Thursday, April 28, 2005

Slipping Slipping into the Future

Time is truly a frustration of late, it just slips away. That's really a good problem, it means work is busy and the kids won't have to go hungry.

Last weekend (can it be Thursday already?) I did a couple of filleted joints on a work stand I'm making. They weren't bike quality but were the first time I've had any real success with Low Fuming Bronze. It felt good to turn them out in fairly short order and be ready to attack the next step in building this stand.

This week should be anvil shopping and practice lugged joints (along with painting some new closet doors for my daughter's room). That will keep me busy.

I tend to be a supporter of the Post Office and it's employees. So I ordered a few Cyclus tools and a pair of Mafac brakes from renaissance in Holland. No one was home when the first package arrived on Friday so they left me a slip. Saturday I went to the post office to pick it up, but they couldn't find it. They took my number but didn't call back. Monday I went to the post office and they still couldn't find it, so I asked to file a claim. No can do! Not without waiting 10 days. I asked why and was told that I didn't know the package was lost. Let's see, they tried to deliver it - so we know they had it. They didn't deliver it but don't know where it is. So how can it be anything but lost? Well, they told me that it might have been sent to the regional distribution center by accident. How long should it take to come back? One to two days. Hmmm? Well I still haven't seen it, but my second order arrived. I guess I'll try again at the post office, but I wish that renaissance used DHL or FedEx.

It's been a while since I handled Mafac brakes, they feel good. It's hard to decide whether to use them natural, or to polish them to a real finish. Anyhow, I should have ordered the version that came with levers; the original plan was to use a flat bar but now a drop seems more likely. Maybe I'll order a pair or two with levers just to have the inventory.

That's all for now folks.



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