The Aldrich Ave Daily

The Black Panther crashed….Again. With that said, writing will be at a shortage for awhile. With money being spent on Christmas, brewing gear, fuggin’ teeth, and New Years, it will be some time until I get a new computer. I will write when I can, but its gonna be a solid month before I start looking for a new computer. I’m thinking a laptop this time. A Mac not a PC. Until then. Cheers

    I wrote a couple posts ago that I’ve got ideas. Well, I was watching 60 minutes this past Sunday and their final segment was on LaDainian Tomlinson. “LT” as he’s called around the sports world turns out to be a big contributor to society. I love watching professional sports. The thing I don’t like about it, is the unhealthy sums of money these guys get for playing sports. The majority of these guys take advantage of this amazing opportunity that they get. Some players getting arrested, big ego’s, just self indulgent jocks. LT is the exact opposite. He spends more time off the field making a real difference then any other player in the NFL. I was amazed at how much time he spends daily making a difference in his community. He invites 21 kids to each home game that can’t afford tickets. 21 for the number he wears. After the game, he meets with each one of those kids. I was touched at how much time he spends off the field using his status to help out other people. It made me think. I would like to do more of this in my profession. Granted, it would be on a much smaller scale. But still, its nice to know that I am making a difference in someones life. I’ve done some things here and there. Helping out a group of Boy Scouts out with fixing their bikes. I got a thank you card for that. Helping out members of TCBC on what to look for on possible bicycle repairs. I was thanked in their newsletter. Helping out that kid coming home from school. He didn’t have any cash, but it was his only means of transportation. No problem. Most of the recognition bicycle mechanics do are for fixing a problem. Repairing something that does not work right.

However, the thing I am most proud of is not from fixing or repairing a bike. Its something else. One of my favorite customers at the shop is named Woody. He’s a different kind of customer. Not the kind that buys thousands of dollars worth of gear. He usually buys all of his things online because its cheaper. Not someone who brings in his bike all the time to get serviced. Yet, we still consider him a great customer because we are helping him out in a different way. He is the bike mechanic for everyone in his neighborhood. He probably owns more bike tools then I do. He frequents our store at least 2-3 times a week in the winter months. Walks in with a big smile. “Hey Mr. Andy”. Any time that I have been in a really stressed out, bad mood at work and Woody walks in, those feelings disappear. Its always a new question. “Which tool do I need for this?” “What part(s) do I need to fix this?” “I can’t figure out this damn bottom bracket”. That last one is a common question, usually followed with some laughs. He’s probably brought in over 30 bikes over the past 3 years or so. Each one with a new problem.  Earlier this summer Woody stopped by to give me something. It was a thank you card, and a gift certificate. I was moved. All I was doing was answering his questions for him. Or on occasin remove a stubborn bottom bracket. But to him I was making a real difference. The card and certificate show that. I couldn’t thank him enough. That thank you card will always be on my bench. Sometimes its the smallest of gestures to one person makes a huge difference to another.

Pretty tight quarters eh? Yes indeed. How can I describe the shop in the middle of a busy summer day? Controlled Chaos. We’ve steadily been getting busier and busier each season at the shop. We’ve been putting up numbers that compete with some of our other stores that are 3 times our size. We call ourselves “The little engine that could” of Erik’s Bike Shop. We’ve tried to make accommodations for all the repair bikes by shifting benches around, adding a wall, adding more hooks. But the bottom line is, we need more space. Maple Grove is a boomtown of retail, restaurants, and people. It seemed only fitting we too would get and upgrade at some point. Things were finally put into motion about 3 weeks ago. Its an exciting time. We’re pushing the entire front wall out about 20 feet or so. Remodeling the inside, and getting a new shop setup. Rumor has it that we’ll be getting all new tools. Ah, new tools. The bicycle mechanics “drug” of choice. We get giddy at the possibility of new tools. I was helping setting up the new Erik’s Mega store in Woodbury last Friday night. New tools galore. We literally are like kids in candy stores. Only replace kids with obsessive, meticulous shop mechanics, and candy with tools. I was jealous of those guys getting to setup a new shop. I was just there to help out and was out on the sales floor most of the time. But in just a few months I’ll be doing the same thing at our shop. Can’t wait. Park Tool could start a slogan for shop mechanics to get them hooked. It could be something along the lines of “Park Tool, just one taste, and you’re hooked for life.”

Gone are the days of hitting my head numerous times a day on a handlebar, tool, hook, or a bench. Gone are the days of getting what I can only think are “shin splints” in my forearms from having to hang bikes and take them down standing in awkward positions. Good grief that started to hurt on a daily basis. Gone are the days of having so many bikes, that we would have to start leaning them up against other bikes hanging on the wall. Gone are the days of passageways that bikes can barely fit through. Yup, its gonna be a good year next year. But you folks are going to have to wait for awhile. We’ll be closed for about 2 months. Jan-Feb. Then hopefully open back up sometime in March. All this bike talk makes me wanna go out an pedal. Alas, my bum knee won’t allow it, and I don’t ride in the snow. So, time to get those cross country skis out. Cheers.

I could have been seriously hurt last night, or even killed!! People in this town are getting more and more oblivious to their surroundings. Its sad really. I was having some cocktails with some of my best friends last night at The Independent and then Mortimer’s in Uptown. We left Mortimer’s, and I decided to stop by the gas station on my way home to pick up some cheese. Yes, cheese. I love cheese with a passion and I was out at the house. I wait at the light on 22nd and Lyndale. Green light, and the go ahead to cross. Now picture this in your head. Lets say you are in your car about to leave the house. You need to get something out of the back seat. You turn around looking at the seat and  with your right arm, reaching to get whatever object it is you desire. Got it? Ok. Picture this exact same scenario only a guy is driving his car, turning at a light, and going at a pretty good clip. This is what approached me as I crossed the street. My god. The stupidity. How dumb do you have to be to do something like this? I only hope the guy was at least sober. The ironic part is, when I walk I usually have my head down. I can’t explain why, I just do. I would have been creamed. I’m talking flattened. For whatever reason last night, I happened to be looking right at the car as I crossed. I stopped, put my arms up in disgust. He only noticed me after he passed me. Remember,  I had the go ahead to walk across. The rest of my walk home I kept thinking what if? What if I didn’t notice the car speeding around that turn? Would I be around to talk about it right now? Would I be in a hospital bed? Or the morgue?
Now I know if I was not looking at the car while I was crossing and did get hit, I can’t put all of the blame on this man. Anyone crossing a crosswalk even if they have the green light to do so, should be watching their surroundings. The thing that bugs me is what he was doing. We’re in Uptown. A place in the cities where people are crossing the streets constantly. Just a block down on Franklin is a crossing for the blind. It just seems like common sense that when you are turning at a light in this area of town, you should always be watching for pedestrians. Not this guy. The complete opposite. I saw the back of his head. THE BACK. I hope that guy realized what he did last night and will wise up the next time he gets behind the wheel. It makes me grateful I didn’t get hit. I was reading the obituaries this morning in the newspaper. This young man from Iowa had died at the young age of 20. I started thinking. This man had an entire life of accomplishments to achieve. Such a sad thing. Hearing about people dying at too young of an age. Ya know what? In some aspect it makes be think twice about what I’m doing with myself. Another ironic twist. The Mischke Broadcast is taking calls right now, today, about people getting hit by cars. WOW. How weird is this?