Fighting the Current

Can inanimate objects try to kill you? Yes.

 (This entry was edited by a_g_ on 07-08-01 @ 1:20 pm EDT)

So much for writing the other day...

Ya know, I'm convinced my bike had a deathwish for me on Friday. Well, my brothers, my dad and I were going to go for a bike ride in a nice park nearby me. But I hadn't ridden my bike since last Autumn, so it was covered in spiderwebs and lint from the dryer vent on the side of the house. I went and got a brush from the basement (I guess it's for metal cleaning or something. I'm not sure.) and got off most of the cobwebs and lint, but I couldn't get it all off the spokes of the wheels. After that, I wheeled it around to the other side of the house (the bikes are sort of boxed in) and got on it -- which is when I realized that my tires are flat. I had to pump up the tires. Once they were pumped up, I started to ride to the front of the house and then realized that one of my hand-breaks was a little hard to squeeze. They worked alright though (with sufficient pressure), so I wasn't going to fiddle with it and screw it up more. Anyway, once we got to the park, we went on a few trails through the woods. But since I was a little leery of my breaks, I had to go slow (I really didn't want to be out of control and hit a tree or poison ivy or something). I was worried about going slow through some parts though, because if I hit a big root, I could easily slip to the side and tumble down a 100-foot (at least) 80-degree grade into a marsh which was currently at high-tide and rumored to have quicksand and that's if I was lucky and didn't slam into any trees on the way down. (hey, I'm not making that up!!) Needless to say, I survived and didn't fall down any incline. But later on, once we were back on the asphalt path, we came to a gully (I guess that's what you'd call it, I can't think of any other name for it. It's too small to be a valley.) The path ran down it, over a bridge over a stream and up the other side to another asphalt path. My brothers and my dad went first. I went last. I started out okay, but then realized my brakes weren't working right. I was pulling them hard and felt them giving. I put my feet down in an effort to stop myself but to very little avail. Meanwhile, I was still pulling my hardest on the breaks. I slowed a little, while almost digging my heels into the blacktop. I was finally able to turn into the grass and stop myself. But of course, that was great because I ended up about 6 inches from a wall of poison ivy. I hopped off and walked the bike away from it, then yelled for my dad. He rode up the path and asked me what was wrong. I gestured to the bike and said sarcastically, "What's wrong?". My handle bar had turned completely upward and the hand breaks were sticking straight up in the air. My dad laughed and unzipped the bag on the front of his bike to get the screwdrivers out. We fixed it and tightened the breaks and I tested it out. They seemed to work fine (or better than before at least), but I wasn't going to risk a replay so I walked the bike down the hill and rode up the other side (which is less steep). The bike was fine the rest of the time, except when the plastic cover popped off the gear that holds the chain and I had to pop it back in, but I was still not entirely confident through the woods.

Isn't it sad that that's the most exciting thing that's happened to me in a few weeks? lol.

Let's see, my weekly schedule:
Monday: Geometry, possibly helping out with the little kids' computer club at the library
Tuesday: Geometry, Readers' Theatre club at the library, Our Voices teen club at the library
Wednesday: see Monday
Thursday: Geometry, Readers' Theatre club
Friday: Geometry

How interesting!!! And no, I didn't fail Geometry. I'm taking a full year's course for five weeks for a credit so I don't have to double up if I want to take AP Calculus senior year. I have it 5 days a week for 4 hours a day. At least I have a good teacher. I've heard terrible things about the Geometry teacher at my school (my school doesn't offer summer Geometry so I'm taking it at a different school). If you think I'm a nerd, dork, etc... well, that's your own opinion. I remember one time I wrote this essay, kind of more of a speech, when I was really angry at some of the people in my class. I don't remember how it all went, but I really liked the last line: "I'd say I'd be your boss one day, but I really don't want to be a manager of McDonald's." lol, a little harsh, yes, but they've never read it and never will.

I guess that's about all I'm gonna write this entry. I have to go eat lunch and who knows who could take the computer and erase this while I'm gone. ::coughbrotherscough::



~a_g_