A more exciting day than expected

[tiger_spot]

I hopped on my bike this afternoon to head to City Hall to drop off my mail-in ballot, and promptly ran over a pin and exploded my rear tire.

So I went to the bike shop instead, and got two new inner tubes (one for backup!). Then I dropped off my ballot and changed the tube. This is the first time I've changed a tube on a bike. It wasn't difficult, but it required more strength than I was expecting. Also I had a little trouble getting the wheel properly seated when I put it back on (I've not removed the rear wheel before, either), but it is all better now.

I don't think my hands have ever been that dirty before.

Comments

[tiger-spot.livejournal.com]

I think intent usually affects how distressed one is by the dirtiness, but not the actual level of dirtiness proper.

Although whether one is prepared for the mess and has taken appropriate precautions/preparations may fit in there (if you have been changing a tire in your own garage with a nice rag handy and can pop in to wash your hands, that is not so bad, whereas if you are changing a tire on the side of the road with no civilization for miles, that is a much bigger problem). Or maybe that's just part of how quickly you can get it off / how many things you have to avoid touching because of mess?

[brooksmoses]

When I'm doing auto work in my own driveway and have greasy hands, I tend to find that even though I can just pop into the house to wash my hands, I've usually locked the door (by standard habit) and my keys are in the pocket of my relatively-clean blue jeans....

[tiger-spot.livejournal.com]

The tragedy of pockets!

You should wear tighter pants, to eliminate the temptation to put things in them. Oh, oh, and they should be black so as not to show grease stains.

[chinders.livejournal.com]

Brooks, I think that she just very effectively shut us both up. Should we revolt?

[tiger-spot.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm being practical here.

[chinders.livejournal.com]

Was that your innocent face? It needs work.

[tiger-spot.livejournal.com]

Nah, this is my innocent face.

[chinders.livejournal.com]

*critiques* Too much eyelash batting, not enough naive obliviousness. Lacks a certain "Hmm? Were you saying something? Oh- about ME?"

You might want to work on that.

[chinders.livejournal.com]

Er, oh. The user icon doesn't show up in the e-mail.

Do you really want to claim that your innocent face is in the bath, covered in soap bubbles?

[brooksmoses]

We could cover her in honey....

[chinders.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. :)

[chinders.livejournal.com]

I would argue that it affect the perceived dirtiness level. I'm going to feel much dirtier if I wasn't expecting to get dirty than if I anticipated it, even if my actions and preparation would have been entirely the same in both situations.

[tiger-spot.livejournal.com]

::takes notes::

::waggles eyebrows::