Over and Under: Trip to Pukekohe, Part 3: Riley, Dean, Howard, Home

      When I arrived at Queen Street, I went to all the op shops first to see if anybody had a cheep used bicycle. I found one, but it was not a good bike for on the road, so I decided not to pay over twenty-five dollars. No, that's not much, but I decided to ask.
      "How much you gotta get for this?" I asked the clerk. He thought for a second then said, "How about seventy-five?" I obviously looked like I wasn't going to pay that much. "Fifty?" he asked. I didn't answer. "The lowest I'll go is forty-five," was his response to my silence. "Well, I can't give you more than twenty-five, so never mind." "I can't give  things away man!" he exclaimed as I walked toward the door. I answered, "I've bought a bike for ten dollars at a shop before." "Well, then go find yourself a bike for ten dollars, clown!" was the response.
      Out on the street I chuckled to myself that in such a short amount of time I changed from a walking preacher to a traveling clown. It's better to walk away with all your money than get a bad deal. And besides, someone had to be the poor guinea pig for me to practice my bartering skills on. Once he saw I was no longer interested he stopped playing my game. I made my way along the streets, going up into the thickest Maori part of town. I passed a couple big cuzzi-bros walking down the street. All the Maoris are related it seems, so they call each other cuzzi-bros. And genetically, they are a large breed! (And can make mean looking bikers.)
      I don't have time right now to elaborate on the rest of the the day but I saw Riley and Dean from the Snyders Bible Club. I also saw Mrs. Howard and left a note for Mr. Howard. The Ford Transit the Snyders used while in NZ was still in his garage.
      More later.