The bike shop's about three miles away. That's the distance of the Physical Fitness Test, so I figured I'd run it rather than drive it; get my bike, and ride home.

Annoyingly, it's 80° today, and I ran into a headwind the whole way there. The ride home was nice, though; smooth-rolling "urban" tires to replace the offroad ones, new bearings, and trued wheels. The bike's in fine shape. As for me, I'm tired enough I'm not looking forward to riding to class this evening.

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The bike repairs are actually going to be almost two hundred dollars, as the shop pointed out the dry rot on the tires, and talked me into replacing the handgrips, where were foam, said foam having been in bad shape since I was in high school.

I dropped the bike off at the local shop today in the early afternoon, and was told it'd be done by Friday. Apparently that was a rather liberal estimite, because when I got back from class just now, I had a phone message that my bike was done and ready for pickup. Perhaps most people got their bikes fixed a few weeks ago, when the weather just became nice.

At any rate, while they are still open, I think I'll go get the bike tomorrow morning. Riding to class every day should be fun, and good excercise that's easier on my knees than jogging.

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I've decided to get my old bike repaired, instead of buying a new one. The necessary repairs should be about a hundred dollars, which is much less than a new bike. Plus the excercise will be good for me, and I'll save much gas from not having to drive to class.

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I visited my mother this weekend. Saturday, I left my car in her driveway but forgot to lock the driver's side door. Sunday, all the loose change I keep in a cupholder was gone.

I suspect children because the thief didn't open the glove box and take my GPS and all my CDs.

So while the monetary loss is trivial, I'm kind of annoyed on the principle of the thing.

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There is a huge bush right outside my back window, and next to my back door. Yesterday and today, a pair of robins built a very fine nest in there. So to recap, I've got swallows at the front door, and robins at the back.

I'll give them a few days to get comfortable, then you can expect to start seeing lots of bird photos.

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I got three As, an A-, and a B-. The bad one was in Statistics, to my lack of surprise.

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In the Corps, I was one of the guys in the unit that people went to with financial questions, because I could explain stocks and bonds and mutual funds. I always refused to directly recommend any stock, other than "a broad-based index mutual fund."

But I ignored my advice, and bought some Citigroup shares, because banks have consistently made money every year since the end of the Great Depression, and most of them made money during that time, too.

Today I gave up and sold my position in Bank of America, which "aquired" Citi after it imploded. My Citi investment has lost approximatly 98.5% of its value in the last two years.

And this is why I don't recommend individual stocks to people. (The only good news is that I will likely sell some stock to pay for college, and I can offset capital gains with the capital loss on Citi.)

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There's a swallow's nest on my porch lamp, seen here. I was thrilled when I started seeing swallows last week, as they have migrated back to Buffalo.

My happiness has been tempered by the realization that those swallows are presumably the culprits crapping all over my car on a daily basis.

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My uncle Dan Henley died a few days ago, at the age of 48. While perhaps in a legal sense no longer my uncle (he and my aunt divorced many years ago), I maintain a great fondness for him. Dan was known for having a "personal New York." His friendly demeanor and general bonhomie extended a zone of courtesy and kindness around him. Famously aggressive New Yorkers would meet him with a smile and a friendly word. He will be missed.

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During Finals Week, a group of local gentlemen were handing out Gideon Bibles on campus. This strikes me as being the appropriate time of year. I took one, not because I am in need of another bible, but because it seemed polite.

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