Cognition Caps made me possibly the greatest cycling cap ever, and a winter one as well. Solid blue with an embroidered Alaskan flag. One of a kind, fits my bigger than most head, and the perfect design for me. Lyle and Kelly have really come through on this one.

I ended up with some nice Mountain Bike shoes at the swap. An excellent deal on a decent shoe. I am now ready for next fall’s cross season. The toe cages kept me from entering more than one race last fall, but that excuse is now gone. I just need to get used to SPD pedals so I don’t eat it on the barriers, though that will happen at some point anyway.

…

More and more things are leaving my little life via ebay, half price books, and St Vincent De Paul. Aside from making a little coin, I endlessly love watching things leave without a new thing replacing them. I’m not lining myself up for a monastery by any stretch, but it was fun to prune %20 from my record collection and feel like a little less of a hoarder. Sorting through the stacks of straight edge records mostly produces smiles and nods and thoughts about playing them asap. However, many records were bought because they were a measly $6 and somebody said they were good, or because it was so easy to get first pressings from Victory. I’m glad (and my pocketbook is also glad) that people want to check these records out, but I am amazed how many people in Europe are emailing me for shipping rates. Those kids are starved for mid 90’s hardcore.

Unbroken, Skarhead, and Victory picture disc comps? Sell ‘em all.

Alone in a Crowd 7”, GB 7” first pressing, Negative Approach LP, and Confront 7”? Not for all the tea in China, buddy.

A new problem is starting to crop up though. While searching ebay for a sense of what a given LP is worth, and more importantly if it’s even worth listing, I keep coming across random records I want. They are few, but man I really want them.

Mercyful Fate ‘s Live From the Depths of Hell, Straight Ahead, Negative Approach 7”, and Side by Side 7”.

It’s a short list and I do have a boot of the Straight Ahead record, but the itch remains for the original.

After working a handful of holiday weeks in a row and taking a random day off last week, this full work week is a killer. Almost over.

Tomorrow is the big bike swap here and I’m hoping for good luck. Two years ago I ended up with a pile of clothing for almost no $, while last year I snagged some lubricant at a cut rate and some Campy gloves and knee warmers for a fair price. That Campy stuff is never being given away, but at a lower price it can really be worth it. Without a doubt it is very well made, but I try and say that while avoiding the obvious Campy cult implications. No tattoo for me yet.