While Mother Nature was apparently wreaking early havoc upon Chicagoland in the form of thunderstorms, I was wandering through Fox Valley Mall with Gina, as she decided now would be a good time to revamp my summer wardrobe, since summer is coming. A good idea, to be sure.

This in conjunction with us heading to Performance Bicycle Shop across from the mall. It is where I bought my bike and where I'd tell anyone to get a bike. The cheapest are typically $219 or so, but the value is so much more. You could pay that at Sportmart or K-mart and you'd get a piece of crap (trust me, I worked at K-mart, in sporting goods--I know how crappy those bikes were). But at Performance, you get a good, solid bike (I bought mine in 1995, just before school, and it's survived and survived quite well since--even though I didn't ride it much the last couple of years) and great service--plus lifetime free adjustments to the bike. That's good. And, if it needs repair, you can take it there, and they know the bike inside out and upside down. Basically, you get what you pay for. And that's key.

So Gina wants a bike, and I'd like one too, since mine current bike is a mountain bike, not a road or hybrid, making it more work to ride on the roads and bike paths and such. We're probably not gonna get matching, spot-on bikes. However, we'll probably get the same model, just different colors (oh, and she'll have the women's frame). That reminds me...the difficult part with Gina is that she's so short, she barely fits any adult-sized bikes. So we'll have to see. :) There's no rush, especially since I don't have a job.

That's my big plans tomorrow--gonna try to hit the unemployment office. I hope it won't be crowded. Also going to call loan folks and see about deferment of loans and what that does to me. And I have to write out my bills for the month.

Busy, busy, busy, even with no job. :)