No Commute

So today the ferries are messed up.

There is a 45 minute delay listed on the BC Ferries website for the boat that I need to take, with the only explanation being, “Mechanical difficulties with vessel.” There is no other explanation, and the Vancouver traffic radio channel didn’t even mention a thing about any delay in their ferry report.

This means, at best, that the boats would run 45 minutes late all day. If this were the case, I could still get into North Vancouver to train. If the delay were to remain at exactly 45 minutes, the beginner class would still be possible in addition to the advanced session. Getting home would also work fine, and I’d make it to the evening advanced class here at home.

However, travel on the ferry has to line up with the city buses, which a 45 minute delay totally messes up. This would have me missing my connections, which would add at least a half hour in each direction. That means no beginner class in Vancouver, and possibly even make it impossible to get back home in time to get to our local advanced class. This version of events has me giving up a local class in exchange for a day of worry, ferry riding, and bus riding, all to gain a single similar class in the city.

Unfortunately, the ferry corporation hasn’t seen fit to give any sort of assurances as to the “mechanical difficulty,” being fully rectified. What if the delays continue to grow or, heaven forbid, the ferry should break down altogether? This could see me stranded for hours until they manage to hobble together some sort of service. I might miss all of today’s classes everywhere, and have wasted an entire day; only getting home late at night.

All of this makes it clear that going riding the ferry is a very bad idea today. Going to the city is off the table. Staying home, and attending our local advanced class this evening is what is now on the planning board.

Flying Away

Getting to the Vancouver Airport is always the start to any of our long-range trips, and that starts with the puzzle of how to get to the ferry. This time around it was easier than usual, as our neighbour Ruth was kind and gave us a lift into Sechelt at 7am to eliminate one of our bus segments.

After our farewells, the bus rolled right in on time, and whisked us express-like to the ferryboat terminal. I had oatmeal and coffee onboard.

We caught the bus on the Vancouver side promptly, and even got seats. That’s a real treat when hauling luggage, even though our bags are incredibly small.

A few years ago airlines started charging fees for checked baggage, and more people switched to “going carryon.” Helen and I already travelled this way, due to the convenience, but now the battle for storage space had begun. People were taking duffels and even full suitcases aboard.

Airlines clamped down, and started aggressively measuring people’s carryons, and made offenders check oversize items, for which they charged hefty fees. This turned into a cash cow for the airlines. To maximize profit, they periodically shrank the size allowable for carryon bags.

Height and width have shrunk, but it’s the restricted thickness that is the killer. It isn’t too hard getting a bag that fits the first two restrictions, but have fun finding one that is under 9 inches in depth. We did.

The airlines also allow each person a “personal item.” These are things like laptops, or purses. They also have maximum dimensions, and we carry ones that push this to within a fraction of an inch. We are legal, but barely.

This means we have a shockingly small amount of cargo that we can carry. Suppose you were to go on a three-week trip to Europe, to be followed by a two-week cruise in the Mediterranean. How many pairs of shoes would you take? Be honest. Walking shoes, certainly, but how about runners, or sandals, or dress shoes, or pool shoes; how many?

I have a single pair of shoes, which I will be wearing onto the plane. None in my baggage at all.

Everything else that we take is reduced in a similar fashion. We have few clothes, and they are all of quick-dry material as we wash as we go.

So anyhow, we rode the bus from the ferry to downtown Vancouver. Our flight wasn’t until late afternoon, so we were crazy early. We do this in case of snags, which can easily arise in a trip with as many segments as ours.

We spent time wandering in the big underground mall attached to the Skytrain station. The new charging phone case that I’d gotten from China had packed it in only a few days before. The Apple Store had the precise one I wanted to take the place of my dead Chinese one, so I bought it. I immediately put it onto my phone, and ditched all the unnecessary packaging.

After a while of wandering and using the Apple Store wifi, we caught the Skytrain out to the airport; another lovely trip.

We wandered almost the length of the international flight section of check-in desks without finding any for Westjet. It was far too early, but I did find a check-in kiosk. These only work if you don’t have any bags to check, which is us. We got our boarding passes, and we headed through security to our gate.

There was a much-improved system of loading stuff for the scanner. There was a moving conveyor, and plastic tubs to load and to unload. I barely beeped at all. Soon we were at our gate, and even had power plug-ins to use, and free wifi.

Boarding was smooth. Our seats were in row 5, which is just behind the expensive seats. This meant a bit of extra space slopped over into our spots, and we were the first people the crew served.

After the fancy people of course.