Debt Rattle February 15 2022

[Bill7]

Anyway, Dale, for now. That doesn’t sound right, and it’s not right, and it won’t be right.

Maybe Cosco and B. Denton and Peracious V (for whom do those so-generous persons tirelessly work?) can set us all, or at least me,straight.

So Dale was good on the rollers. You should’ve seen him spinning on them rollers! Damn, cousin, for a 70s bikie it like was the seventh wonder of the goddamn world; and the f*cker did it like it was nothing. Nothing! Later he became fat and as confused as the rest of us, and I’m not real happy to say that; about the only reason I’m willing to mention it is because cosco so-obequiously asked me to, Thank You, Cosco!

Anyway, Dale gave me a job in the bike shop: late 1973, $1.65 an hour, first on-the-books employment for this reprobate.

[Bill7]

So I went to work in the Bike Shop. “Sophomore year”, in what was graciously called Work Experience.

I liked it: HS in that particular burg was a hellscape; details not available on request.

Mainly at first I assembled bicycles, almost all Schwinn domestic product. A bit later, Gitanes from France, hellish
almost beyond description; unimproved since the Middle Ages. We didn’t sell Peugeots, with their even worse , plastic frog-derailleurs.

Sometimes a Customer (Matt’s had a deep, narrow, echoey front-shop; I much preferred to stay in the back, fixing stuff) would show up, wanting to Buy a Bike. Dale was a pretty good salesman, though he talked way too much.
I was not a good salesman- “make me make you buy a bike!” could’ve been my motto. Later there was this guy
Mike, who was both sincere and good at selling, but that’s for later.

[Bill7]

So bikes, yeah. Not long after all that a / the recession hit. The Gitane Rep / other thing-dude came and wheeled almost all their right Product out the door. Just like that? Yep, just that that- quite an object-lesson for a working-class sixteen year old. But I have not mentioned Dale’s colleagues from the War yet, or Alan/ Al, the very, very good (and colorful!) bike racer / co-worker. I think Al and I were friends

[Bill7]

, a bit. Al could ride the hell out of a bike. Tall, but still a decent sprinter, he came to work at Matt’s around ’75, usually rolling in after doing the Ojai Loop (you probably don’t want to know) in the morning beforehand. I was amazed that one could function after that.. I was just a shop-kid who rode for fun and transport, with a few exceptions.

[Bill7]

Yeah, so riding bikes is fun; I do it, quietly, every day. Tires whirring (only, one hopes). Break them, fix them, ride them again. As with my late, lamented, diligent friend Miguel, so-called Mountain Bikes pushed me out out of the business proper.

1970-1991

Riding/fixing quietly a bike is a good thing. – anyone wishing for theoretical background may contact me at the address provided.

[Noirette]

WES, I see several ppl above have answered your qu., see phoenix for ex. offering help. I am NOT internet savvy but the basics (which you may know already) are,

To post a pix which is already on the intertubes, such as Putin on a Podium in a news article, or Marilyn Monroe or Manson,

Open pic in a new window (where you see just the pic, photo, not text or anything surrounding it) and copy the internet address, then paste it into your comment box. That will usually work.

To post a pic which is not on the internet already, that is, in one’s personal computer, or on a personal camera, etc. it first has to be uploaded somewhere, put into “the cloud”, as into a library, that others can then freely consult. There are many sites that for free will store personal pix, then one can link either to the site, or to a specific pic. Third party needed.

here top of goog best sites for uploads of pix (for US ppl)

https://backlightblog.com/photo-sharing-websites-apps

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