bike dealer math skills

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

From today's almost-daily diary entry (www.ChainReaction.com/diary.htm)
regarding leaving the Las Vegas trade show. Please note that I'm not
implying your own local dealer is anywhere nearly as clueless as what I'm
describing here! --Mike--

09/27/07- WE DIDN'T BECOME BIKE DEALERS DUE TO OUR SUPERIOR MATH SKILLS. So
there's a zillion people leaving the bike show in Las Vegas this evening,
waiting in long lines for a taxi. Meanwhile, there's a whole bunch of limos
trying to convince customers to go for a ride with them, at ridiculous
prices ($40 for one person, $50 for two, etc). A taxi ride to the airport
runs about $15. These limo guys are really aggressive, getting in your face
when you tell them sorry, that's too much, we'll take the cab. They tell you
you're lying to them, you'll learn your lesson, whatever. I let the other
guys around me know what a cab costs and why it would be silly to take one
of the limos. They all agree (there are 4 of us) that I'm right, it doesn't
make sense, we'll get a cab and even with the extra person fee, it'll come
to $20 total. So this limo guy sees there are 4 of us and says tell you
what, $40 for everyone. And they jump at it. At that point I figure why not,
time to get away from here, but I'm joking with them about their math
skills, and they collectively have one of those "DOH!" moments.

Those running the Blackjack tables must salivate at the thought of bike
dealers coming to town...

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

 

[David L. Johnson]

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

> 09/27/07- WE DIDN'T BECOME BIKE DEALERS DUE TO OUR SUPERIOR MATH SKILLS. So

> Those running the Blackjack tables must salivate at the thought of bike
> dealers coming to town...

I'm not a bike dealer. I'm a mathematician. Our main national society,
the AMS, once held its annual meeting in Las Vegas. We're talking 2000
mathematicians. It did not go so well. Cabbies hated us, since we all
walked wherever we wanted to go. The casinos couldn't understand why we
weren't gambling --- it was because we knew the probabilities, and they
are not in our favor. So, they started offering free food. That got
the mathematicians in the door, of course. There were breadlines of
them stretching around the block. No one gambled, of course, they just
came in for the free food.

After that the city of Las Vegas and the AMS agreed to not deal with
each other in the future.

--

David L. Johnson

"What am I on? I'm on my bike, six hours a day, busting my ass.
What are you on?"
--Lance Armstrong

 

[peter]

On Sep 27, 8:25 pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email protected]>
wrote:
> From today's almost-daily diary entry (www.ChainReaction.com/diary.htm)
> regarding leaving the Las Vegas trade show. Please note that I'm not
> implying your own local dealer is anywhere nearly as clueless as what I'm
> describing here! --Mike--
>
> 09/27/07- WE DIDN'T BECOME BIKE DEALERS DUE TO OUR SUPERIOR MATH SKILLS. So
> there's a zillion people leaving the bike show in Las Vegas this evening,
> waiting in long lines for a taxi. Meanwhile, there's a whole bunch of limos
> trying to convince customers to go for a ride with them, at ridiculous
> prices ($40 for one person, $50 for two, etc). A taxi ride to the airport
> runs about $15.

The Las Vegas airport is also one of the more convenient ones for
bicycling. Only about a 20 minute ride from the convention to the
airport and a few more to get my Friday into its suitcase. Of course
it's also possible to choose a longer route if desired.