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3:28 pm - Sat 5/13/06 Fri 5/12/06 (11:17 a.m.) After writing about my stolen bike, and telling anyone who would listen, I�ve received assistance�and offers of assistance�from a number of people. I thought this was sort of weird... While doing laundry in the building, I was telling someone about my misfortune, and he said if I wanted, I could borrow his bike till I get a new one�It just needed new tires (He said he�d reimburse me for the purchase). I told him I�d think about it, but later, when I decided to take him up on the offer (Since at the time, I didn�t know when I�d be getting another bike), I�d forgotten the guy�s apartment number. So I asked George, the apartment manager, telling him the situation, and he said he had an old bike I could use, �...and it has tires�. So for the past week, I�ve had my old bike back, the one I threw away something like five months ago (It�s pretty messed-up, but still �ride-able�). Sort of weird, huh? In addition to people offering up their bikes as �loaners�, a Diaryland reader (Who has asked to remain nameless) sent me a check, and another recently emailed me, also offering a contribution to the cause. But happily, it looks like I won�t be needing those charitable contributions, however grateful I am for them, because as they�ve done so many times before, Cary and Kay have offered their assistance as well: Cary read about my plight, told Kay, and Kay said since they have two bikes, seven or eight years old, that they don�t really ride at this point (With a 1 � year old, and Cary working crazy hours at his job), I could have her bike. (I guess Kay told Cary, �By the time we�re riding bikes again, I�m going to want a new one anyway...�.) So I�m going to visit them on Sunday, and take a look at the bike in question. And assuming it meets my rigid specifications (i.e. it has pedals and brakes and stuff like that), I�m going to gratefully accept their generous gift. I just feel more comfortable taking Kay�s old bike than taking other people�s money. So there you are. You know something? While I would rather not have had my bike stolen, and I�d rather not be the guy who chronically needs �helping out�, this has been a nice reminder that there are kind, generous people out there. And more to the point, there are kind, generous people out there who are �in my corner�. I have a bigger �family� than I realized. And that�s a good feeling.
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