Having patched my latest flat last night, I put Serenity back together this morning, said Hi to Yalena who was arriving (and leaving) just before I departed, and took off on a couple of errands.

First stop: Bank, where I deposited my most recent paycheck.

Second stop, made quite on the spur of the moment, was at The Used Bike Shop. (Only known web reference (the only one I needed to discover it) found here.) I like that store because every time I've wandered in there, the guy who runs it (who always seems to be doing some kind of fixup job on various bikes) has answered my silly, newbie-ish questions with politeness and courteously. And he never tries to put the least bit of pressure or hard sell me on anything.

Today, my query was about kevlar liners, resulting from a recent suggestion by bouncing. He pointed me to his shelf of protective tire liners, but he wasn't certain what material they were all made of. I looked them over, and decided to go with the ones most prominently displayed, which advertised that they were made from 100% recycled material and Made in the USA. (It at least sounds eco-friendly.)

Then I had to ask him dumb questions about which type would fit my bike tires. (Answer: "ATB," NOT "road bike". But at least now I know that ATB stands for All Terrain Bike.)

Final stop on the way back: My gas station, where they're having a special 2-hour promotional event. My shift doesn't start until later this afternoon, and by then it will all be over. So I decided to stop by and see what was going on.

Outdoors, hotdogs were being grilled and given away, music was playing, and the KFRX van was parked outside. I said hi to my coworkers, ate a free hotdog, and even drank some soda. (Yes, I can get them for free any day, but as my manager joked, they're better when they come off the outdoor grill. And yes, it's all terribly unhealthy, but I figure a little bad stuff on a few rare occassions isn't going to be disasterous, as long as I don't make a habit of constantly flooding my system with it every day.)

During a brief lull in business, I struck up a conversation with the KFRX DJ who was greeting people with a wireless mike in his hand. (I had to admit I had never heard of him before that moment.) He was very personable and friendly, as I guess would be expected from someone in such a position. He said he was looking for a bike to ride around town, and asked me for advise on what kind to buy. I am so not an expert on that, but I told him what little I knew, and said my Trek seems to be working quite well for the most part.

Having done everything I wanted to on this outing, I wandered back to the Mideast Base. Now I think I'll go and try installing my liners, and phone my parents before I go to work today.

My mom is planning a visitation on Lincoln in two weeks. This might be dubbed "parent month" around here, because next weekend Yanthor's parents are coming, and then two weeks later, Anya's will be paying a visit. In other words, somebody's parental units will be around every weekend for the next 3 weeks. Crazy times.