New Stuff!

So I've got a bit of time to catch up with my last post and fill in the missing parts....Been working at Pedal Power about once a week for the past few weeks to learn all of the day to day operations and the computer system. It's really good. The computer software is great! They've got a program that allows you to search the bike inventory by category (ie road, hybrid, bmx, etc), size and pricepoint. Then the computer spits out matches to your search criteria and tells you how many are in stock and how many are built! Sick! I can also access this thing called the 'internet'. I guess you can check out information on vendors and their products and relay it to customers. Cool stuff. Good people to work with and lots of experience and info to share.

Went with Karp and his buddy Hans to check out the Subdivision BMX tradeshow last Thursday. It's in the middle of nowhere...Johnson City, NY. A totally depressed area of NY. Lots of warehouses and mills that closed down after the depression. I think Karp put it best when he said, 'I think I've seen all of these people on Cops at least once' refering to the city's inhabitants that were walking around as we were heading to the show. Met a few pro riders who where there reping the companies that they ride for. Pretty much everyone was super cool and fun to talk to. Got a chance to meet Steve Crandall from FBM. Karp drew some graphics for their new shirts and stuff so we got the mini tour of their warehouse. Lots of bike porn all over the place (the new stuff from Coalition, G-Sport hubs, everything from Fly Bikes). Met Greg Walsh from Coalition and Hell On Earth clothing. Super cool guy. Had some funny stories about guns, security guards and pit bulls (all at once) while attending a weird clothing industry show. Picked up a couple of shirts, some stickers and pins from Hell on Earth. They definitely had some of the best designs in the show. Got lunch at this cool little natural food store on the main drag. The employees were telling us that they got a phone call on Monday informing them that there would be a bunch of BMXer's wearing black, decending upon their shop on Thursday so they would have time to make proper arrangement for extra Hummus wraps, Tabouli and such. Had a great hummus wrap and stuffed our faces with some yummy organic nachos courtesy of Karp [thanks!]. After the tradeshow we checked out East Coast Terminal. Amazing ramp park upstairs from the FBM factory. Great riding going on there too. Highlights include rooting/embarassing the QBP BMX guys, watching lots of dudes tear up the mini-ramp, etc. The ride home seemed a lot faster than the ride there as just about any road trip with Karp and Hans is guaranteed to have you pissing your pants laughing. A million thanks go out to Karp for driving. I was wiped out by the time I got home and slept really well. A full day indeed.

Currently looking for a new apartment in the Middlenoun area and running into lots of crap along the way. I had an interesting offer to relocate to West Haven to live with my Grandfather rent free. However, I think that the commute is quite a bit out of my way. Rent free would be nice, and it would be close to Kami while she's in Yale, but having to battle the rat racers into and home from work is a less than ideal proposition. I played that game for a few years while living in Will-o-rico, and New Smiton. Not fun. Checked out my buddy Jeff's new house. He did some work on it since I was there last. Looks awesome! He finished the second floor (carpet, new paint, etc) and cleared out a bunch of brush from his back yard. It looks fantastic! He's even got some dirt jumps built up on the side of his house. Should be good times when he gets them built up to where he wants them to be. Tomorrow is my last day at the Market. Gotta remember to drop off my key at close. Start full time @ PP Thursday. That's about it. If I haven't talked with you in a while hit me with an email and let me know what you've been up to!
Ride Fast! Ride Hard!