I had an awesome visit to Tom and Jeff at The Barn yesterday accompanied by my lovely wife. Earlier in the year, we had agreed that some of my danger pay from a stressful trip to Iraq could be applied to my first custom, so I quietly put down a deposit several months ago without telling her (we agreed, but still, bad boy for not confirming!). I was surprised at Christmas with a "gift certificate" for a steel Spectrum from my wife, who had contacted Tom without telling me. Tom, ever the Mensch and skillful diplomatic envoy to potentially choppy marital waters, created a ruse and told my wife that a spot "just opened up" in the queue and she could just jump right in to the front of the line and I could have a frame within a few weeks, not months! (Wait, what?) Anybody who knows Tom knows that the "Q" is the queue, no amount of threats or bribery bumps you up to the front- many have tried. So I was suspicious, and finally compared notes with my wife, and Tom had a good chuckle and deftly handled a potential household "misunderstanding"- my wife does a monthly bike count in the basement, and apparently the tandem, that I consider "ours" is actually "mine"- and it counts as two (!) bikes... Anyway, Spectrum is apparently well managed by Tom's barn squirrels because they've been chewing through the steel tubes (and everything else) at a rapid rate so the Q is well ahead of schedule. And a nice bonus- Tom had just finished shooting a frame (along with the squirrels) in the exact color combination I was thinking of so I could look at it, confirming my choice. Mine's coming up soon! Oh yeah, I also got a new job that starts Monday, so no more stressful consulting--yeah,work, whatever-- but my Spectrum's coming soon!
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