Inflation

Having nothing better to do this weekend, I decided to give my bike a clean. I can't remember the last time I cleaned it (must have been last summer) so it was covered in mud, brake carbon dust, oil and more worryingly, blood. I applied an all over spray of Muck-off™, got the powerhose out of the shed and gave it a good hose-down. It made little difference, it was going to require soapy water and much elbow grease to shift the bikey grease. I had spent about 45 minutes at it (resorting to wire wool) and had just about finished half of the front wheel. Next thing the neighbour's kid popped his head over the fence and started talking to me. He's a nice enough lad, about 14 or 15, never any trouble. He asked if he could clean my bike for me. Choices choices. Spend the rest of the afternoon scrubbing away, get bored and only do half a job, or get the sap next door to do it while I watch Sussex v Somerset on Skysports 2 and enjoy a few Carlsbergs (hey, they were on special alright?)

'Sure' I said, 'how much do you want to do it.'
'30 quid' he said.

You could knock me down with a feather. I offered him £15 (which I thought was at least £7.50 to much) and he said, I quote, 'Fuck that, I wouldn't get out of bed for £15' and promptly dissapeared back inside.

There are a number of morals to this story:
Never buy a bike with alloy wheels.
Clean my bike more often, it saves much pain later on. And I won't need wire wool to clean off the insects fossilised in the headlights.
No matter how much I think I am 'with the kids', I am older than I think and getting left behind.

£30? The cheeky fecker.