Hello all,

This past week was productive.  I set up the bike shipment, and got a lot of the bikes ready for shipment.  There are maybe about 180 prepared already.  I got a lot of cleaning done at the shop and have a decent work space with both our stock bikes as well as 70 to be shipped.  I was able to clear out a lot of accumulated junk, and hang a huge amount of stuff from the ceiling.  I got a bunch of tools and supplies this week that we needed.  Some of the stuff was normal like drill bits and hangers.  Other things were more exciting.  I got some socket pieces and spent most of Thursday welding.  I made adapters for both shops so we can put ANY attachment on the impact screwdriver.  Normal screws bits, sockets, allen keys.  I did this now because with the shipment we have several bikes with stuck bolts that need unstuck and we don't have a lot of time to wait for oil to work.  I also welded real handles on some BB tools.  A student's hand slipped last week and they almost got hurt.  These handles will help.  I also repaired a few of our tools that had broken.  I painted all of the wrenches and carts because the electrical tape isn't working.  People seem to like it.  I finished putting stickers on the cargo bike and sent it out into the world with Rick.  He is going to do a test run of 2 weeks with the cargo bike.  He is also doing a bike share for his department so it works well that he has some infrastructure set up.  He is going to give me feed back so the first real demo works better.  I ordered some accessories for Rick's bike share.  He's waiting on his dept to get the money, but if it doesn't pan out they are items we normally stock.  We had a lot of volunteers.  Students have been getting in trouble at the book store and we are now the hot place to do community service.  It has worked well with the amount of bikes we have stripped or prepared for shipment.  The students are also starting to come after their service hours are done and hang out.  We are starting to build community with folks who aren't bike nuts.

This week.  I will be preparing bikes for shipment and working on taking care of all the details to make the shipment happen.  I will also be working on class schedules once we remove the 70 bikes from the back we will have space to run classes while we are open.

From the Campus Outpost,
James Roedl