(written 23 June 2015)
Tragically, one day I bungeed a plastic grocery bag of emergency stuff
to the outside of a pannier without tying the handles through the
wires.
I'd been refining that kit for decades, and I'd just made a spiffy new
case for the tools.
http://wlweather.net/pagesew/BIKE_KIT/BIKEROLL.HTM
This morning I realized that one thing I haven't added to the
regenerating tool kit is a lip-salve box filled with Eucerin Original
Healing (the hand-lotion you can slice). So where do I get a
lip-salve box now that lip salve comes only in sticks? Perhaps the
screw-top nail-art boxes they sell at Sally's Beauty Supply would do
(but what do I do with the other five boxes in the package?)
I have some drop-dispenser bottles, and could substitute olive oil --
but I had a *very* good reason to stop carrying liquids in my tool
kit.
Oh, well, these days I fix my flats with a cell phone anyway.
I've heard of people who clean their hands with gasoline after working
on their bikes. Ew, gross, ick! *Any* grease or oil will take chain
grease off; you don't have to use a solvent that stinks to high
heaven, poses a fire hazard, and strips enough fat out of your skin to
leave you with a medical condition.
I used to use abrasive soap, but it doesn't dissolve grease as well as
grease does.
I generally use olive oil, because there's a bottle next to the
microwave, and the kitchen is only one door from the garage. Before I
started cooking with olive oil, there was usually a skillet of used
fat sitting around.
Special containers of "mechanic's hand cleaner" are available; the
smallest can of Crisco works just as well.
All work the same way: grab a glob of grease, rub it into the stain,
rub it off with a paper towel, repeat until clean -- or, out on the
road, until you don't mind touching stuff.
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At that point I stopped writing and went for a twenty-five mile ride.
Happened to pass Sally's Beauty Supply on the way back, but they have
discontinued the empty boxes. Maybe I can find something suitable in
the craftsy-waftsy department at Walmart. (Or I might find an old
lip-salve box if I cleaned out all my drawers.) I must also check
pill-box displays.
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Before getting around to posting this, I found a sample packet of hand
lotion left over from when I was a Fuller Brush Man. It still
squished, so I added it to the emergency kit.
--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
http://wlweather.net/N3F/ -- Writers' Exchange