Wednesday, June 15, 2011

I bought a bike today, and other things

So, I finally took the plunge and decided to by myself a bike today.  It is a cruiser bike to ride around town on.  The store had two in stock (in the back, which they so nicely put together for me).  Unfortunately, they were the two that I was trying to decide between online.  They both had excellent customer ratings.  Why is this unfortunate...well, it meant I had to make a decision.  If I were to have decided on looks alone, I would have bought the Huffy Cranbrook Cruiser.  It had a nice retro look, which I really liked.  Comfort-wise, I think I liked the Schwinn Delmar Cruiser slightly more, but it was close, and it's not like I could really ride them much in the store.  I also liked that the DelMar had a rack on the back.  In terms of price, the Huffy was 9 or 10 dollars cheaper. 

So, do I go with the one that's the better price and the one I think looks cooler, or the one that is slightly more, but has a slight edge in terms of comfort, and a rack already included.  This was a tough decision for me, I called home and spoke with my brother and after much debate in my head I decided to go for the Schwinn.  I think part of it had to do with the fact that I tend to correlate Huffy with kids bikes and Schwinn bikes with adult bikes (even though the looks of these two bikes seemed the opposite of that to me).  Also, the Schwinn received slightly better reviews on the website.

Now, after one ride on the bike, I am happy with my purchase.  We'll see how it holds up over time.  The ride was very smooth, and although the roads were flat, not downhill, the bike coasted really well.  I was not planning on riding the bike quite so soon, but unfortunately it would not fit in my car.  So, my solution was to ride the bike home, then walk back to the store and drive my car home.  This solution worked pretty well and didn't take too long.  I'm thinking of hooking a laundry basket to the back so that I can ride my bike to get groceries.  I would put a link here so you can see what type of laundry basket I'm talking about, but I can't find it online (it really doesn't look too bad - I tried it out when I got home and it actually looks quite nice on the back - not too ghetto).

In other news, I'm considering buying a house.  Therefore, today I went and took a look at a few houses.  Once again, this means decisions, which I am not good at.  I also went to the bank to find out information about loans and what I would qualify for. 

Last, but not least, I will finally be getting a bed.  A co-worker is selling a bed - frame, headboard, footboard, mattress, box springs...the works, and she is even throwing in free delivery.  Now, I haven't really felt the need to buy a bed.  I like sleeping on the couch quite a lot, but I figure that guests might appreciate a real bed to sleep on, so...I decided I should get one.  I also figure if I'm getting a house, I should probably have at least one bed in it.

Also, if you want to vote on a house, you can go to this website and let me know which houses you like.  I'm not looking for anything very big, but I am looking into the possibility of getting something where I can rent out part of it. 

4 comments:

Alycia said...

I have a Schwinn and I quite like it. When I test rode it in the store (Target?) it seemed easier to ride than some of the others. I think you made an excellent choice.

Also, looking at houses can be fun. If you get a real estate agent (you should), you can tell them what you are looking for and they can help you narrow it down. They should (hopefully) know things like which neighborhoods allow you to rent out to roommates or rent out part of your house, etc... Plus looking at the homes listed, you will definitely want a home inspection first. There are many charming homes, but they are a bit older which means more possible issues. But they are definitely cute.

Beee said...

I agree with Loo on the real estate agent. Most get paid in closing cost, so really didn't feel like we paid anything for ours (seems like someone was going to get the money, so your agent might as well.) Always get the home inspection. I personally do not really like HOAs. That is probably where you would run into problems of renting out rooms. I saw some of the older houses with some nice woodwork, but I guess there are other things to consider. Last thing, beware if the realator trys to blow off something like a "snake" problem as something invented by the previous owner to get out of their mortgage (check out the story of the house in Rexburg). Happy house hunting. oH, and sweet ride!

Moo said...

I also have a Schwinn that I quite like, but don't ride for reasons you may know. I recently lent it to Roo, though S.Q. and Dad did quite a bit of work on it since it had been outside for four year.

Beee said...

17 S. Strevell is a nice one, I like the wood detail there.
46 Agate Drive. I like the rock/brick work inside. Makes it nice. Kitchen seems nice here. It also is only a year older than you AND has the double ATTACHED garage. I personally like attached garages, especially in the winter.