Watch Your Step

I woke up this morning and was greeted by a beautiful winter scene. Three or four inches of snow had fallen overnight and coated everything. I wiped the snow off my my windshield and started my drive to work. It didn't take long to realize that the roads were much slicker than the news people described. Being from far, far, far, south Texas (think Mexico), my snow and ice driving experience is severely limited. I really wasn't looking forward to the long treacherous drive across town to my office. I drive a state owned vehicle, which is nice, until you wreck it. The official investigation that follows is always a big pain in the rear. I decided to play it safe. I pulled into the Starbucks just down the road from my house and called my supervisor to tell him that I was taking the day off. I bought a cup of drip coffee and took a seat near the front window to enjoy the falling snow. Thats when a nicely dressed young man, in an expensive suit and overcoat, tried to step out of his car. His feet instantly slipped out from under him and he fell on his face. He got up quickly and cleaned himself off, luckily he wasn't injured. I figured that I would stay for a while and see what else would transpire. Sure enough one well dressed Texan after another slipped and slid their way across the parking lot trying to get their morning cup of coffee. It was highly entertaining. One unfortunate woman walked out of the store carrying a cup of coffee in each hand. She did just fine walking through the parking lot in her heels until she reached her car. She stopped too quickly and slid. She desperately reached out to stop her fall and slammed a cup of coffee into the side of the car which erupted in a spectacular steamy spray. She was obviously embarrassed as she slowly walked back inside the store. I tried to pretend that I hadn't seen her little accident, but, I involuntarily laughed nearly causing hot coffee to shoot out of my nose. The weather conditions are supposed to be worse tomorrow morning. I may make another trip to my neighborhood Starbucks.

Cheap entertainment provided by mother nature and Starbucks.

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Me and my son attended the Third Annual Great Southwest Bike Swap. We showed up late in the afternoon so most of the good stuff had been picked through. I was looking for an old downtube cable stop, but there wasn't one to be found. I didn't take many photos of this years event. I did once again get the chance to talk to Jeremy (Gallus Cycles). He had a couple of nice new bikes on display, unfortunately my photographic skills do not do his bikes justice. Check out his website for a better look.

I like the porteur rack on this bike. Too bad the flash on my camera washed out the color and detail on this frame.