Sunglasses

Alas, we won't need our sunglasses for a while. I'm getting tired of biking home in the dark every day.

Xmas Tree

Tonya and I went for a real tree this year. The first real tree I've ever had. It smells...

Obama Cookies

A cafe in the byward market in Ottawa. I guess they're hoping more people will come in once they learn of President Obama's "unscheduled" stop to buy a cookie.

Wedding

A wedding that Tonya and I attended in Ottawa recently.

Old order Mennonites

A group of old order Mennonites watching a model air show.

TTC Outage

Yeesh. The TTC can't seem to catch a break. The day after fare hikes are announced, the Yonge-University line of the subway was closed from Bloor to Davisville. It appears the problem is located just outside our building where TTC workers were frantically working. It appears they are bracing the road from above. I wonder if they are getting ready to dig.
The star says the source of the problem was a contractor accidentally pierced a section of the tunnel using a road saw and that they are working hard to get the subway up and running by tomorrow morning.

Update: We just got a note from our building management stating the following:
"We are taking this opportunity to advise you of the current situation at the Jackes Avenue bridge and subway closure.
Enbridge Gas Distribution hired an independent contractor to perform work on the bridge earlier today in order to relocate one of their gas distribution lines. During this work the contractor cut through the bridge into the TTC subway tunnel. TTC subsequently ceased operations of the subway for safety reasons until the full extent of repairs can be assessed."

TTC

The poor TTC. Getting beat up for raising fares. Trying to fill in a $106M gap next year. The 25 cent increase it expected to bring in $45M. What are they supposed to do? They just can't win. Even with increasing ridership over the recession, they're losing money.

I was surprised to learn that the TTC provides the most rides per capita in North America yet it has one of the lowest subsidies among North American transit systems.
Apparently New York's transit system gets a US$1.71 subsidy per ride compared to CAN$ 0.59 per TTC ride. (A ride on NY subway is US$2).

I stumbled upon this fascinating report written in 1958 looking at the problem NY had with their transit system because they originally had a mandate to be self-sustaining.

"...The Authority is currently losing over $2,000,000 a month...the 15-cent fare cannot possible be continued...This imminent fare increase will accelerate the continuing downslide in riding of subways and buses. In fact, the drop in riding from the increase alone will be so sharp that it will immediately wipe out close to half the additional revenues the higher fare should bring in...[U]nder the rule of the self-sustaining fare, there will be another hike to 25 cents and then to 30 cents in a few more years, with even greater declines in riding."

Wave Deck

The city has done an amazing job with their new "wave decks" at harbourfront. They add just the right amount of danger and tripping hazard to a walk along the waterfront.