Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Way back in October, when it felt as though the world might soon work again, Elenka and I booked flights for a two month stay, on the Isle of Roatan with Air Transat. Return air fare was high — $800 each, at a time when you could fly to the West Coast and back for $149. Thirty-six hours after we’d booked, at three o’clock in the morning, Air Transat e-mailed us to say that all flights to Roatan had been cancelled. They noted graciously that they’d provide us with a full refund within 12 weeks.
We were fortunate this message had been delivered in the middle of the night. Because we’re up by six in the morning, this gave us a leg-up over the sleepy heads. We immediately went to the West Jet airline site, where the fare was $300 more at $1,100. In the space between the Air Transit booking and their buggering cancellation, we’d booked places to stay in Roatan, so West Jet it was.
Soon after we’d re-booked, in this airline-eat-passenger world, West Jet’s fares skyrocketed to $1,900.
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Fast forward to mid-December:
This past Monday, Elenka and I got our booster shots.
But now we have Omicron, a new and faster working virus to contend with. As the city’s hospitals make ready to refill their empty beds with non-vaccinated COVID patients, the Government of Canada seems to be on the verge of banning International air travel.
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“How will maskless Americans be able to come to Toronto to see their hometown teams play against our Maple Leafs and Raptors?” I said to Elenka while watching the TV news. “This will certainly sadden our maskless Canadian fans.”
I was hoping for at least a growl in response, but got nothing.
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What I’ve decided to do, if we aren’t able to go away, is play the old Perry Como tune, “There’s No Place like Home for the Holidays” over, and over, and over, and over.
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A political nightmare threw me to consciousness this morning. Everyone on my TArk mailing list, Europeans, Asians and Americans alike, will remember our former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (2010-2014). For that is the time the world started into a downward spiral. I’ll not name the huge number of new nut-job leaders in countries I still want to visit, but feel safe in saying (‘cause I’ll never go there) that Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko is a good example of this kind of crazy. I shudder to think the CTU could be the place where this all began.
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On a jollier note, yesterday we watched the below titled movie:
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The Man Who Invented Christmas — Beginning in 1837, Charles Dickens saw immense success with his monthly, two year serial, ‘Oliver Twist’. Three writing failures later, in the autumn of 1843, while suffering severe writer’s block Dickens somehow worked out a deal with his publisher to have a novel ready by Christmas.
Bullshit and bluster was what it was — he didn’t have a clue as to what he’d write about. Then one night the wheels of Dickens’ imagination started turning. People he spoke to here, there and everywhere started giving him subliminal hints on the topic. A mere six weeks later, ‘A Christmas Carol’ was born.
This movie isn’t for everyone. If you haven’t read the book or seen any of its movie versions, ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ won’t likely work for you. However, if you have done either, this movie’s sure to remain a treasure for life.
The very discerning Elenka, gave it a rating of 8.0, while I went with 9.1. IMDB rated it at 7.0.
Available on: Amazon Prime, ITunes, Google Play and maybe even Netflix.
Rodger
2021-12-15
Congratulations! You found respite from the craziness. If only temporarily... "Interesting" times are sure to follow!
Tony M
2021-12-16
Good read..... U could be right Hope your trip goes well Stay safe
Valerie
2021-12-16
I’m confused . Did you get to Roatan ? The place looks wonderful
Peter
2021-12-17
Just got back from our trip Jack, but it felt a little not like a lottery on the way with rules for red list countries, no go countries and testing requirements changing daily for both the country of origin and destination. I didn't quite believe it until we took out seats on the plane. The testing, paperwork and online form filling is like an IT exam to weed out anyone who is not cosy with computers, smart phones and Q fecking R codes. My advice is to sacrifice a small goat/child to whichever God, demon or atheist takes your fancy, cross all fingers and toes, howl at the moon and dance naked painted blue. Or just hope things work out and get good insurance in case they don't. Good luck to you both, I hope you makes it bro.