Translink Sucks

Tomorrow I am going to Vancouver. I am meeting up with (hopefully) a huge group of people [knock on wood] to tell our politicians we need immediate action on climate change. I'm taking the bus/sky train. I'm not happy with Translink (as you've learned from the subject).

We used to have a bus going from where I live, directly into Vancouver. I liked this bus. It had the comfy seats and it was easy to travel on. Get on, read a book for 50 minutes, get off in downtown Vancouver.

As you've probably heard, Vancouver is hosting the 2010 winter Olympics. So we've got this new skytrain going from the airport to downtown Vancouver. My bus route was cancelled.

Now you have to take the bus to this skytrain station and then transfer onto the Canada Line and I am not happy about this. Yes, it's going more frequently, and yes, in other circumstances I like the skytrain, but this is going to be more hassle-y. Now I have to take a transfer, and reflecting on this it sounds kind of selfish that I don't want to get off a bus and go up an escalator to board a train, but still, I get to be petulant about some things and this is one of them.

When I was in Toronto this summer, I went on the subway for the first time. The subway is okay, but the skytrain is way cleaner and I like to be able to see where I'm going. I found the subway extremely disorienting. You go underground and go in one direction, then a go deeper underground to go perpendicularly and then you come up to ground level and it feels like you should be in the same place but you're not. What I'm saying that it's weird to go underground in one place and come up in another. Especially when you don't know where you are in relation to where you were. I like to know where I am. I have a good sense of direction and I'm good with maps, and it really bothers me when I don't know where I am.

I like the skytrain. Apart from the fear that my limbs will get caught in the door or we'll crash into another train, it's a pretty ace way to travel. With all this consideration, I'm still not happy about my bus situation.

But then I realized something: I'm opposing change. Aren't I suppose to be an advocate of change? Environmentally and politically?

So I'm going to make an effort to go with the flow on this one. Tomorrow, when I board that train, I'm not going to be thinking about how much it's costing me to get downtown, I'm not going to be thinking about how much I'd rather be on my comfy bus seat. I'm going to try and accept that no matter how resistant I am to the skytrain, it's not going to bring back the bus. I'll even try to enjoy the trip.

For this, I pat myself on the back.

Also I promise to take some pictures of the gathering. I'm so excited.

q: If you could read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I'm going to say Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Closely followed by The Half Blood Prince, Pride and Prejudice and City of Glass. No, actually I think I'd go with City of Glass. No! I DON'T KNOW! Maybe Looking for Alaska... no, not that. City of Glass or Goblet of Fire........ please don't do this to me.

q: Do you have a favourite quote?

I, like Rena, love quotes. I don't remember too many, but I get a kick out of reading them. They're kind of divided up into categories. You've got taking action quotes(1), Gilmore Girls quotes (2), Harry Potter quotes (3), feminist quotes (4), inspiration quotes (5). You want me to choose one? *laughs manically*

1. "Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi ; "Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world; in fact, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead

2. Rory: "Do something to make me hate you." Lorelei: " Uh, go Hitler?" ; Rory: "I need you. I can't go this alone. I need my Mommy, and dammit, I don't care who knows it."*

3. Harry: "Proud? Are you crazy? All those times I could have died and didn't? They'll be furious..." ; Also that one in DH where Harry's talking to Dumbledore for the last time. Something about whether it's "real" no time to find the quote...

4. "A women needs a man, like a fish needs a bicycle." ; "The thing women have to learn is that no one gives you power. You just take it." Rosanne Barr

5. "No one can make you feel inferior without your own consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt ; "It is our choices that show us who we really are, far more than our abilities." J.K. Rowling ; "If you want to be happy, be." Leo Tolstoy ; Dr. Seuss's "Oh, The Places You'll Go" is wonderful.

These aren't really my favourites, they're just ones I could assemble quickly (relatively speaking) to show examples of my categories. Maybe we should have a quote-off. That would be fun. Next week?

q: Do you have any attachments to inanimate objects?

I guess. Does a bus count? Hehe. Not really, I suppose. It's all just stuff. It's not a part of me. It's just what surrounds me.

q: We need a database of questions already asked... okay: To what degree do you care what people think about you (on a scale of 1 to 5)? Have you ever succumbed to peer pressure?

I'm tired, so I'm sorry if this is a bit sloppy. Are you both going to start reading The Hunger Games?

*I wish I could look through GG quotes all night, but alas, I cannot.