Foot, Locks, and Drama
When Darwin and I closed down the house in Albion, we had to rent storage space for a bunch of stuff. Our condo here doesn't have a garage or a basement, you see. In late October, we got snow, and I decided it was time to put my bike away for the winter. Up here, there's no good place to ride a bike, so I keep a bike rack on my car's trailer hitch. When I want to ride, I pop my bike on the rack and drive down to a trail. It's not the best arrangement, but it'll do. For me, a sign that winter has arrived is me taking the bike rack off the car and--now--putting it and the bike into storage.
The day after I took care of this chore, I tripped and fell down the condo stairs, about the last half of them. I was too stunned to get up for quite some time, and when I finally managed it, I realized my left ankle was badly sprained. I dosed myself with ibuprofen and even a little codeine and kept it well iced. I couldn't put any weight on it, so Darwin went out and bought a crutch. This let me get around, though there was no way I could keep up my usual running schedule.
And then the weather turned.
It went from freezing and cloudy to warm and sunny. Early summer warm and sunny. And I was stuck inside. I felt restless and unhappy. Nice days in a Michigan November are rare in the extreme, and winters are even worse. When the weather is good, you want to go out and enjoy it, store it up for the awful months that will arrive any moment. I regretted putting my bike away.
In a couple days, my ankle healed enough that I figured I could ride, which would be a decent substitute for running. So I went down to the storage place to drag out the bike and rack. When I put the key into the padlock and twisted, though, the key snapped like a stick of butter.
Oh, I was unhappy. Pissed, really. I called the storage place to complain--I had bought the padlock from them--and the very apologetic lady who answered the phone said she'd call maintenance worker on Monday to remove the lock, and she'd let me know when he'd be out to do so.
Monday morning passed, and I got no phone call. I finally called on my lunch break to ask for an update and discovered the Very Apologetic Lady had forgotten to call maintenance, and she promised to do so right away. I was upset and let her know this.
A few minutes later, the VPL called back to say maintenance could get there on Tuesday afternoon. Again--pissed. He was supposed to come out MONDAY, and the nice weather clock was ticking.
Today (Tuesday), Darwin and I met the maintenance man at the storage area, and he cut the lock off with a nifty machine that looked like a belt sander had mated with a table saw. I had bought a new lock, a combination lock, thank you. But it didn't fit the weirdly-shaped latch. Seriously ticked, Darwin and I drove to a nearby hardware store and bought another combination lock. In the parking lot we tested it, and discovered the combination that came with the lock didn't work. We went back into the store to get another one, but they had no other ones in the model we needed. We finally, grudgingly, settled on a key lock that we hoped would work.
Back at the storage area, we got the rack and bike out and then installed the new lock. It went on, though with some fiddling. I put the key in my car so it would always be there when I needed it.
And then, at last, I was able to go on an autumn bike ride. It was seventy-five degrees and breezy and a fine ride that gave me the exercise I've needed.
comments
The day after I took care of this chore, I tripped and fell down the condo stairs, about the last half of them. I was too stunned to get up for quite some time, and when I finally managed it, I realized my left ankle was badly sprained. I dosed myself with ibuprofen and even a little codeine and kept it well iced. I couldn't put any weight on it, so Darwin went out and bought a crutch. This let me get around, though there was no way I could keep up my usual running schedule.
And then the weather turned.
It went from freezing and cloudy to warm and sunny. Early summer warm and sunny. And I was stuck inside. I felt restless and unhappy. Nice days in a Michigan November are rare in the extreme, and winters are even worse. When the weather is good, you want to go out and enjoy it, store it up for the awful months that will arrive any moment. I regretted putting my bike away.
In a couple days, my ankle healed enough that I figured I could ride, which would be a decent substitute for running. So I went down to the storage place to drag out the bike and rack. When I put the key into the padlock and twisted, though, the key snapped like a stick of butter.
Oh, I was unhappy. Pissed, really. I called the storage place to complain--I had bought the padlock from them--and the very apologetic lady who answered the phone said she'd call maintenance worker on Monday to remove the lock, and she'd let me know when he'd be out to do so.
Monday morning passed, and I got no phone call. I finally called on my lunch break to ask for an update and discovered the Very Apologetic Lady had forgotten to call maintenance, and she promised to do so right away. I was upset and let her know this.
A few minutes later, the VPL called back to say maintenance could get there on Tuesday afternoon. Again--pissed. He was supposed to come out MONDAY, and the nice weather clock was ticking.
Today (Tuesday), Darwin and I met the maintenance man at the storage area, and he cut the lock off with a nifty machine that looked like a belt sander had mated with a table saw. I had bought a new lock, a combination lock, thank you. But it didn't fit the weirdly-shaped latch. Seriously ticked, Darwin and I drove to a nearby hardware store and bought another combination lock. In the parking lot we tested it, and discovered the combination that came with the lock didn't work. We went back into the store to get another one, but they had no other ones in the model we needed. We finally, grudgingly, settled on a key lock that we hoped would work.
Back at the storage area, we got the rack and bike out and then installed the new lock. It went on, though with some fiddling. I put the key in my car so it would always be there when I needed it.
And then, at last, I was able to go on an autumn bike ride. It was seventy-five degrees and breezy and a fine ride that gave me the exercise I've needed.
comments
No comments have been added yet.
