TFC Good, TTC Union Bad

Yesterday, me and Arnaz were gearing up for Toronto FC's second home game of the 2008 season. However, the snap TTC transit strike messed up our plans to get downtown. Ideally, we park up in the Yonge & Eglinton at friends' places and take the subway downtown to Union Station, and then grab the Harbourfront streetcar to Exhibition Stadium where BMO Field is located. The strike killed that plan, and many others' normal plans. That definitely confirms that Toronto cannot operate without the TTC.

In my humble opinion, the TTC Union (Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113) decision to reject the contract negotiated by their exec, and then strike without warning was totally unwarranted and irresponsible. To strand thousands of Toronto's citizens forcing them to either shell out massive cab fares, making emergency calls to friends & family for rides, or walking excessive distances to get home. What's the point in negotiating a contract if the union in the end will vote against it. Sorry, I have very little sympathy for workers who can make over $100k taking tokens and then complain about job security. In my 10 years of working in engineering roles, I have never had job security and do not make anywhere close to $100k.

To get around the lack of TTC, and avoid driving/parking near BMO Field, we opted to park near Eaton Centre and then grab a lift from our friends joining us at the game. They were running a bit late, so we decided to start walking towards BMO Field along King Street West and hope to get a cheap cab ride. Around King and Simcoe, we spotted a double-decker tour bus with a bunch of Toronto FC fans yelling at us to jump aboard for a free ride to the stadium. Toronto FC (MLSE) hired this bus to pick up fans at some favourite watering holes and give them a free ride to the stadium. Thank you Toronto FC! You have once again confirmed my commitment to being a season ticket holder for life! T-O-R...O-N-T...OHOOOHOOOOH T-F-C!!!

While on the bus, we were greeted by a reporters from CityTV, CFRB 1010, TFC TV, and the Toronto Star who interviewed us about our thoughts on the TTC strike and what we thought of TFC arranging this bus.

We have our pic published in the Toronto Star:

(were right behind the fan with the scarf)

From the Toronto Star:

"We think this is wonderful that the club will do this," said Arnaz Jasumani, sitting in the upper deck.

Asif Rashid, 31, a season ticket holder, was grateful for the bus.

"We were walking toward the field. Normally we take the subway, then grab the streetcar. I'm so annoyed at the TTC," he said. "We saw this bus full of fans. They made the day
brighter."

Is that really what I said? Maybe the reporter spiced up the words to make it more newsworthy. I think I probably said something of the order of, "Ungh, TTC bad, TFC good, me like!" I'll take 15 minutes of fame regardless. You can see the full article here:
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/418875

The related CFRB 1010 audio clip can be found at http://www.cfrb.com/news/565/707291

You can see us being interviewed on TFC TV at http://toronto.fc.mlsnet.com/sights/index.jsp?club=t280. We're about halfway through Episode 6 (2008).

Apparently, we did get on CityTV news, but I have yet to see the clip. If you happened to have seen this, please let me know!

Toronto FC beat the Kansas CIty Wizards 2-0, so all-in-all, a great day thanks to TFC. Allez Les Rouges!

Today, the Ontario Provinical Government came into session on a rare Sunday to pass a motion to force the TTC into back-to-work legislation. You can see the full article here:
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_22090.aspx

I sincerely hope that the TTC Union thinks twice about screwing over the city again. I highly doubt that they have many supporters anymore.

imho
-A

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P.Eng!

After 4 months of waiting, I finally have been granted my Professional Engineering License (P.Eng.) by the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO)!

It only cost me 4 years of experience, a pass on the Engineering Law & Ethics Exam, an Engineering degree, 3 references, and $472.50.  Priceless?  Maybe.

What does this mean?  Well, I can call myself a "Professional Engineer" without getting fined, I get new business cards, recruiting firms will start bothering me, etc.

In any case, it's a nice 4 letter that I can slap on to the end of my name.

imho
-Asif Rashid, P.Eng.

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The Big Blackout of 2003

Digging through the old notes on my Palm Pilot, I found a log I entered on the fateful day of the massive blackout that hit most of Southwestern Ontario, the Midwest, and New England...

---
August 15, 2003

The great blackout of the young century. From TO to NYC to OT to Detroit. Niagara-Mohawk screwed up...again according to the 1965 blackout.

I'm at U of T. Got stuck in traffic at 4:15pm, gave up at 5:15pm. So I parked at Hart House and walked over to Robarts and ate like a student (i.e. Hot dog & iced tea). My cell isn't working...Rogers sux. Pay phoned mom to tell her my status and make sure things are cool on her end. Arn is stuck at Mt. Sinai, Skippy's probably stuck at King & Bay.

Cops are working the intersections. Traffic is crawling, and still some fools hit their horns.

I'll stick around for a bit. 6:30pm now, prob try leaving in an hour.

I left via Spadina around 7:00pm. Cops and civillians were manning the traffic lights so things went smooth. Good peeps of T.O.! Gardiner/QEW was nice and clear. Hurontario much the same as Spadina. It was almost 8:00pm when I got home.

Amma and I unplugged unnecessary stuff, and turned off the A/Cs. We also started lighting tea lights as sunset started. We called our friends to make sure everyone got home okay. Most did.

We set up sleeping bags in the living room. The light from the cars' headlights and the generator lights from the building next door kept things from being completely pitch black.

Shahroz phoned me around midnight, Chicago was not affected. At 12:26am, the power came back on in Central Mississauga. Then I passed out!

Morning...plugged the TV and computer back in. Looks like the cable and modem are still out. Oh well. So begins the post-blackout restoration.
---

Mike and April had just returned from their trip (and engagement) to Europe, smack dab in the middle of the blackout. Mike had tried to call me when they arrived, but the power outages affected the Rogers network so he couldn't get a hold of me. They ended up staying with a UNB friend of Mike's (later to be the legendary Dunner!), and then tried their luck flying back to Fredericton. Pearson Airport was a nightmare so they stayed with us the next night.

I remember seeing a lot of finger-pointing from Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, and New York power authorities as to who was to blame for this grand cascade failure. In the end, it was a combination of poor upkeep of the Ohio grid, and Operator failure. Surprise surprise. You can read about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_North_America_blackout

Crazy times!

imho
-A

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The Quest for Lord Stanley's Cup

The NHL Playoffs are here!

So for the next 6 weeks we'll be huddled in front of television screens and watching our beloved teams battle it out with the other 15 teams. Blood, sweat, tears, broken noses, lost teeth, fatigue, nausea, heartburn, indigestion....and soforth, until one team is crowned Stanley Cup Champions. I will cheer on my beloved Calgary Flames and hope that 2008 is their year...and endure the stress, heartbreak, triumph and the full-on roller coaster of playoff emotions. Good times!

FYI, the Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy in North American professional sports. If conspiracy theories hold true, it'll be another useless Southern US team to win it (like the Anaheims, Carolinas and Tampas of the past few years), but that's for another blog!

What would the playoffs be without watching it on CBC? Like watching it on ESPN2, with Barry Melrose's mullet, OH SHAME! American's just don't get it.

For anyone who is so unfortunate to not have CBC piped through your television cables or digital dishes, CBC's website streams games live and provides archived highlights so you can review what suit Don Cherry was wearing last night!

Check it at http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey

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