The Wait Conitnues

I didn’t realize how much I had become attached to this project. Over the past week, I have felt a sense of loss at having had to hand over the bike to a mechanic. Perhaps loss is the wrong word, but certainly a sense of failure and reduced masculinity.

I have never been one who has demonstrated much in the way of traditional ‘male’ interests and abilities. I played football once long ago, but that was the only sport I ever played with some interest. And it wasn’t because I was talented in the sport. It was because I was a teenager and I got to knock people down. I don’t watch sports. I prefer to go to art galleries. In my profession, I have worked in elementary education, which is usually associated with women. And anything mechanical has always been a mystery to me.

But after a week of having the bike at the shop, I have moved away from that sense of failure. And it wasn’t because of some cathartic event or because I am moving through some weird grieving process. The reason is more petty than that. The mechanic, someone highly trained and experienced with machines, is having trouble locating the problem. Strange, isn’t it. Despite the fact this is going to cost me more than I had ever thought, I am relieved because the problem wasn;t with me…. It’s the damn bike!

Anyway, he and I have talked. He runs a little shop that is just starting out. We have agreed on a price to diagnose and he will work on it. If he can’t get it running, I will pay one price. If he does, I will pay his hourly rate. Also, he is doing it between his ‘real’ jobs, so the bike often sits and waits. That’s okay, because I have more time than money for this project. Now, he tells me all the ‘big’ stuff (Ignition coil, CDI unit, stator, rotor) seem to be fine. So is the kill switch. So its on to the smaller stuff.

The problem is that it takes time. So, its wait and see.