Yes, people, I got called for jury duty this week and ended up not only having to go down to the courthouse but ended up on a jury. Fortunately it wasn’t a long drawn out trial like that marijuana trial goin’ on down there (which started jury selection the same week I had jury duty.) Good thing too because I don’t think I could be impartial because I know a bit about that case.

Anyway, I was bummed to find out that the new courthouse they’ve been threatening to build still isn’t done (not even close, most recent estimate is it will be done end of 2013 which means realistically it’ll be done in 2015.) Too bad too because the current courthouse uhm … shall we say leaves a lot to be desired, from the urine smell penetrating the hallways, to the cramped jury assembly room, to the seriously overcrowded conditions and lack of courtrooms, to the lack of parking, to the ceilings falling down in bathrooms, to the escalators that STILL don’t work (EVERY time I’ve been to the courthouse in the last thirty years at least one of those damn escalators didn’t work. This time I think they’ve finally given up on them, I only saw ONE in working order in the 6 floor building, so do the math.

And this time I was stuck there for three days. Ugh. Oh well, on the bright side California now pays jurors $15/day after their first day (instead of the $5/day they paid for years and years.) Oh, and there was a Subway across the street LOL. Most of the eating joints in the area are WAY overpriced so it was nice to be able to find my old reliable “lunch of choice” nearby. Oh and one other highlight was the protestors for one of those “Occupy” things there … maybe 10-20 people woot! But they didn’t seem to actually be “protesting”, most of what I saw were just people standing around talking or sleeping in the park (the park is one that used to be full of homeless people, and if it hadn’t been for a few signs, I would have thought that’s all it was.) There were also a few protestors outside the court house because of that marijuana trial too, I SO wanted to talk to ‘em but the judge’s instructions were not to talk to ANYONE lest it be misconstrued (you never know who might be somehow linked to the case you’re on.)

Anyway, as for the actual trial, I won’t give out details for privacy reasons (mine and the people involved) but I have to say that I was impressed with the other jurors, it was a diverse group and no one was a prick who insisted they were right and everyone else was wrong, and everyone was willing to discuss things out, go over things that were troubling, etc. I would have been glad to have ALL of them on a jury if I was ever accused of something. And I feel good about the decision we made. It’s always hard to have someone’s fate in your hands but I think we did the right thing, based on the evidence.

So, all in all I have to say it wasn’t bad doing my duty. I’ve whined a bit about “having to” serve before, and I was on a trial once eons ago, when I was somewhat tormented by the case and the decision we made (even though I still think we did make the right one, but it’s hard not to feel sorry for people sometimes.) But this time I feel good about it and what the outcome was.

So all you out there who bitch and moan about jury duty, get over it! If you REALLY don’t want to serve, commit a felony haha. Or just don’t bother to register to vote or get a driver’s license/ID card from the DMV (but don’t drive without a license or you just might end up on the “wrong side” of a trial someday.)

It’s been two months since the early days of Occupy Wall Street and I have to say that I am a bit disappointed. I was hoping it would have reached anarchy and the overthrow of the free world by now. But instead, it’s just a bunch of whiny “campers” with no clear view on what they want who are accomplishing nothing but annoying their fellow 99%ers while the 1%ers laugh and go on about their day.

Now, I can understand their frustration to some extent, I have lived in this country long enough to see the middle-class slowly eroding away and the hope of a bright future fading. When I had my first job, in retail, I made enough money to share an apartment and get by OK. My last job, which paid almost double minimum wage, wasn’t even enough for that. For my first job, I had no job experience and no higher education. Today I have over 20 years of work experience and two college degrees. Yet my “buying power” has dropped drastically, and I accepted long ago that I will never achieve the “American Dream” of owning my own home. I’m sure there are many reasons for this, some of which I’ve never even considered. And yes, our government leaders have botched things up pretty badly in terms of decisions they’ve made as far as the banking industry and corporate laws (allowing “free trade” was, in my opinion, one of the major causes of jobs being outsourced to countries with cheaper labor, in exchange for allowing “American made” goods to be more competitive on a global market.) Rampant illegal immigration is another cause in my opinion, how many formerly good paying jobs are now the realm of the “unskilled” under-the-table “contract labor” populated largely by immigrants who will work for despicable wages? All those “cost savings” earned the CEOs big fat bonuses because the higher profit margins made investors happy. And low wages now permeate most corporations. More hours, more work, less pay. My last job, in the same industry as one I worked 20 years ago, had a work-load more than double my first job in that industry. And my pay had not kept pace with inflation, so I hit a point where I either had to get a second job or go back to college. I chose the latter. While it helped a bit as far as increasing my earning power, it is debt I am still paying for, and I am not sure I’ll ever truly “use my degree” in a job that pays a living wage.

Anyway, I digress. All these kids (and yes a few “old folks” too) have a point, but unfortunately they don’t seem to have a plan to fix it. Every time I see them on TV all I see is a bunch of platitudes about how much they sacrifice and for nothin’, how it’s not fair, blah blah but never a well-defined list of what they actually want and from whom. Until they “get an agenda” they will never accomplish anything. So, in my opinion, they should just give up their silly “protest” and take a “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” mentality and become a 1%er.

Now, here is MY list of how to make that happen:

1. Stop whining.
2. Brainstorm an idea on how to solve a need in society.
3. Secure funding for said idea (yep, you might have to deal with a BANK.)
4. Be prepared to be turned down.
5. If someone offers to help you, thank them, even if you think they’re not helping.
6. Don’t give up!
7. Keep an open mind and adjust your plan as needed to make it happen.
8. Be willing to work your ass off for years, or even decades, to achieve “success.”
9. Be willing to give up everything you own, put your house up as collateral, go without “creature comforts” for as long as it takes to meet payroll and business expenses.
10. If you are lucky, maybe you’ll be the owner of a successful enterprise, and can afford to pay yourself a fat CEO salary and pension, and then you, too, can be a 1%er.

Now, notice there is nothing in my list where someone hands you something for free, or just because you whined a lot for it. There is risk involved. There may be consequences to your health, marriage, children, lifestyle, free-time, etc. But hey, you gotta pay your dues, right? Ask any CEO how many hours they spent “working their way up” to their big fat salary. Ask them how many anniversaries and birthdays they missed, how many school recitals and soccer tournaments they couldn’t go to because they were working. Ask them how many times they filed bankruptcy, how many times they were fired, how many times they questioned their decisions. Ask them how many times they thought about throwing in the towel but didn’t.

Each of us in life has to make our own choices and decide what we want and balance it against what we need. Some people (like me) don’t need a lot of money or power or “success” so being a 1%er isn’t on the “To Do” list. For others, money = success or happiness. But in the end, no one gets something for nothing. Even if your parents brought you up with the mentality that you are ENTITLED to certain things, sooner or later cold harsh reality will smack you in the face and you’ll realize that isn’t true. If you want something badly enough AND you’re willing to sacrifice and work your ass off for it, you’re much more likely to get it than if you sit in a tent in a park, holding up cardboard signs and whining about how life isn’t fair. If you think life isn’t fair to you, then it’s at least partly YOUR fault, because you made bad choices. Maybe you voted for the idiots who made the laws that have “destroyed the middle class.” Maybe you don’t really want to work all that hard. Maybe you didn’t bother to get good grades in school because you were more concerned with your X-Box Live score than your geometry homework.  If you want to live a good life, put as much of it in YOUR hands as possible. If you keep “working for the man” you will probably never be rich. You will probably never be happy. You will just end up an old, bitter whiner. So, all you kids (and others) protesting, get outta your tents and go start your own businesses and hire your friends and family and strangers, make America great again. And when you make it to the top, you’ll be thankful taxes are low because then you’ll have more money to spend on stuff, which keeps all those 99%ers working. Then you can laugh and say “Oh, how foolish I was in my youth to think I could change the world by sitting in a tent and smoking weed.”

Oh, and don’t think Obama is going to save you, he’s part of the 1%. 

I went to the doctor today for my “follow up” that I do every 6 months or so, and he’s finally willing to let me get off that evil beta blocker drug I’ve been on for the last 2 1/2 years that has been making my life hell. For those of you who don’t know what a beta blocker is, it’s a class of drugs (similar to calcium channel blockers) which mess up the electrical function of your heart and make it submit to the will of the drug. In other words, it helps control the rhythm of your heart, which for some people can be a life saver (for instance if you have an arrhythmia,) but to use it for treatment of high blood pressure to me is just wacky. Anyway, basically what it does is it keeps your heart rate from going too fast or too hard and keeps it basically level. Which is great if you’re bedridden and have no life. If you actually have to do stuff or want to exercise, then it’s a plague on your existence. It makes it nearly impossible to do “cardio” because the whole point of cardio is to get your heart rate up and beta blockers don’t let that happen, so what does happen is your body compensates by raising your breathing making it faster and harder and that just wears you out really fast. And if you push too hard, you get dizzy and/or black out. That added to my ear problem that causes vertigo means me + exercise + beta blocker = might as well just give up.

So, I’m very very happy that I can finally get off this evil drug. Maybe I can finally find enough stamina to get through a 5k walk before I drop flat out unconscious (that hasn’t actually happened because the longest walk I’ve managed so far is just a bit over 2 miles.) And maybe I’ll be able to ride my bike “fast” for more than 1/2 mile without getting dizzy and having to worry about falling off.

My doc also said that if my blood pressure starts to go up again, he’ll put me on a different class of drugs that won’t “make me tired” but I’m hoping I won’t have to do that. As long as I keep exercising regularly and eating pretty healthy (no soda, no junk food) then hopefully it’ll stay “in range.” I think the beta blocker also tends to make you gain weight too cuz I’ve had a hell of a time losing weight on this drug, despite exercise and keeping my calories below what I should need. I have lost some weight but I shoulda been “perfect” over a year ago haha. Ah the joys of middle-age.

I also got a flu shot, first one I’ve gotten in 3 years. I hope it doesn’t kill me LOL. (I had some suspicion that my last flu shot mighta been at least a partial cause of my health nightmare 2 1/2 years ago, but probably not (doc didn’t think so.) But I do still have a scar on my arm from my last flu shot (which swelled up into a big-ass red welt like a spider bite for about 6 months and then left a reddish-pink “burn like” scar. Doc has looked at it more than once though and just shrugged and said not to worry about it. The only “reactions” he cares about to flu shots are shortness of breath type stuff (ie anaphylactic reactions.)

OK I’ve been reading a lot in the news lately about kids being bullied and sometimes kids who kill themselves because they were bullied and I may not have the popular opinion here, but here goes:

First, let me say, that when I was a kid, I was picked on just about EVERY SINGLE DAY by bullies of one sort or another. Back then, there was no such thing as “political correctness” or “sensitivity training” so just about every kid had at least one kid who bullied them, and it was just sorta considered part of growing up. But ya know what? I think it made us all stronger, because we developed character. We learned that what people say doesn’t really matter as long as we have the integrity to live our lives in a upstanding way. The bullies were the ones who grew up to be the losers in life. Not once in my life have I ever met a bully who was well adjusted. Sure, there might be exceptions, but the ones I knew grew up to be criminals or drug addicts or wife abusers or child abusers or politicians. Haha I added that last one but I’ll bet it’s true.

A lot of schools have “outlawed” bullying, and personally I think that only exacerbates the problem because those bullies will just take it elsewhere where it can’t be monitored as easily, like the internet. If I were a parent, I would teach my kid how to confront bullies and to understand WHY they do what they do.

When I was a kid, my mom’s advice on how to deal with bullies was “just ignore them.” Well, yannow what? That didn’t work. It just made them try HARDER to make me cry. As long as they eventually got a “payoff” it was worth their effort. So, one day on my way home from school, after having been harassed and having rocks thrown at me on the way home from school EVERY DAY for months by a group of four “new kids” in the neighborhood, I did something that literally changed my life: I stopped in my path, looked the leader straight in the eyes and yelled at the top of my lungs “STOP PICKING ON ME!!” And ya know what? It worked. It totally caught them off guard that this girl who was so shy she could barely utter “here” during roll call at school, would have the guts to yell something so loud. It also had the added result of alerting their mother, who came outside and asked me if they were bothering me, and I timidly said yes, and that they’d been throwing rocks at me every day. Well, she was livid and yelled at her hoodlum offspring to “GET IN THE HOUSE NOW!!” and well long story short, they never bothered me again, in fact, sometimes they would even say “Hi” to me, although I’d just shoot ‘em a dirty look and ignore them. But it also made me realize that I had the power to stand up for myself.

And as I matured, I learned that often the bullies are the kids who themselves are bullied, often at home by abusive or neglectful parents. THEY don’t know how to stand up against their bully, so they take it out on those weaker. You never see a bully “pick on someone their own size” do you? Nope, they go for the weakest of the “herd.” And that’s because they don’t have the balls to fight fair. So don’t give them the “win.” Arm yourself with knowledge and courage, and take them down.

Stop teaching our kids to be insecure “tolerant” weenies who back down when someone picks on them (or someone else) because you know what? There will always be assholes in the world. And if you don’t learn to deal with them as a kid, you will have a very miserable life. If your kid is so bothered by bullies that they’re depressed or threatening to hurt or kill themselves for cryin’ out loud HELP THEM. Don’t leave it up to the school to “police” bullies, they won’t. Help your kids to understand why bullies are the way they are, and teach your kids to feel good about themselves no matter what someone says, because if your kid is defining who they are by what others think of them, they are doomed to a failed life. Any kid who even so much as threatens to kill themselves because of being teased or taunted or bullied, has bad parents. Pay attention to your kids, they need you, they need you to teach them the tools they will need in life, they need boundaries that are enforced. If you trust your kid on the internet unsupervised, you are a fool. Value your children or you will lose them.

OK, the pictures are not that great because I don’t have a “white garage door” to take pictures against and the bike was leaning against the fence near the pool and I couldn’t back up without falling in said pool to get good angles/distance. So it will have to do, at least for now. But they give you an idea of what the bike looks like. I’m going to add a couple lights, and probably a cyclocomputer. Maybe a rack in the back for those quick “Subway” runs. Eventually perhaps some glowy string to make it look cool at night if I end up using it as a commuter.

I rode the bike about a mile today but it’s bloody hot outside, or I would have done a bit more. But I don’t want to overdo it because I’ve not ridden a bike in a LONG time and don’t want to hurt something. But I did practice stopping/starting/mount/dismount because I’m a bit uncoordinated and on my mom’s bike that I borrowed a month ago I had trouble getting it all down right without either looking like a dork or almost falling. And this bike is a bit “high” because of the 700c wheels. I could set the seat down a bit lower, but then it would not be optimal for pedaling. I just have to relearn to get OFF the seat as I’m stopping and not use the brakes too hard because this bike has GOOD brakes (they’ll probably wear a bit and not be as good but right now they’re super stoppy.)

I may also lower the handlebars a bit eventually. Right now they’re OK because I’m not used to riding and a more upright position is probably good until I’m used to biking. But generally speaking I tend to prefer a bit more of a “downward” position. I may also put the seat back just a bit because it feels just a tiny bit cramped due to the small frame size and geometry. That would probably make dismounting a bit easier too.

The fork is adjustable, I didn’t notice any “squish” though so that’s good. The suspension seatpost I’m a bit undecided about, I might replace that, I’ve already got a couple lying around I could use. I do like the seat though, at least for short rides, it’s sorta cushy but still sorta “roady” (it’s not like one of those huge “cruiser” bike seats.)

All in all I’m pretty happy, I think I got a good deal, bike works well, is very easy to ride/shift/steer and I can go fast enough to be happy until the “road lust” kicks in haha. I do love to go fast, so we’ll see. But for what I could afford right now, I think it’ll be fine. Much, MUCH nicer than a Wal*Mart or Target bike, and not that much more expensive (I only paid about $250 INCLUDING tax.)

Quick update before the BIKE PORN. A few days ago I harvested my first batch of bell peppers. One was HUGE. One was an accidental pick (it broke off when I bumped it, but I guess that means it’s ripe.) And one wasn’t quite ready I don’t think but it was turning kinda red and it’s supposed to be a green pepper so I picked it. There’s also a couple carrots in the picture for contrast. Biggest carrot was about 7 inches long.

… coming soon. OK, maybe not “porn” because it’s not a Madrone or anything, but I got my little bike today, AND I got the sale price yay! Gave it a quick run around the parking lot to make sure everything fit/was cool and it’s pretty nice, shifts smooth and easy, all gears work, brakes work almost TOO well (had to do a little “dork dance” when I dismounted cuz it stopped a bit too quick.) It’s fairly light, easy to get in the car if I remove the front wheel, and the frame is pretty sturdy (more like a mountain bike frame, but it has the “hybrid” wheels/tires.) Nice cushy seat, very adjustable handlebars, decent components. So I think I did pretty well for the money, I got a decent “entry level” real bike for almost a Wal*Mart price.

I’m preparing for my new arrival, so I dismantled that old crappy bike I bought at the thrift shop. This is all that’s left:

I kept all the bits from the brakes and derailleurs, including the cables (not because they’re awesome, but so I can remember how it all goes together LOL.) They actually looked halfway decent, not cheap plastic crap like modern stuff. All metal, baby! Front derailleur looked great (not bent or anything) and back one looked pretty good (a bit of rust, the spring looked a bit uneven though.) It’s obviously a cheap RD though because you can’t dismantle it, the bolts are those welded kinda things where they stick a bolt through then smash it and melt it or something. No nut on there to remove so you can’t pull it apart. But it had a detachable derailleur hanger. Woohoo! FWIW, the derailleurs are SunTour HERO, which was a low-end set for cheap bikes back in the 80s. I also kept the brakes because they’re those really annoying, hard to adjust caliper brakes. And I kept the brake levers because they were cheap Chinese ones, but actually worked pretty damn well (but they’re really ugly.)

I also kept the wacky “mountain bike” handlebars (nothing like modern mountain bike handlebars, these are almost like modified BMX bars.) And I kept the seat, because it’s reasonably comfortable (albeit cheap) and you never know when you might need a bike seat. Oh and I kept the wheels too, the back one is warped or dented or something (tried to true it but didn’t work) but the front one is OK if you like cheap rims with old spokes and really crappy hubs. I might try to pull the freewheel off the back wheel before I trash it, I don’t think they even make 5 speed freewheels anymore do they? Certainly not cheapass rusty ones!

I also kept the fork, since it’s a good old steel fork and looked fine, not bent or messed up, even the bearings in the headset were fine so far as I could tell (and they actually had GREASE on them.) I kept the headset bits too in case I ever want to use the fork and/or handlebars with another bike. My new bike also has a threaded headset, so who knows, it might even work with that (not sure if the size is the same though, I kind of think I read somewhere modern headsets are smaller.) One thing that is nice about threaded headsets is they’re really easy to take apart and lube and all that. I’ve never had a threadless headset so I don’t really how they work, all I know is if you want to raise the handlebars, you need spacers and/or a longer tube on the handlebars, you can’t just loosen a nut and pull it up.

Uhm … I guess I kept pretty much everything didn’t I? Haha. I’m gonna dump the frame/crankset/pedals though because the frame is bent and HEAVY (I swear the frame weighs about 20 pounds) and the crankset is one of those one-piece jobs you find on Wal*Mart bikes. In other words, you can’t really take it apart and it’s ugly. Once I get the freewheel off the back wheel, I’ll dump the wheel. Not sure about the tires, they’re really old, but they still have a decent amount of tread and they hold air, so maybe keep ‘em in case I ever get another 26″ bicycle (my new one has 700c wheels, so they won’t fit that.)

Oh, and in case anyone ever wants to take apart a bike (especially an old rusty one) I highly recommend WD40 and a ratcheted lug wrench set. Those two things made the job WAY easier. And if you have some Allen Wrench bits for your cordless power drill, those might serve you well too. (I don’t own either, but my brother was generous enough to let me borrow his tools yay!) Do not buy a cheap $5 “bike tool” set either, I had one I bought years ago and the damn thing not only was arranged so that the most used “hole” for the nuts was on the end of a short thing that provided ZERO torque, but when I stuck a screwdriver through the other holes to get some torque, it broke. Oh, and bolt cutters work great to cut a chain when you don’t have a chain tool and/or can’t find the “magic” link (not sure this old chain had one of those special links, but if it did, I couldn’t find it. But I didn’t have a chain tool anyway, so I had to break it to get it off. It looked in decent condition, too, but chains are cheap and it wouldn’t fit a modern bike anyway.)

Awhile back I tossed out a crappy rusty old junk bike. But once I tossed it out, I started wanting a bike. Being broke, this wasn’t a case of oh cool I want a bike, I’ll just go buy one. So instead, I surfed the interwebz and lusted after other people’s bikes on message boards and drooled over bikes I couldn’t afford on bike manufacturer websites. And the obsession wouldn’t go away. So I had to find a way to get one, so I dug around and scrounged up some spare change and turned in some aluminum cans and dropped birthday hints to my family and well, last week was my birthday and guess what? I actually now had money for a bike! Not a really nice bike, but enough to buy a not so crappy bike (in other words, something a bit better than a Wal*Mart bike.)

So I scoped around bike shops and ads and narrowed my choices down to about 4 that I wrote about a few days ago. And well, to make a long story longer, I decided to buy that one that was on sale for $299. The shop didn’t have one in stock, but they had ones similar that I tried out, and they said if I ordered it at the shop rather than on the interwebz, they’d waive the shipping (normally $30) and they’d assemble it for free. So I plunged. Only problem is I gotta wait for it to be shipped, but hopefully it should be in sometime this coming week. Even better, I popped by their website today and noticed they now had the bike marked down to $249! Since said store has a price matching policy (even if it’s their own price) for 60 days after you buy, I’m thinkin’ I’ll take a little trip to that store and show them the ad and get $50 knocked off what I already paid. (Although the item shows on their website as out of stock, so I don’t know if they’ll still honor the price, still worth a shot though.)

Anyway, with a little luck and patience, I’ll be the owner of a $500 bike for half price in less than a week. Oh, and the one I got is this one:

It’s not perfect (I am not thrilled about the revo shifters or the handlebars, but both of those are fixable.) But for the price, it should be a nice starter bike to get me back on the road after almost two decades, and maybe even lead to some adventures like touring or something, who knows. I used to ride a lot when I was young (to work, to school, etc, but usually not more than maybe 25 miles in a day.) I’d like to get into doing some charity rides or something once I can get my fitness level up enough, then I’d get some exercise, have fun and do something to help others. And if I get really nutty, I could finally take that cross country bike ride across America I’ve wanted to do since junior high school. And I’m getting a bit old so I better get crackin’ if I wanna do that “bucket list item.”

For the last few months I’ve been dabbling with the idea of getting a bike, I think I might have even mentioned that I bought a crapass used bike at the thrift store (that didn’t work out unfortunately, the frame was bent, the back wheel was too bent to true up and well to fix both of those would cost more than a brand new crapass bike at Wal*Mart.) And my wonderful family gave me some dough for my birthday to put towards a bike so the dream of actually getting a decent bike can actually come true. (I have been struggling with my mom’s too big, single speed coaster bike from hell for the last month or so, trying to ride, but damn that thing is big and heavy and damn those coaster brakes make me want to scream and where the hell are some GEARS, I’m not exactly a spring chicken anymore.)

Anyway, as a result I have been a bit OCD in the bike research department for awhile now, trying to find the best but cheap bike that exists. I’ve narrowed it down to about four that I like, are available locally and are not too crappy for the price:

• GT Nomad 2.0
• GT Laguna
• Trek FX 7.1
• Trek Skye (or Skye S)

The GT Nomad Sport is like this only it’s the 2010 model. It’s currently on sale for $299 through Sunday at a local shop. I just gotta see if they have my size in stock, but if not, I could possibly order it from the same store’s online site (it’s one of those bike store chains) but then I’d have to pay shipping and assemble it. It’s also available from another source online too, but with free shipping and slightly cheaper. It’s a “comfort” bike which means not as uncomfortable as a mountain bike, but not as cool as a road bike. In other words, perfect for me and my anticipated use of the bike (bike paths, some streets, maybe commuting to work if I actually get a job someday.) It is my first choice if I can find it because it looks decent (a month ago, I saw the 2011 version at the shop,) and has the best component set of all the ones I’ve found in this price range (Alivio, which is better than Acera, which is better than Atlus, which is better than Tourney.) As long as it fits me and rides OK and I can find it, this one will probably win. There are also lower-end crappier versions of this bike which aren’t so hot, but still look OK (just the components are not as good.)

The GT Laguna is also the 2010 model on sale at a local shop for $299, if they have it in stock (same store, but the website is sold out of my size.) Comes in a pretty pink color, or green. It’s a mountain bike though, and the 2011 model is white, which is OK too if they don’t have the 2010 (and it’s not that much more expensive.) The specs on this one are crappier than the Nomad though, and it’s a mountain bike and I sorta hate mountain bikes because they tend to be heavy and clunky with fat 26″ tires. Mostly I just like the pink 2010 color.

The Trek FX 7.1 is a compromise for the one I really want, the Trek FX 7.3 (or higher haha) but it’s out of my price range even at its base level, unless it goes on sale. It’s currently $409 at the local shop, but I do know they have sales now and then so I might just wait. I’m also not crazy about the color, I like the GT colors better, but this is a very nice looking bike otherwise. And the shop is the closest one, which means easy to ride to tuneups (and they offer free tuneups for the life of the bike, I’ve heard.) It comes in a “stagger” frame, but it is not a “women’s specific” frame like the higher end FX comes in. But it has a really low standover on the smallest size and fits me just right (haven’t ridden it yet, but I sat on it in the shop and it seemed to fit nicely.)

Trek Skye is the last resort. Not crazy about this bike (especially the dopey “Mermaid Blue” color scheme.) It has pretty low-end components and it has a really big clunky looking frame. Haven’t ridden it though, but it doesn’t look too promising. The only bright spot is the local shop had the “S” version of this bike on sale for $299 recently, which isn’t too bad a price since the retail of that level is $469. I probably wouldn’t buy the standard Skye, but might consider the “S” if I could get it for the $299 price and couldn’t find any of the others I’m considering.

Now for the bikes I lust after but are either out of my price range or too far away to be practical to buy:

Raleigh Alysa FT1 is one I haven’t seen in person but I LOVE the way this bike looks, the light blue color, the little matching seat and handlebar accents. Yes I’m a dork. Retail is a bit too high ($569) AND it’s not sold locally, would be at least a 20 mile drive to buy and so “free tune ups” wouldn’t really be worth driving that far. And I’m not even sure if REI, the store that sells it locally, even offers tune ups.

The Marin Kentfield Stepthru is a little out of my price range ($429) and the shop that supposedly carries it locally doesn’t have it in stock, and I wouldn’t want to order a bike to just look at it. Love the color, don’t like the style as much as the Raleigh though.

The Kona Dew FS is only $800 (LOL) and the closest shop that sells it is in Santa Monica. Oh and it doesn’t seem to come in a shrimp size. But it’s one nice lookin’ bike and well it’s called a DEW for cryin’ out loud, that alone makes it awesome. And it has Deore components too. Kickass.

Another Kona I really like but is out of my range is the Lisa RD, which is a road bike but it’s nice. And it has full 105 components. Sweet. And it’s pretty, too. Pretty damn expensive LOL. ($1699.)

A bit cheaper on the “dream road bike” is this one I saw when shopping for hybrids at “big chain bike store” … they wanted MORE than retail for it though WTF? Not that I could afford the $1300 they were asking anyway. But sheesh. But I got to see it up close and drool a little. The components aren’t that great for the price but it sure is perty! Notice how it also has that color-coordinated thing goin’ on.

Anyway, I’m gonna go check out and test ride some stuff in the next week or so, and see how the chips land so to speak. With luck, I’ll have a new bikey to ride around all summer. Or I’ll be waiting another month or two until the 2012 models come out and the lust-fest starts all over again. Oh, speaking of lust, I really want to see this bike even though it’s too pricey for me right now. But it looks PERFECT, a hybrid that’s “dirt worthy” and it’s named after a cat. Or a famous mountain biker. But the components are a bit weak for the price. Meh.