THAT AIN'T LAKE MINNETONKA - It's Lake Ontario and We Can't Get There Because the TTC's on Strike

Though he lived in Minnesota for most of his life, Beernada had some how avoided seeing Purple Rain - a most egregious error that was corrected on Friday night. Thankfully, Beernada is now familiar with the Apollonia Six's "Sex Shooter", the Kid's love/hate relationship with Wendy and the purifying powers of Lake Minnetonka.

After B and S left, the First Lady and I brushed our teeth and got ready for a gentle night's sleep with dreams of Darling Nikki dancing in our heads. Suddenly, the phone rang. We don't often get calls after midnight on a Friday, so my immediate thought was that either something bad had happened or Beernada had seen people drinking Labatts. Luckily, neither of these proved true. Instead it was the Scientorian explaining that the Toronto public transit workers (TTC) had suddenly gone on strike, and we hopped out of bed and got into the car to pick up our stranded friends.I'm all for labour having rights and being organized, but going on strike on a Friday night at midnight with no warning is absolutely idiotic. The TTC had previously promised 48 hours notice for the public before they would begin a strike. Since B and S live all the way across town, we got to drive by TTC stop after TTC stop with drunk people lined up outside subway stations - they did not look pleased. Then Saturday morning, there were reports of all kinds of people who could not get to work. Guess what type of person has to ride public transit to work on a Saturday? If you said lawyer, you're not very in touch with reality. So the strike ends up hurting poor people - good job TTC.

I'm a big fan of the Toronto public transit system normally. The subway gets me to work in 20 minutes, and though the streetcars are slow, they are very dependable. My biggest complaint is about the price compared to other cities, but in reality I'm saving a bundle with the high cost of gas these days.

Purple Rain - 4.3 Hortons
TTC Strike - 0 Hortons
TTC under normal conditions - 3.98 Hortons

P.S. - If you're ever in Las Vegas, I highly recommend Purple Reign.