Not in Chicago anymore: Tires and Twitter

by Steve

I remember years ago when AOL bought what became their AIM chat product from a small startup in Israel. This company hadn't made a dime but they were able to cash out their product for millions. Twitter seems to be the same deal. They have made no profit and don't even have a plan to make any money from the service that they're providing, yet people are valuing the company at $1 billion. When we returned from lunch yesterday, I noticed that the lawn mower was sitting crooked. This is a large mower, 60 inch cut, that is parked during the summer in the garage just in front of where the car lives. Further investigation revealed that one of the rear tires was flat. Very flat. Odd, since I mowed yesterday and it was fine when I parked it. I drive to the store. It's easy to find; it's a large tire store that I have driven by many times but never really noticed. It has a Norwegian name, which explains why I was having trouble hearing it. I go inside, give the counter person the size of the tire, and he checks his computer. It seems that the only tire they have in the size I need is "a six ply". I plead ignorance and he explains that this is a commercial-grade tire that the City loves but somewhat overkill for me. Then he figures out that the cost difference between this WonderTire and something mundane is only about $10, so I decide to go with the tire that they have in stock. So he tells me to bring the old tire into the shop. I notice that there are big signs posted, "Employees only beyond this point due to insurance regulations." Apparently the signs are posted only because the insurance company wanted them posted; no one pays any attention to them. Once in the shop, he appears with a tire. It's obviously not a new tire. "I found this used one. I saw it the other day and when you came in, I realized it was the same size. It will cost you less than half of the other one." Sold. So he takes the tube over to the water tank to find the leak, which again...

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