This Is Me Breathing

Remembrance Day

I realize that this is a famous blog cop-out, but on a day like today, I'm going to defer to a post I wrote 2 years ago about Remembrance Day.

Here We Go Again

It seems the TTC are threatening to strike. AGAIN! I had to go back to this last entry to find out when their last work stoppage was. Once again they're citing worker safety as the main issue. Once again, the city is going to pay for this union's demands.

Why is this an issue already? It has only been 2 years! Aren't CBAs generally longer than 2 years? Why do I even bother asking why?

The TTC needs a swift kick in the ass. But here they'll only get BITCH SLAPPED!

Petitions, Petitions, Petitions!

Yesterday I wrote about the cancellation of a couple of cool shows by the CBC. (I know, that sentence sounded weird when I wrote it too.) Well I've just been introduced to a cool website called iPetitions. The idea is simple in its brilliance. Basically it allows people to set up online petitions and invite people to sign them. It's democracy at its best!

I found it because I heard about the Petition to GO Transit for a fare rebate which has almost eleven thousand signatures. After adding my own name to it, I took a look around the site because I thought it was a pretty cool idea. I was considering beginning a petition of my own to save MVP and JPod. But first, on the off-chance that one might exist, I thought I'd perform a search. Well I hit pay-dirt. Here are a number of petitions you can sign to save two of Canada's best shows. If you're a fan too, I encourage you to sign all of them.

• MVP:
  • http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savemvp/
  • http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/MVPforlife1/
• JPod:
  • http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/JPod/
  • http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-jpod/
  • http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/CBC_jpod/

Note: Once you sign a petition you will be asked to make a donation to the site. You can skip this step.

Commuter Etiquette: The Zipper Rule

I haven't posted a Commuter Etiquette entry in a very long time. So, here I go again...

I used to drive in to work every morning. I did that for about 7 years until one day my car finally died on Bayview Ave. I've been taking the train ever since.

Every once in awhile, for one reason or another, I'm forced to drive in to work. During these moments, the old familiar feelings flood back and I wonder how I ever endured that torture for so long. Some things never change. Sometimes...they actually get worse!

TTC Drops The Ball...Yet Again

I'm a big proponent of public transit, I always have been. I believe that it's the civic and environmentally responsible thing to do. If I lived in the city (and I once did), I probably wouldn't own a car (I owned one, but didn't use it), or if I did, it would only be used for trips outside the city.

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) was once—not so long ago—the envy of public transit in North America. While other, newer transit systems sported more bells and whistles, the TTC still topped them on the amount of people they moved and the efficiency in which they did it. Here is a Toronto Star article written in 1998 about how the TTC compared to their North American counterparts.

Alas, something seems to have happened in the last 8-9 years that has caused the once-mighty TTC to become a bit of a joke, thereby making it harder for me to champion their cause.

Mexican Travel Advisories (oxymoronic don't you think?)

GoBuddyRob is a shoot-from-the-hip kinda fella. He minces no words and holds political correctness like I—as a new dad—would hold one of my son's soiled diapers—reluctantly and with complete disgust. He often goes off on rants and tirades that I may not always agree with but enjoy nonetheless. He's the Bill Maher, or Lewis Black of our little GO Train consortium.

The Poppy Incident

Wednesday, November 8th, 2006, 7:09 AM: I arrived at the East Gwillimbury GO station with a couple of minutes to spare. The 7:13 Train to Union was my ride into work every morning.

I got out of my van, slung my backpack over my shoulder and made my way to the platform. It was an unusually mild morning for November in Ontario. I stopped at the coffee truck—as was my daily routine—and paid for my coffee with a single loonie—the only change I ever have that early in the morning—for that specific purchase.

Back to School Woes

Every Wednesday morning I drive to the northeast-most edge of the city, park the car in commuter parking and take the subway in the rest of the way to work. I do this because Wednesday night is Kung Fu night at Dave's and I drive to his house right after work.

This weekly ritual usually doesn't add much in terms of time for my commute in the morning, but it is more costly, monetarily and in terms of wear and tear on my car—not to mention the environment and my nerves.

The ONLY Way!

Should this guy be allowed the power to cripple the most powerful city in Canada? Should any one person have that power?

I don't think so.

Yet here we have the President of the Toronto Transit Workers Union Bob Kinnear staging an illegal walkout on Monday surprising most commuters and causing huge turmoil in the city—during a record-breaking heatwave and smog alert day no less.

Man, this guy's timing couldn't have been worse!

Timmies and Culture

A Canadian says to a Scott,

"I like the way you rrroll your 'Rs'"

The Scott says in turn,

"It's just the way I walk."

Baddum bum...