I'm with you Russ, single, no children, but also currently between jobs. My secret? There isn't one, except that I have kept and taken loving care of nearly every bike that I have owned since the late 70's. And, while I still worked in bike shops, I usually got everything at cost + shipping, but that ended over 15 years ago. Since then, it's been through word of mouth, and a little bit of luck thrown in now and then, that I have come across some really special bicycles. Yes, there were some nice ones that got away, but not very many.
What is "middle-class" these days? I suspect, in dollars, I will never reach that level. That is, unless I sell all of my bicycle stuff. And then what? I don't think I would be very happy if I didn't have my bicycles. Maybe "middle-class" is a frame of mind, or a personal attitude, in which case it might describe me, but I really don't think in terms of social or economical class. Weren't we all created equal, and some of us just have more toys? And I think "bottom-feeding" best describes how I find most of what I have collected in recent years. Sure I've got a B.S. degree ('92) now, but the economy seems to be racing faster than I can pedal to try and keep up. But I think I can see the light way down there at the end of the tunnel. Anyway, I'm home now. I was born here in the central San Joaquin Valley of California, and I've tried the S.F. bay area three times now, and moved back every time. I won't do that again. I guess I'm a country boy at heart, and large cities don't agree with me on a long term basis.
Got to go now, things to do, people to see.
"Bicycle Mark" Perkins - Fresno Cycling Club Historian
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001 13:19:36 GMT rfitzger@emeraldis.com writes:
> I will confess that I have often felt like the po' boy of this list -
> my own
> insecurity. Anyone familiar with the pay scale for library
> assistants at state-
> supported small colleges will understand my love of bottom-feeding
> when in
> pursuit of vintage goodies. Being single and having no children
> compensates
> for that much of the time.
>
> Russ Fitzgerald
> rfitzger@emeraldis.com
> http://www.emeraldis.com/
> Greenwood,
> SC
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> This message was sent using Emerald Internet's WebMail.
> http://www.emeraldis.com
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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