Gina's bike Walter

Monday morning broke cold and hard, but Walter was determined to work on the bike. After ten minutes in the unheated shop, Walter headed to the Home Depot in search of some kind of heater. He didn't care much for the thought of an open flame around gasoline engines so he settled for an electric ceramic space heater. It provided just enough heat to warm his hands.

Since Walter had learned how to dress for the cold during his winter bike rides, he was layered up to the point that he resembled the Pillsbury Doughboy. He sat on a stool from his old garage shop as he made his plans for the bike. The Saw he bought was easy to convert to a bicycle engine. There was a side panel and once it was off the clutch was visible. He would loved to have used the clutch, but from what he read the engine lift, like the one on Gina's bike, would be the easiest thing to build.

He forgot all about the cold and even lunch as he worked on the engine mount. It was a lot more difficult to figure out than he had expected. There were a lot of starts and stops to redo it along the way, but late in the afternoon he had the frame assembled. After test fitting the engine Walter stopped for the day. He carried the frame from the shop, but left the engine inside. He locked up then went into the house to eat his second meal of the day.

The microwave dinner wasn't bad but it was extremely bland. He wrote spice in big letters on his shopping list. It was to become a habit for Walter. He began to make lists for himself. Most likely he should have been doing it for years, but during his depression it was just one more thing that got overlooked.

Walter knew what he wanted to do with the engine frame so I left it by the front door when he went to sleep that evening.