The Threadless Nut

So, I took my sweet time getting the bike out. I never posted what happened at the end of the season last year, but I ended up having a mouse living in the tail and he was chewing up some of the wiring. I quickly decided that I needed to find better storage for the winter, so a friends garage became the vacation home. It was too bad as I could have ridden a little longer, but it wasn’t worth risking more damage to the machine.

Anyway, I finally got over there and got the battery charged up and brought it home. Started right up, which is always a good thing. I’m looking forward to another season of riding, and hopefully some better storage on my own property this winter.

So, I stopped by our local HomeBorg yesterday to pick up a few things. One of which was some trim for the bathroom. All seemed well as I selected the trim, cut it to a reasonable length and headed to the checkout. Of course, that feeling is about to dissapate.

As we are scanning items, it is noticed that there is no barcode on the trim. I offer to run back and grab another piece with the sticker on it, but I am assured by the cashier that she can find it. I tell her that it’s 3/4″ quarter round and fasten my seatbelt for a long ride.

She pokes at the computer a bit and then calls for help from the millwork department. I’m reassured when a gentlemen comes up rather quickly and asks what the problem is. He gets the lowdown, and again I offer to just run back and get another piece, but he assures me he’ll find it. So he pokes at the keyboard for a while. After a few seconds, I notice that he is just repeatedly, and rather rapidly, pressing the down arrow key. Ok, so I figure he did a search for “quarter round” and maybe there are a couple of dozen entries to look through. No problem, should just take a minute.

After 3 or 4 “a minutes” with no break in the tempo of the down arrow beat, I figured I was incorrect in my assumption.

tap tap tap tap tap
Air compressors
Air hose
Air tools
tap tap tap tap tap
Blades, saw
Blades, utility knife
tap tap tappity tap tap
Door, folding
Door, screen
tap tap tap tappity tappity tap
Hammer, ball peen
Hammer, claw

I can only surmise at this point that he is browsing the entire inventory of the store. So, once again, I offer to run back and get the bar code. “No that’s OK, I got a guy back there”, after which he picks up the phone, while still tapping the arrow key and proceeds to direct his “guy back there” to the right product. “It’s down on the left”, “Not that one, the one next to it”, “No, the 3/4″ stuff”. At this point, I must say that I was impressed with his multitasking abilities as that down arrow rhythm stayed steady throughout the whole conversation.

Eventually, he stops pressing the down arrow and jots a number, that I assume was read over the phone to him down on a scrap of paper. The cashier starts to enter the code and I start to dread what it’s going to be. At this point I don’t care if the code rang up to a $4000 tractor, I would just pay it to get out of there. Fortunately for me, and anticlimatically for you, it came up to something that was $.83 a foot. I still don’t care if it was right or not.

Nothing much going on these days. Lot’s of rain lately, so I haven’t ridden much. Too bad so sad

Ok, so we complained enough about the hot weather, Jon Stewart recently quipped “We didn’t know Global Warming was going to happen all at once”, that it’s now getting a bit chilly in the mornings. This morning it was about 57 when I left for work. Not cold enough for griping, but cold enough that I should have zipped in the liner for my mesh jacket. Oh well, one has to learn somehow.

The mesh pants I ordered arrived yesterday. Kudos to Motorcycle Closeouts for quick shipping and accurate stock info.

My initial impression was pretty good. I was a bit surprised at how much they weigh. I think they weigh more than my
Joe Rocket Ballistic Pants but I don’t think it’s so much to be a problem. Once they are on, the weight isn’t noticeable. They seem to be well made with a good mix of mesh and solid fabric in the right places. Like the jacket, the armor is a bit thin, but is upgradeable. I was able to ride this morning and they made a huge difference in comfort. It wasn’t that warm, but they just balanced out my temperature.

The one complaint I have so far is that they don’t have a zipper to attach to the jacket. I was a bit surprised at this as I assumed that they would. I may have one added as it just makes me feel better.