Got the Bike Back

February 15, 2023

After making a lot of phone calls, it turns out the bike was sitting in the airport. It had been on the next flight. In the end, they sorted it out with a luggage company that delivered the bike two days later.

Thankfully I didn't need the bike as I'm back in Vancouver running errands based out of a new Airbnb where everything is within walking distance. But if I was on tour I would be livid if something like this happened.

Speaking of the Airbnb, it is not exactly downtown but is very convenient because we can do most things we need without going very far.

With the final week to go before flying back to Shanghai, my school is back to classes while I'm still stuck here. So that basically means online teaching until I get on the plane.

A typical day in this last week goes something like this

1. Wake up, grab coffee, and do paper errands. These consist of digitizing a huge ream of papers that were found in that prized suitcase. There is a Staples within a short walk to here. I have the papers all set up in small batches that I scan on the machine. Based on my calculations I can get the whole thing done in 6 days.

The first of many batches of papers to digitize.

Getting the job done by myself, because nobody else is going to do it.

2. My wife and I do an Orange Theory fitness class at 10:30am at the nearby studio. The package of classes in Texas doesn't transfer over here, so I needed to buy a new batch of classes but calculated it exactly so that none go to waste.

3. Eat some lunch nearby.

Talk about sticker shock. What made this so expensive was the labor costs. You're basically paying someone to scoop food into a plastic container.

This could also explain the other problems I faced all throughout the trip. For example it is why nobody wanted to do any work like shrinkwrap a folding bike or do tuneups on it. Labor costs are the real killer around here.

Not only that, but we learned that the logistics challenges with online orders and delivery are designed on purpose to save labor costs. For example if you order something from Amazon, they mainly use the postal service to ship directly from the wholesaler. There is no longer a 'middle man' involved that allows you to pick up these products at a retailer. It would also explain why it was so difficult to source a bag for the folding bike. One of the shop assistants in Austin Texas even explained it this way, "These bags are not commonly sold so we don't keep inventory. If you want it, you need to order online."

The supply chains are pretty much in a mess.

This is also an emerging problem in other countries such as China where labor costs are rising steeply. Thankfully it's not quite yet like the problem in Canada and the US but it will be soon.

Basically the key takeaway we got is because of all these challenges, you're better off doing everything yourself. It isn't normally the default way I operate, as after all, why not just pay somebody to do it. For example, all this printing and digitizing. There are quite a few services my friend recommends where companies in Pakistan for example, will happily do all this work. You just send them the papers and they do all the scanning for you, as well as organize all your digital files. But sometimes this is just not practical or easy to arrange

4. I teach all my classes online. This starts around 4pm and goes until 11pm.

The nice thing about all this is you get a 3-day weekend starting with drinks on Thursday night and sleeping in all morning Friday. It means you have to work on Sunday evening but no biggie as everyone back home is dealing with Sunday anxiety and worried about work on Monday morning. Meanwhile you're working while they're worrying.

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