Well, I didn't get to ride my bike today. I went to the basement last night and searched for the pipe cutter to cut the seat post. I distinctly remember seeing Jay use one once - it looks sort of like a wrench, you wrap it around the pipe, and spin it around, and it makes a nice neat cut. No luck. Tried to find it again today, and finally ended up with a saw and some files to smooth the cut. Then I sawed, and sawed, read a book, sawed, watched some tv, rested, sawed, sawed - and made barely a dent. I got halfway through the thickness of one spot. I think the darn thing is steel! (I think I had the right saw - skinny blade with tiny teeth stretched on a "c" frame, right? And it seemed sharp. Made a lot of sparkly sawdust.)
At 7 PM I decided I needed some help. No hardware stores open on this side of the river after 6ish, so I took the post (with the seat still on it) to one of those big home centers across the river. Now, with age one acquires some bits of wisdom. I didn't go to the hardware section and ask for a pipe cutter. If I did, I'd have ended up with a pipe cutter. Instead, I went to the plumbing section, and asked "How do I cut this?" So the guy cut it for me. He had to dig around, didn't have the right cutter among the dept tools - "Hmmm - this is gonna take a BIG 'un..." - ended up taking one off a sales rack. Even with the "big 'un" it didn't look easy - he put some shoulder-power into it. No charge. Cutter went back into the package and back on the rack. "Think maybe I ought to buy that? I can't find the one I thought I had." "Nah. You probably won't need one that big again. It's too expensive for something you won't need."
So, thanks to the gallant gentleman, I ride tomorrow!
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