Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Journal Entries: Waiting For My Wheel To Get Rebuilt


Today I’m spending my morning sitting in front of Delta Bisiklet waiting for my front wheel to get rebuilt with a new rim (my old rim is too thin). They’ve got the 2012 London Olympics playing on the TV inside. I’m sitting outside guarding the bikes, but I can still watch from my vantage point out near the sidewalk. I think I just finished watching some swimming qualifying rounds. Michael Phelps just won his heat or maybe just won gold—I don’t really know. Now they’re showing a women’s field hockey game between Japan and Netherlands. Boring! I turn to people watching instead.

Delta Bisiklet is situated between GYM Fitness Club and a Tea Salon. Sitting in front of the fitness gym is trainer smoking a cigarette patiently waiting for fellow fitness enthusiast to arrive. No enthusiasts yet.

Over on the other side the tea shop is doing better business. Seven groups of men are drinking tea or snacking outside on the patio. No women. Several of the groups are either playing cards or a board game, reading a newspaper, or rubbing their prayer beads and staring aimlessly out towards the traffic. Occasionally the owner comes out balancing a tray topped with small glasses of tea and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Slowly he winds his way through the tables handing out shot glasses of tea.

Out on the road a garbage man (is that what he is?) is talking on his cellphone while picking up random trash he finds strewn along the street. His findings are thrown into the massive white tarp bag dragging behind a trolley he hand pulls around.

A cleaning lady is scrubbing the windows of an apartment three stories above.

Below two trainers at the fitness gym have joined the owner out front where they sit and chat while still waiting for fitness enthusiasts to arrive.

At Delta Bisiklet one of the sales guys (the one that, according to Kevin, wasn’t friendly) attempts to make a sale. He’s brought out several bikes and makes hand gestures over them. The customer listens to the sales pitch while sipping some tea he’s been given.

Up above the cleaning lady is now cleaning the outside windows by hanging out with one foot precariously balancing on a narrow ledge.

From with the fitness club appears the receptionist. She wanders off down the street.

Out on the street the garbage man is long gone. He’s been replaced by an old guy who has parked his little turquoise hatchback in front of the tea shop. He flips open the trunk and fires up a meat cooker he has stashed back there. Immediately he slaps on some burger patties and disappears down the street. Every now and then he returns to flip the patties and prepare the vegetables and bread.

The cleaning lady is now working on the windows on the balcony. She too has a cigarette hanging from her mouth.

The fitness club receptionist returns carrying two bags full of groceries. She goes inside leaving the two guys outside chatting and nibbling on pastries.

Out from the bicycle shop the customer, finished with his tea, emerges leaving the sales guy to restock the bicycles. No sale today.

Two more guys arrive at the gym. Rather than go inside and use the facilities they light up cigarettes and join the ongoing conversation occurring out front. One does go inside briefly only to emerge again with more pastries for snacking.

The sales guy at the bicycle shop comes out and calls the burger guy inside for a short conversation. He quickly returns, though, to resume flipping the patties.

Next door, just after one of the fitness guys returns from yet another trip to the grocery store, a water delivery man arrives with a flat tired trolley stacked with water bottles. The muscular trainers move well out of the way to give this scrawny delivery man room to unload the heavy packs of water bottles. After a short conversation and with paperwork and cash in hand the delivery man leaves. The trainers promptly reclaim their seats and continue chatting around the newly formed stack of water bottles.

A little girl hovers around the burger guy. Once and a while some of the men come out from the tea shop to look over the burger guy’s shoulder and inspect their order. Not ready yet they go back and take their seats again at the tea shop.

Kevin returns from scouting out another bicycle shop where we’ll go later to get chains and a replacement tire.

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