Skytrain System Down

OMG, the skytrain was down during rush hour!!! Luckily or unluckily, Kay was also downtown cos she came down for a japadog so we met up at the corner of Burrard and Georgia to decide how to get home. I have no clue how to bus it home from downtown and I need to map out a route for emergencies like this. Kay had a few options on how to get home and we decided to take the Canada line since I have not been on it yet. It's def much roomier, faster and quieter than the old line but still not a subway! Unluckily for us, it started to rain very hard while we were in downtown and we were getting soaked! It took us an hour to get home, not at all impressed and I was going to run and do my strength training but I was too tired from the trek home. After we got home, I said DANG it, we should have stayed downtown to do a bit of browsing or shopping cos I bet the train was working by the time we got home! Instead of taking a very long route home, we could have relaxed a bit before fighting the crowd. Oh well. Next time, I will def stay downtown and wait it out.....

More B*tch*n on Canada Line Construction

F----------------------------------------CK!!!

I am having a really crappy start to my morning! I HATE BEING LATE!! Esp. when it's not my fault, being late totally screws up my entire day.

Every work day, I leave my apartment around 7.05 or 7.10 am to be at work by 7.40 - 7.45am because I start work at 8.00am. Before the Canada Line construction, I could leave my apartment at 7.30am to catch the bus right in front of my building with 5-10 minutes to spare, now I have to leave 20 to 25 minutes earlier just in case of a construction/traffic congestion. Today, my regular bus was early which I missed so I had no choice but to catch the next one which ended up being 5 minutes late! On top of that, it took the bus 22 minutes to go 5 blocks and due to the lateness plus the congestion, the following bus stop had a line up of 20 people! The bus driver crammed every single person in! Can you believe that while we were slowing etching our way down to 12th avenue, I noticed all the construction workers doing sh*t all. Standing around, chatting and drinking their dang coffee!! Why was there congestion you ask? Because they decided to make the busy intersection (Cambie / 12th Avenue) one way for both southbound and northbound lanes, allowing 5 to 6 cars a turn and controlling 12th Avenue traffic with the lights. WTF??? There seemed to be no reason why there was only a single lane going north and south bound!!! By the time we reached Broadway stop, there was another group of 20 people!!! The bus was crammed and the traffic from that point on was clear as day! Finally reaching central downtown, I didn't even have time to walk the 6 blocks that I normally walk, I had to run to catch a bus on Georgia to cut the 6 - 10 minutes it would have taken if I walked it. 8.05am is the time I finally arrived at the office. I AM NOT PLEASED AT ALL. I need to figure out another route to work.....

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Construction on Sunday?

OMG, they are doing construction right now! On a Sunday! What the heck is going on? I am quite sure that the construction is only allowed during the work week and some Saturdays. I cannot believe the construction that is going on out there! They are scratching up the road and the mud is getting onto the sidewalks. It's really gross and the sidewalk is quite narrow which means you now have to dodge the mud and try to stay on the sidewalk! UGH!!

My Beef with Translink-Canada Line Construction

OMG! The already very congested traffic on Cambie Street is now even more backed up and more congested because of the Canada Line Construction. The traffic pattern changes on the bridge has caused some serious traffic jams. How lovely, we are going to be in a traffic jam for the next 2 years....

• Wednesday - I did not walk through my front door until just after 6.00pm. I stood at the bus stop for almost 40 minutes, 3 buses (which were not completely full) passed by without stopping at our Cambie/Georgia - CBC Building bus stop.
• Thursday - an already stressful work day to be topped off with the new traffic pattern changes on the Cambie Street Bridge, 3 lanes merging into 1 (on the bridge) with the 2nd avenue exit being blocked off, I left the office around 4.45pm, I did not arrive home until a little after 6.00pm (regularly a 20 minute commute or 30 - 40 minute commute since the construction).
• Friday - assuming the traffic would be even worse off today than yesterday, I was prepared to walk home from downtown, I had my running shoes with me. I took the skytrain to Stadium station and started walking from BC Stadium to Cambie / 20th, the walk took me about only 30 minutes and I would have been home 5 minutes earlier if it was not for the very messy and screwed up pedestrian side walk on Cambie / 12th avenue! Oh well, life sucks esp. during the "short term pain for long term gain" skytrain. On another note, I had no idea how many people walked from downtown and back into the city, it is so much better for you! Traffic on the bridge was not too backed up but I think I still made it home faster than taking the bus up to 22nd (which is now where my bus stop is located!). Final time (walking though my front door): 5.20pm.