The car has been acting up for a few weeks, with increasingly lower idle, causing me to develop a probably not entirely safe driving style: Left foot for breaking, to keep the car from stalling (and this is an automatic). Picking it up for the 2nd time at the carfixingplace, we found the situation to be the opposite - acceleration to 70 km/hr, without applying gas, and 3000 rpm in neutral. The brakes were smelly when we came home, and the following night I dreamt I drove it around some hilly city, with loads of dangerous situations (such as accelerating down a curved road with mountain depths on the side etc). The next morning, my poor bike was stolen (ARGH!!!), and as I was filming a movie (being an astronomy grad student has its unexpected turns sometimes!), David was updating me with text messages on the situation of the car as he returned it to the placeformendingcars: "here now, they're working on it" "on my way home" "car broke down on Henderson, waiting for CAA" "back again, they had to exchange the computer. twice."
The loss of my bike was rather irritating. Especially since the thief didn't follow normal bike-thief characteristics. There is the petty thief, who takes a bike to use for a bit and then throws it in the ditch. And then there's the organized one who comes with a big truck and takes all the bikes in the neighbourhood. "My" thief chose my bike out of several, and also discarded a newer, probably more expensive one locked much less safely just next to mine, that had been there for weeks... I on the other hand locked the frame and wheel onto a metalfence, and the thief somehow found time to work real hard on the U-lock and twist it rather impressively (it was left on the ground). I only see two possible explanations: Either the thief was extraordinarily dumb (and strong/patient) or it's the owner of the other bike.
I can't not have a bike. So David and I went looking, first in our friends store where David bought his bike - a real bike store with good stuff. Then to the big sports chains, where they sell really cheap stuff. And heavy, bulky, weird gearswitch-device etc. Went back to our friends place to the bike I had fallen in love with, and brought home the precious. It's the same kind of bike as David's, only in brushed silver, and one extra gear on the back wheel. It goes like the wind... Barely any friction, supercomfy, large wheels, and the previously so annoying wind in the face has no impact any longer. D and I took a long bike ride in the evening to Assiniboine park, and the speed was exhilirating. Best bike ever. We also started up a conversation with a tiny prairie dog, while watching the planes on final fly over our heads.
