My position at Casey Trees ended, as did my sublet, so I've found myself unemployed and homeless... again. Sometimes I surprise myself at how stubborn I am. You'd think that I would just get any old job and move on with my life. In fact, I swore at the beginning of August that I would do exactly that.
Of course, things aren't really that bad. I'm getting interviews for jobs that I really want, and it was down to me and one other candidate for a position with Bikes for the World (before they went with the other person). I scored a couple of house-sitting gigs for some friends, so I haven't been couch surfing too much. Hopefully, I'll land a job in the next few days to a week, so I'll know what I can afford for rent.
The other not so exciting excitement is that the week before I moved out of my sublet, someone broke into the house and stole my bicycle (and a bike I was borrowing from work). Fortunately, I hadn't brought my touring bike up to DC yet, and I still haven't. I probably won't do that until I'm living somewhere that I actually feel comfortable again, and after my fixie getting stolen, that might be a difficult thing for me to find.
R.I.P. cute little blue Schwinn. You will be missed.
My bike getting stolen was a mixed bag. First of all, it sucks getting anything stolen - especially from inside you own home. You feel violated. But at the same time, I have an excuse to get a new bike, and I actually have a little money in savings to do it. But, I'm not working, so having to spend some savings doesn't feel so great.
Whatever. I had to bite the bullet and get it done. I found a frame and bars at Phoenix Bikes, wheels at Bikes for the World, and a saddle at a bike swap. I already had some Shimano 600 cranks, a seat post, and some old Campagnolo bar end shifters my mom's husband gave me. I got a cartridge bottom bracket and headset at a shop in town and ordered cables, a chain and new hoods from Velo Orange.
Introducing...
My New City Bike
It's a 1983 Schwinn World. I think it's going to be a pretty good bike, but it needs some fine-tuning. I'm not stoked about the bar/break lever angle, so I might need ot move the brakes and re-rap the bars. The left crank is creaky (probaly why I didn't have them on my fixie), and I'm not enjoying using friction shifters again. But, the bike is pretty and it feels good otherwise. I rode it from Southwest DC up through Rock Creek Park to Takoma yesterday and it was a really nice ride. It's really great to get out on a bike now that I'm not biking for work and the weather is cooling off.
