The Never Ending Bicycle Ad

For the last several months (I wish I could recall how many), I've been watching a Peugeot mixte on the local Craigslist. I believe Sam actually discovered it first, and I, of course, had to go and take a look. I want to say it's been since at least October that we've watched the ad get re-posted every few days. Now, it's become some weird fascination, and an almost obsession to see if the bike sells. 

*Image from retropeugeot.com
This is not an example of the bicycle on Craigslist

I believe this individual has several things working against him/her. Having sold several older bikes (and newer ones) ourselves on E-bay, Craigslist, and other places, I sometimes wonder if people know the true value of what they have (meaning sometimes it is under valued, but at times they are far over valued), and how to list it. The individual who lists this Peugeot doesn't really provide enough information for anyone looking for a bike to make an educated decision about it. There is no information that provides the year (or even approximate year) the bike was manufactured. This can be important for some people. The ad also doesn't say whether or not the lighting system is functional, nor does it provide one of the most important components one would be looking for when purchasing a bicycle: the size of the frame (or any kind of measurement for that matter). In addition to the lack of information provided, the pictures are extremely fuzzy, making it difficult to see if the bike has rust or what sort of physical shape it's in. 

Perhaps the most perplexing portion of the posters' ad to me is that s/he started the bicycle at $250. Several weeks later, the price dropped to $200. I thought that the individual must have realized the bike just wasn't going to sell for that price (really, from what I can tell, it's probably a $100-150 bicycle maximum, at least on Craigslist), and was wise enough to begin dropping the price to get it sold. However, a few weeks later, the price went back up to $250. It wasn't selling at a lower cost, so let's increase the price? Huh? The posted price has remained with the $250 price tag since that time. My personal opinion is that the time of year, combined with the price tag has kept potential buyers from contacting the seller.  The saddest part to me is that this bike may very well have greater value than it appears, but it's impossible (without being a Peugeot expert) to make any distinctions from the information provided and the pictures listed.

I've started to wonder, does the person not want to sell the bike? I've created my own back story to the whole deal. I've made up a tale in which one party in the family states that the bike needs to go, but the other doesn't want to let it go, so s/he puts a high enough price tag on it to keep it in the garage, while the one unwilling to part with the bike continues to enjoy it. Not likely, I am aware, but I can't help but wonder what the story is behind this seemingly never-ending bicycle ad.

Friends, Part II

After venting my frustrations with our current living situation and past friendships yesterday, I feel that it is important to continue with my thoughts on friendship, if for no other reason, than to know that there is hope for the future.

As I was saying, I believe in loyal, long-term friendships. While I realize that isn't always the case, it's nice to know that there are people in the world we can depend on when we're down, when we want to have a good time, and when we just need someone who 'gets' us as an individual. I am a strange cookie though, and strange in my own strangely odd way. On the surface, I suppose I seem normal enough, but rest assured, I am different when it gets down to it. A bit about me:
1. I'm 34 years old
2. Married, with no children (and no real desire to ever have them, though I do think they can be fun)
3. Three dogs
4. We live in an area full of young families with multiple children, who have very different focus
5. I am a non-traditional, fine arts student at a college in Denver, but don't currently have a job
6. I had a 'real' career (prior to my second college round) in Human Resources, but also worked in Insurance and Higher Education (P.R. mostly)
7. I love bicycles (if that hasn't become abundantly clear) and want to ride whenever possible
8. Though I am a friendly person, I am hesitant to share a lot about myself with new people immediately (introverted, basically)
9. I am up for almost any adventure or new activity with little- to no- advance notice
10. I enjoy attending live sporting events, specifically football and basketball (though I am game for others)
11. I love music, though I likely couldn't tell you any musician/band names off the top of my head that weren't popular at least two to four decades ago
12. At heart, I am an earth-loving, animal-obsessed, always-wanting-to-roam, sometimes-cranky-for-no-reason, analytical-on-every-subject-that-matters-to-me, crazy, creative person
13. I believe in respecting all people, from all orientations, backgrounds, and religious beliefs - even if I don't necessarily agree with another's view point
14. I live a pretty tame, mellow, every day existence, and am totally okay with that (save for those spur of the moment adventures!)
And, despite all of these things I have listed, it could never fully describe the person I am. These are all, basically, surface items that don't really tell another human what this particular person is all about. Sure, it may give a sense of where I am in life presently, but what about things like knowing how I'll react when someone tells me that I have to do something, or knowing my true thoughts/feelings when I say that I don't have to get an 'A' in a class, and that I'm fine with that 89%?

I ask these questions because I recently reached the decision to start browsing friendship Craigslist ads. I was a little sad and weirded out to read some of them, and also wondered if there is any hope of finding true friends in adulthood. When reading the ads, many of them sound like advertisements one would put out to find a boyfriend/girlfriend/more-than-friends-relationship kind of thing. Though they state specifically in their posting that they are only looking for friends, the requirements some of the women desire seem entirely specific, and not really necessary for a friendship, at least to me.

For example, do you really need a thin friend? Yes, this was a specific requirement, or an alluded to necessity in more than one of the postings. How shallow can a person be? It also reminded me of a recent posting in which I vented frustrations with some people assuming because an individual is overweight, s/he is therefore out of shape. I'm totally down for a hike, a walk, a bike ride, etc, and not being thin doesn't take me away from that love of the outdoors. Are they just looking for people to pick up guys with? If that's the case, I'd think they'd want the larger friend with them because wouldn't most guys naturally be drawn to the smaller woman's svelte shape, rather than the bigger friend? I mean, it's not like I'm hideous or anything, but com'on, really?

See, totally adorable, right?

And then there are the requests for tattoo-free friends. Okay, I get it. There's a stereotype that goes along with tattoos, but haven't we reached a day when we can move on from the surface of someone's skin? I'm not a bar-hopping, drugged out freak, with no aspirations... I just happen to be tattooed. For goodness sake, I was the human resources representative for over a hundred employees, and at no point in time was I ever made aware of anyone fearing speaking to me about their issues, because they knew I'd do my best to resolve anything I could, or at very minimum, let them vent their frustrations to me. Seriously, I'm not a bad person just because I happen to have tattoos, and for that matter, I'm just not a bad person. Weird, yes. Bad, no. But, even weird is relative.

One tattooed arm (and there are more, though these are the most visible)

Making friends in my classes has turned out to be more challenging than I expected as well. While I have had friends of all ages, and enjoy them all for different reasons, I have to face the fact that a 19 year old, fresh out of high school, probably has little in common with me at this juncture in life. While we may hold similar interests in art, that subject is probably where our likenesses end. I'm not looking for someone who is me, or is exactly like me (in fact, that would be highly boring!), but I think there are core things that should be in place in order to have a lasting friendship of any sort. Whether the person is 18 or 80, there needs to be something that keeps the relationship together. It's also part of the interest in having various kinds of friends. They each bring something different, a new perspective, a nudge in a direction when needed, etc. Real friendships are a necessary part of life, otherwise it becomes far too easy to be completely self-absorbed and only see issues from one side.

Another factor is, without a doubt, our location. We live in a city (and not even in the actual city) that is full of families whose focus is soccer practice every Saturday and getting the kids to bed on time. While I don't object to friends having children, it makes it difficult to get together with any sort of regularity, particularly if one wants to participate in any activities that are non-child friendly. Even the local bike night (which I was highly excited to learn about this past spring), is densely populated by small children. It makes a fun bike night a bit more challenging, simply because everyone has concern for the children and keeping them safe. Not that kids shouldn't be the primary focus when there are issues of safety, but it's not exactly what I have in mind when I think of a bike night ride.

I have been fortunate to meet a few people semi-locally with whom I have formed a bond in recent months, and time will tell where those bonds leads us. Whether they will be life long friends, or friends-for-now remains to be seen, and honestly, I'm open to both. All I can do is be ready to explore the friendships, attempt to be a genuine me, and see where the journey takes us. After all, isn't the point of life to enjoy the journey, and not constantly dream of the destination?