It's Father's Day. There was breakfast with the kid (pancakes and bacon) (she was supposed to cook for me, I ended up cooking for her, I didn't feel scammed at all) and then a day putzing around in the garage. I built these bike wheels for a friend and continued with the motorcycle gauge upgrade process (which involves a lot of waiting while silicone dries). It's kind of poetic that I spent the day building and fixing stuff. It's a habit I picked up from my father who taught me that just about anything can be fixed and that just about anyone could fix something. And it's a bit of a lost art, being able to fix stuff. The sadder part of that equation is it's getting harder and harder to find stuff to fix stuff with. There's been more than one occasion when I've gone to buy a tool or a part only to find neither is available, at least not easily. TheInternet™, of course, fixes many of those problems, but that doesn't help on a Saturday when you find yourself in need of a 9/16" drill bit capable of drilling through aluminum (many hardware stores only carry up to 1/2").
I was short a single, 280mm, 14g straight spoke for the second wheel and I managed to find it at a bike shop walking distance away from me. That single spoke depleted their stock by about 33% (they had 3 left) but at least they had it. It was an event that was surprising, but shouldn't be. I'll
visit them again.
I'd like to spend more days making stuff. Maybe I will.
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