Perhaps part of my distemper resulted from my not having ridden my bike in a while. It, being the piece of crap that it is, was broken yet again.
One of its larger problems is that it lacks a kickstand, and as a result it tips over a lot. And every time it does, something breaks. This last time it was the rear lamp. But the other problem, the more serious one as far as I was concerned, is that the little pulley that put tension in the cable running from the gear shifter to the derailleur had popped off, and consequently the bike was now stuck in the hardest gear. Having now experienced the joys of riding a bike in something other than the hardest gear, I found this change most unwelcome and thus avoided riding the bike.
Finally, though, I got around to fixing it today. I went back to the university bike shop, now with enough German to be able to ask my questions with some competence, and got a new pulley. Someone helped me put it on and made it so the gears all now work. Or so it would seem so far... The bike is currently in second gear, which is generally usable around the fairly flat city, but in any case I'm planning to make do with it. It was the last time, when I greedily tried to ride in first gear up the hill to my apartment, that my troubles began and the pulley popped off. So rather than tempt fate, I think I'll content myself with second gear for the duration.
I also got a new rear lamp, although I decided against getting a kickstand. I had seriously considered getting a kickstand: normally it's not worth the extra weight (the bike already weighs 1.8 tons) but it might keep things from breaking further if it could keep the bike from falling over. On the other hand, I'm tired of putting money into a bike that I'll only use for another month and a half. I could put a lot of money in and it would not cease to be a piece of crap, so I think I'll save myself the grief.
But on the upside, today is a gorgeous day and it was nice to get to ride around for a change. Back at school I am now sitting outside in the fresh air as I write this, which is very nice except that lots of bugs for some reason seem to be inclined to land on my computer. And the last thing I want at this point is a buggy computer...