Human Power: solution to a bike repair saga.

Big Bro's balance bike popped out one of its bolts on the street a few weeks ago, and I couldn't find it. I must say I didn't look that hard: when it wasn't immediately obvious I thought "it's a bolt, I'll just get another at Bunnings next time I'm there". Even easier, it was one of a pair so I knew exactly what I was looking for.

Well..... so I thought. First stop Bunnings. There I discovered that this was one of the rare hardware items Bunnings does not stock. The guy was pretty helpful, however, referring me on to a specialist bolt shop up near LaTrobe University. Well, it would have been helpful advice if the shop stocked the bolts. I did however learn that I was looking for a "bed bolt" (it screws flat against the bike so there are no projections for knees to bump). And I was sent on to a furniture store. Still no luck.

At this point the ever-logical B asked "why don't you just go to the bike shop where you got the bike from?" The bike was from ALDI, who don't even answer their phone let alone send off for spare parts, but the idea of a bike shop seemed good. Certainly better than trawling homemaker centres!

We tried a couple of bike shops in our area which didn't stock anything similar. One guy lectured me about how bad balance bikes are and how Big Bro should be riding a scooter for balance and a pedal bike with training wheels for learning how to pedal (actually, he can already pedal on a tricycle). A sales pitch wasn't what I was looking for, just a bolt, so I moved on.

Not long after, we were at CERES and for the first time I realised they run a bike repair shop, The Bike Shed. I pulled the bolt out of my handbag and asked them what they had, and- free of charge- they dug up something of the right diameter and length. Unfortunately, when we got home and tried it for size it wasn't quite right. Push on.

Then I remembered something about a bike shop in Thornbury mentioned on The Bourgeoi-Vieve, which is very pro-balance bike (so I figured they'd only hang out in balance-friendly territory!) so our next stop was Human Powered Cycles.

Seeing their slogan: "if you can ride it we can fix it", I knew I was at the right place. Fix an ALDI bike? No problem. And the boys were even allowed in the workshop to watch. Of course this was hard work, so our next stop was the adjoining Human Powered Cafe where the boys got their usual babycino (with a real grated chocolate dusting, very swish), I had a pleasant mocha, and we shared a yummy toasted cheese and vegemite foccacia.

And the end result:

Mission accomplished!

The heartwarming scarf

My mum visited us last weekend, and on Sunday night I dropped her back at the airport, with the boys in tow in their pyjamas and beanies, and a scarf for Big Bro. We'd had a busy day, and by the time we reached the airport, Big Bro was sound asleep. We dropped my mum off, then headed home.

Pretty quickly, somewhere on the Tullamarine Freeway between Mickelham and Bulla Roads, Little Bro decided that without the company of his co-passengers the car was not a fun place to be. Usually in that situation he'll settle down with a bit of attention, usually in the form of hand-holding: either Big Bro will chip in with "you wanna hold my hand?", or I'll reach over from the passenger seat. Unfortunately in this case I was of course not in the passenger seat, and didn't fancy driving at 100kph one handed while in the process of dislocating my shoulder. Experience with Little Bro's gripes had taught me that stopping the car would mean Little Bro would expect to get out of the car, so I gritted my teeth and headed towards home.

Gripe, gripe, gripe. Flicking through radio and CD options didn't help. Gripe, gripe, grip. What if he could hold something other than my hand? (I was not the first time in my life that I wished I had shelled out for the hand-simulating Zaky Infant Pillow) A picture book passed back didn't help. Gripe, gripe, GRIPE. What about a bit of clothing? I considered my outfit and concluded that my sock would be the only thing I could remove whilst staying within the boundaries of the law.... and the idea of a stinky sock as a comforter didn't seem quite right (nevermind the logistics of how to remove it whilst driving).

I endured a couple more gripes, and then it was time to turn off the freeway. At the first red light I realised that I wasn't the only wearer of comfort items, and pulled the end of Big Bro's scarf from where it had fallen on his lap. Bingo! Little Bro seemed quite entertained by the idea that he and Big Bro were both holding the scarf, and better still, immediately settled down for a long winter's nap. When we reached our house I had to take this photo of brotherly connections. Long may they last.

Part of the AMB September Blog Carnival.

The blank protest vote?

I didn't watch Mark Latham's election report on 60 Minutes last night, but I read this morning that he advocates casting an informal vote as a protest against the major parties.

To quote last week's Q&A: how big a tool is Mark Latham?

Cakes.... of soap

Mmmm, delicious. Well, the smell is; the taste is less appealing. These cupcakes are made from soap, by More Soap Vicar. Little Bro was completely deceived when we stumbled across their stall at the Abbotsford Convent Makers' Market today, first singing a "lovely" (lovely for a 1 year old) version of "Happy Birthday", and then trying to sample the "dakes".

I think they'll make cunning presents for a couple of diabetics whose birthdays are coming up.
The soaps are made in Melbourne from sustainably farmed ingredients (no palm oil here) and the scents match what the cake flavours would be. We bought ours at a end-of-winter sale price of $5 each.

Also, while talking about the Abbotsford Convent Makers' Market, I think should give an update on our DokiDoki Designs screen print shirts. A couple of months on, with regular use (and washing!), the print and fabric still look great. I picked up three more to send to friends overseas.

Garden Girl and her Edible Garden

This came up on Little Garden Helpers- nearly-4 year old Garden Girl made a video doco of her garden. I love her enthusiasm for courgettes "I like them, so I want to eat them for dinner tonight. {aside} Can we make courgette for dinner toNIGHT?"

It's very cute, but even more than that, it's great to see such enthusiasm for an edible garden in a three year old!

Cigarette Advertising: Something that get me really angry

I'll say it right now: smoking is a disgusting, life-destroying addiction.

Do not smoke around my children.

Do not smoke around me.

And any company that exists to profit from addicting people to this habit is pretty close to evil in my eyes.

My anger about the tobacco industry was reignited this week by two factors:
- hearing an excellent seminar by Prof. Melanie Wakefield, a behavioural psychologist at the Cancer Council Victoria, who described the important factors- in particular, increases in cigarette prices, restrictions on smoking in public places, and "shock" advertising- which have fueled the recent decline in smoking in Australia

- seeing the political advertisements by the Alliance of Australian Retailers* with lots of nice little corner shop owners saying that plain cigarette packaging will just make their lives hard, and, even more blatantly politically (specifically, anti-ALP), saying that "like the alcopops tax", there was "no evidence" that plain packaging of cigarettes would decrease smoking.

*I am too angry to link to any of the tobacco lobby's propaganda. Google it if you want to know...

These, plus a quick bit of googling, have led me to understand that

1. Plain packaging has the potential to reduce smoking rates, by reducing the appeal of cigarettes both to potential smokers and current smokers (reducing uptake and increasing quitting).(lots of research has confirmed this, including research by the tobacco lobby showing that "tobacco companies view cigarette packaging as an integral component of marketing strategy" (1))

2. The Alliance of Australian Retailers is almost entirely funded by the tobacco industry. No nice little corner shop owners there. (Phew, I was just about to boycott the local milkbar.)

3. The Labor Party is committed to plain cigarette packaging. The Liberal Party will "consider" it if in government... which is widely taken as a dismissal. (2)

4. The Liberal and National Parties continue to receive funding from the tobacco industry- millions of dollars in the past decade, with no plans to stop (3). The Labor Party has refused such donations since 2005 , and prior to this was funded to a lower extent (4).

Read what you want into it, but let's just say that I would vote for anything that reduces the exposure my children have to smoking.

Did I mention I was angry? Good thing the Liberal Party have forsaken my seat and not sent a single blue-ribboned doorknocker north of the Yarra, cos I would be wasting plenty of their time.

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