take a little while to grow your brother's hair

well there has been a change in the weather. after several days (really a full week) of warmth and sunshine and growing and blooming, we have thick clouds, darkness, drizzle and cool temperatures: 41 °F, and 16 mph winds from the north. of course, given that the last five miles of my commute are pretty much due south, the wind was a bit of a boost. here's hoping it calms a bit before i have to ride home again.

somewhere in the vicinity of the new storage depot i smelled that faintly biting burnt-toast smell, but i couldn't imagine where it was coming from; no greasy spoons anywhere near here, somewhat a bone of contention among the office workers who don't actually care what they put into their stomachs (ahmo's deli is a short drive, actually, with all the wholesomeness we come to expect from middle eastern food). so i am thinking maybe that is not actually burnt toast i am smelling, but something else.

the real news is that last saturday the older son, who just turned sixteen, has begun working at his first job, at the local bike shop! how cool is that? understand, there are several bike shops in our fair city, at least one of which is unbearably hip and thereby snooty, whereas at least two of them are perfectly reasonable and pleasant to deal with, but only one of those is relatively nearby and has consistently treated me well and provided excellent service over the years and is therefore my favorite shop. and that is where the lad is working. so that is really cool. this should kick-start his fixed gear mountain bike project, plus help him save money to buy another bike, so he will finally stop riding all of mine.

on the subject of "mine", i took the track bike out yesterday evening with the brand new tubular rims and tires and oh my goodness was that mellow. i have to promise myself to keep them off the street until at least one, if not five, trips to the vélodrome have been taken (with hope, the first being this weekend). anyway words cannot do these fine wheels justice so i will shut the fuck up and come back when i have some pictures (which will have to wait until the sun comes back out, polished aluminum, all that).