2024 Update

Well, a lot has changed in my life since I was last active on this website. Generally for the better. I quit drinking. I largely withdrew from my social life. I am in a really good relationship. I've been neglecting my friends and family. Money continues to be tight, but I'm working on being more organized and disciplined.
The question of "what the heck am I doing with my life?" continues to exist, but I don't feel the same sense of dread when considering it.

My new work plan has four elements, the four things that feel worthwhile to put energy toward:
- Service to family
- Service to community
- Create art
- Support myself in a modest lifestyle

Ideally, the jobs that I am seeking will satisfy at least two of these elements. I have gotten myself into a lot of trouble accepting jobs that were miserable and didn't sufficiently remunerate me. Jobs involving lying on one's back underneath a vehicle with an angle grinder come to mind.
Thankfully, I'm getting better at knowing where my specialties lie. Certainly bike-related work. I've worked in various facets of the bike industry for most of my adult life, so I have a general understanding of the market.
Not so with industrial B2B work. I jumped straight into metal fab without having "come up through the ranks" of working in industrial trades. As such, the bidding and financials of industrial jobs are a mystery to me, and I feel a sense of imposter syndrome at the prospect.
Artsy-fartsy stuff is definitely an area I want to prioritize. The economic situation of art sales is opaque to me at this point, but I need to develop a portfolio first anyway.
Mechanical design. I'm not an engineer, but many years of building things with moving parts has given me a pretty solid practical knowledge of how to design and build things. I know how to design for easier manufacturing and transport, and I have a sense for aesthetic appeal of the finished product as well.

Part of this New Plan of operation is to put down some policies on paper. I'm about the least formal person I know, but I am grudgingly learning to accept that having things systematized and formalized is a much more efficient way to do things.

Problems in the past:
- Underbidding/undercharging
- Being scattered, depressed, anxious or otherwise indisposed
- Overrunning on time
- Not taking deposits
- Lack of professionalism/organization

I'm  going to start charging a lot more. I run the risk of sticker-shocking my loyal erstwhile customers by doing this, but I would rather be known as better than cheaper. This is directly contradictory to my nature as a people-pleaser, but I can't sustain the hemorrage of time and money that results in.
I also need to be much less wishy-washy with due dates. I've always felt behind on projects, so committing to a schedule stresses me out, but with discipline and organization, this can be turned around.
Currently I have two large projects due at the end of March. First, I am doing extensive maintenance and repair service on the school district's elementary school Bike Education fleet. It consists of about 40 bikes in varying states of disrepair. I was the instructor for the program last year and I know how finicky some of them could be. I asked the school district to let me overhaul the fleet and they agreed.

I've been working on them ten at a time. I have a system:
- Assess bikes, record serial number and notes
- Order replacement parts
- Strip off worn consumables like pads, cables, tires, grips
- Disassemble components to be overhauled, clean thoroughly and relube
- Wash bikes thoroughly and carefully
- Reassemble, size and install new cables and housing
- Test ride
- Final tuning

The bikes are old enough that the original grease is degraded, though surprisingly most were not terribly contaminated. These cheap bikes have minimal bearing sealing. I repacked these all with heavy waterproof grease.

Magnet wrapped in a rag for pulling bearing balls out of a hub.

When I'm an engineer, I'm going to come up with a new brake pad standard that has even more loose parts than a V-brake.

This is one of my crusades: to teach people which way the quick release springs go. This picture shows the wrong way! The pointy side goes in.
Also of note, a very greasy, dirty cassette. Using a dry lube and wiping off the excess when applying will really cut down on this. A clean bike is a funner bike to work on and to ride. As a bike mechanic, I would say that about half my time is spent cleaning bikes; this fleet is no exception.

I like this head badge.

I've also been working at Corvallis Cyclery. It's a really great shop. An enormous brain trust of bike knowledge, but more importantly, a crew that really cares about doing a good job. We are all bike enthusiasts and we want to share the experience of a well-maintained bike with everyone.

The above photo is a bike I worked on at the Cyclery. The rear brake was completely nonfunctional, and this front brake has a cable that is frayed to its last two strands. This was on an electric folding bike. Glad we got it taken care of.

Some clean generator wiring on a three-leading, three-trailing laced wheel.

A bike I built for my partner.

Internal generator light wiring to protect conductors.

A pencil drawing inside the front cover of  a bike part catalog from 1931.

Blue-footed booooooby

Normals' cookline after the lunch rush.

The Normals register was hilariously complicated. The red text items were to be called out to the cook. The green were dinner only. Blue was breakfast only. I don't remember what the purple meant. Salad plate?

I've been trying to design a really functional workspace. I got kind of obsessed with screwdriver holders for a while, as evidenced by this one made with figured walnut inlaid with stainless steel wires.