Text 8790, 102 rader
Skriven 2014-01-12 23:03:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: YZF 2013 trip 58
========================
Bad weather in Boston, hardly a surprise, so I decided
to show up at the airport and throw myself on the mercy of
the ticket people (not being on any of my regular carriers,
calling did no good, and I was told to [s]pound sand[/s] plead
my case in person. The agent vouchsafed that Air Canada had
just issued a waiver and the telephone route had been open
to me after all. Not a big deal, after checking my bag with
its precisely 1.14 L of booze (the duty-free allowance being
1.15 L), I got a spot on an early afternoon flight and spent
the rest of the morning in the US Air Club (no problem
getting through the other security; apparently people do
this all the time ).

AC 361 BOS YYZ 1340 1533 E75 1A
was
AC 369 BOS YYZ 1950 2143 E75 2A

I reflected to myself that it was telling that the Canadian
carrier was using the Brazilian instead of the domestic
product on these flights; I wholeheartedly endorse this, as
the Bombardier company makes dreadfully uncomfortable planes.
The seat and the overhead space were both surprisingly
adequate, and I slept through the flight as usual, missing
out on some small starchy snack, so after the quick and
easy immigration I sought out Casey's, where a somewhat nice
Alexander Keith's pale ale and a very fine 8-oz top sirloin,
done rare rare as requested, put the balance back into life.
Vegetables were boiled cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots.

I checked the arrivals board - good thing I rescheduled - my
original came in an hour plus late, and I would not have
come even close to making my connection.

The Maple Leaf Lounge is modern in a '70s way. Vegetarian
snacks - I'm partial to the hummus, which is more sesame-y
than lemony and pretty good. I tried the Sumac Ridge Merlot,
cheap-tasting sweetish swill, and switched to a somewhat
better Shiraz from Koonunga Hills. Set my alarm for 40
minutes before the flight, a good thing, as I fell hard
asleep and in fact had to be wakened up by kind passersby.

AC 135 YYZ YEG 2255 0109 320 2A

This flight was staffed by poker-faced but perfectly fine
attendants; it got in a hair late to an empty airport.
Lilli was waiting for me at bag claim, whence we went off
and called the hotel shuttle. Nobody told us that all the
Leduc hotels use the same service, which would make lots of
sense if only they tell you. Not a big deal, my sharp eyes
(joke) got us on the right bus. It was mighty cold out, so
the modus operandi was for one person to run out of doors
for a few secs, scan the neighborhood, and report back to
the huddled masses yearning to be warm.

The bus got us to the hotel in jig time; my sharp eyes,
however, almost got us dropped off at the Homewood Suites
instead of where we'd booked.

The Hampton YEG is nice enough and friendly enough. They
also overcharged me 10% on checkout, but that was easily
rectified. We had what is usually called a "junior suite,"
with a bed and a couch, giant bathroom, lots of empty space
in the middle. The couch was comfy, and I think I had the
better deal, though the hike to the bath was considerable.

The standard breakfast offerings in a larger than usual
breakfast room. I had my usual high-cholesterol high-salt
meaty mess with a banana; she had a waffle, being fascinated
by the do-it-yourself machine. The "maple" syrup was crap.

An easy bill correction; an easy trip back to the airport.
Uninteresting security.

Lunch at the Maple Leaf. They had standard breakfasty things
when we arrived and changed them out gradually - first came
some crudites (the hummus was really sour and weird, so I
had a cup of pepitas); later turkey sandwiches and chicken
noodle soup or vegetable chowder - thank you, no. Lilli
asked me what made a soup a chowder, and I gave her the
whole lecture from that chaudiere idiocy all the way to what
I consider the present (i.e., 20-30 years ago, as nobody who
has made a decision since Carter has made a good one).

No alcohol until 11 or so, and rather than bolt down a
drink in honor of its freeness, we decided to pass, a poor
decision as they didn't offer on the plane.

AC8138 YEG YZF 1145 1328 CRJ 2F

We walked out of the nice warm modern ('90s I would guess,
perhaps even '00s) terminal to the freezing tarmac to get
onto one of those nasty domestic products. Whatever made a
snowmobile manufacturer think it knew how to make airplanes
I don't know. The flight was mostly above the clouds until
we broke through somewhere south of Hay River to skim the
lake so everyone could see the pressure ridges. Periodically
you would hear, from various parts of the cabin, younger
voices asking, what are those, followed by the wise deeper
voices saying, pressure ridges.
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