1) When I was a little kid I had these really cool grips on my bike that I thought were Tony the Tiger grips, but actually they were part of the Exxon "tiger in your tank" promotion. Somehow Exxon's marketing didn't sway me strongly and even though they made 4.5 million dollars every day of last year, very little of that money came from me. But I probably did buy some snacks at their gas stations.
2) When I was a kid I told one of my young chums that one day I'd ride my bicycle to California. He said "you can't bike to California, it's too far." I thought he was a dope and told him so. We were no longer chums after that.
3) In 1982 I took my last exams, got a degree in philosophy, skipped graduation and rode my bicycle from Minnesota to California in 21 days. It wasn't too far.
4) While sitting on the beach in Crescent City, California, I spent a good bit of time thinking about things I'd left undone in Minnesota. There was really only one thing that bugged me, but it bugged me quite a bit. I rode north and west, and ran out of money in Bend, Oregon. I went into a bike shop, hocked my bike for money for food and bus fare back to Minnesota.
5) Back in Minnesota, I got my old computer job back and finally screwed up my courage to ask out the pretty girl who worked as a receptionist for the accountants down the hall. Not even talking to her was the one thing that had really bugged me. I left a poem on her desk and then introduced myself and asked her out. Remarkably, she said yes. Her name is Christine and she's the love of my life. She's even more beautiful now than she was in 1982 (and she was quite a babe back then). My wife is still camera shy but she let me take a picture of her while we were having tea this week.
And BTW, I did earn enough money to get my bike out of hock.
10 comments:
Word.
We are fortunate men, you and me, Kent.
The Wives rock All...
-Me
"Tony Licuanan said...
wow Kent... I really didn't know you drink tea - T."
------------
Would it help ya to know, it's Park Tool's Oolong Teflon Grease Green Tea?
;-)
-Me
Come on,
The only good tea is made from infusing a blob of phil grease with hot water. Similarly the only good cologne is made by rubbing phil grease on your body. And toothpaste? well, my friend, you have not had clean teeth until you have brushed them with Phil Grease. Works good on bearing too!
I've been boycotting Exxon since they trashed Prince William Sound. They haven't gotten a single penny from me since then. At this rate I figure I'll bring them to their knees at roughly the same time the sun burns out.
Way cool Kent!
I really have to get up your direction soon and meet you and the misses =)
Am i just imagining things or did you finally break down and spend money on a decent camera?
The boy
Nice narrative. I'm still in love with my wife, too.
Thank you Kent!!!!!
Roy Caldwell
Helena, MT
temp in Baghdad,Iraq
with a 1 speed!!!
I really enjoyed your post since I'd always dreamed of doing what you did - never had the guts. Thankfully, I DID eventually get up the nerve to ask out a cute girl myself and we've been married for almost 12 yrs now. Even better - she's *really* gotten into cycling over the past year. As if it were possible for things to get better!
Nicely pedaled. Nicely put.
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