The Universe put on quite the display this morning.
A thousand thank-yous to everyone who had kind words for me on the occasion of my retirement. May you be in Heaven a half hour before the Devil knows you’re dead.
In my decades of distinguished service to cycling journalism I rose from lowly VeloNews cartoonist to lowly Bicycle Retailer and Industry News cartoonist, so of course there will be no gold-plated Garmin, no pension. I shall have to get by with the Socialist Insecurity and an occasional surreptitious dip into the purse of my lovely bride, who was making a career while I was making a shambles. Woe, etc.
Today, by way of celebration, I treated myself to a turkey-and-swiss sammich, a leisurely hour on the bike, and some light blog maintenance. Living the dream.
Tags: Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, Retirement, Socialist Insecurity, VeloNews
Mad Blog Media 
January 4, 2022 at 4:49 pm |
Brain was my intro to your humor and common sense. I look forward to more in the future. Be well my friend I have never met. I hope some day we can swap stories.
January 4, 2022 at 5:54 pm |
Hey, O’G. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart (and spare parts barrel) for all you have done to make cycling journalism more interesting and more literary. Having followed you since the 1990’s (hence the email you got “when are you gonna turn that OGWGFIW cartoon into a friggin’ jersey) I always appreciated your cartoons and columns. The Friday’s Foaming Rants were howlers. Well, at least with my brand of humor. Not being in the industry except as a cheap-ass consumer always wanting to cobble things together rather than buy the Latest Shiny Object, I rarely dabbled into BRAIN. But I loved your both thoughtful and humorous reviews in Adventure Cycling.
The cycling media will miss you, whether it knows it or not. Hopefully, this blog will go on as long as we are going on. And as long as Herself is toiling away in Uncle Sam’s Bomb Factory, hopefully you will be kept in bikes, turkey and swiss….the Bomb Factory North certainly kept us in wine, sewing gizmos, and bike bling.
January 4, 2022 at 7:29 pm |
The dream has just begun to bloom. You can’t buy time, but you can quit selling it as we have done. Now you have time to practice those barre chords.
January 4, 2022 at 9:52 pm |
Patrick, thank you for keeping us all amused, grounded & informed. “Shop Talk” was always a highlight – although sometimes (most times) the humor became our reality. And don’t fret about the ‘Socialist Insecurity’ – hell, my gummit paycheck is bigger than any I brought home from the shop. Tailwinds for you!
January 5, 2022 at 7:39 am |
“You can’t buy time, but you can quit selling it.” Well said indeed. You can’t beat the Irish when it comes to wisdom.
Thanks again, all. Forward!
January 5, 2022 at 10:40 am |
I like the new today’s masthead and the one yesterday. Is Joe Walsh Irish?
January 5, 2022 at 4:00 pm |
Joe Walsh was born Joseph Fidler in Wichita, Kansas. The name could be British, maybe Jewish, maybe both; his dad, a pilot, died in a crash in Okinawa, and Joe took the surname of his stepdad when he was adopted at age 5.
Here’s another fun Joe Walsh fact. He and the James Gang contributed to the film “Zachariah,” billed as “The First Electric Western.” It was written by (wait for it) The Firesign Theatre. I saw it in Alamosa, where I’m told I was attending Adams State College.
As for the blog headers, glad you like ’em. I make a new one or two or three whenever I get sick of the same ol’, same ol’ (at last count I had 70 uploaded to the site). If I have a photo to work with I can do one quick and dirty using Apple’s Preview application, but if I want to get weird I have to break out one of the old Macs and use Photoshop.
January 5, 2022 at 1:16 pm |
https://genius.com/Nina-simone-feeling-good-lyrics
[Intro]
Birds flying high, you know how I feel
Sun in the sky, you know how I feel
Breeze driftin’ on by, you know how I feel
[Refrain]
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life for me, yeah
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life for me, ooh
And I’m feeling good
[Verse 1]
Fish in the sea, you know how I feel
River running free, you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree, you know how I feel
[Refrain]
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life for me
And I’m feeling good
[Verse 2]
Dragonfly out in the sun, you know what I mean, don’t you know?
Butterflies all havin’ fun, you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done, that’s what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world, for me
January 5, 2022 at 9:36 pm |
Patrick,
Keep up the blog, please…… It’s one of my daily reading highlights!
Your cycling experience and common sense, off-beat humor and political irreverence is something to be proud of….. and I’ve enjoyed it for several years ( along with many other fans )
Your riding stories are an inspiration to us geezers who still enjoy a frequent ride be it brief or exhausting! Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts, experiences and frustrations and making the best of it all!
Charlie V
January 6, 2022 at 8:56 am |
Never fear, Charlie. I gotta flush all this stuff out of my head or it piles up in there and starts to stink.
I hope WordPress keeps holding its fire on the Gutenberg block editor, which is a huge pain in the keister. Also, my WP theme, the venerable Kubrick, is no longer officially supported, so at some point I may have to make some logistical changes.
But I will be yammering somewhere. Count on it.
February 5, 2022 at 5:50 am |
Sounds wonderful! Congratulations.