Membership has its privileges

I think I have forgotten to mention it before, but Ali and I realized that we have been to many of the same concerts together over the years -- just not with each other. Keane was one of them. Weird, huh? Life is very, very strange.

She has been having an amazing time in New Orleans at Tales of the Cocktail. Sure -- I would LOVE to be there. However, all is not lost. Unlike me (and 99% of society), she will actually learn while she is there! She will be coming back with amazing drink concoctions and recipes. She mentally absorbs all of the things I would not. She has informed me that she is returning with amazing food, and I am sure that she will have at least a few new cocktails for me to try! My hard work at the shop hasn't been completely in vain!

I was completely out of shop rags, so I stopped by Sam's Club Friday morning to restock. I had several errands to run, so I checked their website -- they opened at 7AM. Great! When I arrived at 9, they were still closed. I was shocked. I saw people coming out, and the parking lot had customers. What was I missing? The sign said they opened at 10AM... but they were open at 7AM for business and "plus" customers. I have a business membership! I actually got lucky for once! Membership does have privileges -- even if they are minor ones!

Nick and I went in early yesterday morning to install bottom brackets in LeMond Revmasters for a customer who refurbishes them. Apparently we have dozens to install in the coming weeks! We were able to install three in an hour. If there is one thing I have taught Nick, it is how to install bottom brackets! He is the master!!! Honestly, we are a perfect team. I mean, seriously -- what 20-year-old wouldn't want to come in at 8:30AM on a Saturday morning? HA! Then again, it was his idea!

All he needs is a beer!

This week was crazy, but what else is new? We are caught up, but I am sure that is only a temporary situation. It is always that way -- caught up Saturday, Monday is a fiasco, work like crazy the entire week, repeat. No complaints here. Bob and Nick installed the new monster racks in our warehouse -- they are going to help SO much! I will have photos as soon as the power is on Monday.

I actually rode my bike home from the shop yesterday. As sick as I was, I decided that it was time to put up or shut up! I never really felt the heat (over 90 degrees) -- I just couldn't breathe due to my congestion. That made it one of the worst rides of my life! However, I did it. I am planning to sell some of my other bikes and build a Gunnar steel road bike to commute on. Why not? It will pay for itself quickly. Having one truck in my garage at home and one in the shop garage makes it impossible for me to make any more excuses for not riding. I mean, seriously -- I do have it pretty darn good.

I have a question... Tommy buys a titanium bicycle from me. Then he introduces me to his niece, the most amazing woman I have ever met. He invites us to his house once or twice a month for amazing dinners. The other night he says, "I have a present for Scott!" He hands me the most perfect gift I have received for the shop -- a sign he found and bought for me. What gives?!!! HAHAHA! Seriously -- there HAS to be a catch somewhere. What am I not seeing?

Along those lines, I actually had the most amazing compliment the other day. A regular customer came by and was telling me about a new chain oil he really liked. He had been talking with the company which makes it, and they asked which shop was around him. He told me that he replied, "There is only ONE shop in town -- the others are jokers." Wow! Seriously? I am amazed that he feels that way about my shop... As I told him, I have tried VERY hard to build an "old-fashioned" bike shop while being completely professional at the same time. It is so nice to see that my efforts are paying off. There are the mega stores out there which are all about bringing in the dollars. There are guys who are so "passionate" about cycling -- the ones who put their own riding and interests before the customer and their business. My shop has one mission -- to serve the customer better than any other shop! That is the "secret" recipe. Complicated, huh? Thanks for the incredible compliment, Patrick!

A customer came by last night with a Mavic Ksyrium rebuild. He came in with a startled look on his face. He said, "I came here because of a referral. What are you guys doing out in this warehouse in Norcross?! I see a cat.. I see bikes... What do you do?!" Well, I guess that my only answer can be is that we do it right. We were working on a customer's Pinarello Prince with full SRAM Red while he waited -- basically as good as it gets in the bike world. How many shops can say that?

Congratulations to Cadel Evans on his Tour win!!! I wish I could personally thank him and the Schleck brothers for keeping Contador off the podium!!! I mean, seriously -- I could not be happy enough. Finally!!!!

Last night's insanity was installing Ubuntu on my Toshiba netbook computer. Nothing EVER goes smoothly. If there is one thing I have learned in life, it is that I am a lightning rod for computer problems. If there is going to be a glitch or bug, I will encounter it. After downloading the .iso file and burning it to a CD, I installed the operating system with an external CD drive. I wanted to have the system as a Windows/Ubuntu dual-boot. Everything was fine... until I tried booting into XP. As expected, that is when the fun began! Of course, I have the one computer with KNOWN issues for this configuration (as I found out AFTER the installation)! I worked on it throughout the night, attempting the suggested fixes in a terminal session under Ubuntu -- to no avail. Around midnight I gave up -- I know when I need a break.

I woke this morning and battled it for a bit. I then asked myself something -- what do I really use the netbook for, anyway? Kindle books, logging into my shop computer, etc. I haven't touched it in months, so my new goal was to use it for learning Linux. Did I really need Windows, after all? Heck no! A quick search online and I found that Ubuntu comes with the required software to remote desktop into my Windows machine at the shop (too damn easy, honestly!). Sure, I could buy a copy of Windows 7 which would most likely fix the problem., but that was ridiculous. I decided to just go for it and install Ubuntu as the sole operating system on the netbook. After completing that, it took me just one minute to log into my shop computer from the Terminal Server Client -- all was good in the world! Now I just have one VERY thick book to read! More to follow (Python, Blender, etc.). Why? I have NO idea!

I did successfully install Ubuntu on my old laptop as dual-boot. Let the games begin. No sleep in the near future for me!

I won't get political (I know better), but I will say one thing regarding this debt ceiling thing. I made several mistakes in my youth with finances -- mostly business related. However, it is never "just business" -- it trickles down to personal finances. It is all-encompassing. I started the shop in a financial situation where any sane person would have just given up. The only person who believed in me was myself (and my stepfather). It has been over four years of personal suffering -- I never put anything before the shop's needs. Guess what, I now own every single thing in the shop, and I am back on my feet -- better than that, actually. That NEVER would have happened if I had spent like there was no tomorrow. I buckled down and did whatever it took to get things in line. I pay off my vendors as quickly as possible, and I never borrow more than I know I can pay off. That is the only remedy for this country, period. We need to stop spending money we don't have -- personally and at the government level. We need to tighten our belts for a while. It is as simple as that... That's all I am going to say.

Now that I have two machines successfully running Linux, I am happy. Time to mow my lawn!

From the group which brought us Joan Jett and Lita Ford...