travel travel travel, plus bonus AI coverage

If any of you are familiar with my mall layout and maybe two of you are, you will note that there's a Liberty Travel agency next door to my store. This is one of the worst things for me to have as a neighbour.

Every day they change the destinations and prices of round trip tickets to far off destinations. The prices for round trip to London keep going down, and I keep my eye on the Sydney and Santiago prices. I am very lucky I have no vacation time accrued yet to spend my hard earned money on a trip to some cool place like those. But it's not helping my wanderlust. I want to get up and go somewhere cool, not just across town to Colonie every day.

I have to keep telling myself, once I get moved into the new apartment, once I get settled in a new place I can work toward the goal of getting into the Peace Corps. My goal is to have an apartment chosen in the next two weeks, and if possible, moving most of my stuff by early May. This is of course contingent on finding a place that will allow me to move in early and is ok'd by my roommate.

I just... I want to be irresponsible and go somewhere different. I want to go and visit far off locales. I want to do what Emma did and spend three months travelling North America, or Europe, or South America. I feel trapped, and that this is very much a #firstworldproblem.

I think that's partially why I am more interested in moving to Schenectady instead of somewhere else in Albany. It's going to help, living in a place I'm not as familiar with, and at the same time it will remain basically the same.

PS: American Idol keeps cracking me up. Tim Urban, the first genuine VFTW candidate since Sanjaya! keeps squeaking through. He got Didi eliminated tonight, and I'm both horrified and amused by the whole thing. Additionally, to torment Laura, Lennon/McCartney songs are the theme for the next week. I look forward to the trainwreck.

As my world turns...

I totally didn't post about the second half of my adventure.

Things I learned from Day 2 of Montreal:
-The SAQ does not give you a bag for your booze. You must buy one. And I mean that, don't leave without one.
-I cannot go into any other Jean Coutu Pharmacies in Montreal until I'm sure the pharmacy tech forgets who I am for dropping the bottle I bought at SAQ in her store. Whoops.
-I really still don't like all-seasoned chips. Remember, Ehjay, you do not like vinegar.
-I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really love Montreal.

In other news, I would like your anecdata about choosing a doctor. I got my health insurance card yesterday and now I just have to choose a health care provider. This might make me an adult :( but I never had to choose my doctor before, my parents kinda did that. Also, there were like two pediatricians in the whole town. So that kinda limits things. But I live in a city with a medical school. So tell me, flist, how did you choose your doctor? Horror stories and excellent stories welcome!

je t'adore, montreal <3

reasons why i love montreal more than your mom

-centre bell has lifesized statues of famous hockey players.
-there's such a mix of languages here and all of them i can understand (so far)
-the metro is really far superior to cdta (hell, most things are)
-there is a baked potato restaurant that i am going to try for science (again) tomorrow.*
-i got to stand less than two feet away from laura pausini omg and she came around the edge of the stage and shook everyone's hand and i got squished against the stage and i don't even CARE because omg i love her


missions for tomorrow:
do touristy things (ie walk around mtl and take lots and lots of pitchers)
eat baked potatoes @ restaurant
am iffy on smoked meat, but when in montreal...
i also need to have real poutine. that's correct sir i will be doing a lot of eating on this trip.
make it back to the bus terminal by 2100 or else


I forgot my cable back in the states so I can't upload any of my awesome photos from the concert yet. in the meantime i have a queen-sized bed all to myself and I found the ABC station out of Burlington, so I am awesome.

*Candice discovered this place when I first met her, and we tried it when I got to MTL for the original Trip of Doom.

metal fonts are the best

The things we learn from asking google. Or in this case wiki answers.

In other news, I booked a hostel for my stay in Ottawa. This will be from Jul 2- Jul 5, the 4th being spent with Mlle Julie and her veddink! So excited! Another awesome thing is that I will be staying at the Jail Hostel in Ottawa. Dave pointed me to it, and I have to say I'm incredibly excited. Not only is it an actual JAIL converted into beds, it's also allegedly haunted. By the ghost of Patrick Whalen. Uh, guys, he assassinated Thomas D'Arcy McGee, which is kind of a BIG DEAL in Canadian history. And that's where I lost half of you. Anyway, I just wanted to gush on that.

Also, I finished watching S1 of NCIS, which if you don't watch you should. This show is hilarious and entertaining. And it has forensics and it has crime and it sometimes has hot men in uniform. Uh yeah.

Also also, I set up the wireless network for my house today all by myself. It was actually surprisingly easy and I only wanted to toss the laptop out the window once. And in one final note, I would just like to say that this storm is so badass that it set off a car alarm.

My own Overheard in New York...+ random other notes

While I was waiting on the bus, the lady sitting next to me got into a conversation with the French Canadian couple sitting behind her. I'd switched seats with them so they could sit together, since they got on when the bus was full. And since I did that for them, they helped me put my seat back a bit because there were like 3 rows of seats folded right behind mine for the wheelchair space.

Anyway, this woman is chattering along with them, and she asks them the following: "What do you guys speak?"

The dude replied, "French and English."

She looks at him and says in all seriousness, "Oh. I thought you spoke Canadaese. So you guys speak English up there too?"

And the guy humoured her and explained that French and English were both official languages of Canada.

In other news, once again we have a left-handed president. I was reading earlier about how there has been a significantly large number of lefthanded Presidents since World War II. Now most of this is because before that, being left-handed was strongly discouraged. I have vivid memories of going to Upper Canada Village when I was in Elementary school, and getting thwacked on the hand for trying to use my left hand when we visited the one room schoolhouse. So yeah, it's kind of fascinating to see left handedness so prominent. At my current workplace, I actually think lefties nearly outnumber righties. It's really funny.

In other other news, I spent ten minutes tonight at the bar discussing colloidal silver and how it turns people blue. This came from a discussion on the Appalachian mountains, and I brought up the blue people in the Appalachians. Yes. I am a giant nerd.

Current Music: Blackmore's Night - Empty Words

Transportation Rant #912

Right, so Sunday Jan. 19 I had the day off, and my cousins were in New York escaping DC for the weekend. So we made plans to meet up, and hang out for the day. I took Greyhound because it only cost me $36 round trip to the city and back, and the train was like 150. Fuck that no.

My bus was fifteen minutes late, but we got there on time, which is always cool. I headed over to Times Square, and misjudged the blocks, and ended up two blocks away from the TKTS place for the Broadway shows. But I found my cousins, and they'd gotten us tickets to Mamma Mia, which I had heard about and nothing bad, so I said ok! Also, Julie loves it, so I knew that was a good endorsement. She wasn't wrong.

I got to sit in a BOX! It was partial view, so the left half of the musical was not visible to me, but it was still cool and enjoyable! I had curtains and everything! It was awesome. Also, the play's the thing...

So after that we hung out in a restaurant til I went to meet up with Kristen, because my cousins were going to Peekskill for the evening. So I again misjudged blocks and ended up on the opposite end of the street from Kristen, which led to hilarity. Jesus, Macy's is HUGE. (Yes, I'm an upstater. We have small stores. Ok, keep this in mind -- I didn't go to a two storey mall til I was 17. Yeah. Didn't see a Macy's til I MOVED TO ALBANY. NO Seriously. Sheltered.)

Anyway, Kristen took me to this really cool place that I forgot the name of, and we enjoyed dinner. Then we took a cab up to 30 Rockefeller Center, to try to go up to Top of the Rock, and it turns out that because it was snowing you couldn't see shit. So we didn't go up. Instead, we walked around a lot, and I got to see St. Patrick's Cathedral, which appeared out of NOWHERE, and that was neat. I also took a picture of the Chrysler building, because, well I'm a tourist in NY. Shut up.

Ok, so I had to be back for work today at 10 am. So I booked my return trip to leave at 9, and arrive at 12:15am. No sweat, right?

OH WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG.

So Kristen and I queue up for the bus, as she was keeping me company til I got on the bus. We talked to a nice Canadian gentleman in front of us about various awesome things about Canada. All the while we waited for the bus. 9:30 rolls around and they started loading. They told us that anyone going to Albany and this random stop in New Jersey got priority boarding, so I stepped up and hopped on the bus. Yay, right?

Turns out the reason we didn't start boarding til 9:30 was because the first bus BROKE. That sucks, right? So they got another one. They filled it up, and so we waited to take off. Um, but wait, what's this? A broken windshield wiper, while it's snowing? Alright, well now we have an unscheduled stop to the garage to see if they can fix it.

Guess what? They can't. So we turn around and go BACK to Port Authority. They're like, "We don't really know what's going to happen now." So we're SOL cause it's 10:30 at this point. Turns out that they can't get another bus because they need an ADA bus for this one passenger who uses a wheelchair. Apparently they are all in DC for the inauguration. Which smacks of wtf to me.

So we see our bus driver get into a SCREAMING match outside with a few other people, and I guess the news wasn't good, because he comes back on and apologizes again. He was cool. He tried very hard to take care of us.

Well there's a bus that leaves at 11. A lot of the people who didn't get on at 9 were waiting for that one. And it turns out they ARE sending another bus, but they refund the girl who needed the wheelchair one, because she can't ride it. Ok, fair enough. So we wait and we wait, and suddenly I notice that it's 11:30. We should have been almost to Albany at this point.

Then they fucking fill up the other bus for the 11pm people. Meanwhile, we're still sitting here and have no idea when we'll be going, or when the fuck our replacement bus will even get here. It's getting ridiculous. So finally it comes, and we load up. But the other bus leaves. It left BEFORE WE DID, and we were supposed to leave at NINE. Oh and guess what, our replacement bus? HAS A WHEELCHAIR SPACE. SO they lied to that girl when they told her they didn't have another one. But she got on it anyway, so it worked out ok for her. So we left at 12:15.

That was the TIME we were supposed to GET IN TO ALBANY GODDAMMIT. We didn't get there til 3:15. And the worst part? When we got to Albany, all these people who had been sleeping were forced to GET OFF THE BUS so they could clean it and refuel it. Clean it? What the hell?

That was such complete and utter bullshit. If I didn't have to work at 10 today I probably would have tried to find a cheap room and stayed over night.

So uh, another bus rant. Enjoy!

Current music: Laura Pausini - Invence No