Showing Age

I've gone through four bike locks and am currently on my fifth.  My first two were shitty cable locks from Specialized.  I preferred them over U-locks because I permanently mounted the head under the saddle, ran some coils around the seat tube, and then let the last few coils reach out to a clip I mounted to a water bottle boss.  No one could unlock/lock up their bike faster than me... but nobody was wearing through their aluminum frame with the coarsely covered coils sawing away at their seat tube faster than me either.  I had to join the masses and get a U-lock.

Of course, my first U-lock became obsolete during the Bic pen scare of 2008.



The only non-cylindrical lock out to replace it right away was the Fahgettaboudit, which I bought despite its almost five pounds of mass.

I dealt with the pain in the ass that it was for years before I caved in an bought an Evolution Mini which hit the scales at just over two pounds.  I can't remember how long I've owned it exactly, but after some days of repetitive rain recently, it was acting funny.  Even after applying some lube and patience, a fair amount of wiggling and jiggling was required to get it open.

I can't explain to you how nerve wracking it is to think that your bike is locked up, you need it unlocked to do your job, but the last time you locked it mighta been the last time it was going to function.

I dug through all my spare keys ( I save the worn-out ones like an old person saves dead hearing aid batteries), and they were just as bad or even worse... but then I found the clunky LED key they include with every lock.

Rarely ever pulled out or used because of it's girth and unwieldiness, it was crisp and functional.  The good news being that my lock was fine, the bad news being it was time to order new keys again.  The odd thing was that the week I spent using the LED key, I kept feeling the button on my thumb.  Being that I have owned a modern car for a few years now, muscle memory had me thinking I was activating the lock by pushing the button on my way out to my bike.
It did not work like that.

I have now gone through five keys on my current lock and have three beautiful new keys in hand.

I know it's stupid that this makes me happy, but it does.  I do have the ability to appreciate the little things....

like new feet on my who-knows-how-old box fan.

Something I don't think I could live without as a messenger/mountain biker/commuter.  I love my old fan, and had I known new feet were only $3, I would have spent much less time fucking around trying to keep the old ones attached.  I even spent a half hour or so cleaning more than a decade's worth of dog fur and dust out out of it, bringing it back to it to its former showroom floor glory.

I really love my fan.  I don't think there's anything wrong with saying that.