We went back to WalMart this morning so that James could get a better bicycle seat. He also bought a bicycle-repair multitool that can be fastened to the bike. I purchased a little carry pouch for mine, as well as a speedometer/odometer/clock, plus a hand pump. We also stopped at Lowes to get some safflower seeds to put in with the birdseed we bought at Kroger, and then had lunch at Longhorn. Since we had hickory barbecue marinated boneless pork ribs, layered with sliced apples, mushrooms, and onions, marinating in the crock pot, we only ate half our 8-ounce "Renegade" steaks and brought the rest home.

Then we had to go back to Lowes because we forgot to buy the breakdown pet crate. We have been considering buying one for a few years, since she rides so nicely in the car sitting between us that I think it's being stuck in the crate that makes her vomit early on trips.

I reminded James that we also needed to buy Wil a travel harness so we can safely seat-belt her into the car, so we bundled her into the car and went to PetsMart. You can't try the newer travel harnesses on any longer, though; they're packaged in that idiot blister pack. So we made a best guess in choosing one, then walked through the store. There were quite a few dogs there today, and Willow did pretty well. She even went nose-to-nose with a Lhasa Apso. She had less luck when we passed by the big dogs up for adoption—Wil was frightened of them and they knew it, setting up a barking chorus.

Before we went home, James went into H.H. Gregg to see if they had certain decoder boxes. We have the coupons that will upgrade our little televisions to digital and they expire at the end of July, but James is looking for the decoder boxes that also get the analog signals of the smaller stations. Gregg only had one brand of box and it wasn't one of the boxes that get analog.

When we got home I fitted the harness on Willow; it's on the smallest adjustment I can do, but it fits her very comfortably. James pulled out the bicycles to work on them, only to find the multitool didn't have what he needed to get the seat off. So we had to go back to WallyWorld where he got a universal socket wrench. We also looked for converter boxes, but they again only had one brand which didn't do analog.

So James installed his new seat and raised his handlebars, but had less success fixing his rear brakes. I installed the speedometer gadget to my bike myself: there's a magnetic screw that fastens to the spokes, and you position the transmitter on the fork so it is close to, but not touching the magnet. Then you fasten everything on and you try it out. Just around the neighborhood I was doing between 6 and 9 m.p.h., with an average of seven. James also lowered my handlebars, which is great; I finally feel like I am in control of the bike and don't have my elbows in the air any longer.

Finally we came in to cool off, listen to a movie show on the radio, and eventually to eat a pork dinner. (While we were out I had a Spanish station on for Schuyler the music was lively and it seemed to perk her up.) I perused the movies and wondered which would be the best to see in widescreen. I finally put Twister on. Yes, widescreen and surround sound make a good companion. :-)

Labels: bicycles, DVDs, shopping

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 5:35:00 PM

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