Occasionally Wright

Back

For those wondering, I'm back in Ottawa. What did I miss?

My trip included a Southern Thanksgiving, an ECHL hockey game, a viewing of the second largest Van Gogh collection in the world, 10 holes of disc golf, a few movies (National Treasure and Saved) and lots of food and visiting. I even met a fellow blogger for lunch one day.

Good times indeed.

Wacky Geography

Selected mistakes on Meg's shower curtain which has a map of the world on it:

• St Joun's, NB
• Saint John's, Newfoundland
• Does Grand Back, Nfld exist? Gander, Cornerbrrok and Lab City are absent
• Ottawa is placed in Quebec
• The border between Manitoba and Saskatchewan is missing
• Sept-Iles is placed slightly below Labrador
• Winnipegosis
• Medicine Hat is in Saskatchewan
• Victoria and Calgary are missing are just two sgnificant cities that are missing
• Albany is in southeastern Ontario
• The Northwest Territories is divided into three territories which bear no resemblance to anything I've ever seen
• I don't know if Saint Lawrent refers to the river or the gulf. It's wrong either way.

Those are just the mistakes for Canada. There could be countless others in other parts of the world that I've missed or don't know well enought ot correct.

On the Road Again...

I'm off to Georgia again. Posts will be sporadic until I'm back. I'd tell you when but then you wouldn't stop by the check, would you?

Delta vs Air Canada

On my recent trip down to Atlanta and back I flew with Delta instead of Air Canada as usual. It's the second time I've flown the same route with them so I figured I should compare the two airlines, one of which has just emerged from bankruptcy protection, the other of which is in massive financial trouble.

Things I like about Air Canada:

Aeroplan Miles- I've had two free flights with them in the last year or so.
It's a Canadian company that employs Canadians
Generally friendly staff at counters and on planes, aside from in Toronto
Roomy planes
Good online booking system

Drawbacks of Flying Air Canada:

No direct flights to Atlanta from Ottawa
Horrible customer service when things go wrong (which is fairly often)

Things I Like About Delta:

Direct flights to Atlanta from Ottawa rather than connections through TO or Montreal
Allow me to pre-clear customs in Ottawa instead of TO or Montreal where lines are atrocious
Friendly staff
Great customer service

Drawbacks of Flying Delta:

Prices can be slightly less competitive
Planes used for Ottawa-Atlanta route are cramped at best
Less generous with drinks and in-flight snacks
Check-in counter at Hartsfield in Atlanta is a long, long way from main parking area

It should be noted that on Sunday night when I was supposed to fly back to Ottawa Delta had overbooked the flight and at the gate they asked for a volunteer to give up their seat. I took them up on the offer and got two $7 meal vouchers, a hotel room for the night at a nearby hotel and $200 US off of a Delta flight. Everything was handled smoothly and there was a free shuttle too and from the hotel. The Delta staff were friendly, efficient and appreciative as they took care o my compensation and alternate arrangements. If it wasn't for their cramped planes I'd probably prefer them over Air Canada.

Appetizer of Homer's Dreams

I'm back from The South. I'll do a bit of a trip round up once I'm unpacked, cleaned up and settled back in at my computer but for now I just have two words for you- carmelized bacon.

Free Market and Flu Shots

In the interest of promoting the kind free market that Republicans like Dick Cheney love so much I would like my free Ontario flu shot to go please so that I can take it with me to Georgia today and sell it to the highest bidder. Because that's what a free market is all about.

I'll be back Sunday night. Until then, try to play nice kids.

What Not To Wear

On Wednesday I'm leaving to go to Georgia for a wedding where by Canadian standards it will still be warm enough to wear shorts but by local standards it will be cool enough that I'm bound to get strange looks. Normally I wouldn't care about the looks but I don't need anyone figuring out that I'm Canadian and then deciding to mug me for my health card so they can get free flu vaccines and cheap Canadian meds.

Thoughts from Georgia

-72 and cloudy in Georgia. What's with that?

-Zell Miller calling the Democrats out for not being bi-partisan like the Republicans is among the funniest things I've heard lately.

-ESPN is doing a pretty good job with their coverage of the World Cup of Hockey although I'm not sure why they aren't showing any games between Friday and Tuesday- oh wait, it's called colleg football.

-Air Canada managed to get me down here problem and hassle free this time. I wonder if hey get me back to Ottawa safe and sound.

-This month's issue of Esquire has some interesting articles written by some conservative Republicans who give their thoughts on why they will or won't vote for Bush. They also have a critique of Bush written by Ron Reagan.

On the Road Again...

On top of moving in a month I'm also going on the road again. Being the smart guy that I am I decided late August/ early Septmeber is a good time to visit Georgia where the daytime low for the next week is 27 degrees and the humidity should be through the roof.

I also chose to go during the World Cup of Hockey but I'll be back in time for the playoffs on Tuesday so it's all good. I will miss the Canada versus Russia game which isn't being aired in the States but given how weak Russia is looking this year it shouldn't be a huge loss anyway. It's not like the Russians have ever done anything without having an NHL goalie, right?

Not all is lost though. I will be blogging from the road though since I'll have some free time during the days while Meg's at school. Also on the agenda are a day up at Lake Lanier and a possible trip to Zoo Atlanta, if Meg's surgically repaired knee is up to it. I'll probably chow down on some good ol' southern barbecue too. Speaking of which, does anyone have a favourite barbecue joint in Athens or Atlanta? I'm looking at you Steve.

Close Encounters of a Watery Kind

Back in the day when a whole lot of Islanders were opposed to the building of the 'fixed link' one of the common arguments against building a bridge to connect Canada to PEI was that it would be closed more often than the ferries were.

Fast forward to today when the Confederation Bridge was briefly closed for just the fourth time since opening in June of 1997. Oddly enough three of those four times have been within the last 12 months with the other two being February 19 when PEI got 95 cm of snow in about 12 hours and last fall during Hurricane Juan.

The culprit today? A waterspout. Strait Crossing occasionally posts video on their site so if they put one up of the waterspout I'll be sure to mention it. In the meantime they just have the picture I've posted which Typepad won't let me place where I want it.