Honda Repair: 90 Honda Accord manual shifter wont recognize its in park, dashboard lights, honda accord

Question
My '90 manual transmission Honda Accord has a problem with the shifter. The problem occurs mainly when the car is cold and what happens is that when shifting the car into 'Park' it doesn't recognize that it has been shifted into 'Park', meaning that the light on the dashboard that shows what gear your manual transmission is in doesn't light up. When this happens it won't let my key out of the ignition as it doesn't recognize it is in park. I can toggle the gearshift (sometimes for minutes) and finally it will recognize or move into the correct position and the Park light on the dashboard lights up and I can remove my key from the ignition. That is the problem - I called around and the Honda mechanic said that the cable will need to be adjusted. Would you agree with the diagnosis?
He quotes this as an hour and a half job. Is this right? I can't believe it would take an hour and a half to adjust a cable. I don't want to get taken.
Thanks for your response.
Mike

Answer
Mike:
Yeah, that is probably the problem. As for the hour and a half, here is how it works: There is a repair guide that shops use to tell how long a job should take. They charge you for the time no matter how long it takes. Say a mechanic does 15 hours of work per day (book hours) and only works eight... well that is how they make money. So you are right, it may take 30 minutes and you pay for 90. They all do it this way.
Bill