The Great Firewall is fettlesome this morning, somehow managing to block Blogger, even through the tunnel. Flickr's always fine, though. Yesterday I took the bike to the wee place on the corner that mends bikes, got the saddle lowered, the brakes adjusted and the chain oiled. I was after the bicycle equivalent of a 10,000 mile service, and had the Chinese for that written down, but the man in the bike place said it didn't need it. He asked how long I'd had it, but remained impassive when I said a month. I asked if he thought it was a good bike, and he shook his head and laughed and said, No, it was Chinese. He said I should get a Japanese bike if I wanted a good one. I think this was probably a sincere opinion, as the place didn't sell bikes, so he had no ulterior motive. And, as fond of the bike as I am, he has a point: it's a bit cumbersome if, for example, you're trying to negotiate a narrow way with a basket full of shopping, up a slope, with a sh...