Orca update - see, what we have here is a failure to communicate

Someone had a flat on my ride yesterday, using up the last of my CO2 cartridges. I was actually happy about this, though, because it gave me an excuse a totally legitimate reason to go in and check on my bike build.

I walked into the shop and started looking around for the CO2. I caught BSG*'s eye a little earlier than I expected, so I walked over to that side of the shop. He comes out of the back and says, "Any progress on the wheels?"

Um, what? "Oh! I didn't think you needed them yet, I've been waiting for you to call. They're still on the bike."

Then we had this short conversation in which I realized that I'm really bad at reading subtext. I'm always so convinced that I do everything wrong and everyone will hate me, I'm very good at picking up slights--even where none may actually exist. When he took the frame last Saturday, BSG said something like this when I explained that the wheels and handlebar were on the other bike: "Okay, we can get those parts later. I can do the seatpost and stuff now, then put the wheels on, probably next week."

What I heard was "I am very busy, and have a specific method that I use during a bike build, which is something you know virtually nothing about in the first place, and in the second place, I have limited storage space back there girlie, so don't call me, I'll call you."

What he actually meant was, "I understand that you need your current bike right now, so I'm just going to go ahead and work on the stuff that doesn't require the parts you are using. Here's a ballpark estimate of when I'll need the wheels and handlebar, but the sooner you can get them to me, the sooner we can get this thing rolling."

Basically, he treated me as if I were a completely normal, non-neurotic customer, I ran that through the filter of my own insecurities about the whole deal--hello misunderstanding! Anyway, we got it worked out, and I felt much better about this encounter than the last one. It was still just as brief, but I felt more like a regular customer and less like a know-nothing dork. I think that given just a little bit more time, I can get to where I feel just as much at ease in this shop as I did in the last one. Maybe more.

Oh, and all the new components are in! I'm dropping off the Pilot tomorrow morning so that he can change out the wheels and handlebar, and the entire build should be done sometime this week.

Also, after ~35 miles yesterday and 27 today, I'm so close to 5000 miles I can practically taste it--just a little over 20 miles to go! I'm planning a 30-40 miler tomorrow (weather permitting), so I'll totally make my mileage goal before I hand Amelia over for disassembly. Woo!

*Bike Shop Guy