BNJMN

The bus strike is over. Fifty-One days. To that, add a week to get bare-bonced service back, and between 4 and 12 weeks before full service is restored... That means that I'll still need to find rides to work in the early mornings and walking to school. The one thing thats come from this strike is that I now like walking to school. It's probably the quiet time where I actually get to listen to music that appeals to me the most. It's almost a shame that it took me 40 days to realise that I should use this strike as an opportunity to eat less junk and become more fit, if only so that I can walk to school all that much faster - not that I would trade an opportunity to do so for another 50 days sans bus. I'll keep walking to school (at least once a week) as part of my routine, not that I have much of a choice until local service is restored during rush hour. I mean really? No local service during rush hour? It's kinda useless, no? Funny thing is the whole affair could h...

There was a Friday in November that I considered to be among the worst days of my life. I had bought $100 worth of presents for Christmas, and brought food to work in my Ratatouille bowl. That night, Prashanta picked me up from work, and we went downtown to eat and then meet up with some friends. While at the restaurant, somehow, someone had broken into the car and stolen the gifts and my backpack, and even the spare change ubiquitous to any car. At the time, I thought I had 6 DS games and my mp3 player in by backpack. All I could think about was how rare The World Ends with You is and that I wouldn't want to restart it from scratch. Or how many crosswords I had completed in Crosswords DS, or how I was going to give my mp3 player away whenever I break down and boy an iPod touch. Fortunately, I found my mp3 player while cleaning my room! Suddenly, that day didn't seem so bad. And the other day, I was cleaning out my locker at work where low and behold I found my DS g...

It's been cold walking to school, today in particular. Lauren Stone of Live 885 warned me at 6:45 this morning that it was -39C with the Windchill. Skin can freeze with 10 minutes of exposure at that temperature. As I snuggled the warmth of my bed, I wondered if it was really worth it to walk to school, a trek that could freeze my skin five times over. "Damned bus strike." Reluctantly, I pulled myself out of bed and spent the next half hour deciding exactly how to dress. Before stepping out the door, I had the following: Boxer briefs Long johns Black Pants Socks More socks T-shirt Long sleeve t-shirt (Nightmare Before Christmas, if you were wondering) 2006 (07?) CANADA Olympic Hoodie Headband Scarf Winter Jacket Gloves I learned this morning that I have as much experience wearing scarves effectively as I do tying a Windsor knot, possibly because I never wear the darned things (both ties and scarves). Despite this, the scarf was instrumental in keeping me warm for my 50-m...

Over the years, my wallet and my bus pass have developed a great relationship where they stick together. This help me, since I always know where my bus pass is (unless of course, I don't know where my wallet is, which happens on occasion). It also helps my wallet and bus pass, since the two of them can talk and cuddle in my pocket. I've only recently decided to split the two up, if only to protect the pass from accidental loss or cold-related fracturing. Plus people make fun of me when they see it! Turns out that my leaving it behind wasn't premature - Transit workers voted to reject the city's offer. I've had an inkling since the beginning that this strike would last a while, but I'm really starting to get scared at how long it may be before all is well. To add to my troubles, my laptop needs to be sent away for servicing. Supposedly, my laptop has a fan, and that fan is not spinning at the speed that it's supposed to be. As a result, my computer can becom...

Thursday. Thursday is the day we find out how much longer this transit strike of ours will last. There's a small part of me that is crossing his even littler fingers in hopes that the wonderful drivers, maintenance staff, and others will vote (thanks to some federal intervention), to have their say on the city's most recent offer, in favour of the offer. this means buses, after multiple inspections and revving up, will be back within one and a half weeks from now. The bigger part of me, ever sceptical, knows that the vote will ruin any chances of getting back to travel normalcy and that buses won't be back on the streets until the better part of January - at the earliest. A little Transit Union-run website has this lovely message for its members: BREAKING NEWS - January 4th, 2009 Forced Second Vote On City's Latest Offer Details Known Dear Brothers and Sisters, The vote ordered by Minister of Labour Rona Ambrose and conducted by Canada Industrial Relati...