ViaRail - A Canadian Response

So, I'm not the only one livid about the schedule change, which is rumoured to have been done to please TD Bank and their minions who travel to Windsor.  Feel free to check out @themockler on Twitter for more.

Here's ViaRail's response (with my commentary in blue) to the letter I sent them yesterday.  I say it's a Canadian response because one of  the first things the ladyfriend learned about C to my original letteanada, from other Canadians, is that they often say "sooorrry," which actually means "We can't be bothered to care or to change anything on your behalf."

Good afternoon,

Thank you for your email concerning our upcoming schedule change to Train 71.

We regret that the new schedule does not suit your needs.Your response clearly indicates this and also indicates that it's my problem, not yours. Schedules are made with an objective of increasing ridership by responding to the needs of the market clearly not the needs of their riders and better serving the majority of our customers like banks. Our schedules are reviewed periodically in an attempt to match customer demand as perceived by ridership studies, according to the options presented by VIA resources and constraints. Examples of the latter include the time slots allotted to us on CN and CP tracks did CN & CP take away your time slot?, as well as equipment cycling and servicing. We realize that every schedule has some drawbacks, and we must select the most convenient for the majority of our customers like business people. I apologize for the inconvenience that this may you're missing a word here you and also that the notice was not sent in a timely manner lack of punctuation here demonstrates careful attention; also, it's more than an inconvenience.

VIA regularly reviews its operations in order to ensure that they most appropriately and efficiently meet evolving market demand, and as a result may from time to time make adjustments to fares, schedules and products.  Any such adjustments would be communicated in the appropriate manner Oh, like an email less than a week before the change? to customers, employees and the travelling what happened to the rest of this sentence?

Thank you for contacting VIA Rail Canada.

Sincerely,

Lisa C. No last name; classy.
Customer support desk
VIA Rail Canada

I've sent them an email about proofreading their communications.  What a fiasco, in so many ways.

Share the Ride?

While I really wish there were a comma between "ride" and "and," I think this card hits the mark.  You can see (and email) this and other clever cards here.

Natchez Trace: May 18th or The First Rule of Bike Camping Is You Don't Talk About Bike Camping

Our motel from the night before

Chad's Restaurant

Sleeping indoors is definitely not overrated, especially if one has endured a number of nights, and mornings, in the rain.  And while it was drizzling Sunday morning, the weather forecast called for clearing skies.

We'd gone to Chad's the night before (remember?  I had the chicken fried steak - still sticking to only one fried meal a day, thank you very much) and as they weren't open Sunday mornings we asked if they might suggest a place for breakfast.  Well, Faye, who happens to be Chad's mom, offered to let us come in for breakfast while she prepared for Sunday lunch.  Really?!  We went over there Sunday morning, and she made eggs and sausage for us.   It was really nice, and then, after we paid and were going to leave, she said something really nice about how she could tell this was a good father-daughter trip.  (I believe I'd set the record straight, as it were, that I was not his peppy younger wife.) Great way to start the day!

The day did turn out to be sunny but with a cool breeze, which was perfect for cycling.  We stopped at the Meriwether Lewis campground and checked out the memorial to him.   There's a "mysterious death" story here, but I haven't gone on to research it.

My BBQ sandwich with some of the best fried okra I've encountered - definitely freshly made.

The trading post - where we had lunch.

Sunday was also the day the road stopped being pretty flat.  In fact, one hill nearly kicked our asses.  Thankfully, halfway up there was a scenic stop.  Yay!  Reason to get off the bike.

Fall Hollow was really nice and gave us a chance to rest our legs.  For the record, it was a mile long hill at a 13 degree grade.   Just sayin'.

Over the past week I've seen a lot of different animals.  Early on it was snakes (mostly dead on the road), and then turtles, lots of birds (cardinals,  blue jays, and these small indigo/purple-winged things - clearly, I'm not a birder), plus wild turkeys, a few deer, and a quail with chicks.  I'd also seen a number of dead armadillos, but then, I saw these -

live, little armadillos just rooting around the leaves.  I have to say, they were pretty damn cute.  The next day a woman at the gas station (mmm, mmm, good) said they carried leprosy.  Not so sure about that.

Finally it was time to set up camp.  Here's something that's a bit tedious about the Trace and its "bike friendliness."  There is a scattering of "bike primitive campsites" (meaning you can pitch a tent, but don't expect a bathroom other than the great outdoors itself) designated with a bike symbol on the map, but the symbol never appears on any of the signage on the parkway itself.  It's kind of like a club - if you don't already know about it, you won't find it.  Thankfully we found ours that night - it was off the Trace, but at least it was there.

Where we spent our last night on the Trace.

And since I know you're waiting for it - here are Sunday's grammar issues:

Care to add a few commas for clarity and flow?

One of my biggest pet peeves - the comma splice!

Natchez Trace: Grammar & Social Commentary

So I've stopped photographing every grammatical mistake I find because, frankly, I'm tired of them.  Here are just a few more.

In addition to finding the grammar or spelling mistakes, my father and I have taken to unpacking the signs for their hidden messages or reinterpretation of history.  At the end of this post, I have uploaded Werner Herzog reading Curious George, which I feel is along the lines of what we try to do.  Enjoy!

Are they referring to multiple storekeepers or was it just one?  And does anyone possess anything?  Also, what's up with that last sentence?

Where, oh where, are the commas we need here?

Some spelling mistakes are carved in stone... guess the Daughters of the American Revolution couldn't afford a proofreader.

It's really nice that "Americans" could travel safely through Indian land.

Uh, by "other men" do you mean poor men? Not unlike prison populations today.

Hi, kids!  Today's lessons is on connotation - what do you think the opinion is of "Indians" in the first sentence?

Natchez Trace Day 2 or We're Going to Jackson

All day I had this song in my head because I knew it was where we were headed (we actually stayed in Ridgeland, just a bit outside Jackson).

Our accommodations from the night before.

It was a hot one yesterday - according to the weather report, it was 90F, and we rode around 55 miles (supposedly a short day - hah!).  I think it'd barely gotten above 50 when I left Hamilton, and that was just a few weeks ago.  In addition to water & butt breaks (as I call them...and need them), we took a shade break.  We might luck out with an afternoon thunderstorm today - huzzah!

Morning visitor at the campsite

My father and I have worked out the food issue, and today's lunch was courtesy of Big Daddy's BBQ - housed in a gas station.

My father thinks that a beer bottle in a paper bag is subtle; I just drank my Bud sitting on the curb.  Now that's subtle.

Dare I say it?  My ribs are better.

Have I mentioned how beautiful it is?  It's pretty amazing.

And yesterday's grammar issue was comma usage:

Either you get rid of the comma before Greenwood or you add one afterward.  You cannot split the difference.

Natchez Trace Day 1 or One Person's Frappucino Is Another Person's Vienna Sausage

After a solid breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express we made our way to the Natchez Trace Parkway.  Unfortunately we totally missed the Visitor's Centre where we might've purchased the bike book because it wasn't on the Parkway itself but on a highway leading to it.  Thanks!

It was a beautiful morning, and it was so nice to be on a road where the cars give you a wide berth without shooting you resentful looks as they pass you.  We only saw two other cyclists yesterday (clearly day trippers - are you paying attention to the hierarchy?) but got waves from motorcyclists on the route.

My father and I had both eaten early - he before he went to 8am Mass, I just shortly thereafter - and didn't leave the hotel until almost 10:30 so by about an hour into the ride, I was wondering where we were going to have lunch.  We pulled into one of the historic sites, Mount Locust, and it was then that I found out that food was few and far between and not on the Trace.

Let me go back a month or so before we started on this trip.  I sent my father a couple of emails suggesting that we carry just a small camp stove so we might have coffee in the morning.  Oh, no, no, no.  No need for that.  We'll just get coffee on the road.  Lesson here?  Trust your intuition.

Thankfully the ranger had a list of services off various mile markers on the Trace although they weren't always close or convenient.  Needless to say, I was pissed.  Clearly my father's and my need for food differ.  The ranger did suggest a place another 15 miles up the Trace and two miles off it (yes, that means 4 extra miles!) that had an all-you-can-eat buffet with the best fried chicken.  It could've been corn dogs for all I cared at that point.  So off we pedaled, in somewhat stony silence, to Mr. Dee's.

It actually was really good (although not ad hoc good - sorry!), and I ate my share of fried chicken, stewed okra, collard greens, and macaroni and cheese.  Good thing, too, because for dinner I had beef jerky, three Samuel Adams', and a Fig Newton.  My father had spicy Vienna Sausages, three Samuel Adams', and a Fig Newton.  Okay, I tried two Vienna Sausages - they have the weirdest texture but desperate times call for desperate measures.

We set up camp after a day of cycling 64 or so miles.  We had a little rain on our way home from Mr. Dee's, but nothing apocalyptic.  I made a fire, we played cribbage, and then did our best to wash up in the park bathroom.  Lights out by 10:30pm.

In the morning, I drank a Frappucino I'd purchased at the gas station when I was shopping for "dinner."  I offered my father a swig, which he took, and then said "One man's Frappucino is another man's Vienna Sausage."

A side project is finding misspellings or poor grammar on the National Park Service signs.  Yesterday's find was this:

Really?  You didn't think to spellcheck this before carving it into wood?  I have the feeling a little White-Out is not going to fix this one.

Nesting & Refining

I'm in two familiar states again - nesting and refining.  The nesting was necessary after a three or so week period where I was up late (like 4:45am late) on more than one occasion and other obligations messed with my sleep schedule.  Plus, it's the last few weeks of classes, and it can get crazy.  So this weekend I mended (which is also part of the refining state) and cooked - a lot.  Tonight it's Chicken Tortilla soup from the The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters.  Good "oh-my-the-first-storm-of-the-season-is-coming-but-it-won't-be-nearly-as-epic-as-advertised" soup.  Damn, if we were snowed in...how amazing would that be?

The refining state is where I go back to thinking about the way I live, what I need, and why I'm bored with my closet (might not seem philosophically linked to you, but it is - trust me).  The refinement stage encompasses different elements at different times but almost always has to do with getting my life to more closely match my values and desires.  Don't underestimate the importance of desire.  I believe that if your values and desires are complimentary, it can transform your life.  I don't know that for sure, but I believe it.

Wow.  I sound like some new agey life coach.  When do I get my own TV show?

Meanwhile, back on the couch (unintentional psychiatry joke)...I'm knitting the Carnaby skirt, which I'm really excited about.  It's a little bit of a risk, knitting a little skirt for myself.  I say "little" because it'll fall mid-thigh or so, and that's little for me.  But I'm also happy to be making something for my own wardrobe.  Little by little I'm putting things I've made into rotation and slowly weeding out the items that no longer work for me. (Okay, if one of my students wrote this paragraph, I'd have put a box around every "little" in it; pointing out the repetition of the word.  But I'm off duty.)

I could go on about the things I'm hoping to make soon*, but that's not where my attention is at the moment.  It seems that I'm also going through a bit of a "hippie/dress-me-in-jersey/oooh-that-looks-comfy" phase.  Frankly, I'm just a little concerned - am I losing my style?  Is it morphing?  Is this the real me?

The Glamourous Life

The ladyfriend and I were invited to the Art Gallery of Hamilton's annual gala, held yesterday evening.  A donor had been kind enough to buy a table for artists (otherwise, I have the feeling there wouldn't have been many artists there).  I'm always happy to have an excuse to dress up.   I even had my hair done!  I've never had my hair done before.  I think the two of us make a mighty fine looking pair.

Once we found our people (aka friends), we had a great time, but I need to say this - Hamilton, try harder!  This was advertised as a formal affair, and I'd say about 85% of the women were wearing cocktail dresses and 85% of the men were wearing regular business suits.  C'mon, you want to be taken seriously as a high-end event and you're wearing work clothes?!  Also, watch your grammar - the sign on our table read "Artist's Table," but there was more than one artist present.  That's right - it's "Artists' Table."

If we're invited to another fancy event, I think we're ready to rock.

See a Little Light? Well, maybe just a little.

In the last few weeks, I've managed to actually read a couple of books, which has always seemed like an impossibility when school is in session.  I'm hoping I can maintain the momentum as the semester goes on.  We'll see what happens when all the papers start coming in.

See a Little Light by Bob Mould with Michael Azzerad was the first book I read this year.  Hüsker Dü has always been one of my favourite hardcore bands, and I was excited to read Mould's (a primary member of the trio) memoir.  Hüsker Dü definitely expanded the range of music to be found in the punk scene of the '80s, and the fact that Mould is now an out gay man added another dimension of interest.

At School, In the Hallway

In addition to the plaintive nature of this message, I like that it looks like someone corrected the grammar.

Bay Area Visit

Coming to see Ian in the Bay Area was the primary reason for this road trip. Everything up to now has been a bonus of travel.

The last couple of days have been really nice.  I can lounge around our friends' house in my pajamas until we embark on our plans for the day, and the plans may not be that elaborate.  On our first day, we tooled around Alameda, where we're staying.  Being on the water and near Oakland, a major shipping port, you get to experience the beauty of industry.

We went to the decommissioned naval base that now houses a couple of wineries, a vodka distillery, movie studios, and so forth.  For me, the base really resonates because although my father was in the Army, there's an immediate sense of familiarity and even "home" in these spaces.  I didn't take a lot of photos of the buildings (I loved the ghost town feel of it) but did manage to snap this one.

One of the reasons we went is because Don, one of our hosts, wanted to check out some wood flooring at the woodworking collective also housed on the base.  As you'll see, one of the things I'm also responding to is old signs as well as text.  Like this return to Kalamazoo (one of the woodworking machines) -

In this one, I like not only the obvious vintage aspect of it, but the fact that they use an adverb correctly.  Go grammar!

Yesterday we spent the day with Ian.  You know how when you visit family, there's often that sense of "Okay, what are we going to do today?," which some might translate to "Do we actually have to interact?"? (Note: while I think the punctuation in the previous sentence is correct, it looks a little weird.)  Well, we like just hanging out with the boy, and I decided one of the best things I could do as a mom was to make sure he had the food that reminds him of us.  So we actually just hung out at Ian's place, made meals to freeze (lasagne, tuna noodle casserole (Liss' speciality), and vegan chili (to include Ian's roommate), and played video games.  Yes, sometimes we like to chill out like we're 23.

   Shopping for groceries at the Berkeley Bowl threw me into a desperate fit of jealousy.  Look at these vegetables!

I mean, c'mon - this is standard fare for California.  Even looking at this photo I'm getting jealous.

Ian lives in Oakland and not too far from his apartment I found these great signs.

Quite honestly, I'd be happy to retire right now.  Why not hang out with the people you love and enjoy each day on its own merits?