Tripod?

I did a call out after work today. I didn't get paid. Neither did Staples.
A lady bought a computer for her aged parents, and wanted the router setting up. Staples don't do call outs (thankfully), so we got someone from a Geeks On Site-type business to go out and do it. They charged her $150 up front. She'd got a new computer and an old one running Windows 98. She wanted a router that would work with both. I told her they all would.
The lady from the call-out business spent one and a half hours at her house, and told her it wouldn't work with that router. She would have to get a different router from Staples, and pay another $150 to have her come out and install it. Because she dealt with us, and not the call-out company, she was angry with us, not them.
Her parents live on Richard's Trail, so I went round after work. It took me 8 minutes, and that included showing her how to make the text bigger, set up e-mail and stuff like that.
How do these companies get away with it? "All our Geeks are A+ certified." I've never known a certified tech that was good at his job. Everyone said I should get my papers. Has anyone ever read over a test? They're ridiculous. (I'm getting off topic again, aren't I?)
How do they get away with not doing the job and getting $150 for it, when I have to do it for free on my own time? But she was a very nice lady, and let me keep my shoes on in the house.
Anyway, it was a nice short ride. While riding in the dark, I kept spotting good photo opportunities. Since it is always dark when I'm not at work in my dusty, dark triangular tech room full of ancient computers, cardboard boxes and Styrofoam packaging, I haven't had much opportunity to use my new camera at all. I would really like to get a tripod. I'd love to take night photos, and I have the knowledge to do so (thanks Mr. Stone).
So I rode to Wal Mart (only place open at this time of day). They had a couple of cheap ones, but I can't imagine them being usable, so I ended up coming back with some bengal spice tea bags instead (I had some at Hilary's last night. Thanks for dinner Hilary and Dave. Good luck eating them mashed potatoes!).
What kind of tripod do I want? Most importantly, it's not going to get used unless it can be easily and comfortably carried on my bike. While a full-size tripod would go on a rack on Jake just fine, I don't want a rack on my mountain bike. Whick means it either has to be attached inside the frame, or go in my pack comfortably. Fitting it to the frame means my (second) water bottle would have to go in my pack too (as my frame is too small for both, I can only just fit one water bottle in there), which isn't convenient. My pack isn't big enough for a tripod, so I need a bigger pack. I've needed a bigger pack for a while. When going riding to Victoria or Nanaimo for a day trip my Camelback Mule isn't big enough, especially if I want to bring anything back. So I'd like a tripod, and a new pack too.
It's a slippery slope.

For the tripod, I want one with a quick release head, as I can't see myself unscrewing it every time. A reasonably cheap solution would be a Joby GorillaPod, which would be good for mountain biking and stuff, but not so great otherwise. I'd want something with expanding legs. A "compact" tripod would be good. Most have a maximum height of around 1 m, and pack to about 40 cm long. I should imagine that would fit in a pack. Should I get a tripod, and then a pack it will fit in, or buy a pack and find a tripod to fit in it?