Platform 327

The weather was, as they say, fabulous today. I took the opportunity to drop my bike off for a tune-up and take a little walk around my new city.

I’m telling ya, I don’t know why I spent so much time busting my hump in Toronto. First off, when I took my bike in the guy said, “The basic tune-up is $25. Is that okay?” Is that okay? Fuck, dude, the last bike tune-up I had in Toronto was about fifty bucks. Yeah, that’s okay! Of course, I played it cool, but inside I was freaking out.

Then I decided to stop for a beer during my walk around town. Ordered a bottle, and the waitress said, “That’ll be $3.50.” Again I had to contain my freak-outishness. Did I ever pay $3.50 for a bottle of beer in a bar in Toronto? It’s possible, but the earliest memories I have of drinking in TO involved handing over a $5 bill when the waitress said, “$4.50,” and never seeing any change. Hell, I don’t recall ever seeing any barmaid even make the effort to make change.

Oh, and get this. When I went to pick up the bike, the guy who originally quoted me $25 for a tune-up said, “Your bike was actually in pretty good shape, so it’s only $15.” WHAT?! Toronto bike shop dudes were always ripping me off. This guy goes $10 UNDER his already ridiculously low quote! So I talk to him about some other modifications I want to make to my bike, including getting a new kickstand that’ll hold the thing up when I go bicycle camping. Toronto price: $55. Hamilton dude’s quote: $17.

And need I remind my gentle readers that I’m paying $490 in Hamilton for a better place than what I was paying $900 for in downtown Toronto?

Yeah, I think I’m gonna like it here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 5:39 pm and is filed under It's All About Me. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.