An Addition to the Lexicon

In high school I had a friend who had his own window washing business. On one particular job, he started working on a window and noticed a spot which wouldn't come off. So he took out his razor blade scraper and really started giving that window a good cleaning. In short order, the owner of the house walked in and shrieked, "What are you doing?! That tinting cost me $300 to be installed!" Needless to say, he collected his cleaning gear as quickly as possible and had the wisdom to leave without pay.

Recently, I was having a problem with a wheel whose spokes kept breaking. I got a factory replacement. While trying to put the tire on, I went through four tubes, each would undramatically fizzle after I had filled them up. Naturally, I blamed the wheel. Another defective wheel, I began to think. Or my tire changing technique was out of whack, so on the final time, with especial care, I put the tire on, pumped it up and said to my wife triumpantly, "Let's go for a ride today!" Fizzzzzzzz.

I took the tire off once again and looked very closely at the tube. There were little, round indentations, so I looked at the wheel and it hit me: That strip around the rim was not some sort of packaging or shipping protection, that actually served a purpose.

I got on one of the trusty internets and soon discovered that this indispensable piece of flotsam is called a rim strip. The good news is they appear to be only a few dollars.

And I once again reinforced the fact that my mechanical ineptitude knows no bounds. I find solace knowing that I won't make that mistake again. That was a fairly inexpensive blunder.

Now, to avoid wracking my private parts, I think I'll saw off the top tube of my bike. That doesn't seem to serve much purpose.