On my main blog, Traffick, I alluded to some silly comment I made to coworkers about rollerblading to work. Allow me to elaborate on the foolishness.

Now as I understand it, some of the smartest people in the world bicycle to work. Indeed one of my contacts at Tucows - the company that owns this blog software - mentioned that he cycles from the High Park area into the Tucows offices at King & Dufferin. Props to that.

As my coworkers scoffed at the very idea that I could make my way to Adelaide and Spadina from Bloor and Windermere area without collapsing, I am now obsessed with proving them wrong. Let me just point out, though, that blading is a little more tiring than cycling, and it will probably take awhile for me to adjust to the concept of bringing my sweat into the office, toweling off, and changing into dry clothes.

I'm expecting the trek would be 45 mins. in either direction. I won't do it more than once a week.

To give me added incentive I got a pair of nicer K2 inline skates this week.

Don't get me started on how Sport Chek should pay me the commission for selling myself the skates, instead of to the indifferent kid salesman. First off, he's bent on selling everyone the worst skates in the store. Amazingly, an extra $30 is not a deal-breaker for the upwardly mobile professional such as myself. His next stellar bit of salesmanship is to say they "don't have many sizes left." In fact, they did have my size in pretty much every model they sell, so that turned out to be redundant. Except there was a flaw in the buckle in the pair I was trying on, which we eventually fixed. His solution was to suggest I get a different pair, but the only one left was a size bigger!! Instead of a 9, he had it in his head that I'd be more than content to walk out of the store $200 lighter, carrying a size 10! Happy skating!

Need I point out that size 10 Paul Coffey used to play in the NHL with his feet crammed into size 7's, and he was one of the fastest skaters of all time? But I digress.

I'm pretty sure that at this salesman's age, I would have sucked at this job, too. But it does make you wonder about paying a "commission" - and enduring the bugger carrying the skates I sold myself up to the cash, like he made a sale or something.

If you're going to actively discourage people from buying, I'd think the minimum wage would be sufficient.