The Squamidian Report - Feb. 02/03

Hi All,

Boy, is it good to be home. It was great to visit Kitchener but this is home now. I don't know what it is with airlines these days but they seem to have totally dismissed any notions of customer service that they ever had. On the trip east we were told that we would be docking at terminal #1 in Toronto instead of #2 as scheduled. That meant that everyone with someone meeting them would be confused.

They bussed us over to terminal #2 once we landed but they didn't tell anyone at #2 what was going on. All they said was that our flight was delayed. It was only after I called Ryan on the cell phone that he was able to tell the other people waiting that we were on our way over. The whole thing was shoddy.

We had a great party at the homestead on the Saturday. I think I played my mandolin for about 8 hours. Tim is the only one around anymore that can play along to the old 'Carman' tunes. Between doing songs and yapping to everyone I was hoarse by the end of the evening.

I spent the Sunday over at Sue's parents place, we had a nice visit. They are talking about another visit out to our place in May when they are on their way to another Alaska cruise.

I was able to hook up with a good friend, Greg. We spent a day driving around looking at how much things have changed in the past year. Greg and I didn't know each other when we were young but we knew all the same people and same places.

Went over to Emily's parents in Erin Mills for supper one night. I'd never realy met them so this was a good opportunity. They have a dog that is madly in love with Ryan. It lays on the couch with it's head on his lap and a smile on it's face.

I hooked up with as many friends as possible (yes, I do have friends). I couldn’t see everyone but maybe next time.

Ryan had recorded a jam session of Warren and I when he was out over Xmas. He has cleaned it up a bit and we burned it to CD. If anyone wants a copy just see my mom or Ryan. I make no apologies for the music, its simply us having fun doing what we do on a Saturday evening out here. By the way, some of the mandolin playing on the CD is Warren. Whenever he gets his hands on it he won't give it back.

Managed to mooch supper every evening for Ryan, Em and myself. That worked out well for us.

My week went by pretty fast but by the end I was looking forward to going home. Its amazing how quickly Squamish has become home.

Ryan drove me to the airport yesterday morning (Feb. 01). We left his apartment at 5:30 AM. That was a shocker to him, he is a night owl, not a morning person. Once he headed back to Kitchener I went through security to wait for my flight. Something was bothering me so I re-read my flight info. I hadn't noticed it before but my connection flight at Saskatoon was for Sunday, not Saturday. Panic !!

Went to the flight counter in Toronto to see if anything could be done to fix this but they said there was nothing they could do. I should phone AirCanada. AC said there was nothing they could do but I should call Aeroplan. They said there was nothing they could do, tough luck, get lost.

In Saskatoon I went to the AC counter and found that customer service is alive and well in the smaller centers. The guy there said it should be no problem to fix up my flight problem and get me home yet today. He put me on a plane to Calgary where I caught another one to Vancouver. He asked my why they didn't fix it in Toronto as there were lots of empty seats on the plane I had thought I'd be on. Toronto had said that plane was full. The people in TO were just too lazy or uncaring to be bothered. I guess the moral of the story is that Toronto Sucks.

The flight from Saskatoon to Calgary was on a little turbo prop. What a great way to fly. You are at 20 thousand feet instead of 35 or 40 so you can see stuff and the plane banks and roles like a plane should. Much more fun.

On the flight from TO to Saskatoon I was sitting beside a woman who was on her way home to Victoria (that’s on Vancouver Island for you un-leaned types). They are just a little ahead of us so they have flowering shrubs and trees, rhododendrons blooming etc already. Our rose bushes here are in leaf and we has small flowers out. There are lots of things sprouting. When we left TO the plane had to be de-iced. When we landed in Vancouver, some of the ground personnel were wearing shorts. I'm so glad to be back on the west coast.

Yogi met me at the door with his teddy bear. Tracy wanted a cookie. Life is back to normal.