I got $5 on my tax return

On Saturday I went wondering through Park Slope trying to install my dope rims..first I went to On The Move (7th Avenue between 12th & 13th Streets) and waited for the shop to open. On my trip over I had embarrassingly harnessed the new rims around my shoulder, thinking I'd be able to balance them all the way to the bike shop. This lasted until about 15th Street when they fell out from under my bag and proceeded to get stuck around my chest and the back of my bike seat, creating a veritable seat belt that disabled me from moving forward or backward to unhinge them. Luckily, I wasn't going very fast but I had to come to a painful stop at a green light to unhinge the rims and lay them in the middle of the street while I redid my bag and got back on my bike. Needless to say, I walked the rest of the way there...

The dude at On the Move is really nice and they had a young lady (?) working there before so I was happy to see that. He took one look at my current (stock) rims and told me that I would need all new spokes. My heart felt. Spokes are $2 a piece and I have 32 on each wheel, so already we're talking $128 to install the rims + the labor. Sigh. This small project has now fallen under my get-rich-quick scheme of pooling my nonexistant bonus + subletter + tax return into sexy clothes and bike parts that I can't afford. So...I decided to get a second opinion.

I went to Dixon's (right next to the Food Coop--many stories to be told about that), which I love. The guys in there are really nice and this kid that was like 14 years old or something fixed my break last time, so I was in awe. The guy there told me that I would indeed need new spokes (balls!) and that the labor would cost $25-$30 per wheel. I told him I was waiting on my bonus and that I would come back when I won the lottery. He laughed and said it wasn't that bad..

Yesterday my brother G. and I did my taxes. After being pegged a self-employed farmer and fisherman (see MISC form 1099), I got a whopping $5 back from New York State. SO MUCH FOR MY GET-RICH-QUICK SCHEME. My rims are idling in the hallway, between a grandma cart and a yellow vacuum.

I dream on:



equals (not my bike): http://velospace.org/node/2984