Shriveled Carrot

Once upon a time, there was a carrot. Maybe it was a carrot that someone brought as a snack to keep them awake during class. Maybe it was part of someone's dinner. Maybe it was a renegade that broke free from the confines of its plastic entrapment. I don't really know. What I do know is that one lonely Wednesday night at the beginning of September, this carrot showed up in the stairwell at work:

Obviously, this picture was not taken that same day.

I did notice the carrot that first day it appeared, and I thought about picking it up. But then I thought, "I wonder if anyone else will notice or pick it up, or if the carrot will just sit there and shrivel away week after week." And so I left it.

The picture above was taken a week-and-a-half ago. Since then, the carrot has remained alone, shriveled, in its little corner of the stairs. It is puny and faded and difficult to see unless you know it is there. I don't think any animals are going to come and finish it off, either, so maybe it's time I threw it away.

It was fun while it lasted.

Does anyone else watch things decompose?

My New Old Bike

My parents recently sent me... a bike. Hooray!

To make a long story short, it used to be my sister's bike, but now I am claiming it. Maybe I should ask her if that's ok. Hm. Anyway, it came in a big old box which just fit in my car:

I brought the box into my house with the intention of either taking it somewhere to have someone put it together, or asking my bishop to help me put it together (as he had invited me to come to him for bike help).

After nearly a week of doing nothing, Olive told me I should at least open the box to make sure it wasn't damaged. I thought that was a good idea.

I don't know what I was expecting to find inside the box, maybe the entire gear system disassembled or something, but it really didn't look that bad:

"Hey," I thought. "I bet I could put this together!"

After all, I am somewhat mechanically inclined, and I like fixing things and putting things back together (I fixed a drinking fountain and a vending machine while in college, just because I could), and I play with Lego sets all the time. Of course I could put this bike back together.

Fifteen minutes later:

Why didn't I try that sooner?