I finally put up some Christmas pictures.

Also: Finding a decent bike shop is always a problem for me. They always seem to have their agenda, and I always know exactly what I want and it's hard to find a middle ground. For awhile, I found a place that I could muddle through, though the dudes were jerks and unfriendly but would eventually get me -- or do -- what I wanted (you know, as the paying customer).

Then one day I went in and all the familiar faces were gone, replaced with inexperienced, inept employees. About the same time, a new shop opened right across the street from our place called Rad der Stadt, essentially the city's bike but with a double meaning about being in the pulse of the city or so (it's a German thing). I should have seen the connection but the only thing that opens more frequently around here than bike shops are kids' clothing shops.

I decided to give the Rad der Stadt a try and who do I discover running it? Of course: all the dudes from the other place. Only, suddenly they were friendly. Whenever I returned defective stuff to their old shop and they were horrific -- first blaming me, then blaming someone else, then trying to just not do anything and eventually giving in (welcome to Berlin, this is status quo here).

I bought a lock at Rad der Stadt and, later that day, the key broke off in it. When I took it back, they just laughed and handed me a new one. You can imagine my shock.

Last weekend I mentioned to them how they were completely different people. Again, they laughed and said they were glad to hear it. They run the shops as collectives. At the old place, one of the partners was just a jerk and none of them wanted to be there, or tied to him, they told me. They're totally digging their new setup, and it shows.

It seems like a good lesson for a business school, if you ask me. Now they laugh and acknowledge their own agenda while conceding that my own ideas might work too -- the perfect way to weasel more money out of me.