I went into Toronto yesterday and had lunch with one of our Mac communications alumni, Elena Yunusov.
Elena is a very dynamic professional communicator and social media enthusiast (she tweets a lot!) who now works for the Ontario Ombudsman. We had lunch at Mercato at Bay and Queen, and had a great conversation about communications, politics, life and McMaster! Lunch was great too – I had cavatelli in marinara sauce and Elena had a splendid-looking marguerita pizza. Elena also agreed to join the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Professional Communication, of which I am Editor-in-Chief. Welcome aboard, Elena!
After we finished lunching, I gallantly offered to drop Elena off at her destination but I got completely lost in the City Hall parking lot. I drove round and round – following “Exit” signs which led to dead ends, or even to a carwash. Surreal! And embarrassing. I must say that I can really be the “master of disorientation.” I ended up asking 3 people how to get out and none of them gave good directions. Finally, we literally saw “light at the end of the lane” and whooped as this light open up to reveal an exit gate. Wow. Toronto City Hall parking garage = signage FAIL!
I believe Toronto City hall parking may actually be a time warp or wormhole where you enter into a parallel universe, and the world has aged for years but you remain unchanged. The parking lot that time forgot.
Then it took me 3.5 hours to drive from Toronto to Hamilton! Holy frustration, Batman! Lucky I have a good stereo as @qui_oui likes to remark!
Today I was driving into Hamilton from my house in Ancaster and, because of an accident on the 403 near Aberdeen, what would have been a 20 minute drive became a 1.5 hour drive. Extremely frustrating. Not only that, but the “tire pressure” sign went off on my GLK, so I ended up going to the dealership, Mercedes-Benz Burlington-Hamilton.
I waited in their very posh lounge and worked on stuff on my MacBook – all the while yearning for an iPad that would alleviate the weight and short battery life of my laptop while providing much the same functionality (but in a cooler box)! I really want an iPad!
Then the MB people dropped me off at McMaster because I had three meetings. Those went well and I bummed a ride off a colleague back to the MB Burlington-Hamilton. When I got there they tell me that I have a nail in a tire and that it needs to be replaced.
I will check with my local garagiste to make sure before I commit to a new tire. Good Lord!
What a crazy automobile-oriented couple of days! Just renews my dislike for long commutes. I made the right call moving near to McMaster. Now if only I could walk – that would be fantastic.
Now I have to settle down and try to sleep. I have a big day of writing ahead of me – tomorrow I want to finish editing Understanding Human Communication.