This last year was a big one for me in one major way: it was a redefinition of my professional existence. Since the end of 2009, I’ve transformed from a professional manager to a … hmm … well, my title (however formal it needs to be) is “Solutions Lead”, but that belies a lot of what I do every day, and just using “web developer” or “programmer” — even with a “Senior” prefix — completely understates the reality. This year was really about taking all the skills and knowledge I’d acquired as a leader, and merging that back into my day-to-day development practices.

And that, as the saying goes, was only the tip of the iceberg…

I did a LOT of work. I did so much, in fact, that my contracting business is gone. Doors closed, windows shut, lights off. Permanently. I had to make a very painful call to realise that I need to focus on the three most important things in my life: my family. (There’s three of them, in case you were wondering.) To focus on them means to remove all other distractions inasmuch as is possible, and still earn a paycheque along the way (helping to support said family, of course).

Add to that Alex’s return to work after nearly four years off as a Professional Mom, working evening shifts. That meant more time as a Professional Dad, whether I liked it or not. (And I like it, really. Except for dinner time. Suddenly, I have nothing but sympathy for my parents when I was a kid.) It’s adjustment, it’s growth.

As a result of all of this, many things suffered. My hobbies (what few I have) were shelved — even my desire to blog waned dramatically, with more than a couple of blogless months. My TV watching fell to an all-time low, and I can count on one hand the number of movies I saw in the theatre (coincidentally, also the number of movies I watched during the Christmas break at home through iTunes). My health has also been … unattended, with a noticeable increase in girth and an unhealthy increase in my beer consumption (since decreased, thankfully).

But if you were to ask me if I was “unhappy”, I’d have to say “no”. Every day, my kids remind me why I’m proud to be their dad. Every day, I get a challenge in my job. Every day, I enjoy life, even if it’s only for a few moments. To say I’m “unhappy” would be a disservice (if not an outright insult) to my daily existence, and those around me.

To that end, I can safety state that I’ve:

• Been into Banff National Park on a few occasions — both warm and cold — but nowhere near enough for my liking
• Picnicked as much as we could, but again nowhere near enough for what we could have done
• Enjoyed the first brew from Calgary’s new Village Brewery
• Did some renovation work in the kitchen (and planned more renovation work for this year)
• Retaught myself the fundamentals of being a (web) developer, and merged that with the skills and knowledge of a technology director
• Lamented as I saw Choo Choo seem to grow by leaps and bounds, going from my little baby girl to a walking, talking toddler
• Finally accepted the truth, and got glasses
• Came to understand my father in ways I never thought possible, and really wished that he could be here today to see how his son (kinda) grew up
• Accepted the reality that I will only ever be a father of two beautiful girls — there will never be a third offspring
• Watched in horror as Canada succumbed to fear mongering and elected a government that refuses to listen to its own people (a terrifyingly global trend in 2011)
• Mourned the loss of one of Canada’s best politicians since Pierre Trudeau, the Honourable Jack Layton
• Experienced my first general anesthesia to get my hernia repaired … boy, I do not want to go through that again!
• Drank way too much coffee (yes, folks, that is possible)
• Similarly, also drank too much beer (yes, also possible, though admittedly it tasted really good at the time)
• Launched more projects in one year than I had launched during my busiest five years (combined) at my previous company
• Took Monkey on the SUPER SECRET MONKEY SURPRISE — a short trip on CP 2816
• Took Monkey to the Stampede, and realised to my delight (or possible horror, not sure yet) that she loves rides, especially roller coasters
• Also got the Mother of All Headaches while at the Stampede…
• Travelled to Ontario to visit with my family
• Spent a lot of time swimming in the lake with Monkey and my nieces
• Rode another steam train in Huntsville
• Visited with some old and dear friends (especially Stuart and Therese)
• Celebrated Monkey’s 4th birthday, and Choo Choo’s first birthday
• Also rode on the Heritage Park steam train
• Travelled to Red Deer to see the Backyardigans live (oh, the things parents must do…)
• Travelled once again to the West Coast for post-Christmas and New Year’s celebrations

I’m sure there’s other stuff I did, but my blog was so light on content in 2011 that … well, I’m not sure. Sure, I can try to read Twitter, but I used that in lieu of my blog, so there’s a few thousand tweets I’d need to go over. That’s a little too much. So if I’m making any resolution this year, it’s to write more blog posts.

This year, we’d resolved to get you on that train, Monkey. And … well, we did try. But apparently we’d waited too long (trying to coordinate with other parents) and … well, we blew it. This year, like last, probably all you’d have done is stood and watched as other kids got to ride the train.

But, thanks to a fluke chance, you got to ride something those other kids didn’t even know about…

There are things you’re just starting to understand about your Old Man (that would be me), Monkey. One of them is that Daddy loves trains. And that Daddy will — if given the chance — go to long lengths to do train-related things. Like last year’s little chase of CP 2816 through the mountains, or the model train show (although we couldn’t go this year, as it was the same weekend that I was recovering from surgery).

Virtually the day after we realised that there was no way we were going to get tickets to ride Thomas, my friend Graham sent me a message that CP 2816 was exiting it’s winter maintenance for a shakedown run out to Carseland and back (about 80 kilometres, there and back). It was supposed to be a Canadian Pacific Railways employee-only event, but Graham has a little sway with a few people and very graciously secured two tickets for us.

And thus was born the Super Secret Monkey Surprise.

It was thus created for two reasons. First, I didn’t want to tell you in case some plan changed. It’s a weird situation when it actually makes more sense to surprise you rather than to let you know about something fun that might not happen. Second, you were coming down with something nasty (and particularly on Thursday night and Friday morning, you were really, really, really sick) and taking you out on Saturday might not have been the wisest of moves. But, once Dr. Mom had given her approval, you and I set out for our little adventure.

You kept calling it the “Super Duper Monkey Surprise”, which you were keen to recount to anyone who’d listen. You rambled on and on until we got to the Royal Canadian Pacific offices on 9th Ave. downtown, where we entered and went through a side door into the Pavilion, which is a mostly glass-enclosed space that houses Canadian Pacific Railways’ fleet of vintage parlour cars used on the RCP train.

No sooner had we entered the Pavilion itself than you asked if we could ride the train — you’d figured that part out. As if on cue, that’s when CP 2816 pulled into the siding outside, steaming away as its bell clanged.

You were anxious, amidst a bit of coughing. You wanted to go on the ride, even though I’m sure you weren’t really sure what to expect. It’d been a long time since you’d been on a train (I’m pretty sure it was when we were in Scotland two years ago), and aside from Heritage Park, you’d never been on a big train pulled by a steam locomotive.

We hopped on, and immediately went forward, finding seats as close to the steam locomotive as we could. (There was a baggage car, generator car, tool car, the 1900 and 1400 F-unit diesel assists between us and CP 2816, so it wasn’t like we could hear it really clearly.) The passenger cars are all vintage, with giant comfy seats and enough legroom to host a concert. It’s what rail travel used to be, and I (for one) greatly lament its loss in favour of cramped automobiles.

Soon, the train slowly began to back up, and you got very excited to be moving. We had to back up quite a ways down the line (the siding is in part of the staging yard that allows the huge freight trains to line up to arrive and exit from Calgary westwards) before we could join up with the main line. Then, we started moving forwards.

I can’t really remember the last time I rode behind a steam locomotive on main line rail. I was probably around 5 or 6, and it was most likely behind CN 6060 when it still ran steam excursions out to Niagara Falls. (I suppose you could consider CP 2860 when it was running North Vancouver to Squamish as well, but BC Rail was only a Class II railway at the time.) Only CP 2816 and the odd run of CP 2860 ever go on main line rail these days.

It took a while for us to wind our way through the rail yards that stretch from downtown Calgary out to just past Ogden in the east. From there, the train picked up a bit of speed before passing through CP’s intermodal yard. After that, we were off!

And so were you. You didn’t want to sit anymore. You wanted to get up and walk around. This is another reason I love trains — you can do that. Just try wandering on an airplane. You get weird looks. And Monkey, you don’t sit still, so really, a train is the best thing for you. And you saw just about every window and vestibule on the the train. Several times.

We arrived at Carseland in about 45 minutes. In fact, it wasn’t even Carseland proper — it was a wye just to the west of Carseland that also services the Agrium fertilizer plant. It was more than long enough to “turn” the entire train. And, thankfully, it was also dry enough for us to get off and look around a bit … which, of course, means running up to the head end to get pictures with the steam locomotive.

Take that, Thomas!

It was quite windy that day (it’s been quite windy for a few days, actually), and you wanted to get back on the train before too long. That gave you time to have more of your snacks and drink some more water, before resuming your incessant pacing up and down the train. I had to get you to stop for a while until the train moved again, so everyone could get on without running into you.

On the way back, you made friends with another little girl, and the two of you (and the girl’s little sister, I believe) hung out in the vestibules, going from one stool to another to peer over the high doors. You never really seemed to mind your hair blowing in the wind, or the periodic shifting of the cars as the train rolled down the tracks.

Although I don’t think you were quite as bummed as I was when the trip was all over. But you definitely said that it was fun, and how you wanted to do it again.

I’m pretty sure we will.

2010 was the year we made contact … wait, sorry, wrong catchline. 2010 was the year my family welcomed new members, notably my youngest, a daughter (code)named Choo Choo. It was a year I changed my career outlook (yes, again), and found that I’m not (completely) useless. This was a year of family, for me, and that’s perhaps the most important aspect.

But despite all that, I hesitate to call it “a year of change”.

Got me as to why, though. Let’s be honest, there were a lot of changes, not the least of which are the ones noted above. But at no time did I feel like this is a sudden (and possibly unwanted) shift in my life. It actually feels like things are more settled this year, despite the apparent upheaval, than in previous years. Maybe one day I’ll make some sense of that little quandary.

In the meantime, let’s review 2010:

• Began the year with tea at the Banff Springs, seeing my friend Sonny for the first time in about 15 years
• Started working with some old friends at a new(er) company, Evans Hunt
• Went to Edmonton for a “surprise” weekend (mostly for Monkey) and spent a great morning in the waterslides with her
• Celebrated my Nana’s 97th birthday, which would also sadly be her last
• Found out that I’m K+, my kids are K+, and my wife is anti-K
• Spent many a sleepless night worrying about Choo Choo before she was born
• Though originally disheartened, came to love and be thrilled by the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada, and felt the massive pride for the successes of our athletes
  • Yes, I Twittered obsessively during the Men’s Hockey gold medal game
• Bought our first flat-screen TV, to go along with our Apple TV
• Welcomed my youngest, (code)named Choo Choo to our world
• Watched Monkey’s first Easter egg hunt
• Found out I’ve got something called “narrow angles” in my eyes, and got laser surgery in both of them
• Went to Drumheller, and visited the Royal Tyrell
• Guided (albeit not as well as I could have) the technical launch of my first all-Drupal website: VisitCalgary.com
• Experienced the abject terror of losing your child in a mall
• Said “thank you” to my Nana — I never say “goodbye”
• Went on my first train chase with Monkey
• Went to dim sum a couple of times, but not nearly enough
• Introduced Monkey to sushi — I think she likes it
• Went to Heritage Park a couple of times, and even saw Thomas the Tank Engine (hey, I’m a parent and I like trains, it’s a win-win)
• Went to the Zoo lots (it helps to have a pass)
• Saw a few movies, but not enough for my liking (the favourite of the year was Toy Story 3, and no, not just because I’m a parent)
• Went on the first Great Family Roadtrip:
  • Overnighted in Medicine Hat, AB; Whitewood, SK; Moosimin, SK; and Swift Current, SK
  • Went to Winnipeg
  • Went to some place east of Camper, out in the middle of nowhere, as part of Alex’s family reunion
  • Stopped off in Regina, Moose Jaw, and Portage La Prairie
  • Drove the whole way and back again, and the kids didn’t seem to mind at all
• Got diagnosed with a hernia (yay, me)
• Celebrated Monkey’s 3rd birthday, her first in Canada (beyond the day she was born, that is)
• Finally got right ticked off with Shaw’s horrid home internet service, and switched over to Telus … we’ll see how it all goes
• Did some kitchen renovation:
  • Installed a new sink and tap
  • Tore out the Florida ceiling
  • Installed new lighting
• Had new windows installed in the house
• Returned to being a developer, rather than a pure manager (I’m still adjusting to this one)
• Took Monkey out on her first real Hallowe’en
• Grew a moustache for Movember (my first, and last time)
• Went to the Currie Barracks location of the Calgary Farmer’s Market almost every weekend for a year, until the location finally (and sadly) closed in December
• Went on our first family flight out to Abbotsford, to spend Christmas in BC
• Visited with some old friends from Radical Entertainment
• Went to downtown Vancouver for the first time in about five years, and remembered how much I love it there
• Had my first green Christmas in many, many years
• Didn’t ride nearly enough trains

Whoof. That’s a lot for one year. Can’t wait to see what 2011 throws at me. Bring it, New Year — I’m ready for you!

Jean very kindly (extremely kindly? suicidally kindly?) went down this morning, in the cold and the rain, to line up and get tickets for the “best possible” time for us to ride, around 17:30. That is “best” as it’s early enough that we can still have dinner at a reasonable time, and it’s late enough that Nikki can join us from her job.

Tonight, I also remembered how miserable Vancouver can be in the winter.

It rained all day, and the temperature never got above 4 degrees. It could be easily argued that, despite being colder, Calgary has much nicer weather. That rain makes a lot of difference. So it was that, in the rain, we all trucked into Vancouver and found our way into Stanley Park, and parked near the miniature train area.

You couldn’t miss it if you were blinded, locked in a box, and put inside a cargo van. Someone said there were over two million lights, and I could believe it. I’ve never seen so many lights, and the Calgary Zoo Lights go a long way to make a push for “most lights”. If Zoo Lights went for the density seen at Bright Nights, Stanley Park’s version, over the same area that it uses now, I think the Calgary Zoo could be visible from space.

Despite the rain, we wandered about the lights while waiting our ticketed time. Some of the items, notably a rocking stand of lighted nutcrackers, are old and probably well-predate me. Most of the lights, however, are LED and considerably more recent (not to mention energy efficient — important when you’re using two million lights). It’s a hodge-podge of lights, and worth the trip around while waiting your turn at the train.

I’d been on it once many years ago (1999, I think), though I remember little of it now. (There’s much of 1998-early 2000 that is foggy, for a number of reasons.) I’m fairly certain, however, that I had gone on a rainless evening, as there was no way I could forget how miserably cold and damp one feels while waiting to get on the train.

I had pushed into the line, dragging Alex and the kids with me, thinking that we had a defined slot at which to board. As it turned out, I’d misunderstood the purpose of the times — merely to stagger the arrivals, and not to dictate a specific start time. As such, I got us into line before Nikki had even arrived, and the plan had always been to ride as a family. Alex, the kids, and I ended up jumping out of line on the station platform, waiting for the others to catch up.

They were running three trains that night, so the line went surprisingly quickly. Each of the trains carried upwards of 50 people, and the trains arrived and departed about every five minutes. Although we had to wait nearly a half hour for the others to catch up, it somehow didn’t seem too awkward. (We were, at least, under shelter.)

The train is small, and you have to be careful getting on. Alex clocked her head rather badly on the car’s roof, and I felt like a sumo wrestler trying to get on with Choo Choo strapped to my front, and the diaper bag on my back. (Choo Choo would not like the ride much at all, as I think she was rather hungry and not getting what she wanted.) And then we were off, listening to the dulcet tones of Anne Murray.

The lights were strewn about the train’s route, which is a 10-12 minute course. Some of the areas were decorated with Christmas-themed scenes, some religious and most not (including, no joke, a set from SCTV’s Great White North, with a track from Bob and Doug’s album blaring over the speakers as we passed — I couldn’t resist a few “coo-loo-coo-coo-coo-LOO-COO-COO” refrains, myself).

By far the most impressive part was when we exited the “national” tunnel (with black light diagrams of every province) into the “Niagara” area (which doesn’t have anything to do with the Falls) and saw lights draped over every square centimetre of ground, tree, and shrub. That area alone must’ve taken weeks to set up, and the payoff was fantastic.

Despite the relatively slow speed, the cold, damp air made for a chilly ride, and we were none to upset when we finally reached the end of the line. Carefully disembarking, we hurried back to our cars, and drove off towards Gastown. Part 2 of the evening, notably dinner, was meant to be at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

Sadly, that was the least thought out part of the plan, and we found a 140 minute-long wait instead. Nikki, working near the Gastown area, suggested Vallarta, a nearby Mexican restaurant as a backup. No wait whatsoever, and we were soon eating.

But the kids were going down. Choo Choo had already been extremely upset about waiting to eat while on our way to Gastown, and Monkey was trending into the “wired from being up too late” zone. We made an effort to eat quickly so we could head back home.

Back at the Aicken farmstead, the fireplace was stoked, warm clothes were donned, and hot drinks consumed to help warm us up from the penetrating cold we all seemed to feel. Tomorrow is plan-less, save for the Christmas Eve activities.

I’m excited to be this close to Christmas. Not for the obvious reasons: I know I’m not getting the things on my list. But I am getting to watch this year’s festivities through my kids, which is definitely something to look forward to.

As for you, Choo Choo … well, I’m not really sure what to make of your thoughts. Aside from the fact that you’re only 4.5 months old, there’s also the consideration that, unlike your sister, you don’t sleep a lot. So we’re never really sure if you’re generally unhappy with being in your seat, tired, or hungry. I suspect at some level you’re probably all three at the same time.

Still it was absolutely necessary that we take the day off and not really go anywhere. So we went to The Forks.

I’d first seen The Forks back in 2002, when I was in Winnipeg with the CBC TV 50th Anniversary VIA Rail train. I’d been quite impressed with them at the time, not the least of which was when I learned of their railway heritage. After learning that the Manitoba Children’s Museum was there, The Forks suddenly became my favoured destination. Mommy felt we should go to a place called Tinkertown, which although further away, had far more to do. In the end, it came down to the fact that Tinkertown didn’t open until noon.

Grandpa and Granny came with us, having decided that they would not go to the cottage at the lake, either. We drove quickly downtown, and found a parking spot right next to the entrance. We all walked around inside for a bit, before we went over to the museum. Here we divided. Choo Choo, you went with Mommy and Grandpa back into the market to look around; Monkey, you came with Granny and I into the museum. You literally ran over to the train first.

The Manitoba Children’s Museum has a train inside it. A real one. Ex-CN 9161, and what looks like a passenger/mail combine, which were (and still are) common on the Winnipeg-Churchill run (which this train was representing). The train no longer works, of course. The museum is closing in September for a rebuilding, and I hope they keep the train — it really is a nice centrepiece, and as a railfan, it would be terrible to lose it. I suppose if worse comes to worse, the railway museum isn’t far away, and I imagine they’d like to have it.

You ran around the train, although you were initially scared to go in the locomotive’s cab for some reason. Then you were off down to the wall of long pegs that you can make impressions with. I found a set of tubes that ran on a blower: you put in a shower loofa in one end, it ran through the tubes (depending on how you set the valves), and it popped out of one of three places. That didn’t hold your interest as long as I thought it would, Monkey.

Around the corner was a big tree that you could climb inside, and come down a built-in slide. You did this repeatedly, and almost made friends with some of the other kids while doing it. Then it was back to the train for a while, when you suddenly realised you needed to pee. You’re getting very good at letting us know when you need to go, kiddo — you’re almost totally free of diapers (except at night).

We had lunch at the market. While waiting for Choo Choo, Mommy, and Grandpa, a busker drew a quick sketch of Monkey with her fingers in her mouth. We offered a donation, and he drew another one of Choo Choo sleeping in the stroller. You had a berry crepe, Monkey. Not quite as good as the one you regularly eat at the Farmer’s Market back home (in my opinion, anyway), but you didn’t seem to mind.

I had a roti. The last time I had a roti, I still worked in Toronto. This was 1997. It was at a place either called Coconut Grove or Crystal Grove (I can’t remember for sure). It was on Dundas Road just east of Yonge Street. The site is now the location of Dundas Square. My friend Mike introduced them to me, and I’d been on the lookout for roti ever since. I was surprised to not readily find any in Vancouver, and I haven’t really been searching too hard in Calgary. So this was a treat for me, and it was very good. Although I will say that goat generally tastes better than beef in a roti.

After lunch, Monkey, you and I went back to the museum for a while. We passed by a First Nations group that was dancing in a circle nearby, beating their drum and singing. You’ve never seen this before, so we spent a while watching. It was very, very hot (even hotter than on the coast of Costa Rica, as I recall) so we took refuge in the shade of one of the sculptures there.

You played with the pegs, ran around the train, played with the chalk, but soon it was time for us to go back. You didn’t want to leave. In fact, you put up a bit of a fight. I suspect that was mostly due to exhaustion. I suspect this because you fell asleep before we were out of downtown Winnipeg, and slept another two hours back at the hotel. It was your first proper nap since we left home.

We all went swimming when you both woke up. We splashed and played. Choo Choo, you seem to like the water — a lot more than when you have a bath, lemme tell ya. We swam for about an hour before we packed up to go have dinner.

Tomorrow, we begin our long trek home.

The last four days have been a lot of fun. Maybe even too much fun. Both of us are pretty pooped. You went to bed and for the first time in a long while, there wasn’t hours of chatter from your room. I think you pretty much passed out. I won’t be too far behind you, I think, but I do wish to describe the fun that we’ve shared.

‘Cuz, frankly, I’m not sure how the heck I survived it all…

First off was Canada Day. This year, Mommy and I decided to try a visit at Heritage Park. If you got there early enough, you got a free pancake breakfast. It seemed like a fun thing to do. And it probably would have been more fun if it had been a few degrees warmer — it was rather chilly for the first day of July.

Still, you had a lot of fun. Once we’d gobbled down the pancakes, we went and got ride tickets. You swung on a vintage ship-styled swing, rode the big steam train around the park, went on the paddlewheeler out in Glenmore Reservoir (although you barely stopped moving the entire time, necessitating me following you around the entire time), and went on the merry-go-round (you demanded to ride the white horse).

You ate a pretzel, and drank some frozen lemonade with me. We saw the farm animals (you mooed at the cows, and nearly had your bright red Crocs eaten by a misguided horse). Then we went through Gasoline Alley. By this point, you were tired and got fairly cranky, so we all opted to go home.

Mommy wanted to go visit with Grandpa for a week, and had to take Choo Choo with her. (Choo Choo’s still nursing, so she goes wherever Mommy goes.) But … well, Monkey, all me to be rather honest for a moment — travelling with you lately requires a lot of high-test drugs to keep people calm. Either you or us, it doesn’t matter. But Mommy travelling with you and Choo Choo wasn’t even discussed as an option, and Mommy really wanted to go without all of us in tow. (You’ll understand this years from now, when you have a near-3 year old.)

Of course, what all that means is, it was just you and me, kid. And we got off to it before Mommy and Choo Choo’s plane had taken off.

Our first stop was the Galaxie Diner on 11th St., not far from Grandma’s house. There we enjoyed a filling breakfast, because we had a long day of chasing trains ahead of you. I hadn’t chased a train since before you were born, and I was itching to go out and take pictures. I figured you might like to see a big train in motion, and when my friend Graham told me CP 2816 was going out to Banff on 2 July, I couldn’t resist.

After breakfast, we went home just long enough to get a few things together (like my camera), and then we went searching for our first place to wait. I originally thought of a place known as Keith, which is roughly where Stoney Trail crosses the Bow River. But as we came down Sarcee Trail towards the highway, I spied an even better location: where the train tracks cross 32nd Ave NW. It would give me an easy access for photography, a decent backdrop, and not far from the highway to get back out again.

We ended up having to wait longer than I would have liked. One thing you’ll learn, kiddo, is that when you chase trains, you have to be patient and wait. A lot. Even though Graham was sending me text messages on the train’s status, it didn’t come quickly. We saw a freight train have to wait for CP 2816, too. But eventually, we got the note that she was heading west. Before long, we could hear its whistle echo through the valley. It came towards us, barrelling along as fast as it could, belching out black smoke.

For a moment, I saw myself in you. When I was your age (maybe a little older), your granddad (my daddy) used to take my family (Nana, Auntie Cathy, and me) to the train tracks near our house, to watch another steam locomotive — CN 6060 — come racing by, huge clouds of black smoke filling up the sky. It used to scare the hell out of me. Of course, I look back at that now and I feel really glad that I did see that — it’s a fond memory. I hope maybe one day, it is for you, too.

We hit the road and headed out to a place out towards the mountains called Ozada. You were asleep before we were outside city limits, and slept all the way there. Ozada is on the Stoney Indian reserve, and is one of Canadian Pacific’s old stations for servicing steam locomotives. (The concrete pylons for the coaling and water towers are still visible.) Today, it’s little more than a siding in the middle of nowhere, just off the highway. And we waited there because Graham had told me CP 2816 would be stopping there for servicing as well.

We were not disappointed. We saw the train come in slowly, pass by, and stop in the siding. After it had passed, we drove to the other end of the siding, and watched it race westward. (The train was about two hours late, so they had a reason to move quickly.) We drove out to the highway, and saw the train’s smoke as we drove by it on the highway. We saw some other people we’d seen back in Calgary stop at the side of the highway to take more pictures.

Finally, we stopped in Banff, and waited about halfway between the station and Bankhead. We had to wait a long, long time before we saw CP 2816′s lights. As CP 2816 was going on show at the station, the train stopped again not far from us for one last servicing before going in. This gave us a fantastic view, although the whistles did give you a bit of a scare — they were quite loud.

After meeting up with Graham at the station (it seemed only fair to thank him in person for the information), we had lunch at Bruno’s, and then headed back to Calgary. You slept from Canmore all the way home.

On Saturday, you and I went to the Calgary Farmer’s Market, mostly so you could go to the jumping castle — probably your most favourite thing in town (after me, of course). You ate your mixed berry crepe almost as fast as I could eat my ham and cheese crepe. I swear it’s the only thing you eat quickly — everything else requires a pry bar and a shovel…

When I asked what you wanted to do next, you said: “I want [to see the] giraffes!” So off we went to the zoo. We went though the dinosaurs, then over to the giraffes, zipped by the gorillas, and spent a lot of time at the playground (you love the playground, there). Then it was into the Australian pavilion (I was devastated to find that the nocturnal animal area is permanently closed), through the monkey house, and then over to the elephants (where we had hot dogs), zipped over to the carousel (just opened), before going through the Canadian Wilds (where you were completely obsessed with the prairie dogs).

For dinner, I took you to a Japanese restaurant. I found that your chopstick skills had degraded quite a lot — we’ll have to work on that. But you ate half of the edamame, a couple of avocado rolls, and even a piece of hamachi sashimi (well, it was nigiri sushi, but it was just plain easier to give you just the fish). You wouldn’t touch the miso soup (I’ll work on that, too). For your first shot, I was very proud of you.

The next morning, we walked over to the #2 bus stop. You were ecstatic about riding the bus. I’m sure it’s from singing The Wheels On The Bus so much.  We went to the Silver Dragon restaurant, where we met up with my friend Tamara and her husband, Dan. There we ate dim sum (Mommy was rather annoyed that we went without her). It was so good. You ate buns, and pork dumplings, and quite a lot of deep fried squid. Yes, you ate squid. I kid you not. Mind you, as I’ve said to others, the squid tastes a lot like scrambled eggs. So I told you it was scrambled eggs. You couldn’t get enough.

Following dim sum, you and I walked along the river over to Eau Claire Market (which really isn’t a market anymore — it’s mostly businesses and empty store space — nothing like it used to be), where you and I saw Toy Story 3. I cried a bit. You seemed to like it a lot, though. Especially anything with Woody.

In fact, you like Woody and Jesse (the Yodelling Cowgirl) so much, and because the Calgary Stampede is just around the corner, we walked over to Stephen Avenue afterwards to try and get you a cowgirl outfit. You’ve got the boots and jeans, but you need a hat and a shirt. Sadly, we were less than successful — no-one seemed to have a cowgirl shirt in your size.

On the way home, much to our luck, we ran into Grandma on the bus (she was coming to our house, anyway — we just had really good timing). You had some fun with Grandma while I went off to get something for us to eat for dinner.

In fact, I’m so tired from all of this excitement that it’s taken me a while to write all of this. But I hope you had fun, Monkey. I know I did.

And now, I need to go to bed. ‘Cuz I’m really, really, really tired.

A few years ago, the “hybrid” car was introduced, a shining new example of how to make vehicles more efficient, and spawned a new movement of environmentally-aware manufacturing. Today, Nissan stands ready to finally release the first mass-market all-electric vehicle, amping up the competition to become the centre of the environmentally-friendly transportation universe. I, for one, welcome the arrival of the electric car, long overdue from formal acceptance in North America. At the same time, however, I also curse its arrival because it doesn’t actually address a primary problem.

The electric car strives to perpetuate a bad idea: that we all need a car.

World War II changed the world in so many ways that it’s hard to keep track of them all. It ushered in our nuclear age, brought computers out of the closet and into our common perception, and brought about a new sense of prosperity and demand that the world had not previously witnessed — especially in North America.

The message was clear: prosperity through purchase. North Americans were told through the power of the media that they had to live the “American Dream”: own a large home in the suburbs, the newest appliances, fancy clothes, a television, and no home was complete without at least one car.

It was the car that became the shining star of the American household, and a symbol of freedom. No longer were you tied to others’ schedules — you were free to go where you wanted, when you wanted. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 gave birth to the Interstate Highway System, and forever sealed the dream in the minds of Americans, and the neighbours to the north (because, let’s be honest, as much as we Canadians want to be different than America, we want to play with the same toys).

Long-distance travel changed. It was now about driving long distances in cars. It was driving into the city. It was driving to the local store. Drive-through restaurants, drive-in movies. Driving.

The automobile as we know it — an individualistic vessel of identity — encourages people to live away from their daily lives. Instead of living in tall buildings, we live in spacious suburbs. We thrive for neighbourhoods with only houses, and drive to expansive commercial malls. We want industry away from our little edens, and don’t want to our daily grind anywhere near our castles. When we have to go to other places, we want to do so on our terms.

All of this has come at an expense: fossil fuel consumption never seems to stem, nor does our energy use to allow us to live apart and at a distance. Our land use spirals, allowing some of our cities to resemble single-celled protozoa that expand to consume what’s near them. Calgary, in particular, has been listed as an “ecological disaster” on those very terms. I would be very curious to see a comparison with Manhattan, which I think it is likely the most efficient places in the world: over 27,000 people per square kilometre (most of them don’t own a car), hundreds of thousands commuting by public transit, and elevators use less energy than a refrigerator.

In our strive to achieve, we have forgotten the need to preserve.

Slowly, thanks to decades-long efforts and a few more mainstream mentions, the world is becoming attuned to alternative energy, with a notable focus on electric. It’s been a slow adoption, but the ever-present call to heed environmental changes and the need to act more responsibly has brought about mass demand for something beyond burning fossil fuels.

To be fair, there are three types of electric vehicles floating about. We have seen the parallel hybrids (Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius, to name a few), the very long overdue series hybrids (notably the Chevrolet Volt), and the pure electric (the failed EV1, and the up-and-coming Nissan Leaf). We have latched onto these vehicles as the saving graces for our obsession with the automobile. All of these have problems:

• Parallel hybrids are an awkward mish-mash of traditional gasoline power and electric power, where the gasoline half is still largely in control, and even the slightest press of the accelerator can throw off your mileage
• Series hybrids wisely disconnect the gasoline engine from the wheels and use it only to charge the battery when it starts to get low; diesel would be a far better choice for fossil power, though it is highly unpopular in North American-made passenger vehicles due to memories of the 1970s
• Pure electric vehicles try to come off as the greenest options, but conveniently side-step the question of power source — unless you obtain your electricity from solar or wind, you’re getting it from falling water or nuclear (slightly less green), or from burning fossil fuels (electric is cheaper, no question, but you’re still burning)

And none of them address the original fundamental problem: they all perpetuate the bad dream. All of them remind us that if we don’t own a car and a big house, live in a nice suburb, and drive wherever we like, that — somehow — we’re not successful.

Meanwhile, public transit withers. Yes, for all my bitching about my local public transit, I still find it a far preferable alternative to a car — at least when the public transit offering is well-handled. However, therein lies the problem — all over North America (which, really, is the biggest problem in the world), public transit organisations have to reduce service and inflate prices to keep themselves afloat. Long-distance train travel has gone from our primary form of inter-city travel to mere tourism. The long-distance bus services are now regarded as “last ditch” options when you can afford nothing else.

You think public transit is awful? It’s an inconvenience? Talk to the millions of people who float in and out of major cities on a daily basis through buses and trains. Talk to your average Londoner, who is fined if they try to drive their car into the core of the city. Talk to anyone living in Japan about the difficulty not only of owning a car, but trying to drive it. Public transit remains the best option for moving large numbers of people. And yes, it is rather easy to adapt to a known schedule and not have it wreck your life.

While one dream lives on, another one dies. The dream of a utopia where people live quietly and closely, where automobiles are rarely seen and heard. That dream started dying a long time ago, and save for a few dedicated efforts to preserve the utopia, there are few places in the world the car has not touched. The utopia will one day be merely a thought, a vague entry in our collective memory, passing into the distance like a car into the fog.

This morning’s dream was an exception. I was talking with someone I know (admittedly, can’t remember who it was) about trains. (Believe it or not, this is not an unknown conversation.) They asked me what my favourite train trips were, and I had said something like “whoa, that’s a tough one, let me think”. Then I started rhyming them off.

Oddly enough, that was about when I woke up … and I kept rhyming. So I figured, heck, that just sounds like a blog post!

Now these are in rough order of enjoyability and preference (if I had the opportunity to ride again). Though I should state that I would probably ride any of these again in a heartbeat, anyway. Some of these no longer run, however, so their appearance here is strictly archival.

1. VIA Rail Canadian Vancouver – Halifax (VIA Rail charter, not currently possible under regular scheduling)
   This will likely forever remain my favourite. I had the chance at a unique contract with the CBC, which ended up running coast-to-coast across Canada on a VIA Rail train made entirely of the 1940s Pullman stainless steel cars. There is just no better way to see Canada.
2. Trans-Siberian Railway Moscow – Irkutsk (Rossiyskie Zheleznye Dorogi)
   It’s hard to imagine that you can spend 5 days on a constantly-moving train running across a single country, and see almost nothing but vast openness and endless tracts of birch trees. There’s something magic, mystical, even mysterious about the journey.
3. Trans-Mongolian Railway Ulaan Baatar – Bejing (Mongolyn Tömör Zam, China Railways)
   The trip from Russia to Ulaan Baatar is okay. But the trip from Ulaan Bataar to Bejing is something else. First, the intense desolation of the Gobi Desert. Next, a rail gauge change in Inner Mongolia, followed by an overnight trip into the heart of China, passing through the Great Wall itself as you descend via switchback before finally arriving in Beijing. It’s a helluva trip.
4. Shanghai MagLev (Shanghai MagLev Transportation Development Corp.)
   Pure. Blinding. Speed. This train doesn’t go far — from the Pudong area near central Shanghai out to Pudong International Airport, the trip is a mere 30 km. But it travels the distance in just over seven minutes at speeds of up to 431 km/h.
5. The Cariboo Prospector (BC Rail, discontinued)
   Before BC Rail was bought by CN, they ran a passenger service between Prince George and Vancouver. It was an all-day trip, leaving early in the morning, and arriving well after dinner. But there was never a more fantastic trip through the Fraser Canyon, with more spectacular views of places you can’t get to by car. The service, sadly, no longer runs on BC Rail. A similar trip is available through the Rocky Mountaineer.
6. The Bras D’or Halifax – Sydney – Halifax (VIA Rail, discontinued)
   VIA Rail ran a slightly odd service (meant to promote tourism, but allowed for no stopover time) between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Sydney, Cape Breton. The trip ran along the shores of Bras D’or Lake, and in the fall ranks as one of the most beautiful trips I’ve seen. (The fact that I also got to ride in the cab just made it that much better.) Sadly, due to line maintenance issues, VIA Rail no longer runs this service.
7. Nozomi Shinkansen Tokaido Line, Tokyo – Osaka (JR West)
   The famous Bullet Train. This is the longest line, running from capital Tokyo to Osaka. The Nozomi-class trains have the fewest stops, hence run the fastest along the line, too.  Riding a Shinkansen is an experience, not just from the scenery, but from watching the sheer efficiency and pride in which the Japanese operate the service. Even riding in standard class makes you feel important.
8. Royal Hudson Vancouver – Squamish – Vancouver (BC Rail, no longer in scheduled operation)
   Before BC Rail had to take Hudson CP 2860 out of service (in need of a refit), I was fortunate enough to ride the train from Vancouver to Squamish and back. (And visited the West Coast Railway Association‘s Railway Heritage Park while I was at it.) The line running up the coast is full of wonderful twists and curves, and the view is fantastic. CP 2860 is now leased to the WCRA, who will hopefully run this service periodically with flair.
9. Alberta Prairie Steam Tours w/ CN 6060 (APST, I got to ride in the caboose, which regular folks don’t)
   Although it’s been a long time since I last helped out, I used to work on CN 6060 as an apprentice mechanic. After one such helping-out, I was offered a trip on its scheduled run — a mere 35 mile run to Big Valley and back. But I got to ride with my mentor, Don, in the caboose. Right next to CN 6060 on the way down, but at the end of the train on the way back. Very memorable, especially considering that I rode on a train pulled by CN 6060 when I was a young boy.
10. Inverness – Edinburgh (First ScotRail)
    This is a regularly-schedule service (multiple times a day, no less) between two of the three largest cities in Scotland. This service — a five-hour jaunt — runs through the Scottish highlands (you’ll see snow on those rolling mountains), through small villages, and across fantastic landscapes before coming down to the sea, and finally crossing the massive Fourth Bridge. Inverness itself is an excellent place to visit (very near Loch Ness!), and Edinburgh remains one of my favourite cities. It’s worth the trip, especially if you have a rail pass.
11. Krazny Strelya (“Red Arrow”) St. Petersburg – Moscow (Rossiyskie Zheleznye Dorogi)
    Curiously, I didn’t actually see much of this train. It was an overnight journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow. But I do remember it being an extremely nice train (apparently one of the two nicest on Russian railways), and it was the start of my St. Petersburg to Hong Kong overland odyssey. So it has a special place in my memory.
12. Montreal – Toronto (VIA Rail)
    This might sound extremely pedestrian, but I like this train. It’s a regular service (several times daily) that runs between two of Canada’s largest cities. It’s a 5-6 hour trip, which you can do faster if you fly. But you can’t do it more comfortably. And you don’t get to see the landscape that is the St. Lawrence Seaway region. It’s some of Canada’s oldest rail, and still some of the nicest.

These are the notable ones. There’s a host of other trains as well, such as commuter lines (GO Train, West Coast Express, BART, AMT, to name a few), local trains (such as most of Japan Rail, China’s Z1 line between Beijing and Tianjin, and certainly with the regional UK trains), and long distance trains within China, and the London – Glasgow/Edinburgh lines in the UK.

Since that covers most of my train-riding experiences, yes, you can assume that I generally quite line trains.

Are there ones I don’t like? Well, the one that comes most to mind is the section of the Trans-Siberian between Urkutsk and Ulan Ude. That is pretty darn lousy…

The way started out as a rough plan to go to the Empire State Building, and check out the view of Manhattan. But our plans here are very flexible. Aside from the fact that I’ve been to New York City twice before, we’re travelling with a napping toddler, who is apt to change our plans at a moment’s notice for any number of reasons. So I try not to go too crazy when plans are forced to change. 

(Emphasis on the word “try”.)

Following a decent breakfast, we dressed for our run out to the CitiGroup building, and hop the E train eastwards to the 7th Ave station, where we switched to a northbound B train to 81st St. The stop, for those of you who don’t know, for the American Museum of Natural History. I’d seen it once before from the outside, but had really wanted to visit it since seeing “A Night At the Museum”. 

A couple of things about the New York Subway system:

1. Accessibility. Not everyone has two capable feet. Some people require wheels, from those in wheelchairs to parents who try to get around with strollers. I’m amazed that not only are many stations on the system not equipped with ramps and elevators, in order to get in or out of the system, you need a station attendant to unlock the “service” gates (or trip the alarm on your way out). 
2. Not every person riding the subway is from the United States of America. So asking for a ZIP code when you want to use a credit card to purchase tickets is really short-sighted. (A note for those of you in our boat: punch in “99999″, ‘cuz it’s not posted anywhere.)
3. Allow people to purchase more than one ticket at a time, or at least suggest how you can use the same Metrocard for more than one person. Take a few lessons from the London Underground, who have this down to an artform. 
4. There is no better place to find amateur musicians. Why most of these people don’t have music on iTunes for sale is beyond me. 

The main entrance to the AMNH is made up of three small revolving doors. Not suitable for all strollers, certainly not ours. I had to go in through the planetarium entrance and work my way back to the main entrance. Which wasn’t easy due to malfunctioning elevators (and a near total lack of signage for alternatives). I’m certain that Alex (who went in through the main entrance) was wondering where Mi Pequeña Niña and I were. 

When we did finally meet up in the main entrance hall, I was supremely disappointed. That massive entranceway in “A Night At The Museum”? About a third of that size. No statue of Teddy Roosevelt on horseback. No round front desk. There is a dinosaur — three, actually. But it’s just not as impressive. (Other things that seemed to be missing: Dioramas of railway builders and Roman legions, Civil war soldiers, and an Egyptian wing with a golden plaque that brings things together at night. But I digress.)

Our first stop was at a temporary exhibit — a butterfly garden. It is with supreme irony that we flew five hours from Costa Rica to visit a butterfly garden with specimens from Costa Rica. (And in greater numbers than we’ve experienced before.) MPN was enthralled with all the butterflies, with them fluttering all about. The guides there (all volunteers) were all really well-educated about butterflies, too. 

We moved on from there, moving to the 1st floor, in search of the Spitzer Hall of Human Evolution. (Alex would have a PhD in Anthropology by now if she’d known about anthropology before going into university.) To get there, we went through the Hall of Biodiversity, the Environment of New York State (featuring exhibits that hadn’t been dusted in at least 40 years — and looked about that dated), before passing a café on the south-west side. 

It gave us a chance for a quick bite (I eschewed the $10.50 sandwiches), before we entered the Spitzer Hall. That was about when MPN finally passed out. Alex read every letter of every sign in the hall. I scanned many of them, reading more into the things that interested me more (e.g. the various branches of evolution that led to homo sapiens, and especially those branches that turned out to be dead-ends. (I still want to know where Neanderthals came from, and why they died out.) 

While Alex continued to review evolution, I strayed along, eventually finding my way into another “hall” (the Arthur Ross Hall) dedicated wholly to meteorites. In the centre of the room was a particularly large specimen, Ahnighito (so dubbed by the Inuit of Greeland), is effectively a massive chunk of iron clocking in at a serious 34 tons. (That’s Imperial tons, by the way — some 68,000+ pounds.) It doesn’t look like it weighs 34 tons when you first see it. But when you touch it, you suddenly feel the weight of its mass and the distance it’s travelled. I also ducked into the hall of minerals next door (at one point, I was a budding geologist) before returning to Alex and we continued our excursion around the museum. 

The Hall of North American Mammals, the Hall of North American Tourists (otherwise known as the gift shop), and finally the exit back to the subway to return to the hotel. 

This being Christmas Eve, we planned to hit a Christmas service. I suggested St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a particualrly wonderful example of gothic architecture just across the street from Rockefeller Center. But when we arrived, we found that we weren’t the only ones with the idea. Most of Manhattan gets this idea. Tickets for the event were apparently sold out by Labor Day. 

Fortunately, there’s a non-denominational church nearby (though I think its roots are in the Anglican church) called St. Bart’s. We popped in there to find plenty of seating. The only problem with the service, sadly, was MPN, who would have none of this sitting still crap. Alex and I ended up having to take turns keeping her pinned down (or occupied) as not to disturb the entire church. Murdo’s talk of hearing MPN’s “music” was not echoed here. 

When we left, it was raining. Yes, raining. It’s Christmas in New York, and it’s raining. The chill we first felt at landing is now gone, and I find the weather much warmer. Why didn’t we stay at home in Costa Rica?, you’re asking, I’m sure. 

Alex made a desperate last-dash to a nearby CVS (drugstore) for some Christmasy things, such as a string of lights (very important), some decorations (right out of the classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” TV special), and the only tradition that we’ve had every year thus far — Turtles (the chocolate kind). 

And on that note, it’s now time for us to go to bed. So to all of you, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Sadly, at the end, it wasn’t a usual vacation. Until now, it’s always been either just me, or myself and Alex. Now there’s three of us, and the Wee One doesn’t have our stamina for travel and has a pseudo-schedule that needs to be followed from time-to-time.

British Airways

We flew BA from Calgary to London (via Heathrow). Air Canada — are you listening? These are the guys you should be looking to for level of service. Wow. Allow me to describe: We arrive at the plane along the jetway, with stroller (and babe) in hand. They tell us that they might not be able to bring the stroller on-board, but they’d let us know. They didn’t ask for seat or name — they figured it out on their own, checked the stroller, and gave us the claim ticket. They presented us with a small toy bag for the Wee One with a small stuffed plane for playtime. Free wine. Good (read: real) food. A feeling like people actually cared about the passengers’ well-being. Excellent in-flight entertainment for that 8-9 flight. Sure, it costs a bit extra. But not so much that I wouldn’t even think twice about flying with them again — that’s a definite.

Travelling with the Wee One

Most people thought we were nuts for hauling our offspring to Europe. A seven hour time difference, air travel, trains, ferries, lots of packing and moving, and add an infant to all of that?

I said it before, but our kid rocks. Sleep on the flight out (sadly, not so much on the way back), adjustment to the timezone in two nights (by the third day, all was well), played a lot on the trains (although she did have trouble sleeping due to lack of space), and she didn’t keep us up at night even though we were all in the same room. It didn’t matter how many places we went or how many people wanted to hold her (the Wee One apparently is the cutest thing many Brits have ever seen, judging by the near-endless stream of comments we got).

And hey, I got to spend 2.5 of constant time with my child! What on Earth could be wrong with that?

About the only bad thing (if you could call it that) was one bad habit picked up by a three-week older infant, and now the raspberry has entered the vocabulary.

Iona and the Iona Community

This was our first stop. Iona is a small island off the coast of the Isle of Mull, which is in turn off the western coast of Scotland. (The nearest major port is Oban, in case you’re looking for a geographical reference.) The day we arrived, there was a viciously strong and cold north wind. We immediately regretted having arrived, but pressed on. The Community itself runs mostly out of the Iona Abbey, which is owned and operated by Historical Scotland. For a week, we were guests, and basically had free run of the place.

That said, a week at a Christian commune (even an ecumenical one) takes a bit of a toll on the less- (or non-)devout. Although the people were wonderful — and I have to say that while I lamented the absence of meat in our meals, the things they can do with vegetables are stunning — I was happy to be on the road again for the mainland.

It’s a very small island, so it’s (relatively) easy to get around on it. Though parts of it are very boggy, you can cross the island in about 30 minutes, and go the length in about three times that. Even the highest point on the island — Dun I — takes about 15 minutes to climb, if you take your time.

It’s quiet, and it’s very dark at night — there are almost no street lights. It’s so quiet that doors mostly don’t have locks. The Abbey (technically-speaking) is open all the time.

Oban

I heard a few people trash Oban before I went there. But I have to say it’s a nice little town. It’s a good base for day trips, and there’s a lot to see in the area. You could easily stay there a week and not be bored. Given, the hotel we stayed at (Oban Caledonian) had some trouble — when you have to name the springs in your mattress due to the intimacy you’re getting with them, it’s time to replace the mattress. But I’ve stayed in far, far worse for much more money.

Train Travel

I love trains. Duh. You know that. So travelling all over the place on trains is generally not a problem. But I gotta say, someone has to change the rules that puts an end to the drunken football hooligans from spreading out all over the car, singing their songs and disturbing the crap out of everyone else, stinking the place up with their booze, and generally being belligerent. No, asshole, I’m not student. Unlike you, I have the good sense to travel responsibly, but there’s not enough luggage racks in the car for my backpack. That doesn’t give you the right to use it as a pillow or a reason to tell me off. (I also have the good sense to not say anything, since I’m sure you’re looking for a reason to get into a fight.)

Inverness

I also had people tell me not to go to Inverness. Why, I have no idea. It’s a beautiful little city. The trip there north of Perth is gorgeous, with all the rolling hills. It’s the highlands there, and it’s the best way to see it all. Anyway, the city of Inverness is amazing. The River Ness seems almost Disney-esque in the way it cleanly cuts through town, with banks of green grass and the sprouting daffodils. Add to that the lovely old buildings, winding little roads, and the general hospitality of people (drunken football hooligans notwithstanding), you just can’t go wrong.

Ramada Inverness

Except for the Ramada Inverness. For the record, the location is excellent. But overall, I found their staff to be bordering on incompetent. There were a couple of shining stars, no question, but I kept running into people who couldn’t answer the most basic questions, such as telling me why I can’t make a long distance phone call. It drove me CRAZY. So sorry, Mom, I couldn’t call you on your birthday. I tried, really.

High Tea at the Edinburgh Hilton Caledonian

Just as good as we had the last time we were there. Outstanding service. Great food. Great tea. Just wish we could have been there longer. Such is life.

York

I finally got to spend some actual time in York. The last time we were there barely 5 hours, so didn’t see much of it. That said, I didn’t really understand the road map until well into the second day (I kept getting turned around) and even then still took wrong turns. Confusing, but I still love the place. I could easily do month-long stints there to do some photo essays: York at Night, York Minster’s Hidden Places, Up Close with the National Rail Museum, etc. Love it.

York to St. Albans without going to London

Big mistake. Too many switches, we missed a connection, and it’s too much movement. Going through London is out of the way, but it’s a lot easier.

St. Albans

I still love this little place. The last time, we swore we’d spend more time there the next time. But we ended up with not even 1 day again, sadly. One day, we will spend more time there. It’s a very nice place.

Pictures

Some are already posted on Flickr, and others will come once I get them all done.

The flight was pretty good — drinks were actually free! Nothing to eat, though. Not even pretzels. Watched Golden Compass. Did some post-vacation photo editing. Both toilets on the train broke down 30 minutes before we landed.

Just waiting for the BART to leave the station. Won’t likely see the guys tonight, though.

I suppose you gotta start somewhere, right?

So far, the Wee One has been a joy to travel with. The flight was trivial (compared to what we feared), and by third day had effectively adjusted to the time zone. (I think there might have been a faster change, had it not been for all the travelling on the second day.)

The train trip from London to Glasgow on Virgin was wonderful and exceedingly prompt. We even arrived nine minutes early — Allen surprised us at the station. I hadn’t actually expected to see them until Oban. The Glasgow-Oban leg of the trip was very picturesque, although the Wee One was getting pretty darn cranky about the trip at that point and made sure the two-car train knew it.

Oban is a nice place, but didn’t really get to see much beyond the esplanade and the Tesco. With luck, we might see a bit more of it on the way back. We will see.

The Iona Community is an interesting thing. It operates at the abbey, so we actually become “residents” for the week we’re there. That includes serving food and cleaning. I got the bathroom floors. There’s also a priority on worship — I think I’m going to try hide in the library as much as possible.

We’re always cold. The Abbey is 14th century, and fibreglass wasn’t really known at the time. Windows are single pane, and you always hear the wind. (The Library has gaps in shutters right to the outside.) Most everyone wears a jacket all the time. But the food is good and the people are very nice — they seem to have taken our child as a mascot of sorts, it seems. They rub for good luck. A mini Buddha.

We’re here until Friday, then off back to Oban then on to Inverness. I hope I get to see more of the island, but the wind has to die down first. I’m losing ideas in the gusts…

I really gotta remember to join this group.

Anyway, they put the following:

North America
1) Canadian (Canada)
2) Royal Canadian Pacific (Canada)
3) Canadian Rockies Steam Express (Canada)
4) Rocky Mountaineer (Canada)
5) GrandLuxe Express (US)
6) Sierra Madre Express (Mexico)

South America
7) Andean Explorer (Peru)
Hiram Bingham (Peru)

Africa
9) Blue Train (South Africa)
10) Pride of Africa (Rovos Rail) (South Africa)

Asia/Indian Subcontinent
11) Palace on Wheels (India)
12) Eastern & Oriental Express (SE Asia)
13) ShangriLa Express (China/Tibet)
14) Toy Train (India)
15) Deccan Odyssey (India)

Europe
16) Danube Express (Central Europe, Turkey)
17) Al Andalus Express (Spain)
18) El Transcantabrico (Spain)
19) Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express (Russia)
20) Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (Europe)
21) Glacier Express (Switzerland)
22) Royal Scotsman (Scotland)

“Down Under”
23) Ghan (Australia)
24) Indian Pacific (Australia)
25) Sunlander (Australia)

I’m happy to say that I’ve done #1, 19, and 22. (Given, it wasn’t the “Golden Eagle”, but it was still the Trans-Siberian.)

Three down, 22 to go.

Someone’s been sniffing oil fumes too much, methinks.

Yes, this is me, the Train Stalker, saying that a high-speed train in Alberta is insane. Completely. Why, you ask?

• Who is going to pay the $3-4 billion to build a dedicated grade-separated, high-speed rail network? Don’t look to either CP or CN.
• Similarly, who runs it? If it’s VIA, expect the service to have constant problems, since budgets to run high-speed are much higher than regular trains, and VIA‘s got enough budgetary problems as it is.
• Do we honestly think there would be enough use of the trains to make them even remotely cost-effective? WestJet is pretty darn cheap, y’know…
• The provincial government was looking to shore up the existing lines up north to help move heavy equipment by train. CN passed on the work (they own the lines) after realising the cost to build up the service wasn’t worth the revenue. Take that as a subtle hint for new lines.
• It hits -40 in many places, with a lot of snow. I don’t know of many (read: any) high-speed lines that regularly go through such conditions. Hokkaido in Japan is the nearest, and even that’s not as severe.

Politically, it strikes me as odd that anyone would stand up behind this as a good idea, since it’ll likely be a government that owns it, and it would probably become a white elephant. Very cool, and I’d ride it just for the sake of riding it — but governments have been voted out of office for stuff like this.

All of that said, it’s totally the green option. Run the train often enough, and you have less cars (less automobile pollution) and less planes (less aviation pollution). It’s also a nicer way to travel long distances. And Canada’s full of that distance thing.

Mind you, the bullet train wasn’t the only “odd” thing in that report:

• Building a ring road in Calgary. Um… aren’t we doing that already?
• Where is the mention of expanding Calgary Transit? For the love of Pete, people — why are you trying to link together cities when [[Calgary Transit Sucks|we can't even sort ourselves out]]?
• A covered skywalk or monorail between the Telus Convention Centre and the Stampede facilities. What, the C-Train isn’t good enough for you already? (See previous note about public transit.)
• An international aerospace hub. If there was a way to eloquently describe my blank stare at this one, I would. But I’m simply not that good a writer.

I offer one thought to the people who came up with this: Let’s blueprint something for success, please? Around my office, we ask people to set SMART goals. It’s an acronym, with the “R” standing for “realistic”. Which these blueprints really seem to be missing.

If you want success, you needn’t look further than our own front door. We have three overloaded hospitals, our transit system is not keeping pace with the need, ambulances are running short on availability regularly, and if you haven’t thought about our water supply availability, you might want to consider that soon, too.

It’s that time of the year again — to look back on the year passed, and reflect on the things I’ve done. Where did I go? What did I do? What have I honestly got to show for myself. It’s been an insanely long year. Sure, it was still 365 (and 1/4) days, but it felt at least three times longer…

Before I dive into the bullets, yes there is one overriding event that outclasses everything else I did in 2007:

I became a father.

Absolutely nothing else tops it. Not the trip around the world, not the CBC adventure, not getting promoted, not moving to a new city, not even seeing old friends (as truly awesome as that is). Being a dad is an experience I never truly experienced until now. And it’s an experience that I get to have each and every day, that changes almost daily, for the rest of my life.

No way could that ever be eclipsed.

Anyway, this is the other stuff I got around to last year:

• Upgraded this blog to run on WordPress, and I’m never looking back
• Also upgraded from storing pictures through the blog to storing pictures on Flickr — a far better solution
• Went to Tamara’s dad’s funeral
• Had some very good discussions about how Calgary Transit needs to improve
• Helped Tamara get another job at Critical Mass
• Saw the Rankin Family perform
• Guided the launch of the new Rolex.com website (a Herculean effort by my team)
• Went to Huntington Beach, CA for a conference
• Went to Ruskin (Maple Ridge), BC twice
• Went to Beaverton, ON for my friend Kathryn’s wedding
• Went to Huntsville, ON
• Went to Oakville, ON for a night
• Went to the Big Island of Hawaii
  • Had my bag lost
  • Went to a sunset luau
  • Swam with the dolphins (sort of)
  • Almost got suckered into a timeshare
  • Saw the Kilauea volcano
• Complained about Air Canada’s continuing dip in service
• Sold our house in Garrison Woods, and bought a house in Westgate. And moved. Again. Ugh.
• Started to renovate the basement:
  • Tore out the old basement in its entirety
  • Build new walls
  • Had a new heating system installed (I didn’t do it, though — I ain’t that crazy)
  • Had a new air circulation (and heating for upstairs) system installed
  • Had plumbing for new appliances and a bathroom installed
  • Had the electrical panel moved, meter put outside, new service installed, and put in electrical sockets around the basement (myself)
  • Laid down flooring (rather poorly, it would now seem — too many damned gaps)
  • Installed insulation and put up drywall in the largest room
  • Did most of the flooring and drywalling in one week while Alex and baby were in Ruskin
• Had too many friends leave the city
• Said farewell to my friend Rich, who passed away in May
• Rode the zipline at Canada Olympic Park twice
• Found out I’m pretty good at laying sod
• Didn’t have nearly enough dim sum
• Chased CP 2816 from Calgary to Canmore
• Nearly injured myself badly pruning a tree (just don’t tell Alex!)
• Got a new camera lens
• Taunted people with fake birth announcement entries on the blog (I’m such a jerk)
• Was a partial recipient (with the rest of my business unit) of a TP’ing
• Really realised just how long I’ve been in this industry, and how much I’ve seen

And I had a great Christmas break, since most people I work with were taking a MUCH needed vacation, and I got to relax with my now-expanded family. I hope you got time to spend with yours!

As for this year, no resolutions (I follow the belief that if you have to wait until 1 January to set resolutions, you’re not really looking to change) — though I do have a big plan in the works. And for now, that’s all you’re going to know about it.

No, it’s not another baby. That’s coming later.

But I’m almost back to driving to try and make up 30 minutes a day from travelling on buses and waiting for them to show up (basically, a 1.5 hour round-trip commute). This would help since the trains run near-constantly during rush hour, and cut down on the amount of walking I have to do!

So far, based on the information that I can freely find (the only think I can’t seem to find on the net are the conceptual drawings — those apparently come out on the 21st), the West LRT (as it’s being called) will run from the existing 7th Avenue line downtown (I also assume this will effectively become an extension of the existing 202 line) above ground out to roughly 33rd St. West, where it’ll go underground for a portion before reappearing around 41st St., continuing until it’s end at 45th St. (the current location of the Alberta Motor Association’s headquarters in Calgary).

Based on that, they’re going to need to expropriate some land — houses along 17th Ave. between 41st and 42nd streets, and the existing AMA building.

Frankly, I think this is a great time for Calgary to [[Improving Calgary Transit in the city core|make the investment and start burying the C-Train]], especially downtown. The line should also run underground once it crosses into the west, staying under Bow Trail rather than beside it — or worse, in the middle of it (this is going to cause traffic nightmares the likes of which we can only begin to have night sweats over). And leave it underground.

Based on the maps (see the links in the previous couple of paragraphs), this is planned to run down the middle of Bow Trail and 17th Avenue. I shudder to think of the traffic nightmare that is going to ensue as both of those roads are torn up for widening. It’s going to make for a very rough couple of years of commuting, I tell you.

And please, can we put the 45th St. station as one set of platforms instead of staggering it? Those are annoying enough downtown without having to subject poor schmucks (like me) to different loading and unloading areas. (Ironically, the future station at Sirocco will actually be closer for me. Go figure.)

Yes, it costs more. But you gain so much more by not having it visible: less interruptions, less noise, less room being taken up, and less chance of some idiot hitting the train (or being hit by the train because of doing something stupid). You also get better security, because underground stations won’t be open like the the current above-ground stations — you have to buy a ticket in order to get in.

Either way, this is great news, since it means I won’t have to worry about driving ever again downtown. When the light permits, I’ll bike. When the light (and/or weather) sucks, I’ll train. And if we happen to have a good party at Critical Mass (like that never happens), I’ll have an alternative to the taxi.

One major drawback that I can think of: parking in my area is gonna suck. Lots of people are going to want to take that C-Train rather than drive downtown. Which means lots of people parking on roads that — at least for now — have no restrictions on parking. I’m outside the 600m radius from the proposed station, but it’s still only a five-ish minute walk. Ain’t a stretch by any means.

Bring it on, Calgary! This is a step in the right direction. [[Calgary Transit sucks|Just please keep stepping!]]

Today, I finally got that chance.

I almost didn’t. A small crisis at work broke out, and I kept my cell phone at close range. I honestly thought I might get lucky, get off one shot, and then head into the office. But my team is very dedicated and pretty much did everything without any additional input from me. I’m not sure whether to be proud that I don’t have to say anything, or be depressed that I’m simply not needed.

Either way, I got to chase 2816 again. The last time I tried (see [[Surprise birthday weekend in Revelstoke]]), the timetables were so messed up that we didn’t get to actually chase her — she ended up chasing me, and I didn’t get any pictures. Alex was very patient then, but I opted not to drag her out with me on this run.

I started off near Bowness Park, sitting on the edge of Bearspaw Dam Rd., a vantage that I thought might work okay. I probably should have gone further east to the bridge to get a better angle, but hey — it’s a first time, and I gotta try something different. I had a lot of time to doubt myself — the scheduled 9:00 departure should have put 2816 next to me by about 9:10. Assumedly, a late freight train held up the run, and I ended up waiting about a half hour until I could hear the whistle blowing east down the valley. It wasn’t long before I could see smoke, and then the headlights.

Aim, click, run.

The chase was on! After Bearspaw, my next thought for a location was quite a ways out of town. The tricky part is staying ahead of 2816. Bill knows how to run that engine, and Canadian Pacific tends to let her run open rather than put her in sidings. I drove pretty much flat out to Morley Road. There I had to wait about another half hour, along with a few others who got in my frame of view. I hate it when people do that.

Once 2816 had passed, I was off like a shot to Highway 1X, and the overpass at Seebe. I made it with only a minute to spare.

Aim, click click click click (I used the rapid shoot feature), run.

I’d heard that instead of going right to Lake Louise (her end for the day), there would be a three-hour delay in Banff (Bamf!). Not wanting to spend that much time in Banff (Bamf!), I opted for a final picture just east of Canmore, along the 1A. The hard part of that wasn’t so much getting there, but getting there before the train. And to make things more nerve-wracking, I actually had to get far ahead and then run straight at the oncoming train.

One minute to spare, again. Click click click done.

Phone calls to wrap up the problem at the office came up during my return trip. It felt good to get out and chase again. It might be a while before I can do this again.

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We also attempted to see fireworks. With emphasis on “attempted”. You’ll see why in a moment.

But first, the trains. As with most years, we haul out the Eagle Springs (a “comboose” we aquired from a private owner) and the coach car, strap ‘em to CP SW900 6711, and take people for a ride forward and back through the yard. We can’t go out on the main line, but the yard trip is about 10 minutes, and it doesn’t cost the public anything. Which is nice.

We also bring in a band — a pretty good one, too — that plays music while people wait for their turn on the train. We hope to sell a few knick-knacks at the same time for funding.

This year, though, we also got a bonus — a steam locomotive. CP 2816 (“The Empress”) came out for viewing. We had also hoped she would pull a couple of runs with the cars, but the track in the yard is pretty sketchy, and given that she was due to travel out to Vancouver the next day, they couldn’t afford her hitting ground. But even a stationary steamer is gorgeous.

I never got near her, though. I was on security detail. Normally, security isn’t hard to do — a couple of people, and you’ve got things locked down. This time, we had to have people walk a few hundred metres over a hill and through a fairly rocky/gravel-strewn area to reach 2816. We couldn’t get her any closer, as the curves are so sharp, she’d definitely derail.

Problem: That much distance, combined with a few people who think rules don’t apply to them, equals potential disaster. So we had people stationed fairly regularly to ensure that people didn’t “accidentally” wander into the yard to see what else was there. Up on the hill, I could see most of the yard, and caught sight of a few people breaking the rules. In a couple of cases, it was family of Alstom or CP employees — that I couldn’t do much about. Two other cases was a guy who tried to follow the family (and was caught), and some punk kid who feigned ignorance when told that the security gates are not jungle gyms. Having radios for keeping everyone informed was a godsend.

I don’t know how many people were there, but from where I was, I could never see the end of the line for the train rides. We had to have easily doubled last year’s numbers. At least I hope we did that — standing in the hot sun for five-odd hours wasn’t easy. At least I wasn’t as bad off as Ian, who looked like a lobster by the time he was done.

After wrapping everything up, I returned home to find out that Alex’s friend Colette had invited us over for bratwursts, and to see the fireworks. Rebecca, who had come over the for the evening, tagged along. Nick and Mo were already there. Thus began several hours of chatting, eating, playing a weird Wii game that lets you do surgery (a weird Japanese anime-style game), and watching fireworks.

Almost every year, the big fireworks show is at Canada Olympic Park. It’s a great place because a lot of people don’t have to leave their homes — you can see it quite easily overlooking Bowness. Given, you have to come to the northwest to see it, but it’s still cool.

Or would have been, if the City (thanks, Dave) decided to move it on top of the municipal buildings downtown. Others could hear fireworks (big ones), but we just assumed neighbourhood stuff. If only we could have seen behind us. At the time, I was pissed — why would the city do something so stupid as to move the fireworks downtown? Who goes downtown to cram into Olympic Plaza (not Park, hence all the confusion — even 311 had it wrong!) to see fireworks?

Then I thought about it some more. It actually is quite brilliant. By making people come downtown, you make downtown more important than it is. Right now, downtown is little more than office buildings, a few restaurants, one struggling shopping mall (crazy busy during the weekday, dead on weekends and evenings), and most of Calgary’s homeless population. Attract attention to downtown, and maybe you’ll have some more success.

But I can’t imagine what the traffic must have been like…

One part of it was riding the Trans Siberian Railway from Moscow to Ulan Ude, where the Trans Siberian effectively becomes the Trans Mongolian, as we cut through Mongolia to Beijing. The trains (as there are many that ply the line) vary from relatively nice (the one from Krasnoyarsk to Urkutsk was pretty nice) to pretty cruddy (Urkutsk to Ulan Ude), with various points in between.

Mind you, we never rode in the platskartny class — cars filled with open-plan bunks. We stuck to second class cabins (four people each) and once in first class (out of sheer desperation to get the hell out of Krasnoyarsk).

GW Travel, famous for doing uber-expensive train trips, is now opening the formerly more rough-and-tumble experience of crossing Siberia by running a luxury train.

It’s kind of funny, really. We travelled without showers, good food, air conditioning (or heating), or toilets that really resembled anything sanitary. But that’s also part of the appeal! The Trans Siberian is for people, and tourists are considered a bit of an irritation, I’d wager (“damn kids and their huge backpacks!”).

$22,000 for the trip? I think we did all of our travel for a tenth of that…

So on with the recap of 2006:

• Was disappointed that the Tories came back into power, but so far have been impressed that they haven’t rolled back the clock 30 years … yet
• Took this website back from a WordPress blog to a hand-coded blog … then started the switch back when I couldn’t keep up with the work
• Got really pissed off when Starbucks canned the Chantico
• Attended my first CMMY (and got an iPod!)
• Ranted. A lot.
• Picked up our new kitty, Asia, from the SPCA and have had fuzzy therapy every day since
• Bade farewell to far too many good friends
• Listened to the VP of Marketing for Google Canada, and lamented that the engineers do better presentations
• Went to Honolulu, HI
• Saw where WWII began in the Pacific
• Went to (and all the way around) Kauai, HI
• Went on a cruise and saw whales
• Experienced my first and second luaus
• Went to Maple Ridge, BC several times
• Went to Montreal, QC
• Experienced Earth Day on an apple farm in southern Quebec
• Went to London, UK
• Saw Buckingham Palace
• Went to York, UK
• Visited the National Railway Museum in only 30 minutes (far too quickly!)
• Went to Glasgow, UK
• Went to Ayr, UK
• Went to Edinburgh, UK
• Froze on Calton Hill during a festival
• Went to Belfast, Northern Ireland
• Drove around Northern Ireland in a car too large for most of the roads
• Walked the Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede bridge
• Went to Castleblaney, Ireland
• Went to Newtownards, Northern Ireland
• Went to Dublin, Ireland
• Drank Guinness from its home town
• Visited the Guinness Brewery … sort of
• Stayed at a castle
• Drove from the east to west coast of Ireland and back in two days, visiting:
  • Tara Hill
  • Trim
  • Clonmacnoise
  • Shannonbridge
  • The Burren (and the Poulnabrone Dolmen)
  • Doolin
  • Cliffs of Moher
  • Newmarket-on-Fergus (and the wonderful Kells B&B)
  • Bunratty Castle
  • Limerick (well, through Limerick)
  • Cashel (and the Rock of Cashel)
  • Carrick on Suir
  • Ballyhale (and really bad pizza)
• Went to Bow Lake and Num-Ti-Jah Lodge
• Went to Revelstoke and Three Valley Gap
• Went to Paris (on business, but did get to see a fair bit despite exhaustion)
• Went to Edmonton, AB (on business)
• Went to Banff, AB several times
• Went to London, ON
• Went to Oakville, ON
• Went to St. Thomas, ON
• Moved my desk to the best spot in the building (lucky me!)
• Saw Stuart McLean twice, though only once in concert (front row at the Banff Centre)
• Met my niece for the first time
• Ripped the deck out of the backyard and laid down grass
• Repaired the hot tub (again) — what a money pit!
• Stopped driving to work and biked
• Stopped biking to work (when it got too dark and nearly got creamed by a car) and took the bus
• Stopped taking the bus when I realized Calgary Transit sucks and went back to driving
• Did an article for the CBC on my experiences on the CBC TV 50th Anniversary VIA Rail train
• Was paid a visit by Chris and Kaz
• Had the first game night with the Asian Brother Crew since Chris left
• Started using video conferencing extensively, and really marveling at what the technology can do
• Saw Cirque du Soliel’s Delirium
• Unclogged a sink without losing my pants
• Realized I can still tell when a hard drive is about to fail

and of course:

• Worked way too hard for my own good

But that’s to be expected, non? There’s one other thing that’s not on this list. But I can’t let that cat outta the bag just yet…