2 months

Bike Mechanic Stuff

I've been working at the bike shop for 2 months now. Business has slowed and my hours have been reduced, but I'm getting more thorough and proficient at all of the routine stuff. My first tune up (without repairs) took 4 hours. Yesterday, I performed a full tune up (bike wash, wheel truing, spoke tension, derailleur and brake adjustments, full lube and torque) with a few common repairs thrown in (derailleur hanger alignment, rear cassette, new chain, flat fix, and pedal swap) in only 2.5 hours. I'm really proud of that! I did forget one thing: inform the customer that their bike was ready. I'll pop in this morning and finish that little detail...whoops!

Two months ago, I couldn't identify one tenth of the tools and hardware at the workbench. There are little bowls of assorted bits and bobs at each bench and I remember thinking, "Eventually, I'll know what all of these pieces are and what they're for." Now I do! I'm proud of that, too. 

With fewer repairs coming into the shop, I've started asking friends to let me work on their bikes in my off-hours. I get so excited to get a new bike to work on!

Family Stuff

James has volunteered for Safety Patrol at school. He has to get to school earlier than usual, which has thrown off our morning routine. We had hoped that James and Matthew could get to school early together, but Matthew needs more time to get ready than James does and Matthew isn't allowed at school early without an adult. Also, the boys have started riding their bikes to school, which is sometimes faster than walking and sometimes NOT faster than walking depending on various factors (mostly Matthew). Also, the weather is getting colder, so some days we have to schedule more time to put on coats and hats and gloves (especially for Matthew). All of these variables make it difficult to set a predictable, clock-based routine. And nothing incapacitates Matthew more than a time deadline he's not sure he can meet. So, I think we've settled on James leaving when he needs to (no earlier than 7:30 by foot and 7:35 by bike) and an adult going with Matthew to school a little later (7:45 by foot or bike). I wonder how long they'll want to go by bike. 

James has also gotten together with a few 5th grade friends and proposed a school newspaper club. Robert's 4th grade teacher, Ms. Rush, agreed to supervise them, so now they meet after school once a week to work on it. Matthew does it, too, by default. The older kids like having him and another little brother in their club. Matthew loves it.

Matthew has been wrestling with James a lot more this week. He's getting better. And louder. They play SO loudly. Much of Matthew's time and energy is dominated by James. And he's so mild. I often wonder what he would be like without James' influence. James is a bright red, spicy salsa that punches you in the mouth and Matthew is a pale creamy butter that is subtle straight out of the fridge but so dark, rich, and flavorful under other circumstances. Matthew asked me to read out loud to him and chose a chapter book he had heard about from the school librarian. We got 3/4 the way through it when he learned that the ending would not be happy. Both Alex and James testified to it. Matthew was torn. He really liked this story and wanted to continue, but could not stomach a sad ending. He finally decided that he would stop reading it now so that he could imagine his own happy ending for the kids involved. And last night, he awoke scared. He called for James, but he didn't respond. He called for me, but I didn't hear. He turned on his bedtime story (which usually knocks him out in a few minutes) but it stopped working unexpectedly. That's when he came to my room and woke me up. He explained the situation and apologized over and over for asking me to help him calm down enough to go back to sleep. I assured him this was something I was happy to do for him. In the next couple school years, James will be at the middle school and Matthew will stay at the elementary school. There will be a few more opportunities to interact with Matthew without James around. I wonder what we'll see from Matthew then.

Robert continues to do well in school and work a little on the weekends. He really enjoys playing video games online with his friends. Last weekend, he joined 7 of his friends playing all at once! He has a dry sense of humor that makes me laugh out loud almost every day. Just the other day, he jokingly thanked me for making him take piano lessons because all that hand-eye coordination practice made him faster at video games. 

Alex works for the Urbana Park District bringing special activities to kids at an elementary after-school program. He likes working with the kids. He's a little frustrated, though, at how the adults approach the work and the kids. Such is gainful employment. He's also taking his high school's advanced child development class which runs a preschool. Every day this week, Alex came home with another hilarious or dramatic story from his preschool or after school adventures with kids. He's a pretty good storyteller. I'm wondering how that will play into his future training and career choices.