I'm so sad to report that my bike of 17 years was stolen sometime on Saturday from my garage along with three other bikes. Besides just putting $200 into it just a couple of weeks ago it is irreplaceable because of the emotional attachment I have towards it. It wasn't just a reliable source of transportation but one of the few things in my life that I have ever held on to in a life that has been constantly changing.

I really want to find my bike again Peewee style. I went to Campus Wheel Works and they were so awesome and sympathetic. I called Rick's and told them about it in case someone tries to sell it to them. I don't have the serial number as I got it used and never thought to write it down. The police came last night and I didn't file the report because I thought I might be able to locate the serial number, so I am going to have to call them back and file it without one.

Not really sure what else to do. Making signs is a possibility as well as offering a reward. I'm willing to pay someone $200 for the bike no questions asked. I just want it back. Does anyone know of any places like pawn shops that might sell hot bikes? I'm checking craigslist constantly and am not sure if I should post on there or if that might scare them away.

The first three shots are of my missing bike. The last two are pictures I found on craigslist (Way too far from Buffalo to be mine.) The last two pictures look exactly like mine does.





Keep in mind that the bicycle has new break cable casing which is black and that the speedometer is no longer on the bike.

Thanks (e:jessbob) for alerting me to Lon's sentencing. I was waiting for a news story because I knew that the sentencing would be on the 4th but none of the news outlets covered it. I am reposting it again here just because I have the other news articles in my past journals and want this one too.

How pathetic that he still professes his innocence and is going to waste even more taxpayer dollars on his appeal. I think 4-12 years is a fair sentence along with being ordered to pay restitution. Hopefully they will keep him for the full 12 years if he does go through with an appeal. Interestingly, I have learned that this is not Lon's first time with fire. Back when he lived in Ohio a garage was burned down intentionally that just happened to have Lon's car in it. I like what the judge said about it being a completely selfish act because that is exactly what it was. His life would have been so much better if he just admitted defeat, claimed bankruptcy and started over again learning from his mistakes.

Here it is again....

Coffee shop owner gets 4 to 12 years for insurance arson
ByMatt Gryta
News Staff Reporter
Updated: September 08, 2009, 5:04 PM

Former Buffalo coffee shop owner Lon Coldiron, still proclaiming his innocence, today was ordered to spend the next four to 12 years in state prison for setting fire to the building in a bid to collect insurance money.

Coldiron also was ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution to the insurance company for what Erie County Judge Thomas P. Franczyk called his "terribly selfish" crime.

Coldiron, 43, was convicted by a jury July 27 of third-degree arson and attempted grand larceny for the Oct. 21, 2004, fire that destroyed his "Coffee &" shop and the three-story building it was in at 718 Elmwood Ave.

The judge denounced him for the "orchestrated" fire he falsely thought could generate insurance payments on his money-losing business.

It was Coldiron's second trial in connection with the fire. He was spared a jail term when an Erie County Court jury three years ago convicted him only of attempted grand larceny. However, an appellate court set aside that conviction and ordered a second trial because of juror misconduct in the first trial.

After Coldiron today insisted that "I'm still innocent and someday it will come out," Franczyk denounced him for the insurance ploy that prosecutors showed took place while his coffee shop was losing money and he was still gambling at nearby casinos "like a drunken sailor."

The judge also faulted him for causing damage to adjoining structures and putting Buffalo firefighters at risk in dealing with the early-morning arson five years ago. Franczyk also ordered him to repay Travelers Insurance Co. the $250,000 it paid the owner of the building destroyed in the arson.

John K. Jordan, Coldiron's attorney, said the conviction will be appealed.

Happy Birthday Mikey!










Does anyone know why my pictures are uploading sideways now? As saved files they are upright.

The other day I was riding my bike behind the history museum and as is customary in any type of traffic in this country, stayed to the right hand side. This little punk decides not to move out of my way and play chicken. Sorry, my bike is bigger and faster so you move out of the way as I am on the correct side. So he veers out of the way and then turns his wheel at me sharply like he is going to hit me but instead falls off his bike and rolls away. I look behind me and see that he is fine but his front tire is completely bent in half meaning not only that he can't ride it but he will have to carry it back home. I yell back "Tough luck eh?"

I wish all situations with stupid jerks would result in this type of deep and immediate satisfaction.

I just got this post it note from a guest.

@ 08/19/09 01:02@74.78.96.175 Guest wrote:

How can you find someone guilty of something without sufficient evidence from what I've heard and read he did not collect any insurance money, the only one that benefited from the fire was the landlord why not check him out. And they did not find any gasoline on the clothes they took from him at the hostital. What about the threating phone calls he was getting? One of his employees answered and got one of the threating calls. I think you should not be so hard on the guy.

Lon is this you? Probably not considering bail is set at $50k. Whoever you are you must be delusional. $300k insurance policy a month before the fire?! He got angry with a worker who called 911 to have a fire put out in his Niagara Falls location saying to me "She should have just let it burn down." Yes Lon is a fine guy indeed.

Anyways this is the original reason I signed on. I think it is fitting....






I think it is a huge rat. Do you agree? It seems water logged from the river.