Peeking Through the Knothole

Hollywood Day 1 (super drivel, not worth reading, sorry)

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:17:40 +0000

I got to Paramount (!) studios and was directed to the Hair and Makeup trailer, where people were getting fixed, and I felt like the old ugly guy. The mirrors show every pore. No fun to see yourself in that place (for me). Everybody gets their hair done and makeup, and for a three-second spot -- it makes me think none of the famous are EVER without their makeup, guys included. They may be hooked on it, for all I know...but that doesn't take away anything. I'm down here saying a short thing for SMILE TRAIN.

My deal is tomorrow. I feel like a real stupe, you know. I worked on my script, made out my cue cards, told the producers I might need a globe and a calculator for props. I asked them if they'd provide a script, or I should, and never got an answer. They picked me based on a quickie demo thing we did at work here, and I figured they wanted something like that, but refined, but..nope.

I got my script, and really had no idea --- and it's fine ---how minute a role I'd be in this. Which is fine, because I don't have to be nervous about anything now. Instead of 400 words all my own, I have five. More than I thought I'd have six days ago, and I'm just going along.

I hung around the sets set among a fake downtown district with buildings used for TV show or movies I'm not familiar with, but I took a couple of pictures anyway (with a 50mm lens, and I should've brought a wider one).

Most of the time is was John-Paul saying his line. Then when he was finished, this really nice looking woman named Sharido, which I know I've spelled wrong, but one doesn't ask a woman like that how to spell her name . She's a pro actress but also raises loot for a charity named Action Against Hunger, so--good for her!

I got a ride to my hotel, hung out for an hour or so, then thought I'd go down to the Kodak Theater to get a good streetside spot for the -- what is it, an entrance or something? I was an hour late, so I got a Greek salad to go and ate it on the way back here, my Marilyn Monroe-decorated room in a Best Western. I have to say, it's the best Best Western I've ever stayed in,

This is the kind of post I don't want to get into. I'll report again on my shoot tomorrow, only to close the can of worms, and that will be it, back to normal.

Mystery garment update, and last day of it. Plus wacky surprise news at the end of this.

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:00:46 +0000

(It's a thing we'll divulge in a few days, but if you buy it without knowing what it is, you save a whopping $4). Twenty dollars now, twenty-four after about Sunday afternoon or certainly Monday 12:01 a.m.)

We've sold ten so far, to ten bold, adventurous, gambling addicts who trust that we aren't going to deliver a bad joke, which we aren't. The part number is 60-004 if you call in the order or order it online, and after tomorrow time's up for the earlybirder $4 discount. Twenty four dollars after that. There's not a lot to this garment. If it were made in China or India or Vietnam, it might cost $5. But we have this MUSA thing going on, and this thing-that-it-is will last you at least twenty years, so the cost-per-year makes it reasonable. Your heirs won't know what it is, and will throw it out, though.

Even here it's getting snickered at, but I swear it's really smart, useful, super good value, and all it has against it is there's no precedent, and so people don't warm up to it right away. I invented it (micro brag, because it's not genius-like) about 30 years ago, and we're going to make 100 of them.

They'll cost $24-----which is pretty good for a Made In USA garment that's bigger than a wrist band, bigger than a hat, bigger than a pair of sox, or all three combined. Tomorrow by 9:30 California time I'll update this post with the part number, but still no description.

If you pre-order it without knowing what it is, but knowing that it's a MUSA thing and quite useful, you can get it for $20---but only while this post is the current one.

So, for a day or day and a half. It's sort of like gambling, but I promise this: If you're comfortable being casual and NOT dressing like all of your friends do, and you can see through the simple oddness of it and understand that it is the simplest version of what it is, the final reduction, the minimest common denominator of its genre---like an acorn to an oak--then be one of those brave & economical early adopters and order this thing after 9:30 Walnut Creek time. Don't quiz the guys about it.

And here's this, in case you haven't seen it:

http://www.smiletrain.org/goto/rivendell

We're almost at $25K. Even ten dollars helps.

See what SmileTrain is all about in this video.

G

Wacky Surprise News

About a week ago or less I mentioned that upon request we made a short video for Smile Train. Lots of other donors did, too. We submitted it to a production company in Hollywood, and to my horror and shock, we won. So Sunday morning I fly down (none of this is at Riv's expense) to Paramount Studios---home of The Godfather, Love Story, and now this, and they're going to make a PSA, which to those of you out of the Hollywood loop, means "Public Service Announcement." I don't know if or when or where it will air, but if you never see it, it means I somehow blew it.

Hollywood on Oscars night. Not where I expected to be.

Our demo tape was not good, but it was good enough to get picked. I don't know how much say I'll have over the script for the real one, but I've refined the original a lot and it's not bad. It takes a few shots at botox and facelifts, and that might not go over so well down there, but I could work around that.

It's afilliated with Paul Mitchell (the hair products guy) Charities. Paul Mitchell is actually quite the Giverbacker, and I had no idea.Good for him!

I've corresponded with production people and directors, and here's all I know:

I'm to going to be sort of a guy hiking in the hills. I'll talk about Smile Train. That will be it. I'm bringing a bunch of MUSA stuff and some woolies, a bandana, a canvas daypack prototype with tons of beausage and patches from a bear accident; and a bigger pack, a Rivendell Mountain Works "Jensen pack." If they don't like my clothes, I'll wear theirs. If they don't like my hair --- well, Paul Mitchell and all, I imagine I'll get a poof-job. I'm olive-complected, rare for a Dane, but if they think I need a good bronzing, I'll probably get one. Gaunt (but well-muscled) and bronzed, just what we all want to be! I'll go light on dinner tonite. Trader Joe's Turkey bacon and Omega-3 eggs.

I'm going to go along with them for the good of this really good cause, and that'll be that. Everybody there has been super nice, and I'm going to be, too. I hope they like my script, but I'll take no offense if they don't. That's all.

Traversing, poem, mo Smile Train stuff

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:23:30 +0000

Traversing is widely regarded as giving up, but that's just a racer's take on it. If you have to traverse in a race, you're either overgeared or underlegged, and usually it's not the gears. I traverse all the time these days, because I think it's better for me and I know it's about a million times more pleasant than ultra-grunting up a hill.

Traversing is cutting across the road in lazy S-turns, so you don't have to climb as sharply. Good traversing technique is this;

OK, you're cutting mostly sideways toward the curb. Just before you have to turn, accellerate (it's easy because the slop is flattish) and use your speed to gain elevation at the turny part, as you point the bike uphill. Save enough and muscle speed to flip it around the other way, then start all over. I usually give it a few good grunts straight up the hill, then turn sidways again and relax for a second ot two, and then accellerate after I've recovered for a second.

It's a series of super brief sections of resting, accellerating, a stroke or two of actual uphill, and then the turn back and start over.

If you're looking for a reason to traverse, here's a fantastic one: To keep your heart rate lower. The key to burning fat and reducing your body's stress response (which is bad for you) is to exercise both below and above the "training" zone of 75 to high-eighties percent of your maximum heart rate.

Basically, try to spend most of your riding time between about 55 and 75 percent of your maximum heart rate, and then once or twice a week shoot it way over the top to 90+ percent.

A heart rate monitor is a good thing to have, and get a cheap one you can figure out. I'm bad at that stuff, so I assume everybody else is, too, although when I look at my history with devices and the popularity of devices that confound me, I know that can't be the case. Anyway, my monitor is a Polar FS-1, but I'm not sure it's made anymore. It's the entry-level one, for cheap dummies.

You have no idea how easy it is to ride at 65 percent, for instance. It's an effort level that you'll swear is doing you no good, maybe even training you to go slow. It's not. It's better for you, and as long as you don't have a gutful of Gu or Pasta or Power Bars, you'll burn fat. Fat is the original fuel, which is why we're so good at storing it. But among modern exercisers, and especially bike riders, it's not just under-uitilized, but it's circumvented, which is even sadder.

If you don't want to burn fat, fuel up for your rides with carbs and ride in the training zone (75 to high 80s). In other words, follow the conventional wisdom.

That's a sure way to prevent fat-burning. The carbs will spike your blood sugar, the training-level of exercise will burn sugar instead of fat, and the insulin in your blood (produced by your pancreas to lower the blood sugar) will convert any excess calories to fat and store it away, so your body can concentrate on the sugar-burning.

The thing about blogs is: Anybuddy can say anything. The thing about me is: I have no reason to lie about this. I don't have the academic chops to talk biochemically about what happens, but by the same token, I can tell you the Sun is about 93 million miles away and the earth revolves around it---without having a background in astrophysics or whatever. Once a fact has been established, it's Everybuddy's!

And the point here is: Traversing is easier than grunting, and better for you. Unless you're racing, in which case, forget it.

I wanted to talk about Traversing because about 8 years ago I put a picture of then-employee Joe traversing up a steep hill down around Cambria, CA, and it inspired this poem, by our own Beatles-fan and GM John:

The Ballad of Traversin' Joe
by John Bennett

There's a man out West in Californ'
Been climbin' hills since he was born
Don't use no car, "Them's fer squares!"
Don't make him laugh by suggestin' stairs.

That's 'cause he's Joe,
Traversin' Joe

He's a bikin' man with his own technique
He gets to the top in less than a week
Other fellas rush when a hill they climb,
But Our Man Joe is a takin' his time.

That's 'cause he's Joe.
Traversin' Joe.

Yeah, it's anybody's guess
Why he always rides that "S"
Sometimes it's better if ya' just don't know.
That goes double...when it comes to Joe.

He's a mystery, that Joe
Traversin' Joe.

"And the first one now/Will later be last"
He's singin' Bob Dylan as we fly past
So he can ride a bike, and play harmonica, too?!
Well, by gum, that's our Joe for you.

We're talkin' 'bout Joe
Traversin' Joe.

--------------------------

On a poem-note, there's a reference to an A. Homer Hilsen poem in the A. Homer Hilsen section of the site, and at least twelve people in the past year have asked for the entire thing, so here it is, sappy as it is, as recited by an old Scotsman on 'is deathbed, or at least in 'is bed:

A Life With A. Homer Hilsen

Tho' travel wide and far do I
O'er stoney paths, 'tween fields-o-rye;
Past foggy crags, where the lost sheep bleat
I tell you, mate, 'tis no grand feat ----
    For I ride A. Homer Hilsen!

Aye, my bike do take me far ----
To lands I couldna' see b' car;
B'yond the reach o' mail or phone
But ne'er do I feel alone ---
    For I'm with A. Homer Hilsen!

At times it is me campin' bike,
When out to far - off lands I strike
With a pocket full-o-nuts, and a bedroll small
My worries? I forget them all ----
    On account of I'm with A. Homer Hilsen!

Oh, the siren's call o-the-race man's steed
Tempts me not --- 'tis a fra-gile breed.
'Twere lugs and steel---- joined strong, with fire!...
And room for mudguards, and manly tire
Steered me to A. H. Hilsen!

Surenow and then I get the urge
For speed; and I be known to surge
On up the road, so fierce m' pace
The geese above concede the race
To my A. Homer Hilsen!

So . . . day b' day, and week b' week
There is no other mount I seek;
My stalwart pal, in cream & blue ---
The sites I see --- you'll see 'em, too!
Come with, A. Homer Hilsen!

Alas, years hence when I'm rid' out;
My joints so stiff, so bad me gout
That I canna' push the pedals 'round
An' I stay at home, in armchair bound
    I'll bequeath A. Homer Hilsen

To a lad I know, his character strong
His smile, as wide as a June day's long
Who'll ride him on Adventures New
(of the sort I can no longer do)
R-r-r-r-r-r-ride on, A. Homer Hilsen!

And if that plucky lad has time,
Mayhap he'll regale --- in song or rhyme
Me, after dinner one fine night
(A long shot? Sure! But still, he might ---)
With tales of A. H. Hilsen!

And more on still, when that lad's grown old;
His rides no longer swift, nor bold
His joints, like mine, all stiffened up
Then soon 'twill be his own grandpup
Who rides A. Homer Hilsen!

For a bike like this can ne'er be kept still
It longs for the trail disappearin' o'er hill;
It calls y' to pedal, to pack, to explore
And e'en when you stagger, it begs you for more
It's the lugged steel A. Homer Hilsen!

-------

And now Smile Train: We're nearing the goal of $25,000. Of course we'd like it to keep going, because the need continues. But we're going along pretty good with this one, and if I don't post this link again, you may forget about it. As you'll see when you read this, there is a pretty good incentive to donate.

In the world of cosmetic surgery, here are some facts:

A single botox shot costs $400 or so and lasts 6 months, and a typical botox treatment involves 5 shots--- so, $2,000 for 6 months. The thing about botox is....once you in the program, you stay in the program.

A cleft-repair surgery costs $250 and lasts forever. There's no program, it's just a 30-minute, life-changing surgery that lasts forever. Slightly more bang for the buck.

http://www.smiletrain.org/goto/rivendell

OK, that's all. One has to tread lightly when pushing charities, or it's no fun for anybody.

Best,

Grant

Various on March 1

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:09:26 +0000

We shot the Smile Train video and they probably won't take it, meaning I probably won't get the part. We're shooting for $25K in donations, as you may or may not know. I think 90 of you have donated something (with several double and a few triple donations.
You know the deal:

http://www.smiletrain.org/goto/rivendell

It is a good deal. You donate, you get credit here, and for every $250, a child with a heck of a nasty defective mouth gets it fixed, so he or she can eat, drink, talk, and hang out with other kids. Just have a look, and then here's other stuff---

We're working on panniers. Had some before, are doing them again, updated and ultra spiffy. But not, like, ______ spiffy. More modern and slack, natural and detailed. Nothing against some, and you might not like ours, but we're going to like them. Bags: No matter what you do, somebody's going to tell you, or at least think, that you barely missed the mark.

You know who hits too many marks? Topeak. Ever seen a Topeak multi-tool or trunk bag? The guy must be a genius, but it's toooo much. It's too indoorsy, too fretfrul, too spreadsheet-checklist, and fiddly. A bag or a widget needs a little room for change or improvement, and not in the god-fearing way of oriental rugs, or the Japanese way of wabi-sabi, but more like a fine boot in mud or something basic, that anybody can do without an emperor or king or duress or enlightenment as part of the picture.

There's that old-and-often requoted quote from Antoine de Saint Exupery, the guy who wrote The Little Prince and Wind, Sand, and Stars, which was much better if you ask me, but longer and less famous. I first saw it out of context in the Chouinard Equipment catalogue in 1972. I borrowed the same quote for a Bstone catalogue, and I think somewhere along the line in Rivendell's history we put it up someplace. Since then, I've seen others use it, including other bike companies. It's fine, dandy, it's a good, thought-provoking quote that warrants the circulation, but I wonder if it can be improved upon. Here it is (by memory, honestly, so I may get a word wrong....although my memory for such things is famous among those who know me well):

"In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there's no longer anything to add, but when there's no longer anything to take away....when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness."

That's pretty close. "Attained" might be "achieved, and I"m not sure if the word "down" is in there, and there might be a "left" missing between "anything" and "to."

"The "stripped down to its nakedness" always seemed to take away from it, because it makes you picture a nude, and the quote is supposed to be about objects. So from that point of view at least, the quote could have stopped after "away." But everybody always included the nakedness part, always.

I've always seen it with the elipses (the three dots . . .) that usually indicate unquoted text, but -- I can't find my copy of Wind, Sand, and Stars to verify this, but I think the original passages in the book had those there, too, in which case there was no missing text, but it was just the part he wanted you to pause on. It was a good book and he was a good writer and that was probably the style of the day, before M-dashes, the long dashes we use now in place of semicolons sometimes. M-dashes don't show up in these blogs, something to do with how the program works. They're ignored like they aren't there at all and the words just run togetherlike this. I put an M-dash between "together" and "this" there.

Back to the quote and the message behind it----- (that's how I simulate M-dashes here); It's one thing to appreciate the idea of getting rid of junky stuff and all, but if you take the quote close to literally and live and shop by it, you might end up with pocketless pants, and a house full of Shaker furniture (which I don't put into the same category as pocketless pants, I'm just making a point), and there's no flourish or decoration anywhere, because, you know, it's just non-functional.

No bike would have a head badge, no lug would have any undemanded curve, it would be against the rule to hang a picture on a wall, and we'd all live lives of extreme violation and debauchery --- from that point of view.

This relates to bags, a lot. No matter how much you may like a bag, you can probably think of some way to improve it. The bag of ours that gives you the most for the least amount of money----hard to say, but maybe the Sackville SSS. One strap, one pocket, no provision underneath it for lashing it to a rack, and it's only $105.

But, you could say it ought to have a kangaroo pocket on top, like the Medium and Large do, or that it should have a cell phone pocket inside, or something. But then it might cost $120, or $130, and it wouldn't be such a good value. It's where it has to be, and it holds a tremendous lot for what it is.

The new panniers will be here by June----is the target. We may do a vegan version also. I'm testing a new other kind of bag, which started as a copy of a Swiss Medic bag, which, if memory serves, Albert Eisentraut's children used as a lunch bag in school for a few years. He saw me with one once and told me that. I've used them on rides for 30 years or so, and the new GrabSack is bigger and way more useful, and I really wonder how it'll go. We do these things becasue we like them, and hope there are others who will, too.

-----

In a month we'll have a new garment, a commercial version (MUSA) of something I made up thirty years ago. It is a simple, cheap, super useful thing for cold or cool weather, and I can't believe nobody else makes anything even close to it. Some of you will figure out what I'm taking about, but it's coming soon, and we're getting only 100 of them. They're made from remaining fabric from other stuff that somebody else, not us, had made in red, orange, and tangerine (reddish orange). I used the sample tonite, and I'll see if somebody else at work wants to try it tomorrow and the next day. It's not the kind of thing that'll sell itself, but it is the only thing like it in the world, I think.

One of the guys reads a guys magazine, not sure if it's GQ or not, but he brought in the current issue with an article about cell phone dangers, and wi-fi dangers, and now we're all taking that seriously. I predict there will be lead-lined cell phone holsters within the year.

We're going to do another seersucker. They''re always popular, and nothing beats them for hot-weather riding. It's tough as heck to find fantastic seersucker fabric. Ninety nine percent of it is thin pastel stripes, which are fine, but not unique enough for us. So we're working on a modified Dress Stewart tartan, but instead of the white, it would be a soft blue, with a grey tint. These shirts cost us $40, we have to buy 300 of them and we'll sell them for $65. Not enough. Those are the lowest clothing margins in the universe, but I personally want to have four of these shirts, and we do get requests. Please consider buying one. They're made in the US, which is unusual, and they're seersucker long-sleeves, which is almost freaky (but super functional), and they're a unique variant of a classic tartan that will never, ever be duplicated again. Plus, they have two-not-one chest pockets, each with a button. Details, USA made, unique.....and we gotta sell them.

OK.....back to Smile Train. Did you know that a botox treatment costs about $400 per shot, that most people get shot in five spots on their face, and that it lasts 6 months?
That's $2,000 for half a year of tinier wrinkles. A cleft surgery costs $250 and lasts a lifetime...and the results are more dramatic, too. Click on the link (here again) and see if it makes sense. I know times are hard. We're almost at $25K, which is enough to fix a hundred mouths.

Here's a good page with answers to lots of questions:

http://www.smiletrain.org/site/PageServer?pagename=donate_faq#5

http://www.smiletrain.org/goto/rivendell

G

Long shot, but we have to try

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:07:15 +0000

I got an email late Friday afternoon from the Smile Train people asking if we can make a movie of us talking about Smile Train and why we do it and like it, and then uploading it on a private YouTube spot by Monday morning.

It has to be five minutes long, and there are some guidelines, but it's mostly free-for-all, and I'm thinking we do have a Flip video camera, and Dave knows how to put things on YouTube, but we don't have the kind of set and presence and experience to make a good show.

They're asking for a demo tape, and if it makes a cut, then somebody real would come by and shoot it professionally.
I don't know what to do or say, whether to do it inside or outside (those of you who've been here know how unimpressive it is).

At best, the chances are super slim that we'd get picked, because there are other people doing them, and I can't imagine that we'd make a better one than anybody, much less everybody else, but we'll see how it goes.

Anyway, we were picked because our fund is doing well, and so Smile Train must think we're slicker than we are. The bikes are slick, and the bags are slick---that's for sure---but we, and our building are far from it.
Anyway, that's what I'm thinking about this weekend.

Who's going to hold the camera, if we're all in it? I don't want to be the only guy. One of the other tenants here can, maybe. We'll figure it out. We're going to lose!

G

If you don't know about our Smile Train fund (and the benefit to you for donating, and how easy it is, and how much good it does), here you go:

http://www.smiletrain.org/goto/rivendell

15 Trilobites, one Mammoth

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:26:58 +0000

We'll probably give partial credit for 15 beetles and a Snuffleupagus (any spelling), but in any case, the contest is closed. There will be others. Tons (twenty-nine is "tons" in these parts) of entries. (That was by 7 last night. By this morn, 89.) John will process them an post and email pdf-credits within a day or so.
This post will be replaced this evening...with something. Maybe something will happen today. Grant

Japanese Atlantises are trickling out

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:20:37 +0000

Here's stock on hand: 51 (2), 53 (4), 54.5 (1), 56 (3), 58 (5), 61 (SOLD OUT!).
These are the most labor-intensive Atlantises we've ever had. Little expensive details that won't ever be duplicated. Not functional, just artistic. Anyway, the last of Them. This post will remain for three days, but point is, the Japanese Atlantis frames are going.
call 800-345-3918

Hunqapillar Presale

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:22:20 +0000

Download the booklet here. Special deal for early adopterz.

And thanks to http://www.keeptrees.com/ for hosting a Flash version of Rivendell Reader 42.

Rivendell Reader 42 eDrops

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:09:01 +0000

It's finally here, and 70 pages.

You can download it here. Or, go to Shop>Books>Rivendell Reader item page. RR42 is at the bottom of the page.

If you want to pre-order a paper copy, please mail $4 and your address label to:

Rivendell Reader, PO Box 5289, Walnut Creek CA 94596

and we will send it to you when they are printed next month.

We can't add them to current orders until they are in the shop, or back-order them before they arrive. Thanks you for your interest and patience!

The Haiti deal: Update 1/16 Night

Rivendell Bicycle Works — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:53:57 +0000

Here's the update: Did well today, donating $700. Udooda math--; and thanks. Another update tomorrow.

Jan 16: Did well yesterday, pretty seemingly probably due to the Haiti deal where we (see below)...so we kicked in some extra ourselves to bump it up to $1500 since yesterday for Haiti earthquake relief, via MercyCorps-----

http://www.mercycorps.org/

There are lots of charity groups out there. They seem to be competing for money. That's good kind of competition, but it feels bad or funny or something to nix one and lay it all on another. Still, what a horrible thing.

Wednesday's post starts right here:

Ten percent of receipts on Thurs and Fri will be donated to Haiti relief. You can read about this on the Velo Orange site, too. Chris there proposed it to me--VO's doing it, too, and it's a good idea. If you don't know Velo-Orange, you should. On the surface they may appear to be competitors, and at the most basic level, at a business-discussion level, I guess there's no denying that they are. But they're also friends, and they're pointed in the same general direction we are, and let me tell you, folks-- it's good to have more companies, more people, going in that direction. It's not like the racing world isn't ten times huger as it is; it's not like this movement, or whatever you might call it, has a full head of steam. More really is merrier, so go to

Velo-Orange.com

and whip out your credit card.

Donating a portion of sales to Haiti relief is a sensitive, tricky deal--- as a business, you depend on sales, but also, you want to do some good along the way. I've thought of this as "leaving good snail tracks," and there are selfish and altruistic components of it. If we swirled down the crapper in a few months or a year or some other dreadfully short time, I sure wouldn't want to look back and think, "We cheated a lot of people and were selfish SOBs along the way," and now we're out of business, oh well."
No matter how things are going and how they go, I want my worst thought to be something along the lines of, "Well, we tried hard. Maybe I wasn't a good enough businessman, but at least we didn't cheat people, and we gave a bunch of money away to good causes, and that's better than nothing, that's nothing to scoff at."
Don't take that to mean we're going down. We haven't had to lay anybody off (but are in no position to hire anybody new). We either earn business or don't, and we try to.
The Haiti relief deal going on now--- a cynic who hates us (and hates VO) might say we're using the disaster to boost sales. It would be hard to defend against that. Well, today we had a lousy sales day, capped off with a huge refund (bike deposit refunded, circumstances changed). We sent $1000 to Mercy Corp, directed to Haiti. It's not braggy stuff, but I'm mentioning it as a preemptive measure, in case somebuddyboysomewhere gets the wrong idea.
Anyway, the Haiti disaster is a disaster for all other charities, too. Whenever one cause makes big news, money that would have flowed to the other charities gets refunnelled to the Newsy one.
I do happen to think Pat Robertson's comments on the earthquake are --- well, I think he's full of --- well, I should probably just say I think he's off base. Is that OK? And I'm sure he doesn't care, or read this. I mean, I'm sure he's a nice guy and all, and I'm sure he claims to mean well, and I'm sure in the next few days he'll clarify what he really meant....but holy cow, Robertson...