Barry Bonds is causing people to be Homeless

No, not actually physically but the cost to the US Federal Government for the prosecution of a baseball player who was a steroid user is in excess of $10 million according to every source I can find. The trial is expected to continue another year at least so that number isn't going to get any smaller.

At building costs of $100 per square foot that means that the US of A could've built 100,000 square feet of social housing rather than prosecute Barry Bonds.

So bottom line, the Government of the United States would rather have Barry Bonds in jail than 200 new housing units.

Yeah, I know it's not that simple:

Bonds "lied under oath"

Bonds "cheated the American public" ........... yada, yada, yada.

But really. when the economy is in the crapper and the Governments of the world are handing out trillions of dollars to keep Armageddon at bay, don't you find millions being spent on the prosecution of a baseball an incredible waste of time and money ?

On the positive side of things recent reading about Barry did lead me to find out what an orchidometer is, and No it has nothing to do with flowers.

Mexican Buses

We recently returned from 10 days in Mexico, nothing adventurous just Puerto Vallarta, for a much needed infusion of warmth and sunshine.

Among the many differences between Vancouver and Puerto Vallarta are the transit systems. Now I know that the GVRD is a much larger area with more diverse needs than PV but still a few observations are in order:

In Puerto Vallarta the buses run about every 3 minutes well past midnight

In Puerto Vallarta the drivers make change, and calculate multiple fares.

In Puerto Vallarta it is generally unnecessary to be at "a bus stop", just stick out your hand and the bus will stop. Similarly simply pushing the buzzer, or pounding the roof if there is no buzzer, will get the bus to stop pretty much right away.

In Puerto Vallarta the buses often feature live entertainment.

In Puerto Vallarta, on longer routes, food vendors enter the bus at "time stops".

In Vancouver the transit system runs a huge deficit, in Puerto Vallarta the drivers are independent contractors and there are lots of them so I assume it's a money making proposition.

Perhaps a fact finding trip for our Transit Executives is in order.

Sick and Tired of Winter and a #17 nightmare

Well it's not even January and I'm tired of winter.

Of course the fact that we're having a winter of epic proportions doesn't help. It started with sub Arctic, by Vancouver standards, temperatures in the first week of December and now we've had freakin' snow on the ground for over two weeks with no sign of relief in sight.

Hey, if I wanted winter I'd have stayed in Ontario and learned to love ice storms.

As a true Vancouverite I have no snow tires on my car, but unlike many locals I don't drive in the snow as a result. This means that for the past two weeks I've been a dutiful walker/public transit user. The walking is fine but the transit is ludicrously bad. We live in a transit "Black Hole" so it's almost always quicker to walk anywhere less than a couple of miles from the house but getting to work requires a bus.

On Monday I left work early and walked the 15 blocks to Robson and Howe to catch the #17 Oak home. I walked because the bus service up Georgia or Robson in "late night hours" is once every 30 minutes, and because I wanted to stop off at the BCLDB to restock my cider and king can inventory. My question would be: since when is 9pm in a major city "late night" ?

So I arrive at Robson/Howe at 9:44, there is a very long line of people which leads me to believe that the buses are not running very frequently but a couple arrive quickly so I feel OK. I call translink and identify my stop # and am informed that the next "#17 Oak" will arrive at 9:52 pm - excellent I should be home by 10:15ish. I then phone wife to advise her that I'm at the bus stop and should be home soon, and then I resume my wait.........and wait.........and wait. Many #10, #7, #4 and #17 UBC buses arrive and depart but still no elusive #17 Oak.

I phone Translink again and wait 6 minutes to be connected to a human, I ask if there are problems with the #17 Oak as I've now been waiting 45 minutes. I am informed that while there was a reported mechanical problem earlier there should be no delays but that the conditions were making things slow, I'm then asked "where would I be taking the bus to ?" - I reply "17th and Oak" and am told that the trip should only take 12 minutes from where I am.

I hang up and inform the gentleman behind me with his 5 year old that TransLink has no solution, he then says "well we're heading to 19th and Oak. Shall we share a cab?' - you bet we shall. I flag a cab and as we are about to get in a woman asks if she can join - she's going to 10th and Oak, we all board. As we cross the Granville bridge we spot no fewer than 5 buses stranded at the Hemlock underpass with flashers on, not moving.

So my question is: If the freakin' buses were stuck why didn't Translink know ?

Anyway my share of the cab is $5, as opposed to $2.50 for the bus and I arrive home at a few minutes before 11pm. And they wonder why people don't ride the bus.

It's New Year's Eve and I'm working, of course, it's still not fit for me to drive and getting a cab at 3 in the morning will be impossible so I've resigned myself to walking home.

Happy New Year.