THANK YOU, PORTLAND!

Hello, everyone! Caffeine Jones, here, dashing off a quick note to everyone to express my deepest gratitude for the outpouring of support we've received over the last few days!

Today, I recieved two wonderful phone calls, one from our local inspector, and one from a really nice guy from the City Commissioners' office.
It appears they've had a flood of emails & phone calls, voicing support for the Clown House Bike Shop.
So here's the deal: the inpector was kind enough to make an appointment w/me for Monday, to walk the yard, and let me know if there are any remaining violations.
The gentleman w/the Commissioners' Office was hopeful that we could come up w/some kind of maintenence sytem, so that we could be keeping the shop clean, so as not to generate any further complaints. He was very understanding of the fact that one man's trash is another man's treasure, and that a stack of frames is a potential goldmine to someone who needs a bike.

I need to tell you all that, having had this as a recurring issue, over the last 6 years of having an informal bike shop, I couldn't be more thrilled to be hearing so much from the citizens of Portland that this is a resource that is valuable to you all. We certainly feel good about keeping things out of the trash, teaching mechanics, & getting people transportation who need it. Since we know that it is appreciated, we can go ahead & work out some systems to ensure its sustainability.

I will let you all know how our meeting with the inspector goes, & I will try to get from him a list of guidelines, so we can keep it all kosher.

Thanks again, Portland. I was losing a little faith in humanity, and you've reminded me why I choose to live here!