begratto

À part la neige au sol, inévitable de toute façon, le centre-ville est relativement propre. J'y vois les équipes de Propreté-Montréal y passer tous les jours, les trottoirs sont pas mal impeccables.

Link-up has all aboard Panel weighing proposals to boost commuter service LINDA GYULAI The Gazette Friday, January 11, 2008 Transit authorities are studying a way to create a marriage made in commuter heaven. The Metropolitan Transit Agency and other government bodies want to bring together two proposals and two technologies to create a public-transit tram-train line linking the West Island, Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and downtown, The Gazette has learned. A tram-train is a light-rail vehicle sturdy enough to run on railway tracks and tramway tracks. The technology would meld two long-standing aspirations: to build a downtown-to-airport shuttle and improve West Island commuter train service. A committee composed of the MTA, the Aéroports de Montréal, the city of Montreal and the federal and provincial Transport Departments has three studies under way to evaluate a project that would combine both goals in a downtown-airport-West Island rail service. The airport authority also recently issued a separate call for proposals for such a route. Deadline for submissions is Jan. 18. But a scenario already being weighed for the downtown-airport-West Island route involves laying a new track in a right-of-way next to the existing Canadian National and Canadian Pacific rail lines that run parallel to Highway 20. That would free up the existing CP line, where the MTA's passenger trains run from downtown through the West Island along the Montreal/Dorion-Rigaud commuter line. "We're working with Aéroports de Montréal to build a passenger corridor from Ste. Anne de Bellevue to downtown with no more freight trains on the same corridor," MTA president and CEO Joël Gauthier said yesterday. The provincial agency is responsible for co-ordinating public-transit planning in the Montreal region and for running commuter trains. Laying the new track is one of the scenarios to be examined in a coming pre-feasibility study, Gauthier added. No cost estimates are available at this point, he said. Another scenario would maintain two rail tracks, but CN and CP freight trains would move to one track, leaving the other to become a dedicated passenger line. Currently, the MTA's commuter service in the West Island is limited because of the amount of freight traffic on the line it uses. Seven commuter trains run from the West Island to downtown during the weekday morning rush hour, at intervals of 15 to 25 minutes. One train runs the opposite way during the same period. No direct public-transit service is available to the airport. The MTA's soon-to-be released 2008-09-10 capital-works plan commits funds for different feasibility studies this year to introduce tram-trains to Montreal. One $200,000 feasibility study is for a tram-train in Lachine borough, which is lobbying the city of Montreal to revive an old Lachine tramway route as a link to downtown. The Quebec government has announced it will level part of the Turcot Interchange, so the tram-train would give commuters an alternative way to travel between downtown and the West Island during reconstruction, the MTA plan says. Sources say the MTA wants to study a tram-train so the Lachine tramway would be able to connect to the downtown-airport-West Island commuter train line without requiring passengers to transfer. Pierre Barrieau, a Ph.D. student in urban studies at the Université du Québec à Montréal, is working for Lachine borough as a consultant on its tramway proposal. He said tram-trains would fit into the borough's tramway project. The capital-works plan also calls for a $200,000 feasibility study to create a tram-train route along CN's old Doney Spur, which branches off the Montreal-Deux Montagnes commuter train line in St. Laurent and runs west between the Trans-Canada Highway and Hymus Blvd. to Pointe Claire. A tram-train route there would provide a public-transit link between the West Island and St. Laurent's Technoparc, the plan says. It also would relieve passenger traffic at the Montreal Transit Corp.'s bus terminal at the Fairview mall, it says. As well, the MTA plans to spend $400,000 this year to study a rail or tramway link between Central Station downtown and the Lucien L'Allier commuter train station about 600 metres west. One benefit would be that tram-train cars on a future downtown-airport-West Island route could bring commuters to the heart of downtown, sources said. The Montreal/Dorion-Rigaud commuter line currently ends at Lucien L'Allier. lgyulai@thegazette.canwest.com © The Gazette Source: http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=22121773-a347-4d30-bf76-dab586de5c18&k=78674[/i]

c'est le terrain vague à côté des restos qui sera exproprié: on y fera un parc pouvant accueillir les spectacles.

^^ il n'y a pas de rendu, c'est juste indiqué "Canderel" en gros et "à louer".

Le terrain vague coin Bleury et René-Lévesque ferait possiblement place à un hôtel Hampton Inn, selon la Cyberpresse Affaires.

C'était déjà indiqué: CNW Telbec mais bon, puisqu'il le faut: http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/portal/page/portal/accueil/communiques/communiques_ministre

Une invitation a été envoyée par le MTQ et l'AMT aux médias concernant "une importante annonce concernant le transport collectif de la grande région métropolitaine". Cette annonce devait avoir lieu aujourd'hui lundi, mais en raison des chutes de neige, elle a été remise à une date ultérieure. Puisque l'annonce devait avoir lieu à la gare Lucien-Lallier, j'imagine qu'elle concerne le réseau de trains de banlieue. Quelqu'un a le scoop? Voici le texte du communiqué: source: http://communiques.gouv.qc.ca/gouvqc/communiques/GPQF/Decembre2007/16/c3532.html

C'est celui là: http://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/inventaire/fiches/fiche_bat.php?id=0040-12-8750-00&mat=0040-12-8750, où se trouve le Eggspectation

Il semble que la ville va timidement de l'avant avec l'aménagement du "Quartier Concordia". Comme première étape, le réaménagement du square Norman Bethune aura lieu l'été prochain. La statue de Norman Bethune a déjà été enlevée. Le nouveau square sera prêt, si tout va bien, en octobre prochain. Plus d'infos intéressantes à ce sujet sur dans un article de Kilgore Trout/ Christopher DeWolf sur urbanphoto. Statue of Bethune getting new home Rededication next october Square named after him to be reconfigured ALAN HUSTAK The Gazette Monday, December 03, 2007 Place Norman Bethune, the island in the middle of de Maisonneuve Blvd. at Guy St., will be removed to improve traffic circulation at the intersection. The statue of the Canadian surgeon - a hero in China - was taken down for repairs last month. It will be moved to a pocket park to be built on the north side of the street, while the terrace next to the new bicycle path on the south side of the street will be enlarged. The larger-than-life marble monument to Bethune will be rededicated when the reconfigured area is completed next October. A gift from the People's Republic of China, the statue outside the Guy métro station was unveiled 30 years ago. The scruffy square in the Concordia University district that bears Bethune's name will be removed and the new configuration will be landscaped with oriental tree plantings to create a more attractive public space. Bethune was a surgeon at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. Seventy years ago, he went to China to join Mao Zedong's long march. He died of blood poisoning in 1939 while administering to the wounded soldiers of Mao's 8th Route Army. His monument in Montreal is a copy of one that stands outside the International Peace Hospital at Shih-chia-chuang. Known in China as Pai Ch'ui-en, Bethune is revered for his humanitarian work. His name appears in Chairman Mao's Little Red Book as "the ideal communist. We can all learn the spirit of selflessness from him." Even before Bethune went to China, he had an international reputation for his advances in surgical techniques. He had also organized the first mobile blood transfusion units during the Spanish Civil War. He is said to have once performed 115 operations, working 69 hours at a stretch. He is buried in China's mausoleum of martyrs in Shih-chia-chuang. His reputation in Canada was given a boost in the 1970s after Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau established diplomatic relations with China. The statue was first offered to the city in 1971 and a memorial committee was established to accept it. However, many at the time felt it would be politically incorrect to honour a Communist sympathizer on city streets. The statue was carved in Beijing and is the work of four sculptors: Situ Chieh, Hsieh Chie-sheng, We Chang and Tsui Wu-chin. It arrived in Montreal in 1977, and was moved around to several sites before finally being unveiled in its present location in August 1978. ahustak@thegazette.canwest.com

Plus de détails dans la Gazette: In real terms, that will mean lag time between metros will decrease by between 20 and 40 seconds on the Orange and Green Lines during rush hours and by up to two minutes at off-peak times and weekends. On the Blue Line, lag time will decrease by 40 seconds during the morning rush hour and by 55 seconds during the afternoon rush hour. The MTC will also add 40 new buses, mostly in the downtown sector, affecting the No. 18 Beaubien Line, the No. 24 Sherbrooke Line and the No. 121 Sauve/Cote Vertu Line.d

À titre de comparaison, j'ai trouvé ce graphique montrant le nombre de km parcouru par les voitures de métro chaque année entre 1995 et 2002: en 2008, on passe à 76M! C'est tout un bond!

En fait, les métros aux 12 minutes, c'était juste après 23h53 le soir. Fréquence de service du métro, ligne 2 orange Direction Montmorency, lundi au vendredi Il y a un métro à toutes les (intervalles) 05 h 30 10 minutes 06 h 30 8 minutes 06 h 38 7 minutes 06 h 45 6 minutes 07 h 11 5 minutes 07 h 49 4 minutes 08 h 25 3 minutes 09 h 00 4 minutes 09 h 20 5 minutes 09 h 40 7 minutes 14 h 50 6 minutes 15 h 26 5 minutes 15 h 40 4 minutes 16 h 01 3 minutes 17 h 02 4 minutes 17 h 24 5 minutes 17 h 39 6 minutes 18 h 09 7 minutes 18 h 23 8 minutes 19 h 35 9 minutes 22 h 07 10 minutes 23 h 07 11 minutes 23 h 53 12 minutes 00 h 30 Dernier métro Donc ça s'enligne pour qu'il y ait un métro au 4-5 minutes toute la journée, et au 5-6 minutes en soirée jusqu'à 22h, et aux 7-8 minutes par la suite. C'est quand même toute une amélioration!

Excellente nouvelle!!! Fini les métros aux 12 minutes! De bonnes nouvelles pour le transport en commun - La STM dévoile son programme d'amélioration de service MONTREAL, le 29 nov. /CNW Telbec/ - Le président du conseil d'administration, M. Claude Trudel, a annoncé aujourd'hui la mise en place du programme d'amélioration de service de la STM, lequel sera réalisé grâce au soutien du ministère des Transports du Québec et de la Ville de Montréal qui le financent à parts égales. Evalué à près de 300 M$, ce plan quinquennal est en ligne avec la Politique québécoise du transport collectif qui vise à accroître de 16 % l'offre de service pour ainsi augmenter de 8 % l'achalandage d'ici cinq ans. Service dans le métro accru de 26 % Ainsi, à compter du 7 janvier 2008, la STM offrira en moyenne 26 % plus de service qu'en 2006 sur les lignes 1, 2 et 5 du métro et ce, principalement en dehors des heures de pointe. Pour les clients, cette mesure sera vraiment perceptible, puisque le temps d'attente sera réduit et le confort accru. "Cette augmentation est historique, car elle fera passer le nombre de km-voiture à 76 millions, un sommet jamais atteint! En effet, le maximum que la STM a réalisé s'élève à 66 millions de km-voiture et remonte à 1992", a précisé M. Trudel. Il y aura donc plus de service aux extrémités des heures de pointe du matin et de l'après-midi, durant l'heure du midi en semaine, en après-midi le week-end et en soirée tous les jours. Plus de service sur une trentaine de lignes d'autobus La STM renforcera également le service sur une trentaine de lignes d'autobus les plus achalandées, ce qui aura pour effet d'améliorer la rapidité des déplacements et le confort à bord des véhicules. Ces améliorations entreront en vigueur dès le 7 janvier 2008 sur les lignes 18 - Beaubien, 24 - Sherbrooke et 121 - Sauvé/Côte-Vertu. D'autres initiatives incluront l'amélioration de la desserte du centre-ville et de certains secteurs résidentiels, industriels et récréo-touristiques en développement. Des bénéfices concrets pour les clients Rappelons que, déjà en 2007, des mesures concrètes et ponctuelles ont été implantées pour améliorer le service. Parmi celles-ci, mentionnons l'ajout de taxis collectifs à Senneville et à Lachine, la mise en service de la ligne 12 - Ile-des-Soeurs le dimanche, le prolongement des lignes 12 - Ile-des-Soeurs et 168 - Cité du Havre vers la Pointe sud de l'Ile-des-Soeurs. L'ajout de service hors pointe en semaine des Métrobus 194 - Rivière-des-Prairies et Express 470 - Pierrefonds a également été réalisé en octobre dernier et les premiers résultats sont très prometteurs. Signalons enfin que la STM a accru l'offre de service sur la ligne 5 du métro, en mettant à la disposition des voyageurs des trains composés de six voitures en tout temps, et que l'ouverture en avril dernier des trois stations de métro sur le territoire de Laval est un grand succès (près de 50 000 déplacements y sont effectués quotidiennement). Ces initiatives en matière d'amélioration de services permettront de créer de nombreux postes issus de plusieurs corps de métiers. Dès 2008, la STM compte ainsi embaucher environ 25 opérateurs de métro, une trentaine d'employés d'entretien et plus de 150 chauffeurs d'autobus. A la fin du programme en 2012, la STM aura embauché environ 450 chauffeurs supplémentaires ainsi qu'une centaine d'employés d'entretien. "Nous sommes confiants que l'ensemble de ces initiatives permettra à la STM de mieux répondre aux besoins de ses clientèles, notamment sur les plans de la rapidité, de la fréquence et du confort", a conclu M. Trudel. "Nous espérons ainsi créer un engouement sans précédent pour l'utilisation du transport en commun, dont les retombées favorables en matière de développement durable auront aussi un impact positif sur la qualité de vie des citoyens de la grande région de Montréal".

^^ la suite: a good mix by franziska @ 28.11.2007 08:28 CET Even though it seems impossible to do it in a comprehensive way, I still would like to sum up a bit what Montreal was like and to be a bit more detailed about it being an Northern American city with European influence. Of course it was only a very short time I spent in Montreal, but as far as I could see Montreal represents a good mix between French and English, the French "savoir vivre" and the American business, ancient churches and modern skyscrapers, the media (TV, radio) are much more international in the sense of being less focused on their own country only, I thought also that the culture had european remeniscents (importance of art, fashion)... there are so many little things summing up.. Just one more thing: When people sometimes speak of Paris or Milano as THE place to go shopping, my answer from now on will be: Montreal! They have an underground city which is basically a huge area of interconnected shops, restaurants and cinemas. I can tell you, there are thousndands (!) of shops and boutiques. They are very unique (I have seen ANY H+M in the entire city!), lots of them also companies from Quebec and really: there are great places to go shopping! I think I could have bought stuff to fill four entire suitcases. (of course I didn't as I already have too much stuff. :-)) And also for Christmas shopping it would be the perfect place to go. The only problem might be to decide where you wanna go (as there are too many good options) and what you finally wanna buy (as there are too many good items :-)). Probably that is also linked to the fact that I believe on the whole women (and also men I would say) are dressed definitely more fashionable in Montreal than they are here. They seem to care more about their appearance and I'm tempted to claim that you would never find someone with a suit and sport shoes in Montreal. They seem to be too stylish to commit such a "Stilbruch". ;-)

Une pancarte de Canderel "À louer" est apparue sur le terrain de stationnement du Square Phillips. Je suis allé sur leur site web, et voici ce que j'y ai trouvé. À en juger par cette image (agrandie), ça a le potentiel d'être assez haut. 25 étages, peut-être? À titre de comparaison, l'hôtel Square Phillips, situé juste en avant, fait 10 étages. 1201-1215 Place Phillips, situé à deux pas des grands marchands commercial de Ste-Catherine et des bureaux du centre d'affaires de René-Lévesque, est une des derniers sites disponible à Montréal pour construire de nouvel espace de bureau et commercial. Ce développement offrira ses locataires l'opportunité d'être dans un des emplacements le plus stratégique du centre-ville de Montréal qui va assurer la soudure entre l'est et l'ouest et offrira un accès facile au métro et tous les autoroutes majeures, comme la Bonaventure et le 720. Avec le regard vers l'environnementalisme en hausse, le 1201-1215 Place Phillips va inclure des technologies « verts » et vise d'obtenir une certification LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

Je suis d'accord avec Brad-514. Un autre espace vide à cette intersection est inutile. Un édifice "phare", significatif, impressionnant architecturalement serait bien plus approprié. Un principe en urbanisme: trop de "vides" nuisent à l'ambiance urbaine.

^^ Avez-vous remarqué que là où est maintenant le 1200 René-Lévesque (dans le coin inférieur gauche de la photo), on voit un terminus d'autobus? J'ignorais son existence.

^^ Exactement ce que je me disais moi aussi! C'est drôle, les articles américains disaient la même chose quand le dollar canadien était à 0.60$US. Beaucoup de journalistes ne semblent pas comprendre le principe des taux de change...

Oui mais en même temps, c'est normal que la croissance se fasse majoritairement en banlieue: il n'y a pas tant de terrains disponibles pour la construction sur l'île de Montréal. C'est la même chose à Paris: la construction de nouvelles maisons se fait dans des banlieues de plus en plus éloignées. La population ne croît plus dans la ville de Paris. Est-ce que ça signifie que la ville va mal? non. C'est tout simplement le résultat du manque de terrains disponibles.

Chaque couple de ti-vieux qui vendent leur maison sur ma rue se font remplacer par des couples avec enfants. Et allez vous promener sur le Plateau, où j'habitais avant: vous n'aurez jamais vu autant de poussettes au mètre carré! C'est sûr que la proportion de couple avec enfants n'est pas aussi élevée qu'à Ste-Dorothée ou Ste-Catherine, mais attendez 20 ans, ça va faire des Chomedey ou des Longueuil (où les ti-vieux sont de plus en plus majoritaires).

Wow les moteurs. Y'a personne qui a parlé de mettre 1700 personnes dehors. On t'explique simplement que d'un point de vue économique, tout le monde, incluant ceux qui sur la longue liste d'attente des HLM, gagnerait à ce que ces HLM-là ne soient pas en plein centre-ville,

Plus de condos dans un endroit valorisé = plus d'entrée de taxes municipales = plus de budget qui permettent de construire le double de HLM dans un quartier moins "en demande". C'est de la simple logique économique. Me semble que de pouvoir se permettre d'habriter 3400 personnes dans des HML au pied du pont Jacques-Cartier serait mieux que juste 1700 en plein centre-ville, non? Enfin, j'ai sur-simplifié le raisonnement économique, mais la logique reste valable.

Au risque de choquer les bien-pensants, ce n'est pas un droit d'habiter au centre-ville. Tout comme il n'y a pas de HLM sur Summit Circle à Westmount. Je ne comprend pas pourquoi des gens qui ne travaillent pas auraient ce privilège alors que nous ne l'avons pas. C'est sûr qu'idéalement il faut favoriser une mixité sociale, mais tant qu'à privilégier quelqu'un, je donnerais la priorité aux familles dont les parents travaillent au centre-ville. Ça me paraîtrait plus logique que de réserver ces terrains qui valent une fortune à des gens pour qui ça ne changerait probablement rien d'être en banlieue - ou du moins dans des quartiers moins centraux.

j'avais l'impression d'être le seul à penser ça... Tu me rassures!

I like Montreal So I'm back in New York now. But I was in Montreal for the last 6 days! And I had a good time. It was a bit of a nuisance to travel, but also nice to get out of the city. And awesome to discover a new place - love adventuring :-). And the conference went well... So last Friday I went in to work because a colleague from UT was visiting. Was a productive day with research - lots of meetings and maybe a new direction. I really hope we can capitalize on this work before November 15 - our new deadline! But anyway - got a ride back to the city, dropped off money to secure my new place next to Union Square for November, made a few nice phone calls. Then went to dinner at a place my carpool guy (Ramon) had recommended - Florent. Looks like a diner, but had sorta French good. Treated myself to good french onion soup, then a sort of cous cous stew with chicken and sausage and lots of veggies - it was Moroccan, sorta spicy. Different and nice. Then went home and packed. Nice to be in the house alone - of course my roommate and I go out of town on the same weekend so neither of us can enjoy the solitude! Had to get up really early Saturday to get to Penn Station for a 7:45 train. Sorta out of it, but I got a nice bagel :-). Met Mike a bit up the track. I ended up sleeping for a couple of hours - very nice. And then Mike and I got food and spent awhile in the observation car (on the 2nd level!). The scenery was just GORGEOUS - tried to get some pictures, but don't think I did it justice. The fall colors were beautiful, and we went through the Adirondack Park so past some beautiful lakes too. Wow. It was worth it. It was really nice to chat with Mike and catch up - he told me about his engagement. So train ride was supposed to take 10 hours, but it ended up taking more like 11. We were stopped on the border being inspected by Canadian border people for over an hour! They were intense - asking where you were going, for what purpose, what you have in your luggage, and they even were looking under seat cushions. Weird. Oh yeah and throughout the ride this older Lebanese gentleman wanted to talk to us (he said he wanted to talk to the pretty lady). He found out we were Computer Scientists and kept asking us questions about it although he knew very little about the subject. Ugh. But we finally made it and walked to the hotel. So I went out to literally every meal up in Montreal (except breakfast). So this will be the food paragraph - summarizing :-). Had some awesome food. That first night I convinced people to walk to St. Laurant street where there were a ton of restaurants. I got a nice savory crepe stuffed with food of "mer" - seafood stuff. Scallops and shrimp and stuff - and cheese - don't forget the cheese. Sorta heavy but really tasty. Next lunch we went to a close place to get Dim Sum in Chinatown which was next to the conference center. Dim Sum was good (and free - Intel paid), but I am sick of it - the consistency is just...slimy. Things that aren't so good for me and make my stomach gurgle a bit. So don't want it again for awhile... Then for dinner we went to Old Town which was close to the conference place. Old Town street was really cute with lots of art and stone buildings. We went to a slightly fancy place called Pyrennes - so French/Spanish food. Got wine, and very slow service, and small portions for a lot of money - got tasty braised lamb though :-). Love lamb. Next lunch - back to old town - sat outside in a courtyard and it was a beautiful day. Got an awesome green salad, then salmon with pesto sauce and bean sprouts. Yum. Fancy meals... That night we had a reception for the conference, so I basically ate finger foods and vegies they had there. Then I convinced people to walk to St. Denis street - another one with a ton of restaurants. A bunch of us went to a pub (they have good ones here), and got some tasty local beers and a cheese and pear plate - yum :-). So we come to Tuesday. Ate some Mediterranean food - beef and chicken shwarma in the conference center. Really rude waiter. Btw the service in general in Montreal is slow, and you have to ask for the check because they will never bring it! Then for dinner joined a bunch of people for Thai food down the main shopping street (St. Catherine). Had tofu red curry - it was odd, had pumpkin squash in it. OK. Then went out to the British pub street for a beer afterwards - Crescent street :-). Got most of the street recommendations from Ramon who went to undergrad at McGill up there. Beautiful campus, but I'll get to that. Then Wednesday I broke down and though we were at a fancy-ish French place I got pizza. Had to put red flakes on it as Naveen taught me :-). Then that night I sort of invited us out with David Bacon - guy I work with at IBM and program chair for the conference. So he's a big wig. And my advisor was going too. But David is a food snob, so we went to a very fancy French restaurant and spent $50 per person! Got some red wine, of course, and had some good leek soup and duck. The duck was a bit chewy but I like the veggies. The dessert (we got one of those fixed price, including soup and dessert and coffee) was horrible. I think it was supposed to be carrot cake, but it was more like carrot brick with random nuts in it. So yeah - sorta overpriced for the restaurant. Oh well. Ok, last day of the conference - Thursday. Went to a fancy French place for lunch by happenstance, but it was awesome! Also on St. Laurant. Another price fix, but way underpriced. And they even give a complimentary little appetizer and dessert even if you don't order anything. This place was small, but ceremony and plating was everything - very gourmet! Everything was so delicious - small quantities, but that was all you needed. Yum. Had a pumpkin and ginger soup. Then had sea bass special over apple pieces and with a cider sauce - yum. Fun find. Last meal with the gang was back in Old Town - we went to Indian! And nice enough Dave Grove bought the meal for us on IBM's dime! We did family style - got samosas, good local beer. We had 4 dishes (plus naan of course): lamb vindaloo, chicken korma, lamb saagwala (me of course), and chicken tikka masala. Love Indian food - reminds me of Naveen. The tikka masala was awesome, and the saag was good. The vindaloo was HOT!! Like just a little bit burned your mouth. Fun to eat. We had a lot of jokes about the vindaloo - burning one guy's ears :-). Fun group. But for some reason I got made fun of for saying silly things - I really didn't drunk that much I promise! But we had fun and went for another beer afterwards - rounded out the conference nicely! So much for food. The conference was fun. The first 2 days was a specialized conference for just my field - Memory Management. I loved those days - I knew most of the crowd there (pretty small - 60 people?) and it was easy to talk to people. And the work was largely interesting. So fun times. Felt charged again. Sometimes I get down on research, but conference sort of cheer me up - like I do belong here! I know what's going on, I understand the trends, and I can throw around creative ideas with people. Not just in your own little world doing your own research :-). It's fun to go to conferences and hang out with people. Anyway. The actual conference OOPSLA, or ooPSLA as they are calling it now, was less in line with my research, so I didn't go to as many sessions. It's just a really broad conference, and there's lots of industry people and tutorials and other things going on. And boy did they suck with food and refreshments this year! But something fun - ran into a friend who I went to undergrad at UA with, and a lecturer at UA who I worked with when I did undergrad-TAing. Fun to see them again! And saw my groupmate (Mike) give his 2 - yes 2 - research talks there. Sigh. Wish I could get 1 paper in once, somewhere! It was fun to be at the conference, but felt a little sad that I really didn't have my own successful, solid research to talk to people about - to have people come up to me and interested in my stuff. When is it my turn? Why do I feel like I've gotten the short end of the stick for a long time? I hope it works for me, and SOON! But the nice thing about not wanting to go to a lot of the conference is that I had time to exercise everday, and time to walk around the city which was awesome! I used my cute hotel's gym 4 times, snuck into the Hyatt (conference hotel) once morning to swim - yay!, and ran outside with some other students another day. Felt good about all the exercise! And swimming was fun - did I think around 1200 meters in about 38 minutes which I think is good, but it's harder in warm water! That was the day that it rained all day too. The first 2 days (when I was at the conference the whole time), it was warm and beautiful and sunny. Then it rained all day Tuesday and got cold, so the high was in the 50s the rest of the week. But after Tuesday it was sunny at least, and I liked the fall days! So after the conference started, I walked around a different part of town everyday. Tuesday I walked around St. Catherine - the shopping street, and through the really pretty McGill campus. Had lots of fall colors - red, orange, yellow and green leaves. The campus is at the foot of Mont Real - the "mountain" in the middle of town. And some of the buildings are pretty - made of stone with the green patina roofs - sorta castle-like. Neat to blend in too :-). So that was a fun walk. Then Wednesday walked around Old Montreal and the port area. Also nice - some fancy churches and buildings passed. Some pretty parks. That was also where me and some others (I was the slowest and the first to quit running) ran later that day - pretty :-). 50s is good for running! Then Thursday I left after lunch and went to climb Mont Real! I highly recommend that - beautiful walk up the mountain, altho the path is long and winding. Wish I had a bike like a lot of other people. Pretty trees, again, then at the top (after several flights of stairs), there was a lookout area. Beautiful cityscapes! You could see for miles and miles - the downtown area, the river, bridges everything. Of course I took pics :-). Fun times. Liked that walk the best. Walked down through McGill - was a lot faster than taking the winding path because you basically walk down stairs straight down the mountain. Today was my last day. Was sad most of my city-seeing was by myself, though I really enjoyed it. I love exploring a new city, especially when it's fun and easy to walk and it's pretty and good weather. I skipping seeing museums and the like... Prefer to be outside! But yeah, was a little lonely. Although I had fun going out drinking with my work buddies just about every night, I was a bit empty - like no one really asking how my day REALLY was. No one really knowing me... I guess it's par for the course, but it struck me when I was coming home today on the plane and they announced it would be late and we could call quickly to notify people in NYC that no one cared what time I got home... But I made it home ok! Had a lazy day today actually - let myself sleep in until 9, then did free continental breakfast and workout, some email checking. Got out of the room finally, then went out on the town - took the metro to the Olympic Stadium because apparently that's a big landmark there. It was neat, but not much to see. There was a Biodome and Botanical Garden next to the stadium, the their entrance fees were > $10 each and I only had an hour and a half, so I passed. I just strolled around and ate lunch and enjoyed the trees and all. Felt peaceful. Felt nice. I feel very versatile now - am able to be dropped in any major city, find my way around, see things there is to see, use public transport, and enjoy myself. No problem! Even those like Montreal where the main language isn't English! (It's French). So fun... Only Canadian city I still need to see is Toronto I think :-). So, finally got home after an interesting airport trip in Montreal (tried to take the bus, then it sucked so I took a taxi, and slept most of hte ride to the airport). Then my flight was switched when I got to the airport, and it was delayed. But it was all ok. Just wish it wasn't so hard to get to Laguardia! Took a bus into the city, then the subway to get home, then of course had to walk 10 minutes in the rain to actually get home. Was glad to be back, "home" as it were. Familiarity at least, although again feeling a little empty. But hope to sleep well this weekend and have some fun. Hopefully it won't keep raining! Did treat myself to sushi tonight - with a seaweed + edamame salad before which was tasty. Then got a Magnolia Cafe fresh cupcake for dessert - yum :-). Yay accessibility! Well, this is long and I should get some sleep. Hope you all have a fun weekend planned! Later...