Bonus points if you know the book the title quote is pulled from...
So the USS Endeavor finally got put to the test today. We haven't been using her that much because we've been staying downtown Ottawa over the weekend. We just left her parked and walked everywhere we needed to go. That included walking past a group of very determined Tamils protesting in front of Parliament Hill since Thursday, I believe. They were back at it again this morning. I give them marks for perseverance if nothing else.
Anyway, we took the starship out for a spin today, including to Cathy's favourite place in Ottawa - IKEA. Earlier the year I managed to win 100kg freight at a bonspiel and Cathy cheerfully managed to use up about 75 kg of it today. I think today is a holiday in Ottawa for Easter, which explains why IKEA was packed at 3 pm on a Monday. There were hordes of people going through the place.
I've been looking for signs of an economic downturn since we hit Ottawa. I'm not saying I'm an expert on the place, but I haven't spotted anything different in the place. Sparks Street looked dead, but it looked dead last summer when I was here. But every Chapters we've been to, the Byward Market, IKEA and MEC were all packed. Are we sure things are supposed to be bad down here?
Not really sure what we're doing tomorrow. Cathy's meeting a friend for lunch. I might finally go and hit a comic book store or two. But we shall see. It's a vacation, after all, and we are clearly not on a schedule.
7 comments:
There's no IKEA in Doha, but there is one in Abu Dhabi - is that Cathy's indication of civilisation?
Regarding the downturn: Easter Monday is a hliday for gov't and gov't is the big employer in Ottawa. Even the city gov't is the biggest (as a % of population) in Canada. That insulates Ottawa somewhat. But there's also psychology. If people don't yet believe something is a problem they will ignore it.
St. John's housing bubble was at a high at the same time people there could see what had happened to the bubble in the US. Friends of ours had their home appraised at about $400K, they did it again recently and $80K had been shaved off. Europe doesn't (or didn't) want to believe they were going to be in as much trouble as the US, now the only difference looks like timing - the US is first in trouble and people think it will be out of trouble before Europe. Not that I believe any of that crap about "green shoots" being evident...with 2 of the big 3 likely to go bankrupt.
Ha. Sparks street will forever be "being revitalized" and will always look dead. They were lucky CBC moved in because it'll be the only stable business in the place, haha.
Ottawa's a government town so you won't really feel the economic downturn there, I don't think.
Have you ever been to the Works? Best burger place in the world! Order the Peppercorn broiler or the Spartacat Special and the tower of rings. Oh, and a milk shake. I don't want to sound pushy but you HAVE to go and I promise you will LOVE it.
1. Dhabi is not really anybody's idea of civilization. I read an article last week in either the Guardian or the Independent that was one of the most horrible things I've read in a long time. Horrid place...
2. Sparks Street is a wasteland and one of these times in Ottawa I will remember this so that I will stop visiting it.
3. Well, it wasn't on the list of places to eat when we were in town, but we'll see what we can do.
Having not seen the article in the Guardian but having heard some uproar about British news coverage of the area...well, they are giving a perspective that needs to be seen/heard. But, I think they're focussing on covering the plight of low-class workers - which is horrendous. To find something comparable in Canada - coverage of Native reserves or...close but not quite as bad - migrant workers for canadian farms; farm labourers are the only people who are exempt from the canadian laws that say the worker has the right to refuse unsafe tasks.
There are people who take advantage of the cheap labour here, and there are those who pay comparable Canadian wages and treatment is equivalent.
After going to The Works, you will dedicate all future blog subjects to writing about me for letting you know about The Works, or to The Works itself since it is so goooood.
You might even complain about me for not mentioning The Works earlier.
Haha! I was searching the line "First we feast, then IKEA" on Google and I found your blog post! I just read that line in Christopher Moore's "The Stupidest Angel" last night. Classic!
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