Eric's Beijing Diary

Well, my one-lock bicycle got a flat today. I took it to a bicycle shop right near my place. I was trying to tell them what was wrong, and not doing very well, when a passing student stopped to help translate. They said it would cost me 44 yuan, and told me to come back in an hour. When I got back, the price had gone up a little. Now it was 48 yuan. That's half as much as I paid for the whole bicycle in the first place. The lady kept saying "Bu hao shang." Not easy to fix. Was I going to argue about si kwai? No. That's less than fifty cents. Besides, they did do a good job, and gave me a new tire. They even fastened my loose chain guard. I didn't even ask them to do it. Fact is, i didn't want them to do it. I prefer to leave it loose, because it's a lot easier to put the chain back on when it comes off. Well, it's probably a good thing, because they tightened the chain. Runs like a clock, now. Fortunately they didn't try to shine it up or anything. That would have upset me.

I stopped by the office today. Isaac (another professor) was there. He told me that his bike had been stolen. I asked him if it was old. He said, "No, it was the cheapest new one I could find." I said, "Was it locked?" He said, "Yes, but it just had a normal lock." Hmmm... putting one lock on a two-lock bicycle. Big mistake. I told Isaac where he could get a one-lock bicycle. He was very glad for the information.