The owner's business card describes himself as a "Cycloanalyst." What more could you ask for?
An unfortunate event had befallen my manually-driven, wheeled transportation. The aluminium torque-schematic gear valve guide mark II limited edition model 4 (only sold for a short time in parts of east Bolivia) had transmogrified into something which could only be described as "busted."
Dragging the bike as best I could into this dungeon, I proclaim:
"Look! Look at this yoke. The one beside the wheel. It's broken."
The owner stops for a moment, a gear in his head starts spinning.
"Sure, that's an aluminium torque-schematic gear valve guide mark II limited edition model 4. I've got one of those over here. Did you know they were only sold for a short time in parts of east Bolivia?"
He wanders into the back of the shop and looks inside a box.
Back to the front of the shop, scanning some shelves.
He rifles through a container hidden from the casual observer.
Goes back down to the rear of the shop and looks inside some drawers.
Nothing.
I attempt to comprehend the vastness of this workshop. The floor is made of bicycles. And underneath those? More bicycles. And underneath those? It's bicycles all the way down. Confronted with infinity and contemplating the size of the universe, the mind starts to unravel. Walls and metaphor crumble then fade away, leaving only a bleak and empty expanse of void between me and my soul.
"Oh, here it is."
The component has magically appeared in his chrome palm.
"This isn't quite the same. It's an aluminium torque-schematic gear valve guide mark II limited edition model 4a. It's pretty much the same, but was sold in Trinidad. Let's say five Euro." read more