but this sacrifice of profit margins can only go on for so long.
I’ve bought my train ticket to Portland for the upcoming Oregon Manifest bike show. It’ll be exciting to spend some time with my brother up in the big bike city, and to spend some time drooling over the most excellent machines.
I suspect this coming trip will only more deeply entrench the fortifications of lust and admiration I feel for said city. Though unrequited love may be the most romantic, this is one I plan to consummate in the coming years.
While not currently enrolled in classes at Chico State, I’ve started investigating the National Student Exchange program. Acceptance into such a program would allow me to attend Portland State for up to one year, paying the affordable CA in-state tuition while earning OR in-state residency. Did I mention I also plan to change my major from Philosophy to Mechanical Engineering? Duh.