It snowed something fierce during the first day of my trip. My flight was only delayed a few hours, but then it took five hours to cover what Google had promised would be a three-hour drive. I was ever so grateful that I learned to drive in Ohio and wasn't scared of thickly swirling snow and not-quite-plowed roads. Furthermore, Canadians are more seasoned winter drivers than DC denizens, so I didn't fear for my life in the intersections.
The next morning, nothing had been plowed. My little rental car would certainly not have managed the streets, so I hiked to the meeting, having wrapped my shoes in garbage bags. (I hadn't packed any boots, of course.) I felt like quite the intrepid winter business traveler.
Alas, Sunday saw my not-quite-so-intrepid side. After a very nice breakfast at my BnB, I packed up the car and started it up so that it could warm up while I de-iced and de-snowed it. After ten minutes' work I realized that I had a clean, warm car that I had unfortunately locked my keys into. This was the only point in the trip where I came near tears. I had no phone, no ID, no recollection of which rental company owned the car, and no clear idea of how to break into a rental car. In the end, it all worked out. The BnB owner had an account with the Canadian Auto Association. I had to wait about 30 minutes for them to arrive, and then it took them about four minutes to free my car. It is astounding how easy one can break into a car with the right tools (See: air wedge). I will be suggesting to my boss that I earned hazard pay.
In the end, the trip went fine. This particular conference requires extra attention, so it's important that I attended. I got to use the metric system (I *love* it) and eat Tim Horton's (the Dunkin' Donuts of Canada). I also drank about a gallon of tea, because tea in the UK, Canada, and Australia is always better than US tea (and I really wish I could figure out how to replicate it.) On the other hand, I lived on cheese sandwiches and pizza - undergraduates did the catering - and interacted with people fourteen hours a day. In response, I will spend my vacation day tomorrow sleeping, eating vegetables, and hopefully not talking to another living soul.
6 comments:
My word the MUPGT must have been in stitches when you realized you'd locked your keys in the car!
14 hours a day with people! Knowing you it would seem a month off was required.
And on a final note, a great thing about being self-employed...I would never have scheduled any work that would have required three hours of driving through snow and ice.
Uncle de-I, an extra twist was that I could have taken the train from Toronto! I love trains, and I would have avoided the drive. But I'm an American and it didn't even occur to me that trains go useful places in North America...
Ha! The ultimate in ironies.
that sounds harrowing!!! I am not even sure I'd have tried to go with weather like that. But then again I am a nimby.
Many moons ago I locked myself out of my car when I had taken B to her riding lesson. The Automobile Association came to the rescue and one coathanger and a few moments later, the car was open. I think car security has improved over the last twenty years.
Do you think the tea problem might be to do with the teabags available in the USA?
Gill, after my last trip to Canada, I ordered imported PG Tips, but it still wasn't the same. I wonder if it's the tea bags PLUS using a teapot. Somehow it's different when you use one bag per cup.
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