First time flying to the US from the US (not Canada). Perfect weather to drive to Buffalo in order to fly JetBlue to Boston. Only US$60 per ticket (at that price you can't even cover the tax and security charge if you fly out of Toronto!).
Everything was perfect until we arrive at the runway to get ready to take off. As per the pilot, there was an error message in the computer and we had to head back to the terminal in order to find out what happened.
Turned out to be a faulty part which had to be replaced. So we had to disembark the plane and wait. Had lunch at the terminal while waiting.
We finally took off at 2:30pm and arrived in Boston an hour later. The Embraer 190 is much smaller than the Airbus A320, but the seats are wider and legroom is not bad too.
While merging into northbound 404 yesterday, I actually "merged" into a funeral procession -- you know, the typical North American standard type: Police cars with red flashing lights in the front, the hearse with purple flashing lights (why are they using purple? and when did this start?) following, then followed by the grieving family's limo, then other family members, relatives and friends, etc.
Minding my own business, I got out of the right lane and took off onto the passing lane and picked up speed to pass the procession. When I came up to the hearse, I looked over and saw that there was the driver but no one was sitting next to him. This started me thinking......
1. Hmmm... only him and the casket (with the deceased inside obviously!);
2. In addition to driving, what else would he be doing/thinking?
3. Would he be listening to some music on CD?
4. If not, it would be "dead quiet"! (No pun intended).
5. In that case, would he try to carry on a mental dialogue with his "passenger"?
6. If the music was on, what genre of music would the driver be listening to?
7. Classical (the most obvious choice)? Jazz? Easy listening? Rock n' Roll? Or even heavy metal?? How about Chinese opera (if the passenger was an old Chinese senior)???
8. If it's radio instead of CD, would it rather be 680News for up to the minute traffic and weather? Or NewsTalk 1010 CFRB?? Or even some sports radio like Fan590 for sports updates???
I know I know, some wierd thoughts you would say. But I think sometimes it's worth thinking about!
Photo Credits (From top):
http://www.hearse.com
www.sptimes.com
無得傾, 兩個字: 好正!
毓民雖是 "荳沙喉", 但是說話快慢有序, 抑揚頓錯, 真的攝住不少聽眾的耳朵和心.
毓民更 personate 了"四眼佬" (李嘉誠) 和 "溫總" (溫家寶). 扮 "四眼佬" 唔難, 講下潮州口音廣東話便可以. 但毓民扮 "溫總" 就是一絕! 講野超慢, 仲要遞起隻右手, "攤"大隻手板一副溫文面孔. 超似! 勁好笑!!
兩個小時的騷, 當中加插了多倫多第一台幾位 DJ 的同場表演攪氣氛. 觀眾當然開心. 但是毓民講野實在太生動, 一 D 都唔悶. 若可講多一個鐘就仲正!
昨晚毓民講了兩句說話, 觀眾聽來好笑, 但卻相當真實. 如果不是當天被俞琤炒, 就沒有今天的際遇 (做網台, 組政黨, 做棟篤串). "God closes the door, but He will open the window!"
忽發奇想. 毓民做了主內弟兄, 如果有日佢蒙召傳道, 個個星期日用棟篤串形式講耶穌, 必可吸引更多人慕道矣!
So I was invited to go to the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast yesterday morning at the Premiere Ballroom & Convention Centre. Music was great. The speech was great with David Mainse (see photo) as the feature speaker. Even the parting given was great too - a book called "The Difference Maker" by John Maxwell.
But one problem: I arrived at the venue 30 minutes late which was totally unintended. The night before I was told that the event would start at 7:30am. So I simply arrived at that time finding the parking lot was totally full, leaving me no choice but to park at the Sheraton Parkway.
Walking into the banquet hall already filled with some 600 people in the middle of their breakfast, I found myself totally embarrassed especially for the fact that I had to walk to the middle (towards the front) of the hall where our table was situated. In addition, the reason of my embarrassment for the fact that I know so many important people there.
So I found my table, with 9 pairs of eyes looking at me amusingly (as if all were accusing me why I was late to such an important event which was attended by a lot of local important dignitaries including John Tory).
So I asked him why he told me (over the phone) the night before that the event started at 7:30am. He said "no", he said he told me 7am during our phone conversation. Well, this is literally another case of "羅生門" and with 7 other people (excluding his wife) being punctual, I was on the disadvantageous end.
But as I told Spence last night, this guy definitely has this "pre-ex" condition in not speaking clearly, part of the problem being his voice too low. I have found him in 2 instance of speaking unclearly during announcement after Sunday service. One being "地庫" but I heard "地府" (Spence heard that too) and another which I forgot exactly what it was but pretty hilarious too.
Well, if this is the problem, then it is pretty easy to fix: Learn to speak clearly pal!
But Spence and Cyn both pointed out a bigger potential problem: He knew the event started at 7 (and he was there at 7!) but he told me 7:30. Now this is HUGE PROBLEM because considering the position he is holding, this kind of absent-mindness can cause big trouble.
Is he too busy with too much on his plate and that's why he got all the things mixed up?? I don't know.
So help him God.
