i have finally completed the bike restoration project, which i started almost two years ago. that may sound like a lot of procrastination (and there is a lot of that to account for why it took so long) but there was also a hell of exceedingly tedious drudge work involving the cleaning out of old grease, the endless polishing of old aluminum, and the delicate adjusting of bearing cups and cones. by the time i was done getting all the components ready, i.e. cleaned, polished, greased and adjusted, the actual assembly of the bike didn't take that long. there were some ticklish bits, and i needed a new wrench to get the old fixed cup of the old bottom bracket off; so once that was taken care of, things went much quicker. i also used the wrench to adjust the headset bearings once i got the front fork installed. its a great bike and is about 30 years old. it has a beautiful brazed and lugged steel frame. and not just any old steel, but the crème de la crème of steels, reynolds 531 chrome-moly steel. it is light, strong, and practically pedals itself. i took it for a test drive last week. it was perfect. after a lot of effort put into the project, it was a dream to ride. i took a leap of faith and installed the 'mustache bars' available from the rivendell bicycle works. i was tired of the drop bars usually found on road bikes, and this is definitely an alternative. i say leap of faith because i wasn't for sure they were for me. pretty darn sure, mind you, but still, these new handle bars are a radical departure from the standard paradigm. however after having ridden them i can wholeheartedly endorse them. especially since i had wrapped using one of those cork handlebar wraps, they are wonderfully comfortable and they steer the bike quite well while offering a place for the rider to hang on. the seat is an old brooks leather saddle, the kind that jobst brant calls an 'ass hatchet.' but i don't mind that. i find the saddle to be comfortable as all hell. i was a little concerned about it, since it appears to have sat in a garage for a couple decades, and it was very dry. this is not good for leather. but i loaded it up with leather goop, and let it sit for a several months, and now it appears to be just fine.

i got a new (to me, anyway) enlarger. it is the venerable beseler 45 mx, and not just the enlarger, but 2 enlarging lenses (50mm and 150mm), negative carriers, a gralab timer, several trays, a digital timer for the enlarger, and a 35mm and a 120 roll film developing can plus reels. whew. it took three trips to unload it all from my truck. and best of all, it cost me nothing! really! you should check out the local 'freecycle.org' in your area. it is an organization devoted to keeping stuff out of the landfills. if you have an item you no longer want, you put it up for grabs on an email list. people who want the item will email you. you pick who gets the item. also, if you need a specific item, you can post that to the list as well, and perhaps someone on the list will see it and have the item gathering dust in a closet, ready to give away. that is the other main feature of the list. everything must be given away free, with nothing expected in return; no barters, no trades, no cash. ephelba and i have given away two cats and a sofa through the list, and have received, in addition to the above darkroom outfit, a charcoal grill, a kitchen knife, and a trumpet for the boy. and we posted 'wants' for none of it, except for the trumpet. i still can't believe that somebody really wanted to give away all that photo gear, but there were actually two such post from people wanting to give away darkroom stuff in a period of three days. ephelba and i are doing a photo project to mark the progression of her pregnancy. we are very excited about the project. i can't wait to start developing my own photographs again. i used to do this long ago, in prehistory. and of course, photographic paper is fast becoming an endangered species since so many folks have switched over to digital. digital has its advantages, but just like the cd cannot replace record albums, digital prints cannot replace actual photographs produced from film. there is a difference, for those who can appreciate it.