Saturday, 29 December 2012

Blizzard Time

Jodi and I arrived home last night at around 1:00 am from our trip to Moncton.  We were delayed and missed our connecting flight in Montreal.  Fortunately we were able to get on a later flight and made it to Pearson International safe and sound.  Our bags however, did not make the trip with us.  It was frustrating to say the least as we had some frozen food that Karen sent with us including some lobster.  The Air Canada baggage claim attendant explained that our bags were in Montreal and would be on the first flight to Toronto in the morning.  We contemplated staying over night but,  I really wanted to see Ollie and decided to return in the morning to pick up the bags which ended up being quite the experience.

I was only able to get a few hours of sleep before I had to get up and return to Pearson.  The weather outside was not too appealing but,  the fate of our frozen food lay in the balance so I started out on my trek.  It was not white out conditions but, their was definitely a blizzard like atmosphere on the roads.  I took the same route I take to work in the summer and the roads were pretty sketchy.  I probably only averaged sixty kilometers an hour until I got in to Rockwood.  I did not have a deadline to get there by so it was better to take my time.  I got on to the 401 and the stretch of high way to the air port was a tricky endeavor as well.  It makes it more dangerous when there are a lot of other vehicles driving in those conditions.  I made sure to keep my distance from cars in front of me and slowly plodded along to the 427.  I realized today that their will be an inherent danger when I do start plowing at the air port.  I will not called in when the skies are blue and their is no snow on the ground.  I will end up driving in conditions similar today and it worries me a little bit.

I got to the air port at eight o'clock and made my way to the baggage claim area.  The baggage agent for Air Canada informed me that my bags were coming on flight 401 from Montreal and not the original slated flight 481.  It would not have bothered me as much except that last night we were told specifically that it would be on the first flight out this morning.  I was thus forced to wait until ten o'clock for the delayed flight 401 to pick up our bags.  After retrieving our bags,  I made my way back to the baggage claim.  There was no way I was paying for parking after my ordeal and was quite pleased that the manager accommodated my request without hesitation.  I then made my way to the car to get the hell out of there.  In my haste to leave,  I did not take my time and ended up falling down part of the escalator with the bags.  I landed on my left hip and it is still quite sore at the moment.  It was kind of funny at the time and could have been a lot worse.  I was more embarrassed than anything and dusted myself quickly to avoid the eyes of onlookers.

The drive home was  a little better but,  was slow going.  I was exhausted and made a Tim's stop in Milton to help me finish the last 45 minutes of the drive.  I was so relieved to make it home, have a shower and go back to bed.  I am also happy to report that the frozen meats we were sent home with made it through with flying colours.

I rested for a few hours and then took Ollie for a good play at the arena.  He must have been dying to run after we had been a way for five days.  I picked up some groceries and am now catching up on some NCAA hoops.

So it has been quite an eventful twenty four hours.  I am really looking forward to a low key day tomorrow and watching the final week of the NFL regular season.

I have learned through my years of driving that you have to let the road and weather conditions dictate how you approach driving in the winter.  There is no sense in rushing somewhere only to get in an accident and risk lives.  Give a lot of space between those driving in front you as reaction time is severely reduced in bad conditions.  Do not let someone riding your tail push you to drive faster than you are comfortable with.  Tail gating is my biggest pet peeve with other drivers and it puts people at unnecessary risk.

Dinner is almost ready so I will end for today.  Hope all is well in your little corner of the world.

Take care,  Shawn.

Unnecessary risk is foolish.

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