I just have to say that while I was home I noticed a very disturbing trend. These plastic shoes called crocs have literally taken over the place. Now, these shoes would be fine at the beach, on a sailboat or in the garden say, but people are wearing these things everywhere. To dinner, to the clubs, to work, to school, to bed. EVERYWHERE!
People! Don't you realize these shoes are ugly?!!
Even worse, is that apparently now you can buy these things called jibbitz that you can stick in the holes of your ugly shoes to make them even more ugly. A girl I know who works at Island Beach Company, one of many stores that sells these horrific shoes back on the Island, says that they can't keep these jibbitz in stock. They are flying off the shelves.
So, beach time aside, there were some other interesting vacation moments. One, finding out that the boy I was in love with many moons ago was actually also in love with me, but was dissuaded from acting on it because some of my "friends" at the time convinced him that I was too good for him. I now hold that one particular "friend", who shall be known as BFPH, responsible for anything that went wrong in my life in the man department since 1998. He has much to account for. ;o)
Travelled to Halifax to see my sister and catch up with some friends there.Jocelyne is very cute pregnant, but it is very bizarre to me. I guess because she will always be "little" to me. Really, the time in Halifax was extremely surreal. I used to live there and absolutely loved it. Going back was fun, but somewhat heart wrenching at the same time. That time of life has some of the best and worst memories associated with it. But generally, the best ones always overcome. I mean yes, at the time I felt like my life was a disaster because the relationship I had was falling apart, my boy was moving away, I was super-stressed about the work I had to do for my masters, I lived in an apartment with a psycho landlady who counted the times I flushed the toilet and moved my furniture while I was out etc.,etc., but yet, that is when Rachel and I really became close friends and we just really had some major fun. Makes me wonder why I ever left?!! I love that place! It is funny because usually when you haven't been somewhere in years, major changes happen, but most everything stayed similar to the way I left it.
Anyway, enough of memory lane. This trip, I went out on the town in Halifax tothe Ale House. There was much dancing and revelry. The workers wore outfits that can only be described as serving wenches and I had the urge to ask them and the guys, who were dressed in lederhosen-like shorts, if they had their costumes made from curtains cause they looked like the cast from the Sound of Music.
I chatted with a guy from PEI that apparently went to my high school. I have a vague recollection of him and him of me. The reason why I mention this is because he told me that he was going to go home and "look me up in his yearbook." Ha ha.That is such a PEI thing to do. The minute you meet someone new you have to find out what high school they went to and then go look them up to see if you remember them. Although to be honest, I did not know that PEI boys did that. I thought it was just a girl thing. Anyway, this post is getting rambly and I am not sure if anyone truly cares to hear every detail of my trip. I will leave it at that for now. Vive la plage et les Maritimes!
I am going to begin this post by apologizing to those friends that I intended to see while I was home on PEI but for some reason or another did not get a chance to visit. I was only home for just over a week and the time flew by like crazy. Part of this, I attribute to the fact that Stephanie was home and I barely ever get to see her (usually only at Christmas) and to the fact that I also spent part of the time travelling to Halifax.
All in all, the vacation was a good one. I must say, I feared the worst when I got in the airport shuttle and some crazy guy with dreadlocks was driving like a maniac, muttering to himself and playing "Informer" by Snow very loudy. Yes. You did hear that right. I am talking about the one that goes "the infoooormer, bla bla bla blah blah boom boom something or other". Very painful.
So, despite the lateness of the shuttle and the craziness of the driver, I manage to arrive at the airport on time and in one piece. On the flight from Ottawa to Montreal, I get seated beside some military boy who is from Newfoundland but stationed in Petawawa. He talks basically the whole trip telling me all about his life. From the fact that he joined the military about six months out of high school and has been in it for about a year and a half, I put him at approximately age 20 or 21 max. He is telling me all sorts of stories designed to impress, one of which involves him getting very drunk and "some woman who's like 30 (insert tone of voice that includes shock and horror here) tried to take me home." Oooh. It was like a knife to the heart. And then I just didn't have it in me (or possibly I just didn't want to embarass myself) to tell him after that that he was chatting with someone "who's like 30." Anyway, I thought he would go his own way once we got to the airport, but the "beauty" of the Montreal airport is that all the martime flights go from this one small, sketchy corner of the airport. So, he said beside me and regaled me with yet more stories. He even waited for me outside of the bathroom to make sure that I knew my flight was delayed. He didn't leave my side until they called his name over the loudspeaker as last call for him to get on his flight. Too funny.
The flight from Montreal to PEI was next to another chatterbox but this guy was a sea captain and had all sorts of interesting stories about the places he had been and about the dirty sailers he works with. Plus, he only has to work 6 weeks on, 6 weeks off. SWEET!
Anyhoo, on to the rest of the trip. Unfortunately, there was an unseasonal cold front while I was home, so I didn't get as much beach time in as I would have liked. One day, I insisted on going to the beach and dragging Jen and Rachel with me. It was nice out, but seemed slightly windy. The closer we got to the beach, the less sunny it got. Rachel and Jen were sitting there with their towels wrapped around them to keep warm. I was still undetterred and thought I might still be able to get some swimming in. I kicked off my flipflops and then they started to blow away down the beach. Apparently that was my sign to give it up and go home.
I am trying to attach a picture but it is not working. (Techie friends, please help. Why won't it work? Is it possible I have no space left for pictures? How can i find out?) Anyway, it was taken on the last day I was home. You can just barely see Marion and I as we are swimming toward the raft. It wasn't as windy as the day the hurricane tried to steal my shoes, but still pretty windy. Rachel's cottage (where the picture is taken) is on the south shore of the Island and in a cove, so it is rarely wavy there. On this day, there were actually white caps. Anyway, it was Steph's first day at the beach and she insisted on swimming even though we were freezing just sitting on the shore. Not to be out done, Marion and I soon joined her. Rachel wimped out and stayed on land. It was all worth it. As per the famous Island saying "it's fine once you get in". What an Islander will never tell you is that you are going to freeze your arse off getting in and it is going to be even colder when you get out!
Anyway, I am going to leave off there for tonight. It is past my bedtime and my eyes are horrifically sore as I spent the entire evening proofreading a Costco catalogue. Interesting, yet tiring to do after a full day at work. Part 2 is hopefully coming your way tomorrow...
Ok. So the day after I posted the rage about Air Canada, I tried to about my damaged luggage. All I got was a recording telling me to take my bag to the nearest Air Canada baggage department and then dead air. The regular line for lost luggage was busy for ages because of all the happenings in London, etc.
In an attempt to get through to any sort of a live person, I then called the reservations line. Please note how the general customer service number is conveniently not listed ANYWHERE on the Air Canada web site. I got through to some guy named Matt and asked him if he could put me through to someone in customer service. He said that it wouldn't be necessary and that he could help me. When he asked me what the problem was, I replied "your luggage delivery person called me a b*tch." He gasped in shock and then suprise, suprise, forwarded my call directly to the "customer solutions" department so he wouldn't have to deal with me.
There, I spoke with some guy named Ryan and told the story again. He then proceeded to tell me that there was nothing he could do for me because "customer solutions" is separate from the baggage department. Some solution that was! He also told me that he could not put me in direct contact with a customer service agent from the baggage department and that I would have to e-mail or fax my complaint to Air Canada.
Given my rage and disgust, I talked to my trusty "scene-causing" friend. I was hoping he would come to the airport with me and pitch a fit, since I really hate doing stuff like that, but he always seems to revel in it. He encouraged (and/or taunted) me into going down to the airport and speaking with someone in person. I figured I had to take my bag down for inspection anyway, so off I went.
Armed with the advice, "don't leave the airport until you get free stuff or are escorted out by security" and with my now destroyed luggage, I headed over to the lost baggage counter. I told the story yet again to the guy at the counter. He said that they would send my suitcase to Montreal for "repair or replacement". All I can say is that it better be replacement, because if I get my suitcase back with thousands of shards of plastic glued back together, I will not be impressed.
Anyway, he then got me to tell the story AGAIN to another guy working behind the counter who wrote it all down and said a few things about how it was unacceptable, etc. The manager wasn't it, but he was going to call me the very next day about this "incident".
Needless, to say, I did not get any phone calls from Air Canada the next day, or the day after that, etc. Then, today, just as I was vowing to alter my letter to incorporate the new rage, the manager in the luggage department calls me. I had to tell the story AGAIN. Then, he basically told me that Air Canada does not deliver the bags but they get some other shipping-type company to do it (which I knew already). He apologized (this situation is unacceptable, etc etc.), got a description of the evil delivery boy, and said he woudl call me back after he had spoken with someone from the delivery company. He called back a few minutes later telling me that the delivery company was terribly sorry (same lines, etc) and that someone from there would be contacting me because they "wanted to make it right." I have still not heard from them.
Really, it was most inconvenient because he called me at work. Since I work in such a quiet work environment, it was difficult for me to say anything, rage, insist on getting free stuff. I didn't even really want to tell him the story of what happened because it is so quiet that everyone can hear your conversations.
Anyway, that is the latest. I wait with bated breath to find out how this delivery company is going to "make it right". Probably their delivery boy will come burn my house down out of bitterness or something. I will keep you posted.
Ok. So I promise I will give try to give a rundown of my vacation at a later date for any of you who might happen to be interested, but I just had to vent some rage for now.
Today's target is Air Canada. I get off the plane in Ottawa this morning. Does my luggage come along with me? No. That would be too much to ask. So, I go to the baggage claim and ask them about where my bag could possibly be. The agent at the desk tells me that my best bet is to wait for the next flight, which is supposed to be in in 20 minutes. He says he can practically guarantee that my suitcase will be on it. He also says that they have a backlog of about 200 lost suitcases because of increased security measures and it would really be in my best interest to stick around and see if it arrives. So I wait. And wait. I am at the airport an extra hour waiting for the luggage to be taken of said flight. Does my suitcase arrive? Not a chance.
I then go back to the baggage claim and file my official "you lost my luggage report". The agent tells me that they will call me "sometime". So, basically, my last day of vacation is squandered sitting around my apartment waiting and hoping for a call from Air Canada (this is one of those situations where you really wish you had a cell phone).
On your claim, they give you a web site where you can supposedly check the status of your missing luggage. According to this web site, my claim/luggage does not exist. So, later that afternoon, I call Air Canada. They tell me that they "think they may have located" my bag in Toronto. What the heck? Did I go anywhere near Toronto? No. So what is my bag doing there? Sheesh. With this kind of sketchy operation, I am thinking I will be lucky if I ever see my stuff again.
Finally, they call me back at about 5 p.m. to tell me that they will come with my bags sometime between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. So the last evening of my vacation goes down the tubes as well.
Just after 7 p.m. the buzzer rings downstairs. I let the guy in. He drops off my bag, with a distinct lack of friendliness, no apologies whatsoever for the fact that my luggage is so late in arriving, and complaints about the lack of elevator in my building. Yes. I realize that this is a pain in the arse, but if someone as wimpy as me can carry the suitcase up and down those stairs, then surely someone who is paid to lug heavy things around should be able to manage it.
He asks me to sign for my bag, which I do. Then, just as I am turning around to head back into my apartment and he is heading down the stairs, I hear him yell (loudly enough that probably most people living on the floor heard him), "Thanks for the tip, b*tch." :O
Well! I never! Can you believe it?!! If they had not lost my freaking luggage in the first place, I would have taken it home myself and carried it up the stairs myself and he would not have had to bring it to me. As it stands, it was the least they could do. They basically left me on standby waiting for their call for en entire day and then the staff expects me to reward them monetarily for inconveniencing me?!!!
Then, as though that was not bad enough, I open my suitcase to discover that my stuff has been totally rifled through and that they have somehow managed to basically destroy the suitcase itself. There are huge chunks of plastic that they have somehow managed to break off around the edge of the suitcase (through the material!).
I am totally lodging a complaint. Hmmph.
Also, I also just have to complain about the fact that my favorite lipgloss was confiscated because I forgot to take it out of my carry on and put it in my checked luggage. Booo...
I just have to say that while I was home I noticed a very disturbing trend. These plastic shoes called crocs have literally taken over the place. Now, these shoes would be fine at the beach, on a sailboat or in the garden say, but people are wearing these things everywhere. To dinner, to the clubs, to work, to school, to bed. EVERYWHERE! 
