Election Fog

Today was a mixture of fog, rain and snow which perfectly reflects the ongoing election campaigns - partly confusing with a chance of victory. Polls continue to favour the Conservative party so people wait for a game changer or we head into another Conservative minority or maybe even a majority government this time.

Sometimes we have a vague idea that we will probably vote for a certain party and will only change our mind if they say something that makes us mad, or if the other party says something so great that it completely changes our mind about the candidate.

I don't really understand the commercial that says "A vote for the Liberals is a vote for Michael Ignatieff" because I am pretty sure that's the way it has always been. You vote for both the local representative and the leader of the party when you cast your vote. Conversely, a vote for the Conservatives is a vote for Stephen Harper. If that's the most negative advertising that's going to happen I will be impressed by how civil the election is being run.

We need everyone to jump on the streetcar, or bandwagon, and get out there and vote on election day May 2nd, 2011. You can pick one of the five main parties (Conservative, Liberal, NDP, Bloc Quebecois or the Green Party) or chose an independent or other registered political party like the Pirate Party of Canada or the Rhinoceros Party.

Remember, you can't talk about the election without talking about parties!

High Rise Fire Unit on Queen St West

A Toronto Fire Department High Rise Unit blows past a TTC streetcar on Queen Street West as it goes into the Yonge Street intersection. Not too much slows down the pace of Torontonians so everyone goes about their business, including climbing into the streetcar.

Salt-n-holes

Push it real good! Today was gorgeous with a beautiful sun giving us plenty of Vitamin D as spring continues to warm up the City of Toronto - ha, Barrie probably got a few inches of snow, especially with all that lake effect flurries they always seem to have - suck on that Barrie! As the snow starts to melt we are left with the all the dirty, white salt stains everywhere, it's not just on your uggs. This then is the season of the pothole (you can report Toronto potholes on this page) and construction activity that really screws up your travel plans - so please merge with no road rage.

Gardiner: concrete art

The sheer scale of many civil projects, like bridges and buildings, tend to make many objects art installations and not merely functional creations. Toronto's own space needle, otherwise known as the CN Tower, really makes the Toronto skyline. I look for the CN Tower as I come down from the Niagara Escarpment and feel comfortable knowing where Toronto is. The Gardiner Expressway is like that. One of my favourite views is down near the Air Canada Centre (above).

It brings thousands of people into and out of the City, day in and day out - except for maintenance or accidents, and it's raised presence has annoyed many people, but as I have said before, the highway is a lot smaller than the wall of condos that Toronto has built along the shores of Lake Ontario.

Part of the Gardiner along the far eastern reaches of Lakeshore Boulevard have a series of vertical supports left in place as an X marks the spot tribute and art installation of the Gardiner. One day it will be too expensive to maintain and too expensive to replace (or put underground) and it will come down, and that time won't be that far in the future. On that day we will miss it when it worked and how it looked when it worked.

In the downtown core the east and westbound lanes are separated by a small wall of vertical green fins. When you come in from the west you approach a wall of cranes as they construct new buildings which of course include many more condos. It's time to get your down payment ready and get a condo of your own, I think interest rates on mortgages are still low, low, low!

GO Transit, full metal stop

Commuting in and out of Toronto is always a challenge as the roads are always busy but at rush hour the simple 45 minute drive becomes two and a half hours. Add in the cost of parking and many people end up using public transit. Most public transportation works only within a municipality, although some routes do mingle, so that if you travel through more than one municipality the best bet is GO Transit. Not surprisingly the trains have the same shortcomings as any other method; weather and breakdowns can happen at any time - but sometimes it seems like Friday is the day for breakdowns.

Today, yes a Friday, the Georgetown line had a major problem as the 4:15pm train from Union Station decided to break down in Malton right beside the International Centre. For an hour and a half they worked on the train but could not get it running. Finally another train came and pushed the broken down train to the Bramalea station where we got out of old unfaithful and moved into the working train.

Train 247 pushes train 601