Monthly Archives: July 2015
Welcome to Bluesfest – No Blues Required
Ottawa’s biggest annual music festival, the RBC Ottawa Bluesfest started last night. Each year I waffle: is buying a festival pass worth the expense? There are 11 day of music, but a lot of artists I don’t care for. Would I be better off just buying a day pass for the shows I really want […]
Erbil Citadel
It is very impressive from a distance, not as much when you actually get inside. It has been occupied for about 6,000 years and has been proclaimed a UNESCO world heritage site. I would say it will be worth a visit in about a decade, once repairs and renovations are completed. Nobody lives in the […]
Restaurant With No Name
I’m not sure exactly where the place is, which makes it difficult if you want to sample the food yourself. I didn’t even get its name, if indeed it has one. I might have found one mention on the Internet, but it also gave no name. I can tell you the restaurant is about an […]
Music Month Begins
July is for me usually the busiest month of the year in terms of seeing live music. Ottawa has a number festivals, including the RBC Bluesfest, which features hundreds of acts (and where you have to try really hard to find a blues performer). So you can expect a lot of thoughts on the music […]
The Surprise
My friend Mike loves his wife. That is not surprising. After all, he is a Christian and there is a biblical element there. But he likes to go the extra mile (another biblical reference if you missed it) and think big. So when he phoned me and said he wanted to do something special for […]
Lost Luggage III – Good Customer Service
I had my post for today already written, then the phone rang. It was 3 p.m. Friday. Air Transat was finally returning my call. My wife’s bag in transit since last Saturday had been delivered to her and she and my daughter would be upgraded to “club class” for her return flight. I still have […]
Lost Luggage II – The Saga Continues
When it became apparent to Air Transat employees that Vivian’s backpack hadn’t made it on to the plane from Toronto to Manchester (England) with her on Saturday they should have sprung into action. When my luggage failed to accompany me last year I was informed by Air Canada employees before any bags hit the carousel. […]
Lost Luggage
My uncle was able to threaten an airline with a police investigation when they lost his luggage. My wife couldn’t threaten that, which may be why her luggage still hasn’t arrived, five days after she flew from Toronto to Manchester (England, not New Hampshire). The impression I had was that Air Transat didn’t care. They […]
Happy Canada Day!
Canadians celebrate their country today, which has me thinking about patriotism. We think we have the best country in the world, but citizens of other countries might disagree. I won’t list all the good things that make Canada a great place to live. I have traveled to about 15 countries (which makes me, I think, […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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