Wait, a tiny brass bell was just hanging out in his seat tube for like five years? That is wild to me. Not even rattling enough for him to notice until now, just quietly dinging away on every bump like a little haunted house. I would be dying to know if the factory worker who dropped it got in trouble or if it was on purpose as some kind of joke. A bell is such a weird thing to find too, like at least a bell has a purpose, but how did nobody catch him with it? I would've kept it for sure, that's a good luck charm now.

Watched a guy swear by those fiberglass wraps on a dock down in Anacortes until I got right up on one and the edge had lifted just enough for salt water to creep under. The wrap still looked smooth and gray from three feet away, but the wood underneath was mush and you could poke a screwdriver into the gap. Learned right then that a jacket only works if the seal stays tight, and the splash zone is exactly where it won't. Used to figure wrap was the easy fix for old pilings, now I'd rather see it pulled off and checked than trust how it looks.