Well whatever. To each his (or her) own I guess. For me, $2500 is a lot of money. I ran my own business and worked my *** of for each and every single dollar and I manage money well. It's a big purchase to me and I don't expect things to arrive damaged. Not the shop owners fault but as I didn't transport the bike, not my fault either. Regardless, she called Specialized and they sent out a new one, no problem.

As to the religious aspect, my faith is extremely important to me and in a world where being PC rather than having a moral foundation seems to be the only acceptable option, I respect and value someone who will put their faith out there. Seeing the Crucifix in her place of business gave me a very warm feeling. As a business owner she is free to do that. As a business owner I was free to refuse to make any of my products with Obama wording because I am fundamentally against everything he stands for. That's my right as the owner of the business and I realized that I lost some business because I refused to do that. No biggie, that's my right to stand on my morals. I've chosen my doctor because he understands my religious stance against contraception, I've chosen my local Wendy's over McDonald's because they play the local Christian music station. I'm allowed to make my faith the center of my decision making and don't feel the need to apologize for that.

The irritation of stem charge, sure, that's a first world problem. But I was only aggravated because the other shop hadn't planned to charge me for it. No biggie. I'd say anyone spending more than $500 on anything that's recreational has the luxury of first world problems so be that as it may, I can be irritated if I want to.

More than anything I was feeling the let down. I put a lot of time and effort into making what was for me a big and expensive decision after huge life changes like a sucky expensive divorce and the sale of my business. I brought the bike home, found the chips and couldn't even take it out for a spin. I was just a little cranky, PMS'y and tired. Next time I'll take my old bike out and work it out myself rather than looking for a virtual hug. Whatever.

FWIW, I got the replacement in and after a quick 30 miles this morning, I'm totally in love with it. It's seriously a kick *** bike, I can't wait for the Bike MS ride this weekend. :-)