The weather had been changing for a couple of weeks. Of course the weather is always changing, but for the last couple of weeks it had been slipping in and out of the comfortable temperature ban. That was my opinion anyway.

On November first the temperature took a nose dive, and to make things worse it rained all day. It was one of those soaking rains that just didn't show any signs of ending. By the end of the day I was thinking Ark and pairs of animals. It was just a miserable rainy period that carried on into a second day.

Just when it looked as though the fall monsoon might have set in, the sun came out. The temperature however stayed cool. It was cool enough to have me evaluate my winter clothing situation. I had several suits and sport coats that I planned to never put on again. Besides they would be a couple of sizes too large. My summer dieting had been reasonably successful.

During the rain I had been walking at the mall. At the mall it was a big social club, since all the people knew each other. That is all but me, I was the outsider. I did get to see some faces I hadn't seen since my last days walking there.

The first thing on my mind was heavier clothing, so I stopped in a couple of the stores after I walked. The prices almost sent me into shock. I knew for a fact that I wouldn't be buying my clothes at the mall.

Since I had been working on my house and the bike all summer, I had been buying more or less throw away clothing at the thrift store. I bought cotton pants for three bucks, which I went home and cut into shorts. I also bought tee shirts of various types, which I didn't cut up. I also had a couple of 'Lightning Express' uniforms. The khaki pants would do even in the winter. Even the short sleeve white golf shirt would work with a jacket. The jacket would hide the snubbie, should I feel threatened. Problem was I didn't have a jacket, at least not the kind I wanted.

I found the jacket I wanted for the uniform at Walmart. I got what would have cost me thirty bucks at the mall for twelve bucks at Wallymart. I didn't expect that I wouldn't be doing much work at on the house, or the bike until summer, but I still wanted work clothes just to wear around the house. The thrift store had already changed it's stock over to winter clothes. it seemed that most people had enough sense to clean their closets before the cold weather actually arrived.

At the thrift store I bought long pants and sweat shirts. The twenty dollar sweatshirts were five and the pants were three fifty. I bought lots of used clothes just to wear and not care if I got grease on them.

Since the cold rain served to get me ready for the winter, I guess it wasn't all bad. I did find that riding the bike was fun, even in the cooler weather. Actually it was just as much fun in the fifty degree weather as in eighty degrees. I figured it might be a little rough to ride at 30 degrees, but I decided that I had no reason to ride it when it got that cold. The bike was just a hobby.

It was a good thing that I bought the thrift store clothes, since the bike required work after ever ride. Grease on my clothes had become a way of life. My Vietnamese laundry woman was not happy about returning clothes to me with grease stains. I told her at least a dozen times not to worry, I knew they stains would be there when I gave them to her.