Like It Is

“Nice photo. You’ll do well on Match.com. Pity you don’t live nearer to Toronto. Watch out for the jerks.”

That’s what he wrote when he was just a handle on Match.com called AnonH from Toronto. I had a handle of a sparkier nature. I can’t even remember how I came across Match.com. I do remember that when I posted my photo and profile, I wasn’t seriously thinking that I’d meet the love of my life through it. To me, it was just another way of meeting people, but not to pin one’s hopes on and I was game to give it a try. I was proved wrong. I did meet the love of my life and today we are celebrating our third wedding anniversary.

What was amazing about how we met wasn’t just the fact that it was via the Internet on Match.com. It was the fact that if I’d not been curious we wouldn’t be together today. Read the rest of this entry »

The Callous Transit Drivers. Toronto Transit Commission drivers to be exact. Who all went on strike today, Monday 29th May out of the blue. At least for commuters. They callously left commuters, all 800,000 of them, who depend on them more or less for their livelihood well and truly in the lurch this morning, as they called a “wildcat” strike and just walked off the job. No warning, no nothing. No chance for workers to plan an alternative way of getting to work. Just what we needed on a Monday morning.

I was one of the fortunate ones. Not only did we happen to turn on the t.v. on Sunday night and hear of a possible shut down of the TTC, but I also live within walking distance of where I work. So, with my comfy walking shoes, it took me only 25 minutes to walk to work on a sunny, but hot morning. My only complaint was that I was very hot and sweaty when I got into work and it was even hotter walking home along with the current bad air quality and temperatures hovering at 30 degrees Celsius. Other colleagues and workers weren’t so lucky – it was impossible to get a cab and when you live a great distance a way far from easy to get into work when no transit service at all is running.

“They don’t care about commuters”, I fumed to my husband when I got home. They practically have jobs for life, pensions, benefits, the lot – and all they do is walk of the job like petulant children taking their ball back and refusing to play.”

As my husband said – this isn’t about commuters. They could care less about them. It’s management’s job to care about the commuters; they are collateral damage. It’s about the Transit Unions proving to their management they they’re prepared to take action, not just talk about it. So now, management will take them more seriously and give them what they want. Perhaps that’s why the striking TTC drivers couldn’t even agree on why they were striking.

Makes me think of London Underground, when they go on strike and it causes even more widespread chaos because the system is so much larger in London. Or Paris. Or, for that matter New York. They are just the same. They already have it very good job wise. But they still hold us to ransom on our public transport or transit systems.

Because they can.

Took me a while to write this, but did it at last. In no particular order, here are 100 things about me. I could have written a 100 things about any one area, but this was much more of an exercise. I think it’s better than writing a long missive about me, and at the very least it’s a different way of approaching the “about”. It’s by no means my original idea, I saw this approach on a couple of other blogs and thought – “nice idea.” I may play about with the list slightly. For now, it’s just a little about me. You’ll find it on my About page.

I love Fridays! What a week it has been. Early starts, late finishes, late nights. Lots accomplished. I’m ready for the weekend!

Why is the first day back after any holiday, however short, such a study in good intentions gone south? My best intentions disappeared by lunch time but no way was I leaving before I’d drafted my communication. So, I stayed late, bailed on my exercise class - and eventually left at around 6.30. A long day, since I’d been in since 7.30 am. But with a real sense of accomplishment because I completed my project draft. Took me over a week to get the words down on paper. I found it really hard work. After sitting at my computer all day, I couldn’t wait to work on my next set of photos for myFlickr sets. I’m working on the wedding and honeymoon photos. Our anniversary is coming up next week, thinking of blogging about it.

Our visit to Canterbury was like going back in time, into hundreds of years of history. From the main street to the shops, almost everything is built around the city’s history rather than replacing it. So, we could not resist taking pictures of the Starbucks and Boots the Chemist (we’d be lucky if there are any more Boots stores left anywhere in England now), the body piercing shops,of which there were many, and the Aussie Pubs.

Canterbury Cathedral was where we were heading though. We both love old historic buildings and places, but Harry has a particular fascination for old buildings, especially churches and cathedrals. He was in his element here. Since Canterbury is a Roman town, pre-dating Canada by over a thousand years, it was an amazing experience to stand in the cathedral and take photos. No photo can of course capture the total amazing grandeur and awe-inspiring feelings we felt when we were there, among the spires and precincts, however looking at them certainly brings back wonderful memories. I am used to walking past, around and even over historic places in different parts of England, without really thinking too much about it. London is full of history and you don’t usually have to look too far for it. Canterbury though was an amazing experience that only being there could fully capture. In the Flickr Photoset I’ve arranged the photos more or less in the order they were taken, a story of our journey back through history.

We went to Bruges a few years ago and loved our time there. Getting there was a breeze – since I was living in London it was a case of taking the Eurostar from Waterloo to Belgium and changing trains there.

Bruges is a beautiful town, bicycles on narrow streets, wonderful food and drink and the most amazing views on the canal. Not to mention the breathtaking views from the Watch tower and the museums.

Harry wasn’t into Belgium beer when we visited back in 2000; now he’s become quite the expert, having rated over 1,30 different beers. Every time I mention Bruges, he remembers with a groan the vast selection of beers he could have had. Oh well. When we go again, it will be with at least one very different perspective from the beer point of view.

I’ve been looking for a way to share our photos in the form of a travel blog but linked to Like It Is. Having discovered Flickr, (what a great tool!) I can now do this. To view my photos, simply click on My Flickr Photos on my blog roll. I’ve added descriptions to my photo-sets, however look for more of the background and story on my blog. Tip: View the Photosets for sequence rather than the Photostream.

Want to know more about Britgirl? Check out my About page.

In England, there’s a suggestion to teach British values in schools. Needless to say this has generated a lot of debate. The question of course has to be asked “Can British values be taught in a classroom? Shouldn’t parents be teaching children values? Mine did, without reference to “British values”. And what example are the government as far as values are concerned, particularly given the happenings over the past couple of weeks. As I perused the comments on the Have Your Say section of bbc.co.uk I was interested to see what indeed people did think British values are. Not a lot it seems. So what do I see as Britishness and British values?

First off, having lived in Toronto for a few years, I have to say I feel more British here now that I am living abroad than I ever did in Britain.  Which is nothing against Toronto, because I love it here. 

The values I associate with being British and hope that we are still known for are fair play, respect (for law and others), reserve, hard work and tolerance. But these are values my parents taught me.  Some might say British values have been eroded or no longer exist, and certainly a cursory reading of the bbc.co.uk might give that impression. I disagree. I think of countries like Kenya, like Zimbabwe, like DR Congo. Living in countries like England, like Canada we don’t realize how lucky we are or how much we take for granted. We can still pretty much say what we like and go where we want to.

What I miss most about England though, is our unique ability to laugh at ourselves, the quick- witted and dry humour and the irony. Our sense of humour binds us more than we realize. Like cricket and going to the Pub for a (sensible) pint,  that is just British.