Apparently Corrections Canada decision to charter a jet, as opposed to using an RCMP aircraft or commercial flight, was based on availability, security concerns and location of the prisoner.

Well, let’s see…

Checking Expedia, I see that there are 17 options for flights from Guadalajara, Mexico to Kitchener, Ontario on Thursday May 15th.

If I weed out those flights that arrive the next day, I’m left with 7 flight options, ranging in price from $782 to $2227 per ticket.

So, I think we can reasonably rule out the ‘availability’ and ‘location of prisoner’ excuses, which leaves us only with ’security concerns’.

Concern for whom? The travelling public? Give me a break. I’ve seen police & guards with prisoners in airports and on commercial flights at least a dozen times and the handcuffs worked very well.

Concern perhaps for Brenda Martin herself? I’m sure the Mexicans were only too happy to see her leave the country.

Aaah… maybe the powers that be were concerned that Brenda would make yet another scene and cry over the fact that she was being relegated to economy class. Ya, that must be it… I’d make a scene over that humiliation as well.

Boo hoo, Brenda.

Anyway, next time maybe they should check out the last minute flight deals at Expedia.com

Photo courtesy MyAviation.net:, Photographer © François Camirand

Recent rants include:

• The Jerk in Seat 12F
• Itinerary Change Frustrations with Air Canada
• How the Uninformed Cause Delays at Airport Security
• Air Canada: We Want an Apology
• Go Through Customs? But I Didn’t Leave the Country!!
• $8.50 for a Bottle of WATER?
• Discount Car and Truck Rentals: How NOT to Respond to Your Customers
• A Room with a View at the Banff Park Lodge
• Airport Security Broke My Laptop!
• Try Harder Avis

Enjoy… and feel free to share your own rants about traveling and terrible travelers.

An edited version of this piece was originally published in late October 2007 as a ”Letter of the Day” in the Penticton Herald.

This is the original unedited version…

I witnessed an incident on October 26th which sufficiently proves to me that the majority of Penticton drivers are either driving without a licence or are no longer qualified to hold a licence.

While waiting to make a left turn at a traffic signal that usually flashes green but was at the time disabled by a power outage, not one of more than 20 drivers stopped as required by law.

One can spot dozens of infractions perpetrated by ignorant and arrogant drivers in mere minutes, and the number of dangerous situations is on the increase. Here are a few questions I’d like to ask those drivers.

Why do you cut corners and cross the solid line when you’re not making a left-hand turn? Are you drunk at 10am? Do you not care that you force others to take evasive action to prevent head-on collisions? Or are you just stupid?

Did you not see the person waiting at the marked pedestrian crossing, or does the fact that 10 other cars sped by her as well justify your blatant disregard for the law? Would you learn to stop if your elderly parent was mowed down? Or, would getting your butt out of the car to walk a block improve your perspective — not to mention your shape?

Did you ever consider that those turning onto a street with a speed limit of 50km have the right to do so safely without having you careen around the corner at 80 or 90 km to make orphans of their kids? Never mind the fact that your village might also miss its idiot.

As those who would benefit most from considering the questions above were apparently unable to read and understand the driver’s manual and are also unlikely to peruse the news, here are suggestions to help concerned citizens fight the ‘corner cutting’ problem.

Blare your horn whenever you see someone crossing the line in error. The noise complaints from Naramata Road residents alone should spur sufficient action to stop the insanity.

Because the RCMP cannot monitor every roadway 24 hours a day, learn to memorize plate numbers. File reports with the RCMP and be prepared to appear in court. Doing your civic duty to help make this town a safer place in which to live may save your life one day.

Lastly, for the few ‘corner cutters’ who actually can read – widen your turns on outside curves. With luck, one of your kind will be coming the other way.

On April 21st, 2008, I was informed that the chair was at the store, ready for delivery and so I paid the outstanding balance of $1006.00.

Following several inquiries about the delivery status and muck-ups with the cartage company (it helps when the shipping company is given the customer’s correct phone number) the chair finally arrived yesterday — May 7th, 2008.

And get this… it’s gotta go back.

Honestly, a chimp could have done a better upholstery job.

• The tops and sides of the arms are positively LUMPY.
• There are flaws in the fabric.
• Loose ends of black thread were hanging out in several places.
• The front of the left leg was scratched.
• The left arm facing sits incorrectly on the frame.
• There is a very obvious LUMP (upholstered tumor) on the top right-hand back of the chair that can be seen from a distance of 50 feet.

You can check out pictures of this shabbily upholstered chair on Flickr.

Quite frankly, I’ve seen (and bought) better crafted furniture for half the price at stores like Urban Barn; and you’d never see Ethan Allen or American Drew deliver such piss-poor quality products.

It’s therefore hard to fathom that Kennedy Galleries, a furniture dealer that does fabulous antique restorations and sells high-end products such as Stickley, let this piece of crap out of their store without first checking the quality of workmanship… or lack thereof.

It’ll be interesting to see how the situation is rectified… I’ll let you know.

So, when I got up at 5AM this morning and discovered that I had no Internet connection, I did the standard checks to make sure that the problem wasn’t on my end — ie. I rebooted both my computer and the modem.

After that didn’t resolve the problem, I phoned Shaw.

After hearing how I could buy access to last night’s sports event and that folks in Merritt and Trail could experience some problems with connectivity (but their technical staff was working on the problem) I then went through four different “press 1, 2 or 3″ choices at which point the phone on their end started to ring.

The phone rang and rang and rang some more. I let it ring for 15 minutes before the automated system finally hung up on me.

I did that 3 times and NEVER reached Shaw’s technical support staff.

So much for Shaw’s statement about their “24/7/365 customer service commitment” or the fact that Technical Support (24/7/365) is posted in bold right beside the technical support telephone number on their site.

BOO Shaw… you let me down yet AGAIN!!!

AGAIN tonight, the baseball diamond lights are on at Nkwala School while no one is playing. And if the past 2 weeks are any indicator, the lights will be on until 10:30PM — a total waste of precious energy and taxpayer dollars. That’s right… this town spends Earth Day adding to the problem of global warming.

I am particularly disgusted because I spoke at length this morning with a Penticton Parks Board representative about the fact that these HUMUNGOUS lamp standards burn for hours on end almost every night while NO ONE uses the park.

On hearing my complaint, the rep expressed dismay as the lights are on a computerized schedule based on the local baseball league’s stated schedule and the lights must be physically turned on at the field. He assured me that he would speak with someone from the league today about co-ordinating their schedule more accurately.

Well, apparently the message didn’t get through. Here is a picture of the empty field tonight…

The houses across the street are bombarded by light pollution when they might otherwise be looking across a dark park and enjoying the night sky.

While the folks closest to the park suffer most, our once beautiful night view of the city (see below) has also been destroyed by these obnoxious lights for 4 months of the year.

The latter picture doesn’t do justice to the headache-causing GLARE that has become the night view from our house in April, May, September and October. It’s hard to fathom that a company in this day and age has never heard of shielding.

Anyway, I’m all in favor of kids getting away from the TV and outside to have fun under the lights. But perhaps the irresponsible organizers of the league should be penalized 2 weeks WITHOUT the lights to compensate for their waste. They should then have to explain WHY to the kids affected.

Perhaps that would be a effective Earth Day lesson?

Technorati Tags: Penticton, Earth Day, energy, baseball diamond, lights

OK, tell me. What the hell is wrong with people who would do such a thing?

What pleasure could anyone get from vandalizing someone else’s property, or causing them the hassle of having to have their cars repaired and having to pay hundreds of dollars in insurance deductibles?

Are they freaks that don’t know right from wrong? Did their parents not spank them enough? Is it our crazy Canadian juvenile system which hardly gives kids a slap on the wrist for murder?

Please tell me… ’cause I can’t figure out such perversity.

Today’s plan included a nice big pancake breakfast, follwed by Pho for lunch, Vietnamese vermicelli for dinner and a tasty little snack of Mac ‘n Cheese at around 11pm. Not exactly the healthiest choices to be sure — but anyone who has spent any time in a hospital knows that the dining options don’t exactly include your favorite comfort foods — and I was determined to ‘load up’.

Imagine my chagrin therefore when the nurse from the surgeon’s office called this morning to tell me that the doctor had forgotten to tell me that I wasn’t supposed to eat today - at all. (Fortunately, she called after I’d already had breakfast, so all was not lost.)

Adding insult to injury, the nurse also told me to take Peglyte, which, put nicely, is a very mean form of intestinal Drano.

“Bummer” I responded.

Sadly, she didn’t get the joke.

We rented a car over Christmas from Hertz at the Kipling and Dundas Street kiosk in Toronto.

The folks at that location were excellent… friendly, fast and helpful. We received an upgrade to a PT Cruiser for no extra charge, and when I remarked that the car was a tad dirty and somewhat odorous, the car jockey ran in and returned immediately with a $15.00 voucher to use for either a car wash or as a credit toward the rental.

The Hertz customer service experience at the Toronto International airport Hertz location on January 3rd was quite another story.

• My cheerful “Good Morning” greeting was not returned in kind. There was no “Good Morning” or “Happy New Year”… nada.
• The agent literally barked at me. “You returning the car?”, “Did you fill up?” and “What’s the mileage?”.
• The desk clerk processed the paperwork which I signed. After slapping another piece of paper on the counter, he appeared to continue working on our file.
• After a lengthy pause he regarded me with a look that said ‘What the he** do you want?”, so I asked if we were done. “Ya.”

No “Thanks for your business” or “Have a nice day”. Just “Ya.”

My response to his extremely poor manners? “You’re welcome… NOT! Next time we’ll rent from Budget!” loud enough for the agents at the Budget car rental counter to hear.

Technorati Tags: Hertz, Budget, car rental

On August 31st, a Sager Transport tractor trailer driver made an unsafe right turn on North Queen Street in Toronto and rammed into my rental car. The damage was considerable and the vehicle was no longer driveable. (See the full set of pictures in larger detail.)

That’s not what I’m livid about however…

What I’m livid about is that the driver lied to his insurance company (Markel Insurance) about his responsibility for causing the accident; a fact which is impeding my ability to process the claim rapidly, is wasting my time (for more than the 4 hours that he ripped me off for the day of the accident) and is giving me completely unecessary headaches.

First of all, I’ve been driving for 31 years - have never caused an accident and have probably seen a thousand wide right turns made by tractor trailer drivers.

This guy got it ALL wrong!!!!!

Here’s a point-by-point account what happened (if it’s not perfectly obvious from the photos).

• I was travelling behind him in the right lane.
• He signalled left, moved completely into the left lane and slowed down. (He appeared to be planning a left turn into the mall on the south side of North Queen Street).
• I continued driving in the right lane and pulled alonside the tractor trailer.
• As my vehicle was just approaching the cab of the tractor trailer, the driver of the tractor trailer signalled right and started turning into my lane.
• Although I swerved right and braked heavily, the accident was unavoidable.

As mentioned, I’ve probably seen a thousand tractor trailer drivers make wide right turns in the time I’ve been driving. Most slow down while still in the right lane and block the right lane with their trailers as they widen out the turn to the left.

This guy did NOT do that at all.

More importantly, he obviously did NOT check to see what traffic was behind him in the right lane as he changed into the left lane.

The Toronto police attended the scene and filed an accident report.

I clearly overhead the constable telling the tractor trailer driver that the accident was in no uncertain terms his fault - i.e. it was his responsibility to make sure that the right lane was clear prior to commencing the turn - and am quite sure that he was ticketed.

If he was not charged with an unsafe turn, he certainly should have been - because despite the officer’s admonitions, in lying to his insurance company, this arrogant little man obviously still believes that he has no liability for the accident.

Sadly, if he continues to hold this erroneous belief, he will continue on as before and may kill someone the next time he makes a wide right turn without properly assessing the traffic situation.

In this case, he got ‘lucky’ by hitting the front left quarter panel of my car and causing no serious injuries. He was also very ‘lucky’ that there were no pedestrians on the sidewalk, or cyclists in the right lane when this guy pulled this extremely stupid manoeuver.

Let’s hope he either LEARNS something of value from this accident, and appreciates that driving requires more than just luck - it also requires SKILL.

Technorati Tags: tractor trailer, right turn, car accident, unsafe turn, Sager Transport