Sure it looks good, but is it fast?

A funny thing about regular blogging: sometimes I look at my list of ideas for posts, open up a document to start writing, and suddenly find none of them sufficiently interesting. I’ll chalk it up to coming down with something as I think/hope that some of those post ideas are pretty good. Still, I do want to post something so I think I’ll write a review of the Schwinn 12” Roadster Tricycle, our big gift to the boys for their recent second birthday.

I’ll admit it: I was drawn to the aesthetics first and foremost. I mean, look at this thing! It has an awesome retro feel to it, a wooden running board, fantastic chrome fenders, tassels, a bell… I don’t want to turn them into hipster kids or anything, but this thing looks like it should be hanging out alongside a bunch of café racers.

Looks only get something so far, however. We hesitated to order these online as we were unable to locate one to inspect in person. We read a few reviews, held our breath, and went in for two. Having received them, let me just say that they’re pretty great even if they do have a few flaws.

Pros:

• Aesthetics. Seriously, can you find a better looking trike for under $100? The rear wooden running board is fantastic, as are all the chrome accents.

• Sturdiness of frame. The main frame is not going to bend. Hell, I’m not even sure I could dent it without a bat. It is an extremely well-made component.

• Air-filled tires. They rock (though I do wish they were whitewalls) and they seem to hold air very well.

• Low profile. In addition to looking rad, the “low rider” design—the result of too much WD40 and an amorous night between a classic tricycle and a big wheel—reduces the chances of tipping to almost nothing. It also makes mounting and dismounting especially easy for little ones.

• Adjustable. The seat has six possible positions and will accommodate a wide range of sizes. With the seat all the way up, the boys can reach the peddles well, so I suspect that the recommended age range of 2 to 5 is pretty accurate.

Cons:

• Poor quality control. While the frame is extremely well made, I worry about the securing bracket for the handlebars. I have a feeling a repair or two will be in my future, and I’m certain frequent adjustments will be necessary as it is impossible to tighten the bracket far enough to prevent it from twisting a bit out of line. That might seem like an automatic deal breaker; it isn’t as severe as it sounds though it is something that I wish the company would address. Additionally, the sticker accents were applied with no eye towards quality. I had to pull one partially off to reposition it—ironically one declaring “Schwinn Quality”—and the little black and white stripe details on the fenders are applied with a similar degree of clumsiness. Having worked in manufacturing, I’m almost certain that the frame, fenders, and paint are made in one factory—one with much better quality controls—while the stickers and such are applied at another location. Schwinn really ought to seek a replacement for the second.

• Weight. This is a somewhat unfair negative in that it contributes to the sturdiness of the frame, but it still ought to be mentioned as this bad boy is considerably heavier—and thus harder to pedel—than its classic counterpart.

So my only real complaint is quality control. The boys cannot pedal the beasts, but that seems completely inconsequential as they absolutely love them all the same. “Bike, Bike! Side! Go go, side!” they call after dinner, telling us it’s time to go outside and let them scoot around on their new toys.

Time for some action shots:

The final assessment? If you have to pay over $80-sh, then it’s probably not worth it. Below that price point, I think it overcomes its primarily aesthetic quality control issues and becomes a great piece of equipment. The blue one was once on sale for $50, an absolute steal that I'm sad I missed. I’ll update this post if any issues arise and give an additional assessment after a few months. For now, though, it's a nice day out, so...

Hardly Workin'

Another cute gift came in today, this one from my mother and step-father. My birthday is on April 3rd, the same day as out baby shower. As is to be expected (and as is greatly necessary), most birthday gifts are likely to have a theme of "soon-to-arrive twins." The gift from these two was certainly no exception.

First, a little background: as you may know from my other posts, I'm a graduate student in philosophy and, as you may guess, the market for folks with MAs in philosophy is rather minimal. I had originally planned to go on to obtain my PhD, but the field is ridiculously competitive--both to get into a PhD program as well as to obtain a full time, permanent position afterwards--and both my passion and my confidence in my abilities are waning. Amanda's job is willing to give her a significant degree of mobility by allowing her to work from home just as she has been doing for the past year and a half. Couple all of this with my own desire to have a trade and be able to contribute more financially and we arrive at a situation wherein we are free to do just about anything. The "anything" we've chosen to do is to move to St. George, Utah, where my brother has a flourishing contracting business. Every time we've visited them, I've gone to work with my brother. We laugh and play while also busting butt and the visits are always such special, wonderful times. Every time we leave, I get pretty teary-eyed and miss him and his wonderful wife and kids. Over the years, he has half-jokingly asked if I wanted to come out and work with him. I think he's still in shock since I asked him if he was really serious about the offer. The point of this long-winded story is to give a little background as to why I'm leaving academia for contracting and to explain this adorable birthday gift from my parents:

Take a closer look.

Pretty darn cute, no? It's a tool belt with a few key work elements and a handful of baby supplies. I can't imagine wearing it while diapering a child, however. I foresee being the one who conducts the bleary-eyed 2:00 am changings and, from what I understand, caulk makes very poor diaper rash paste.

My step-father wrote a pretty adorable poem to accompany the gift:
Speaking of gifts, we had perhaps the cutest card to ever be mailed arrive not too long ago, without warning. We get to see our niece, Grace, only once every few months. She adores Amanda but has seemed a bit hesitant about this whole baby thing. I'm not sure if this card was to her or to the boys, but in either case it had to be shared:

The inside card was just a piece of white paper with the word "baby" emblazoned on it in bold, red letters. Absolutely adorable, needless to say.

We were in a news lull for a bit and I was quite busy, hence my infrequent updates. I expect to return to regular posts again, however, as appointments are growing more frequent and more changes are taking place. Look out for a Fatherhood Friday post tomorrow in which I'm going to give a general update and pose a very serious question about c-sections, twins and breech babies.

It's Always the Season for Nightmares

I'm frantically attempting to close out this quarter as mentioned in the previous post, but I simply had to share a great present we received yesterday. My brother, sister-in-law and my nephew all headed off to Disneyland recently and they brought home presents for all four of us. Like any good former goth kid, I absolutely adore the movie Nightmare Before Christmas and that was the theme of my birthday package to be shared with all.

For me, a set of Jack Skellington mouse ears. For Amanda, a fantastic Nightmare-themed bag that I see as the perfect diaper bag companion to the two awesome, matching onesie/bottom sets for the boys. If you haven't gone nuts over those onsies yet, it must be because you haven't taken a close enough look at them:

They're going to wear these things until they fall apart. So flippin' cute!

We've also received gifts from other family members (thanks, Dad & Sherlene & others!), all of which have been most welcome. I'm glad the shower is coming up soon, though; we're both beginning to feel the stress of the boys' impending arrival and we want to make sure we have all the things we need (and a good number of things we just plain want) prior to their grand entrance.