I confess, I’m a pack rat. It’s hard for me to throw anything away, because You Never Know. Take corks, for example. I really do not like throwing corks into the trash, particularly real corks, as opposed to the plastic ones used by some vintners now. And when I lost the bar end plug from my utility bike, I was glad that there was a drawer-full of corks to choose from to replace the plug. In short order a snazzy cork from a bottle of Port plugged the gaping hole at the end of the handlebar—there’s even an embossed galleon on the cork’s capped end.

 

 
Of course, now that I’d used the cork, there wasn’t another available in case the other bar end plug fell out. Oh well, what better excuse is there to open a new bottle for a Port and Stilton lunch? Saúde!

 

 
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