Thursday, August 24, 2006

Priorities

I have been thinking a lot about priorities lately. There are numerous different types of priorities. There are the basics on a high level, health, happiness, relationships, food, and shelter. Then there are those which we choose to make priorities, such as our hobbies, cycling, playing guitar, skateboarding, blogging, etc…
When we were younger there were priorities and then there were responsibilities. The two did not often coincide. We needed to go to class, but if the weather was nice, then hanging out or going for a ride might end up winning out. Same went with food. We were broke, living on barely anything, but it was a choice between going out for the weekend or eating all week, then going out would win. Ramon Noodles became a staple. We had a one bedroom apartment with no furniture, yet we each had two bikes (mtb and road) and raced incessantly. If it was a choice between buying a couch or a bike, then the bike won every time.
As time went on and we advanced in our careers things became easier financially. We eventually were able to buy our first home. We moved in and realized we still had no furniture. Yet the garage and basement was completely packed with bikes and bike related items. We now had too many bikes to count. We now had cyclocross bikes, road bikes, numerous mtb’s and inherited a few spare frames. It was out of control. Reluctantly Marc began selling off some unused bikes and we finally bought some furniture. We went the Ikea rout; lots of furniture for a little money. It may not last long, but you don’t feel so bad replacing it after only a few years when you didn’t pay much in the first place.
Now we’re in our second home. We’ve been here about 3 years now. I’m down to 2 bikes as I took a long cycling hiatus. Marc however has 5 or 6, I’m not even sure. When we first moved in we bought some home improvement items as we now had more space to fill. After a while the newness wore off and we settled into normal day to day activities. About a week or so ago we were driving along and I brought up the fact that we haven’t gotten any new furniture for the house. Our stuff is getting old and rickety and needs to be replaced. At first he said we haven’t had the money. I reminded him that he got 4 new frames in the past two years. He was like, yeah ok, we’ll get some new stuff once we get a little more breathing room and get ahead more; maybe next Spring. I said ok, no problem. We’ve already waited this long, what’s a few more months. Then today I get the call from Marc, “Hey babe, so I’m getting a new frame. Don’t worry I’ve got all the parts”.

11 comments:

Buddy said...

You know what they say. The perfect number of bikes is one more than you already have.

B

Your Friendly Neighborhood HR Dude said...

for the record I have 5 bikes. 2 mtb single speeds, 2 cross bike, and one road bike.

Anonymous said...

It is the same with Buddy.
He gets a LOT of parcels none of which contain anything remotely household/furniture/new TV like etc...
Apparently all of these parcels contain bike parts that "I just couldn't pass up"..."It was so cheap, it was a steal"..."It's pink" and so on...
Even the UPS man says 'here's another frame for Buddy'.

Love the blog!!
Rachael.

Frank Brigandi said...

Uh-oh....
I have 12 bikes, 7 guitars, 5 guitar amps, an arsenal of vintage guitar effects, I also have hundreds of bottles of wine and champagne......hmm...

danger monkey said...

Wow, that's a lot of many things. I have 2 guitars and 1 amp. Working on a 3rd though.

megA said...

Jd would like to point out that he fails to see the humor in your post, but me??

oh, i see it alright! i think it's time some ups boxes started showing up for you--there are some lovely furniture stores online now. . .

xo!
m

Frank Brigandi said...

you need more guitars Diane, you need some more stomp boxes too, they count against the bike ration....but choose wisely, some of them are just lame ducks...ebay is the way to go.....Oh get another amp too, one practice amp, and one more powerful amp, in case you have to play anywhere, even if you never do play anywhere, at least you'll be prepared.. or get a nice sofa, y'know, I'm totally stupid about that stuff......oh yeah, get sime wine too, that's pretty fun to play with also when you get bored, and you can rock out and be a wino like Keith Richards, he has some bikes too and lots of guitars and furniture, he's well rounded I think.

danger monkey said...

Yes, guitars defiantely count against the bike ration, but well worth it. I don't think the stomp boxes should though. They're not that much and you can find some cheap. I have a couple. As for more power, no need. I have a Fender Deluxe tubed amp. It's super powerful. I can only play it on about 1 1/2 in the house. I played it on 3 once and Marc said he could hear me down the street.

Frank Brigandi said...

tune your guitar to this and play most zeppelin songs or cheryl crow or stones......
from - EADGBE
tune down to - DGDGBD a.k.a. open G keith richards favorite tuning also Jimmy Page's...and mine of course..oh and the black crows....and cherly crow lately..
walla, you're a rock star.. pick up a slide and wiggle it around here and there and you're a legend....

danger monkey said...

Cool, thanks, I haven't messed with alternate tunings much. I can do a little zeppelin, very little. I'm always looking for new stuff to try though. I haven't been playing long and play mostly classical. I know, not so rock star, but I like the intricateness of it.

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