Let me start by saying that I completely understand that a freight train derailment is out of their control, but the way they handled the situation was ridiculous.

The freight train derailed between the 3rd (Burlington – my stop) station and 4th station on the Lakeshore Line, which I would guess is the busiest line during rush hour.  Somehow they still managed to run some trains that start from the first station (Hamilton), but the trains that start in Burlington (not all come in from Hamilton) were now starting at the 4th station and they were running shuttle buses to and from the 3rd and 4th stations.

I decided to wait for a slightly later train since so many people would be on the shuttles for the earlier trains, so I got to Burlington leaving plenty of time for the shuttle for the train that would leave the 4th station and we sat on the shuttle waiting for it to leave as the driver chatted to another GO transit worker.  Getting pushed for time, someone asked if we would make the next train and we were told that the bus supervisor had called ahead and the train would be waiting.

Eventually, the bus leaves, and pulls into the station just in time to see the train leave – the train we were promised would wait for us.  A GO employee and a police office at the station both shrug, saying yes the call was made to have the train to wait but…

So we wait for the next train – this one does wait for the bus that is also running late, leaving 7 minutes late, and getting us all into Toronto 30 mins later than we would have if we caught the first train, and almost an hour later than if the train had left our station on time.

And not one person apologised about the train leaving, but left us with a cheerful, have a good day

Our building was bought by a new landlord last year, the old company left a lot to be desired – they were not slum lords or anything but there was a lot they could have done they chose not to. But they always dealt with emergency repairs quickly.

This morning as I was brushing my teeth, I feel water around my feet – there is a hole in the bottom of the U-pipe / plumbing trap / whatever you want to call that pipe under the sink. OK its not a complete emergency, I can just not use that sink and use the kitchen to wash my hands etc

But they have me fill out a maintenance form and tell me they hope they can come up after 1pm today, if not tomorrow – grrrrrrrrrr its more of an emergency than washing the floors in the lobbies which is what they are doing now

A quiet night in tonight, Ghost Whisperer and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (while eating an ever so unhealthy dinner from the local Chinese food place).

For the first time ever, I did not want to watch Ghost Whisperer, the preview showed a clown, and he did not look too friendly. I have a healthy fear of clowns, I find something completely wrong with them. My sister had a clown at her 6th birthday who showed up to her party drunk and late. It turns out that Melinda also has a fear of clowns (this is the woman who speaks to ghosts all day, it reinforces my theory that clowns are just wrong).

It turns out he is not a clown but a PI who used  clown outfit to get into a house, but still I am proud of myself for watching in the first place, it looked like it was all about clowns from the preview.  A dire warning for Melinda though when he tells her that he is not responsible for the feeling of being watched, a comment she didnt really follow up with.

… and on to the Food Revolution.  This is more about the first week, I still cannot get over the fact they do not have enough cutlery for all students and feed them finger food so they do not have to use anything to eat with.  Did you see those kids with the cutlery, they had no idea, what do they eat with at home?  It cannot all be left up to schools to teach them.   Some thought tomatoes were potatoes and the highschool considers potato (in the form of fries) as a vegetable!

Good on Jamie teaching 1000 people how to cook a simple stirfry, I notice they used forks to eat it