Bomb Threats and Backed Up Buses

Ottawa seems to have had a rash of "suspicious" packages lately.

First, on Feb 14th, there was a suspicious package found in the mail room of Public Safety Canada, which is a block away from my work. The next day, a suspicious package was found in the Centre Block area of Parliament Hill. Both were found to be non-hazardous.

That brings us today. It took me an hour and 40 minutes to get home from work. It should only take 30 minutes tops. Why? Not because of the snow (which didn't help) but because there was a bomb threat in an arena near the O-Train and Transit Way:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2013/02/19/ottawa-bomb-squad-called-suspicious-package.html

 

While I do appreciate the fact that the emergency response crews moved quickly and did what they had to do to ensure public safety, this is the 2nd time in the last year that traffic got all snarled up due to that particular section of the transit way being closed. This should raise a major red flag to OC Transpo and city officials that maybe, just maybe, more access roads and better emergency plans should be put in place for our transit system. There are very limited access points to the transit way, which means that when it has to be closed, the buses have to detour quite far before they can get back onto it. Since the detours are onto roads which are already experiencing high traffic volumes due to commuters, the problem compounds itself and the entire bus system gets fucked up as a result. Except for route 86. It seemed perfectly fine.

I got to my bus stop a little after 5pm. After waiting for nearly 45 minutes, I gave up and grabbed the next bus that was going my way. This bus then took 55 minutes to get me home. Mostly because it takes a very scenic route. Thankfully, I had my book with me so I read on my way home. I had to stop at the grocery store so by the time everything was said and done, I got home 2 hours and 15 minutes after I left work. That really sucked.

And adding to the commute home's misery, there's a hockey game in Ottawa tonight so there was even more people on the roads than normal. By the time I got home, the traffic on the main road near me was still bumper to bumper. Even on a game night, it's usually all cleared up by 6pm.

I really hope they catch whoever left the package at the arena and charge them with everything they can, just for the sheer misery that they caused everyone this evening. It's not funny and it's not cool. Emergency services have much better things to be doing with their time, like saving lives and stopping real crimes.

Sigh. One day they'll invent a cure for stupid.

Good Night!

Sarah

Ottawa's Transit Way

Bus Adventures, Part 1

I take the bus a lot. In fact, I take it a minimum of 10 times a week (twice a day, Monday-Friday). For the most part, the ride is rather uneventful. And if you take the bus a lot, you get used to seeing certain people. Like the woman who's on my bus in the morning quite frequently. She's almost always chewing gum...with her mouth open. Always.

Anyhow, the ride is usually pretty un-eventful but every now and then, you get a unique character on the bus. That happened on the ride home this evening and unfortunately, it happened to me.

Near the back door of the accordion buses, there is a 3 bench seat. Each of the 3 seats is segmented off so it's clear that there are 3 seats. I was sitting by myself in the seat on the left. About 3 stops after mine, a man gets on and comes and sits beside me. Rather than sitting in the far right seat, he sits in the middle of the 2 unoccupied seats, which means that he's actually sitting on the metal part rather than the seat. Ok, whatever. As the bus starts to move and hits bumps and stuff, the man keeps falling over and of course, he keeps falling towards me. I try to ignore him.

I'm listening to my iPod and had just finished sending an email on my phone so I was now just going through my in-box when the man leans over, looks at me, then my phone and says "What's the temperature out?". Thankfully, my iPod was on low enough that I actually heard him. I look up and just say "I have no idea" and then go back to reading my emails. He thinks about my answer for about 45seconds then looks at me again and said "Sorry. I guess I shouldn't have asked."

What?? He didn't say it in a rude or sarcastic tone or anything so I really have no idea where he was going with that. I just replied with "no problem." I think pulled out my book and started reading. Strange man looks at me again and then leans back in the seat, stretches out his legs and rests his hands on his chest, as if he was at home on the couch. And he was still sitting in the middle of the 2 seats.

Thankfully strange man got off the bus shortly there after and my book and I were left in peace.
When I see someone with ear phones in, I don't get a sudden urge to talk to them. Ditto for people reading a book or paper or playing on their phone. It's kind of the universal signal for "leave me alone". It's not that I'm being anti-social, it's just that usually I'm either not awake yet and need to listen to some loud rock music to wake me the hell up, or I'm coming home from work and am listening to loud rock music as a way of dealing with my day so that I don't snap and terrorize everyone on the bus.

Some people I tell ya.

Good Night!

Sarah

I don't have a bus photo, so I'm using a train.