Yay bike!
Hooray!
Perhaps I'll actually ride it on occasion.
I'd been meaning to go over to Working Bikes since I found out it existed, but just hadn't. Something made me look it up last night, and I resolved to go over after finding out that they're open on Saturdays and they're just a few blocks from my place. Considered not going when I heard the ridiculous quantities of rain crashing through the drainspouts as my alarm went off, but I just drove like a lazy person instead of walking.
It's a nonprofit, run pretty much entirely by volunteers.
The Working Bikes Cooperative is a not-for-profit tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization which diverts bicycles from the waste stream in Chicago by repairing them for sale and charity.
Working Bikes is now located in the big red brick two story building at the SW corner of 24th Place and Western Avenue, at 2434 S. Western Ave., Chicago, IL 60608.
Working Bikes is primarily volunteer-driven. Currently it receives no government or foundation money. All its operations are funded through the sale of bicycles at its storefront. Working Bikes uses that money to provide bicycles to charity organizations within Chicagoland and to ship bicycles to the Gulf Coast, Ghana, Tanzania, Angola, Cuba, Guatemala, and Peru.
In the countries to which Working Bikes ships, a bicycle can often mean the difference between work and unemployment. The bicycle is the primary means of vehicular transportation for the majority of the population and is used both for personal transportation and for carrying cargo.
Due to wage differences, a bicycle worth $20 in Chicago can be worth the equivalent of $1,000 in Africa.
Each year Working Bikes gives away over 5,000 bicycles locally and internationally. It distributes about 500 bicycles and wheelchairs in the Chicago area alone: to City programs, refugees and day camps.
Pretty awesome, and not just because I got me a nifty inexpensive bike.
Quite glad I'd read the Yelp reviews before going, or I would have been really confused. It's kind of a free-for-all first thing in the morning...everyone wants a bike, but they can only get so many fixed each week, so people line up before opening to be the first in the door. So, there's a line of wet hipsters waiting in a line down Western when I get there...they still let everyone in at once, though, so it's kinda whatever.
I was really just hoping to find something that was short enough for me; fenders, handbrakes, and a not-hideous color would be a plus. I originally had another one in a lighter blue with fatter tires, but a girl with this bike mentioned that she'd been hoping to snag the one in my hands, so we traded. I wondered if I'd gotten the short end of the stick when I noticed this one was $30 more, until I looked at the tag and realized that it had gotten a tune-up, new tires and tubes, and had all the bits and pieces checked out. The tag on the first one didn't have any indication that it had even been looked at, I liked this color better, and this one isn't as heavy. Win!
Waiting in line to buy the thing took longer than anything else, but I was still out of there in less than an hour. Got a combo u-lock too, but took it back later when I realized the mounting bracket was missing a nut. Traded it in for a keyed lock, too...they were very nice about going to look twice to see if they had any more when I noticed that all they had left on display were more combos. Snagged a rear reflector out of the "free" box, too...still need a helmet, since all of theirs were hideous, expensive, or kid-sized. Almost got a basket, but the bars that attach it to the bike were twisted. Can't necessarily expect an amazing selection out of a pile of donations, but if you want parts, they've got a metric shit-ton.
I also finally picked up my new backpack from the post office; apparently around here they make one delivery attempt and then camp out with your package. But, it's AWESOME. It's this Camelbak, but I got it on the cheap from Woot. It fits my laptop, looks like it will be awesome for books and snacks, is light as hell, and has a little sling for a bike helmet that you can hide away in a little pocket. How convenient! I almost want classes to start up again.
Speaking of which, I finally heard back from the finaid woman who is supposedly responsible for my department...after over a week. And I basically got the "Oh, you'll find out by June 15th, since that's when finaid packages are processed." Did you even read my email? Do you think you might possibly be able to address the concerns I expressed within said email? No, I got some generic form response, because apparently the "our computers say you've got a bazillion transfer credits LOL" thing also happened to other students. I think. At least, that's the impression I got from her response, but I'm not entirely sure. Oh, sure, go ahead and fuck with the transfer students, it's just too easy for them to get their shit situated at UIC. Gah.
The giant "CANCELED" has been removed from my account, though, so perhaps that's good. Not that this would have been indicated by the finaid woman's email or anything. We'll see in a week and a half, I suppose.
Okay, when I got out of the bike place before 11, I entirely expected to have gotten more done by 5 than I have thus far.