Workbench from Heaven.

Just a short errand ride this morning.  My route was prescribed by the unnoticed ejection of my cable lock the night before while riding home from Hartford along the slippery Hockanum River boardwalk.  Heading back along the boardwalk just past the transfer station I found Salem, his bike rubber side up changing a flat.  We bs'd shortly about how bikes are great because you can jerry-rig just about anything.  Salem's rim strip had snapped during the repair, so he tied a knot in it and was cutting a piece of plastic candy wrapper to cover the gap.  On to the post office, I changed my address to downtown Hartford and if I'm lucky the closing will come off on Tuesday.  Bike move will follow on Saturday (2/4) and I hope to find one or two friends that think this will be a fun adventure.

My next stop was the Glastonbury Home Depot, but I decided to detour along the path that starts behind Kahoots.  Passing under the bridge I noticed that the hut was being rebuilt.  You may remember that Brendan bemoaned the burned camp in a recent post.  I stopped and started up a brief chat with the fellow who has been living at this industrious camp.  Carl (name changed) said that he'd gotten out of the hut before getting crispy himself, meaning he must have been inside when it started.  So far no one seems to bother him, and it looks like he's up-sizing his accommodations.  My initial impression was that Carl is a friendly sort.

While rolling along Main Street doubled up for a while with a fellow from Portland on a short road ride.  I kicked it up a notch to ride even and show that even with knobby studs, jeans, and panniers his pace wasn't that impressive.  Can't seem to kill the competitive bug, although I've been able to hide it mostly.  Being slow helps.  At Home Depot I reviewed their appliance selection and decided to pick up a couple of Rubbermaid bins and miscellaneous home goods.   As you can see, they fit nicely onto a rear bike rack - hint to those that might want to help me move stuff to Hartford.

Just a block from home (in East Hartford for now) there was a curbed home made work bench, complete with a functional bench vise. No shit.  From heaven.  I walked back and lugged the awkward and surprisingly heavy load home.  How did the universe know that I needed a workbench?  I can't wait to install my TS-2 and true some badly neglected wheels.