💾 Archived View for sdf.org › stug › phlog › 2021 › 20210806.txt captured on 2023-03-20 at 19:28:16.
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06 August 2021 My garage is seperate to the house. Mostly as I live in a maisonette which is a sort of house divided into 2 flats and the road is near enough all maisonettes. As a result, the garages are in a row down one end. I pass my garage when I walk into the village thanks to a short cut through the British Legion club. Today I passed it and discovered the reason for today's phlog post. I usually give the lock a waggle to make sure it is locked. Well today it didn't waggle as usual. However, the door opened up unlike usual. Some bastard had broken in. They appear to have smashed to frame to be able to twist the 2 anchor points at the top of the door. Now it just pushes open. When I opened, I sort of experienced the mind trick which shows nothing missing. Then suddenly the mind went "the push bikes are missing!" and I finally saw it. I had 2 bikes, a Brompton S6L folder and a Whytes Cambridge hybrid/big boy bike. I call it a big boy bike as the wheels are proper sized compared to the Brompton wheels. The only good thing is that the big boy bike had a puncture on the front tyre. I was struggling with presta valves as I am daft and so had not repaired it. However, there is a special tool required for the tyres to be attached. So they have half a useless bike now. The special tool lives in a tool kit which is in my pannier bags in the hall. I am slightly impressed with the clinical way which they broke in. There are definate style points there. However, they are absolute shithead bastards for theft. And they took my Brompton.... My poor Brompton. Buddhism teaches us to not be attached but I am attached to that bike. It was my main form of transport for many years and I went to lots of places on it. I went to the Brompton World Championships at Goodwood. It was a lovely weekend where I cycled 50 miles to visit Fishbourne roman palace to see mosaics which I stared at on a latin text book's cover, to see the sea and see how far I could go. At Goodwood, I took it for a few spins around the track because I could. It helped me greatly with visiting other sites in Derby. They were always a pain to get a bus between and the walk was an irritating 50 minutes from the train station. Instead, I was able to take the folding bike on the train and zoom across through some lovely cycle paths by the river. I even had a go on a BMX park a couple of times while early to meetings. I used it for days cycling with the Scouts, showing that clever design beats size by having sprint races with them. They often laughed at the stupidly small bike being ridden by a fat git but I kept beating them. Yet, it is gone and I am reminded that nothing is permanent. Insurance should cover the bikes but I am not sure if I will replace them. I sort of want to replace the Brompton but I cannot with the garage. This is the second time it has been broken into in 5 years. The first time made sense as it was a dodgy wooden door which had already been smashed up. This time, I have a metal door and it looked more secure than other garages. That did not work. I am more annoyed about the paperwork in many respects. I have contacted my landlord, eventually reported the crime and submitted the first part in an insurance claim. Theft is annoying but it does not do to keep dwelling. It has served a good reminder of impermanence and letting emotions go. The 4 noble truths tell us that life involves suffering but that suffering is not permanent. So now I will get on with life. This evening is my first scout camp since February 2020 and I have a hammock to try out. Knives to play with, fires to light and much fun to be had in the woods! I think the leaders are more excited than the kids!! This is with the explorers and should be fairly relaxed.