Air travel rant #4 way up in the sky in my beautiful balloon · Tuesday June 17, 2008 by colin newell
For those just joining us… who paid for their pleasure or business flights some months ago… relax, the sky is not falling.
For those pricing out that Christmas vacation or trans-continental business trip, hold onto to your in-flight queasy bag real tight because you are going to need it.
Because it is not like the sky is actually falling – it is just that everything about air travel (and I mean everything) is going up, up, up…
Buying your ticket is the easy part.
Thinking of a flight to Calgary from Vancouver? Ok, that is easy.
$300 for starters.
Fuel surcharge? Could be anything from $75 to $300 depending on how far you are going? Baggage? You may by paying $25 and up for each bag in the near future. Toss in a security charge, an airport improvement fee and a wild and cryptic assortment of mystery fees that would take one worried looking travel agent an hour to explain (and that could cost you by the minute if you call the 1-900 help line!)
It is like the perfect storm – a few thousand feet below the stratosphere… somewhere in the jet stream. Except in reality, the real trouble is on the ground – In America… where millions are fed up with the TSA shake-downs, the illogical levels of security and paranoia. 40 million fewer domestic air trips in America in the last 2 years. American visits to Canada are down 65% over the last 2 years. These people are scared to death and are staying at home where they are safe from the bogey man… and the in flight entertainment.
Sigh.
My wife and I just finished paying for our tickets away this Christmas – and we figured it would be ever so slightly more expensive just to be done with it and just buy the freaking Plane… or the airline which might be possible at the rate at which they are sinking…
Bon voyage.
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Feet don`t fail me now · Tuesday June 17, 2008 by colin newell
A human foot was discovered partially submerged in the water near Westham Island in Ladner, B.C., Delta police said Monday.
It’s the fifth human foot police have found in the province in less than a year.
I am prepared to make a declaration about this…
If you want to find out who belongs to the missing feet – simply do a head count of gangland types in Vancouver…
Or a show of hands…
“Uhm – We get it Colin!”
Yea. I figured.
Heron Rock Bistro #4-435 Simcoe Review · Sunday June 15, 2008 by colin newell
And now for something completely different…
Heron Rock Bistro, in the historic James Bay neighborhood of Victoria B.C. is one of a handful of 3rd wave restaurants focused on locally sourced meats, poultry, veg and creatures of the sea.
And where they succeed is – is taking great ingredients and carefully preparing them in an environment not so formal that it becomes a parody of itself.
The Heron Rock Bistro is anchored by sharp, attractive, attentive and informed staff – and in my books, this is always a reflection of what is happening in the kitchen.
My two female companions had the same thing – the steak fettuccine: It was perfectly prepared with the AAA Striploin attentively prepared to the gals discerning specifications.
I had Moules Frites – steamed Island mussels and hand-cut french fries in a cilantro curry cream – the fries served with a garlic aoli.
Overall – I would brazenly put the Heron Rock bistro in the same category as Victoria’s legendary Cafe Brio and Brasserie l’ecole. Still, I need to pop by a few more times to get a better feel for their consistency. Concluding, I hear from regulars who eat here almost weekly – and the rave never ends.
Gas Price Rant #15 Criminal investigations coming to Victoria B.C. · Thursday June 12, 2008 by colin newell
Sometimes there is good news.
And although the skies over Victoria B.C. Canada did not rain gold coins, virgins or 20 dollar bills today… there is some interesting activity on the ground…
close to your neighborhood Gas station… maybe.
On the other side of the country, criminal charges have been laid against 13 people and 11 companies accused of fixing the price of gasoline in Quebec.
The suspects and companies operated in Victoriaville, Thetford Mines, Magog and Sherbrooke.
And we all know that gas prices in Victoria B.C. Canada are fixed by a automated telephone system called Viper. It’s collusion. It’s price fixing… and it’s criminal. And maybe, just maybe, lower Island residents may get a wonderful dose of schadenfreude.
As Jackie Gleason use to say… “How SWEET it IS!”
And although I personally have no evidence that criminal charges are about to be laid in the Victoria area… I can hope. And you can hope with me.
