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My mom came down this weekend to bring me my brand-new shiny black and red bike. It's another mountain bike, and is red and black and has 21 speeds... It's a Mongoose Pro something or other. It's totally awesome. It was also neat to spend time with my mom; we always have a lot of fun hanging out in Santa Cruz together. We bought a clock and a belt and ate expensive sushi... and we laughed a lot.
I had a midterm today that I hadn't really studied for... but it wasn't a hard midterm.
It's interesting how my idea of "hard" has changed over that last two years.... *laugh* A year ago I would have cried over this test. Now I think it was pretty easy, as far as midterms generally go.
I rode my shiny new bike today for the first time! It was actually really exciting. I took it up to campus with me and carried the seat around all day (it's a quick-release seat and I didn't want it to get stolen). I have a shiny new steel-core cable combination lock that I wrapped through both wheels and the frame.... Can you say "paranoid"? At any rate, I registered it at the base of campus (I love that everything I need is on campus) with the police and the school. So easy to do! I highly recommend it; it greatly increases the chances of your bike being recovered. After registering it, I rode it down to Ace Hardware and bought a loop of cable and had a hardware guy help me set it up so my seat is now padlocked to my frame, but I can get it off if I need to. Very awesome. I love this bike.
Ann called me just after I got home to ask if I wanted to go to dinner. So she came and got me and we set out... We were driving along Water Street (which crosses Ocean Street, the street I live off of), and a bus passed us going the other way. I didn't even notice the bus, but Ann suddenly yelled, "Was that your bike?" We decided to follow the bus to see if it was, so we waited through a few cycles of a traffic light (damn weekday evening traffic) and flipped a U-turn and set out to follow what we thought was a route 71 bus. About ten minutes later we finally caught up to the bus and got a glimpse of the bike on the front. ...I became about 90% sure the bike on the front was mine. So I called the police and let them know that I was following my stolen bike... It was absolutely hilarious. I mean... so random, and so ironic that the day I find my stolen bike is the same day I ride my new bike for the first time.
So the dispatcher sent out a squad car, and after Ann and I had followed the bus about 15 miles toward Watsonville, the squad car caught up with us and pulled in behind the bus at the next stop. There just happened to be a parking lot there (what a weird day of serendipity), so Ann parked. I got out and looked at the bike on the front of the bus. No doubt, it was mine. Pedals and handle grips replaced, and the frame was covered in Sharpie that said things like "Genocide" and "I am God, worhsip me" and "Steal this bike I'll kill you," but it was my bike. The policeman let the bus driver know what was going on... the bus driver laughed, because he'd noticed Ann and I had been following him, and now he knew why. He pulled the "owners" off the bus so the cop could talk to them.
The first guy was a tall, lanky black guy who was 20 years old and was OBVIOUSLY guilty. The other guy was maybe a little older, white, and a little fat. He looked like a generally good guy... but the first thing he said was, "I didn't do it! I just got out of jail Friday!" I almost started laughing--the case was in the bag at that point. A woman police officer showed up soon after and did most of the "questioning" (and by questioning I mean harassing) of the "suspects" (and by suspects I mean thieves). The guy cop talked to me... I didn't have the serial number, but the cop believed that it was my bike (who are you going to believe? The two nice-looking college girls or the two street thugs who have all but admitted guilt?). So he went to pat down the black kid.
"I'm going to pat you down. Do you have anything sharp in your pockets?" The kid kind of sulked "No" and the policeman patted him down... A minute later, looking extremely pissed, he pulled a 6-inch curved knife out of the kid's pants. He handed the blade to the lady cop and immediately put cuffs on the kid and put him under arrest for having a concealed weapon, and an illegal one at that. I tried really hard not to laugh. I mean, how stupid do you have to be to think a cop doing a body search of you isn't going to find a 6-inch blade in your pocket? The policeman asked the kid why he didn't say he had anything sharp on him, and the kid said, and I jest not, "I... I... was so... upset... about the bike... that I forgot." He was a really bad liar. They let the other guy go. He didn't seem guilty of this particular crime.
So... I guess the short of it is, Ann and I chased a bus for half an hour, I got a kid arrested, and I got my old bike back. On the same day that I rode my new bike for the first time. Man, the irony....
I brought the bike into my room a little while ago and sat with it and some fingernail polish remover (acetone is a beautifully versatile fluid) and washed off all the Sharpie. The bike is cleaner than it's been in years... and it felt good to spend some time with it. I wasn't kidding when it got stolen. The bike really does hold a lot of sentimental value. I've had it for almost eleven years. It's a good bike.
I'm glad it's home.
I had a midterm today that I hadn't really studied for... but it wasn't a hard midterm.
It's interesting how my idea of "hard" has changed over that last two years.... *laugh* A year ago I would have cried over this test. Now I think it was pretty easy, as far as midterms generally go.
I rode my shiny new bike today for the first time! It was actually really exciting. I took it up to campus with me and carried the seat around all day (it's a quick-release seat and I didn't want it to get stolen). I have a shiny new steel-core cable combination lock that I wrapped through both wheels and the frame.... Can you say "paranoid"? At any rate, I registered it at the base of campus (I love that everything I need is on campus) with the police and the school. So easy to do! I highly recommend it; it greatly increases the chances of your bike being recovered. After registering it, I rode it down to Ace Hardware and bought a loop of cable and had a hardware guy help me set it up so my seat is now padlocked to my frame, but I can get it off if I need to. Very awesome. I love this bike.
Ann called me just after I got home to ask if I wanted to go to dinner. So she came and got me and we set out... We were driving along Water Street (which crosses Ocean Street, the street I live off of), and a bus passed us going the other way. I didn't even notice the bus, but Ann suddenly yelled, "Was that your bike?" We decided to follow the bus to see if it was, so we waited through a few cycles of a traffic light (damn weekday evening traffic) and flipped a U-turn and set out to follow what we thought was a route 71 bus. About ten minutes later we finally caught up to the bus and got a glimpse of the bike on the front. ...I became about 90% sure the bike on the front was mine. So I called the police and let them know that I was following my stolen bike... It was absolutely hilarious. I mean... so random, and so ironic that the day I find my stolen bike is the same day I ride my new bike for the first time.
So the dispatcher sent out a squad car, and after Ann and I had followed the bus about 15 miles toward Watsonville, the squad car caught up with us and pulled in behind the bus at the next stop. There just happened to be a parking lot there (what a weird day of serendipity), so Ann parked. I got out and looked at the bike on the front of the bus. No doubt, it was mine. Pedals and handle grips replaced, and the frame was covered in Sharpie that said things like "Genocide" and "I am God, worhsip me" and "Steal this bike I'll kill you," but it was my bike. The policeman let the bus driver know what was going on... the bus driver laughed, because he'd noticed Ann and I had been following him, and now he knew why. He pulled the "owners" off the bus so the cop could talk to them.
The first guy was a tall, lanky black guy who was 20 years old and was OBVIOUSLY guilty. The other guy was maybe a little older, white, and a little fat. He looked like a generally good guy... but the first thing he said was, "I didn't do it! I just got out of jail Friday!" I almost started laughing--the case was in the bag at that point. A woman police officer showed up soon after and did most of the "questioning" (and by questioning I mean harassing) of the "suspects" (and by suspects I mean thieves). The guy cop talked to me... I didn't have the serial number, but the cop believed that it was my bike (who are you going to believe? The two nice-looking college girls or the two street thugs who have all but admitted guilt?). So he went to pat down the black kid.
"I'm going to pat you down. Do you have anything sharp in your pockets?" The kid kind of sulked "No" and the policeman patted him down... A minute later, looking extremely pissed, he pulled a 6-inch curved knife out of the kid's pants. He handed the blade to the lady cop and immediately put cuffs on the kid and put him under arrest for having a concealed weapon, and an illegal one at that. I tried really hard not to laugh. I mean, how stupid do you have to be to think a cop doing a body search of you isn't going to find a 6-inch blade in your pocket? The policeman asked the kid why he didn't say he had anything sharp on him, and the kid said, and I jest not, "I... I... was so... upset... about the bike... that I forgot." He was a really bad liar. They let the other guy go. He didn't seem guilty of this particular crime.
So... I guess the short of it is, Ann and I chased a bus for half an hour, I got a kid arrested, and I got my old bike back. On the same day that I rode my new bike for the first time. Man, the irony....
I brought the bike into my room a little while ago and sat with it and some fingernail polish remover (acetone is a beautifully versatile fluid) and washed off all the Sharpie. The bike is cleaner than it's been in years... and it felt good to spend some time with it. I wasn't kidding when it got stolen. The bike really does hold a lot of sentimental value. I've had it for almost eleven years. It's a good bike.
I'm glad it's home.
