Yours for only $25,000

Some folks go to Wal-mart or a bike shop and end up with the same thing. Me, I save up $25,000 and build a little workshop where I can build it myself, almost for free (I spent about a dollar and a half on clamps, another dollar on the rubber pad). What I ended up with was a stereo for my bicycle (because everyone needs tunes on the bike).

When my family rides a bike it isn't a quick lap around the block. A short ride is 8 or 9 miles. A long ride is more like 60 miles. That means a bike ride takes hours. I've been thinking for a while that miles on the bike would be nicer with FM Radio or listening to my CDs.

Here's my solution.

It started with an idea and a piece of sheet metal. I fashioned a bracket that looked like this:

I mount the bracket to the bike using a couple of hose clamps ($1.42 worth).


Then I put wire an old bungee to the bracket (note the holes in the top for the bungee). This will hold the music machine on the bike in a way that will allow me to take it off easily.


Add a set of portable stereo speakers (with volume control of course - first class all the way)

I put in a rubber pad so things don't all vibrate as we hit the rough parts of the road...

Add the FM Radio / MP3 Player (this one is a Creative Labs Zen):

Hold it in place with the bungee, wire it up (a big job of plugging the speakers into the Zen):




...and you end up with a sweet ride with a GPS, FM Radio, and 8 gigabytes of classic rock to get me down the road.

When I took my test drive I pushed the play button and REO Speedwagon started singing "Keep Pushing On" to me. I expect I will stop at that big hill just prior to the finish line on Sunday, find that song, and put it on repeat for the trek up that last hill (when my legs are rubber and I'm breathing hard). It will take me past the finish!

Have you made your MS 150 donation to my little daughter? If you want to support me in my ride (while listening to tunes and sweating profusely because I'm fat) please use this link...

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=5987570&fr_id=13371&pg=personal

Unplanned Vacation Stop

They start their day just like we do. Sometimes they are really upbeat anticipating another of the little things. Maybe a grandchild just took some first steps. Maybe UPS was bringing an eagerly anticipated package today with a tool or a new cook book.

They get dressed like they always do. They start working through their task list like they always do. Right up until it happens the day is routine.

Less than a dozen hours later a complete stranger meets them for the first time. The stranger notices the little things like the fact they got a hair cut earlier in the day. Judging by the way they are dressed the stranger could speculate on what kind of a day they had planned, but speculation is all the stranger has.

The stranger's day was interrupted by them. It is the cause of another unplanned late night followed by an early morning. The stranger knows that tomorrow will be one of those days we all endure from time to them when we are running a quart low on sleep.

The stranger, however, doesn't mind. The hour and a half they had together started with intense focus on the task at hand and finishes right after the harvested organ is placed in the container for shipment. The stranger thanks them, right out loud, for the kindness and forethought that made the whole procedure possible. It's a thank you from the heart knowing that in less than 24 hours a completely different stranger will have the single most horrible nightmare of THEIR life end because of this precious gift that cost everything.

Unexpected, tragic, generous, loving. All at the same time.

As the stranger drives away they ponder the cloths, the hair cut, the unknown variables of appointments missed and the extremes of the family grief that will never be known. Powerful emotions that are held in a reservoir behind a dam of respect for this angel that had the presence to think of others before it was too late.

When real organ donation is witnessed it is a powerful, powerful thing. Perhaps a prayer of thanks for the giver would be a good use of your time right about now.

Apparently She Wasn't a Single Mom

We have this nest right outside our window. Every year Michelle enjoys watching the cycle. Earlier I posted a picture as a bird sat on the nest and hid from me as I tried to take a picture.



Today she had a visitor. Apparently she isn't alone in this project.

Much Better Than It Looks

Here's what it looks like when you throw a belt and then drive on it a while.

Normally I suppose this would be a bad thing but we got lucky. Michelle's tire blew on the way home but it managed to do it as she turned on the last street coming toward our house (so she was going quite slow)...But that wasn't the good part.

The good part was we had a warranty and although the tire was pretty warn Discount tire gave us a 50% pro-rate and we got replacement tires (2 of them) for about $35 each. Sometimes bad luck is still good.