I have landed

June 4, 2015 • 4:53 pm

The United Airlines flight was an hour late, they provide NO FREE SNACKS, and if you want to watch a movie during the four-hour flight to Vancouver, you have to pay $8! What a ripoff! I would have flown Southwest (free snacks, free bag check, friendly people) had they gone to Vancouver, but alas, I was stuck with Ripoff Airlines. At least I fortuitously received TSA Precheck status, so I breezed through security without even having to remove my boots, much less receiving the Ritual Goosing.

And at the other end, after waiting an hour in the Vancouver immigration line to show my passport (really, Candians?), Maryam Namazie and I, who arrived on nearly simultaneous flights, were met by a HUGE stretch limo, which was more like a rolling living room. One thing about the INR conferences is that they treat speakers really well, though I hate to think what kind of carbon footprint this left:

P1080055

Me at the other end (we photographed each other):

P1080057
I doubt that I’ll ever ride in a car like this again!

The next couple days should be a blast, for the INR conferences are well run, not overly crowded with events, so one can relax and chat with friends and attendees, and the noms are great.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll spruce up and get ready for dinner at Vij’s Indian restaurant with Dr. Larry “Sandwalk” Moran. I will send reports on the talks and noms.

I noticed a Tim Horton’s in the airport for reference on my way to Toronto on Tuesday. What donuts are best now?

110 thoughts on “I have landed”

  2. “I noticed a Tim Horton’s in the airport for reference on my way to Toronto on Tuesday.”

    For reference? Hos is that supposed to work? “Take a right turn at the Timmie’s and go another two blocks”? You are going to get so lost. Try GPS instead.

    1. I think he means that he is filing away the fact that the airport has a TH, at which he plans to try some donuts based on the responses here when he returns to the airport on Tuesday.

  4. Good, you’re going to Vij’s!! I’m envious.

    Next time fly WestJet, if they fly from Chicago. Very friendly and efficient Canuck airline.

    1. They do, but only via Calgary or Toronto, so it’s a much longer journey (7h+ rather than 4h30).

      I was going to suggest Air Canada, but it looks like a code-share with Untied.

      I flew from London (LDR) to DC (IAD) with Untied last year and my case took three days to catch up with me. But they did pay for the new shirts and smalls I had to buy.

      Tomorrow, I’m making the same journey with British Airways (even though I violated our company’s travel policy by not taking the cheaper Untied flight).

      /@

      1. Air Canada is horrible. I’m embarrassed that “Canada” is I their name!

    1. What kind is it? The ugliest I’ve seen (from the outside) was a stretch Hummer.

        1. That’s bling, consumption, over-the-top stylin’ dude!

          Limo-riders want everyone to know that they are loaded and have no aesthetic sense whatsoever. Perfect fit!

  7. I think you need the telephoto lens in that automobile.

    I could tell you about very bad service by United Air at the Chicago Airport years ago but I will skip it. Just say I spent the night at O’Hara airport and still trying to forget that one.

  8. Noms- National Outcomes Measurement System.
    – a folk rock group out of New Mexico
    -A executive agency of the Ministry of Justice Wales (probation…).

    And good eats (from num-num-num).

  9. The requirement for a passport is because to get into the USA you require a passport. So now you have to in Canada, otherwise you would not be let back.

    2. This is fairly recent. It was pending when I did some field work in Arizona back in 2007 – bringing a Canadian passport on a trip to the States was wise then, but not mandatory. Now it is mandatory. So much for the world’s longest undefended border.

      1. I doubt if it is the longest any more, if you added up all the borders in Europe that now have no customs or immigration controls whatever – virtually the whole of western Europe I think.

        There’s something I find incredibly warming and deeply satisfying about the sight of a deserted and near-derelict Customs post.

    3. After 911 it was the U.S. That insisted on the passport checking as they were certain that terrorists were flooding their borders from Canada. Prior to that I never bothered with a passport and used to go to the U.S. regularly with only my birth certificate.

      1. I used to cross (at Peace Garden on I-5 or at Sumas) all the time, with nothing more than my driver’s license. Ceiling Cat knows how many times I did that!

        I always love going to Canada (Manitoba lakes, the Rockies in Jasper, Banff, Yoho, Glacier, Kootenay, Vancouver (my favorite city in N. America).

  10. Chuffin’ Ada, I’ve seen smaller English villages than that limo. Maryam Namazie? Genuinely envious. Solidarity to her, she’s a heroine. x

    1. I’ve seen English villages that limo would never be able to get through. Unless it was hinged in the middle. 😉

        1. I actually thought the exact same thing! When I was in Boston and Cambridge, I kept saying how if I lived there I wouldn’t have a car because I’d go insane trying to drive there.

  11. Haha, I’d gladly take your hour delay over my Ripoff Airlines experience. Flight delayed for hours due to reasons never made clear to us at JFK. Told to go to Newark for alternate flight. That’s a different airport in a different state. That was a sad little hundred dollar* cab ride. Still missed our connecting flight in Texas. Might have sat in the airport there all night had we not met the most disgruntled Ripoff Airlines employee in the world who was more than happy to send us to a hotel with meal coupons on the airline’s dime.

    *Bridge, tunnel, & generous tip for cab driver. If you pay just the cab fee and a small tip the driver actually loses money based on traffic for a trip from JFK to Newark and back. Most will not do it unless forced to take the call by the company.

      1. Yeah. We have a retired taxi cab driver in the family, so we were sympathetic. We lucked out and the traffic was not backed up terribly on that particular morning.

  12. Just listened to Maryam’s interview of Mick Nugent re: the Ireland vote for marriage equality. Mick is a guy who probably doesn’t get enough press in the USA. He does great work. A real hero of secularism.

  13. Haven’t had a Tim’s donut for ages so I can’t speak to the current quality, but I used to often go for the sour cream glazed.

  14. No snacks on a flight? Obscene! Criminals!

    I get grumbly without a snack.

    I look forward to the report of the talks, but if not more to the noms. Perhaps I’m more a Militant Nomist than atheist.

    Oh, and sorry to break it to you but Tim Hortons are the WORST donuts I know of.
    I love sweets and have almost never met a donut I didn’t like, but somehow Tim’s manages it. Something sort of “off” cheap and fake tasting about their stuff. You’ve been warned. But, if on an anthropological/sociological level you want to experience what so many Canadians put up with as a donut, that’s another story. 🙂

    Their peanut butter cookies are decent, though, in a pinch.

    Also, if you have a moment, Jerry: Vij’s looks wonderful, how did you decide on that restaurant?

    1. I told Jerry about it, but he may know it from other sources as well. The food is delectable, especially the lamb “lollipops”. I’ve only been there once in person, but I have made a few of Vij’s recipes printed in the Globe and Mail.

      1. A couple of years ago Vij’s opened a branch in Seattle called Shanik. I went there once soon after opening. The food was great, but they kept us waiting half an hour for a table, with no place to sit in the lobby. (The bar wasn’t an option because I had teenagers with me, a possibility they didn’t seem to have thought of.)

        I keep meaning to give it another try but haven’t ever got round to it.

      2. Oh that’s interesting merilee. I sometimes wonder how Jerry gets his leads on restaurants.

        If I’m out that way again I’ll have to try Viji’s.

        1. Vij’s is fantastic. My son lives in Whistler so we go through Vancouver at least once a year. I hope to get to Vij’s again this fall. Are you of Indian descent, Vaal?

          1. merilee,

            I’m of Scottish descent. If you mean the screen name, it’s from the famous Star Trek episode “The Apple, wherein the Star Trek crew come upon an alien race worshiping their God, Vaal, which at the end of the episode is revealed to simply be a machine.

          2. Thanks for the clarification, Vaal:-). I’m clueless in the Trekkie world. You do seem to like the Indian food that this Norwegianish-American loves.

          3. I knew it! Just rewatched that episode last week. What’s with the poison-dart-spitting flowers and people-vaporizing lightening bolts Vaal? Sheesh!

          4. darrelle,

            Rule number one of being a God: Create
            novel ways of tormenting your subjects!

            (Hard to compete with Yahweh, though, in that regard…)

    3. I second the peanut butter cookie, or if you want something to dunk in coffee the Old Fashioned Plain, but otherwise I’ve stayed away from their doughnuts since they stopped making them fresh in store and moved to mass production, ship to store and reheating.

    1. I second that , but if you do get a coffee get a dark roast with an espresso shot in it, otherwise you might as well order water.

        1. Yes, but for the love of all things hole-y, don’t call them Tim Bits.

          Little chopped up bits of Tim?

          Or Tim’s…ahem…bits?

          “Little Fried Balls of Wheat, Sugar, and Fat” would be a better name.

          1. It’s amazing, he’s lasted so long. Who would have thought he had so much meat on him.

        2. Yeah, someone else knows them as donut holes. I’m going over to Canuckland in a months time and I’m looking forward to a dose of donut holes 🙂 .

          As for that limo, just what is the point of vehicles like that?

    2. Non-Canadians might not know that Tim Horton first gained fame as a professional hockey player until his tragic death in a car accident.

      An acquaintance of mine had just moved from the UK and was in a Tim Horton’s restaurant for the first time. She was reading a sign that gave the history of the franchise and as she reached the part that gave the circumstances of Horton’s demise she was horrified to notice that the shop was selling something called “Tim Bits.”

  17. …receiving the Ritual Goosing…

    How much extra $ for that? Are upgrades available?

  19. Having flown basically any distance outweighs the carbon foot print of any vehicle. Sad, but true.

  21. Yup, carbon footprint is massive. It would be nice to know if there is a carbon offset program for this meeting. Mind you, at the ticket cost, I doubt it.

  22. oooh! Vyckie Garrison is there! She’s been all over the media in the past week or two since the Duggar family sex crime scandal broke. She’s a personal hero of mine for working to expose the pernicious fundamentalist quiverfull movement, that brainwashes women into being used as Brood Mares for Jebus. Andrea Yates & her children were victims of that movement. I hope you can catch her talk!

  23. Whenever my wife and I visit Vancouver we eat at Vij’s or vIJ’S Rangoli next door. Excellent treats!!

  25. PCC saus “waiting an hour in the Vancouver immigration line to show my passport (really, Candians?”

    Prof C. Cat must be suffering from American Belly Button Syndrome. Almost every time I fly from somewhere back to Canada with a stop in the US I miss my connection because of at least one hour long lines at immigration, even though I’m not staying.

  27. I don’t think I’ve had Tim’s since I left NYC. They had a shop in Port Authority, and with one of those unlimited passes sometimes I’d just ride to see people be freaky and look at the mosaics on the walls.

  28. That car is just obscene. And I say that as someone who looks at your foodie pictures. 🙂

    1. Does it have an extra pair of wheels in the middle for going over humps in the road?

  29. Noms: you must try “East is East”, a silk-road theme restaurant. There is an all you can eat option (maybe called the “Silk Road feast?”) where you can sample a bunch of dishes to your heart’s delight. I recall the mango-butternut squash dish, the eggplant dish, and a lamb curry dish that were all particularly delicious. And some wonderful juice blends and smoothies too. Whenever I visit the inlaws I make a point of eating there and have never been disappointed. Just a great variety of flavors.

  30. and if you want to watch a movie during the four-hour flight to Vancouver, you have to pay $8!

    Or carry a tablet and a pair of earbuds with you. Your taste in movies is probably better than United’s anyway.

    1. Or at least an MP3 player and a decent pair of phones. And a USB-to-mini (or whatever) short adapter cable to keep the player charged.

      My taste in music is better than any airline’s – which is to say, the music on my MP3 player exactly suits my tastes, what a surprise 😉

  33. FYI, the ritual goosings perpetrated by the TSA have proven to be completely worthless.

    Good article here:
    http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/the-tsa-doesnt-work-and-maybe-it-doesnt-matter/394673/
    “” An internal investigation of the Transportation Security Administration revealed security failures at dozens of the nation’s busiest airports, where undercover investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints in 95 percent of trials, ABC News has learned. The series of tests were conducted by Homeland Security Red Teams who pose as passengers, setting out to beat the system.””

    1. that’s a long limousine.. I think I could smudge donuts on one of those couches, going around corners and breaking and all.. ‘to cool for cats’ I say.

  35. Given the United option, it couldn’t take all that much longer to get to Vancouver by train, could it? Another day? You could probably post from the train, and give interviews via Skype, too.

    A sleeper might not have much more of a carbon footprint than that limo, either. And the train wouldn’t be much longer.

    1. And just noting the 900 drafts, all the more reason to take a train somewhere.

  36. Vij’s has the reputation of being the finest (Indian eatery) there is. Not only delicious but incorporates new approaches and novel ingredients. It’s about the only Indian restaurant I know of that embraces entomaphagy – they may still serve Cricket parathas… Looking forward to your review. Their cookbooks are invaluable, though I have to turn down the heat.

  37. Welcome to our fair city!! Sorry about the line at the airport. I sure wish I had been able to attend this conference in my own backyard. It sounds like it will be great. Enjoy Vancouver.

  38. It reminds me of the interior of a Lear Jet 35A. I’m not crazy about the polished steel ceiling though.

  39. You need to get a buttertarts while in Canada. I eat them too much and they are a Canadian treat.

    My go to Tim Horton’s donut is Boston Cream but maybe you would like a Dutchie?

    1. A trigger warning would have been nice!!

      I am addicted to Boston creams (I calk them Bavarian creams), and I haven’t had a butter tart in years, if ever

    2. I think I know pretty much every place that sells good butter tarts in the surrounding 20 miles.

      Yeah, I like butter tarts 😉

  40. Oh yes, Jerry, echoing Diana MacPherson’s post:

    I’d suggest looking for a good butter tart.

    And also, if you haven’t tried them, the particular-to-Canada treat/dessert:

    Nanaimo bars.

    They are one of my favorite treats in the world. They can be very sweet, but the best ones are more creamy with the most luxurious “mouthfeel” (to use a fairly execrable food industry term).

    1. And Nanaimo is in BC. I don’t know whether or not the bars are actually from there, but they used to be something I only got when out there (or if my father visited his relatives).

      1. Indeed. When I visited BC not long ago I made it a point to traipse through Nanaimo looking for the best Nanaimo bars.

        They did originate in Nanaimo, thought there is a curious lack of advertising of this fact or interest in Nanaimo. I did eventually find “Winner of Nanaimo’s best Nanaimo Bars” in the town, and they were just sort of hidden out of site in a general store, in the back fridge. Weird.

  41. We flew United to Hawaii back in January. 9 hour flight and no free food! You can fly to Europe faster!

    1. This is, obviously, the fault of the US Government in locating Hawaii so far off the coast. If they had been less ambitiously expansionist and put it in a more sensible spot – say 500 miles off the coast – there would be a huge amount of saving in time, cost and carbon footprint.

        1. Ah. Well obviously they should have put Hawaii in the Great Lakes then. 😉

  42. When I first met Tim Horton’s as an innocent young fellow in 1981 they were delicious. The dough was made in each shop and staff came to ‘donut school’ at the local TH Childrens’ Camp so they could learn to do it right. Later, after the sale to Wendy’s I think, frozen dough was made in a factory and shipped out to all the stores. The donuts changed from light fluffy delicacies to heavy, stodgy abominations. I don’t know anyone who still eats them. It might have been a good thing that they took away the option of buying a dozen Dutchies (clearly the all-time best TH donut) – or I’d be extremely fat by now!

  43. Vij’s is sure a Vancouver institution.

    I was there as a graduate student on department money (which was a relief since it is a bit pricy). Is it worth it? I don’t know – we had trouble figuring out what to order and how, so the result was a little odd. It certainly isn’t *bad*.

    I prefer the Chinese places, of which there are no shortage of all kinds. My favourite from my last trip out was Golden Ocean – a seafood semibanquet place.

  44. “after waiting an hour in the Vancouver immigration line to show my passport (really, Candians?)”

    I can’t help contrast my first arrival in Paris, which stunned me.

    Being well used to the long queues for immigration and customs at Auckland airport, and having just been through similar queues at Sydney (even though I was in transit) on my Auckland-Sydney-Abu Dhabi-Paris flight, I was quite pleased to get through French immigration in just five minutes, went off to collect my bag, watched by three or four disinterested gendarmes, through the door marked ‘Sortie’ expecting to find myself in the Customs hall – and there wasn’t one. I was out in the airport concourse!

    Oh, by the way, Air New Zealand’s meal was pretty crappy, Etihad Airways was excellent, and Air France on the final leg managed to outdo Etihad. And while Air NZ gave us the expected plastic cutlery, Etihad and Air France gave us proper stainless steel. They must have figured that no-one’s ever held up an airliner using cutlery.

    1. I got waived through Sydney pretty fast but I had cleared in Hawaii so they probably were satisfied I wasn’t carrying rabies or anything. Of course, the standard maple syrup jokes were made.

      1. Of course, the standard maple syrup jokes were made.

        Who is Mabel Syrup, and what is she famous for? Is she a relative of the innocent William Posters?

    2. Air New Zealand’s meal was pretty crappy, Etihad Airways was excellent,

      Even my negligible interest in food beyond the edible/ inedible distinction managed to note good memories of Ethiad food.
      A 40 minute coach ride to transfer planes at 02:00 local at IIRC Qatar remains my main memory of Ethiad though. May have just been a “we’re rebuilding the airport” moment though – annoying but it wouldn’t put them off the booking list per se.

      Etihad and Air France gave us proper stainless steel. They must have figured that no-one’s ever held up an airliner using cutlery.

      Cutting even a moderately hard cheese though, isn’t what those eating iron are intended for. Half the time they struggle with the bread.

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