[add]iction

so....it's official.

i'm addicted.

since i've started hanging out with the bike guys, i've had an itching to get another bike. i love my current bike, but i wanted something a little older, and a little nicer. i wasn't taking it too serious, just occasionally checking craiglist, and newspapers. however last spring, my schwinn started having troubles braking, which i've learned is an important part. i took it to a shop, where it would eventually sit for two months while they tried to find a part for it. during these two months i sat in my apartment, thursday after thursday, not being able to ride, while bikes cruised past me down douglas.


then a craiglist posting was sent to me about an old bike, a 1948 monark! a real "fat tire" bike! checking it out, i was thrilled, it was exactly what i had been looking for. i called a minute later and said i'd be by to check it out.

once at the house, i recognized the owner as a fellow bike club member! we chatted a bit, looked over the bike, bartered a bit, and finally struck a deal. however before i left i got a personal tour of his collection. i was blown away! it was like a bike museum! he had three garages filled with restored, customized, original, and parted out bikes! there must have been close to 100! i was in awe. here i was giddy over my second bike, and this guy had a small army of coasters! he was a serious addict, probably doing this since the 60's, and now he was dealing to me.

i loaded up my new wheels and anxiously awaited thursday night! seven o'clock came and i headed out. however i didn't make it far, a few blocks from my house my tire disintegrated and the balloon tube came out! a little disappointed but not out, i waked over to a gas station, bought a roll of duct tape and patched it up. this allowed me to ride one more block, before the whole tube popped, and deflated my dreams of riding that night. i walked my bike over to a spot where i knew the club would stop and waited.

when they arrived, the duct tapped tire spurred questions and apologies were sent my way. after conversing a bit, i figured it was time to walk home, grab the truck, and pick it up, when another member spoke up and insisted that i keep riding! he could fix it! not really knowing what he meant, i explained that it was alright, i'd catch them next week. to which he said,

"nope, we're going to get some tools!"

i hoped into a car with him and headed to his shop, however during the process of finding the right tools, he thought,

"why fix it! just borrow another one of mine!"

...another addict,

i was now borrowing bikes, to continue to ride...

we loaded up the bike and headed out to meet the rest of the group. it ended up being an amazing night with over 70 bikes cruising the streets and sidewalks of wichita. also later that week, the new bike, eventually got new tires!

but now to the point. with gas prices approaching 4 dollars it's no surprise that bikes seem to be getting more and more popular. even in car-happy wichita, i'm seeing more and more bikes on the road, which is exciting. i'm finding that riding around thursday nights with a bunch of bike bums and addicts is quickly turning into a highlight of the summer.

so...now to the point.

if you happen to find yourself in downtown wichita this friday, and you'd like to get a peek into this weird and wonderful show, the go away garage is hosting the "art of the bicycle"! a show celebrating bikes and bike related art! see poster here!

[moving] on up

i've been a little nomadic the past two years.

not so much globally or nationally, but within the border lines of a territory known as "the office"

when i first started working there, two years ago, my boss graciously gave up his desk, so that i could feel at home. it was great! i had a huge plot of land, with nothing fill it, except the occasional stack of red-lines handed to me to. i started to fill it with a collection of pens and pencil's and even brought in a plant. i was at this location for about 8 months, what i like to call the "honeymoon" period.



when someone else was hired and i was shifted. i moved to a very small table in the conference room. it took some time to get use to it, but i eventually fell in love with this situation. i was crammed in there with two other guys, luckily, we all got along. we all preferred to work with just our desk lamps on instead of the overhead fluorescents on. with great music playing it was almost reminiscent of studio.

being behind a wall of glass, right off of the reception room, i like to call this period of time, the "fish bowl". this lasted about 8 months.

then work began on our "new" office. we had been holding conference meetings in the raw space, but with construction starting we needed the conference room back. this required me to move to a counter top, right next to my boss. a time i refer to as the "lap dog" period.

i try to make the best of every situation, but it was tough in this location. not only was i in a main traffic way, but i was sitting nearly on top of my boss. also, by this time i was getting more and more work, and had very little room to place anything. i did however, learn all of our carpet reps by name as they chatted with me while placing new catalogs. knowing that it would last long kept my spirits up. i was promised that it would only be temporary, we'd be in the new space after the first of the year.....then it was, maybe by february...then by march......possibly by april......for sure by the end of may.....

to make a very long and very boring story short, we finished up the new space last week, and moved in. i'm thrilled. it's probably the best week i've had at the office! after two years, i finally feel settled.

of course, the only foreseeable problem that may arise, is the fact that i moved into the one desk that will have to be demo-ed when "phase 2 " happens.....

here are some pictures of the new space.

[texture]

a little late on this issue...

click on photo to view pdf

[re]milled

as i wrote in the last post, i was unable to learn the history of the oxford mill during my little pilgrimage the other week. there were no old men at the gas station to relate the story of how it came to be or what may have happened to it.

however, due to the amazing and wonderful invention we all know as the internet, i've had some information related back to me about this roadside attraction. a few days after posting, i received this comment from deb hamm.

"Last year, the Oxford School District began leasing the Old Oxford Mill for an entrepreneurship center for our high school students. The community has done a great deal to support this endeavor from volunteering to cleanup the grounds surrounding the mill to recreating a nature trail (probably where you encountered the many mosquitoes!). The high school students sponsor community dining events and private parties in the Old Oxford Mill. I hope you will come again and see the inside of the Old Oxford Mill. It is quite remarkable. Please contact Deb Hamm, Superintendent, at 455-2227 for more information or check out our website at www.usd358.com."

i have no idea how deb found my blog, but hey...isn't that the wonderful magic of sending these little musing into the endless void of the world wide web?

following the www.usd358.com link mentioned above, i found a very nice website devoted to the oxford mill that can be found here, and if you have the time, i recommend visiting it, as they have some very wonderful pictures...as well as a blog!

i think it's a great project for the school district to partake in, and i'm glad to see that this wonderful building has found another use.

tourist [dis]tractions

maybe it was the solstice, maybe it was the weekend, or maybe it was the need to escape the commotion of the down town metropolis of wichita, but i had an itch to do something "touristy" the other day.

one downfall of returning to work in a city where you grew up, is the feeling that you've seen and done it all. well, last weekend i wanted to change that mindset, and prove to my fellow wichitan's there was indeed "something-to-do-in-this-town".

I had heard of an elusive mill in a small town down south, and i wanted to check it out. i got in my truck, rolled the windows down, turned the old time country station up and headed to oxford. i didn't really have an idea where the old mill was, but surely it couldn't be that hard to find.

i drove and drove and drove....and eventually made it to town. i puttered around the two block downtown, but deciding to mingle with the local folk a bit, i thought i'd stop into the gas station and ask directions. who knows...maybe even get a chance to chat it up with an old man that would relate to me the entire history of the mill and how it had helped oxford out of the great depression!

opening the door, and before i had a chance to look around, i asked,

"hey, do you know where i can find the old mill?"

the teen-aged, slightly emo girl, behind the counter said,

"ummm.................no"

not only was i a little disappointed that my hopes of chatting it up with a bunch of good ol boys had disappeared, but i was astonished that she didn't know where the old mill was! surely this had to be the best thing in the whole county!

"ummmmmmmmm.........i think jake might know........let me get him.........HEY JAKE!!!!!" she yelled towards the back storage room.

jake, looking a lot like kip from napoleon dynamite, came from around the corner....

i asked, "do you know where i can find the old mill?"

"ummmmmmm..........yeah.....i think" jake said hesitantly,

great! I had a glimmer of hope! jake, gave me directions as best as he could. i thanked him, got in the truck and continued my quest.

sure enough, jake got me there. hidden amongst the trees, down a long path, there she was....the old mill. i got my camera out and started walking. enjoying the view, i started looking for the best shot. finding one, i knelt down, but before taking the picture, i felt a buzzing in my ear, swatting at my head, and looking at my arm, i found the most mosquito's i had ever seen on my arm...on my arm! freaking out a little, i did the little "there's and insect on me and i want it off dance" everyone does when trying to rid their bodies of bugs.

after my little mosquito mambo, they came right back for more. realizing this was hopeless, i snap a few pictures, and ran for the truck. a little disappointed, but not wanting to get bit, i decided to head back.

during the drive, i passed a wheat field being harvested. i slowed down, and eventually stopped. watching this post-card in motion, i realized that i had found my tourist destination. it wasn't a spot on a map, or an address you could google, it was something better. something real, something honest, something truly kansas.

and best of all, there were no mosquito's!

....however my allergies did start acting up.