In it's 29th season

still rides like a Cadillac....

so anyway, that's my old Ross Mt.Washington mountain bike.  I bought it in May 1983, and have beat the living siht out of it every year since.  Rode it through through the surf in Surfside Beach, Texas on more than one occasion.  At one time, it sported a "luggage rack" with a cooler duct-taped on-board.  Rock-hopped, trail ridden; through mud, snow, what ever you gots.

Steel frame.  Solid, even after 29 years.  Heavier than any two "modern" mountain bikes, combined.  Ten speed.

Whist I'm not a hipster, a detail shot of the bottle cage:

Yes, that's a PBR can,  It just happened to be on sale.

more soon

I should have knowd...

...actually, I almost saw it coming

so anyway, for the second time since The Won took office, I am unemployed.  I am pissed off beyond belief.

Back in May 2009, I was laid off prior to my (then) employer filing for bankruptcy.  That employer had to file for bankruptcy directly because of the Administration's bail out of General Motors and Chrysler, which protected the UAW and absolutely screwed the suppliers.

Fast forward to the present, and I find myself working for a major supplier to Government Motors.  Not only are they a big supplier to GM, but they are heavily involved with (...wait for it...) the Chevy Volt.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at the plant where they make the Volt parts.  In an eight hundred thousand square foot facility, there were maybe thirty people on the production floor.  It was as quiet as a funeral home, whereas it should have been deafeningly loud.  I walked through the shipping dock side of the building, past racks and racks and racks of parts, ready to go but the customer isn't building, so the customer isn't buying.

When I got home that evening, I started updating my resumé and dusting off the rolodex.  Today, they announced the dreaded "corporate re-structuring" and several of us were re-structured out of a job.

more soon