Chad's Blog

Point Abino lighthouse

Chad — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 07:39:00 +0000

I took a ton of shots of the lighthouse at Point Abino this past weekend. At times it was lost in a haze. Other times it was bright white on a blue lake.

I want to get one of these printed, but I can’t decide which one.

Parliament Hill and the Rideau Canal

Chad — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:36:00 +0000

After two weeks of awful pollution in Beijing, the blue skies of Ottawa made me very happy. I snapped this shot on my wanderings around town.

Tastes of home

Chad — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 08:52:00 +0000

I should be saying that being with family is reason enough to go home for a visit. Having a family that feeds me steak, crab legs, and Tim Horton’s coffee is enough to seal the deal.

Valery and Joel get married

Chad — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 07:36:00 +0000

Valery and Joel got married under a willow tree on a beautiful summer day in Fort Erie. Awesome.

What could have been the plane ride from hell

Chad — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:17:00 +0000

Finding seventy rambunctious Chinese kids in matching uniforms at the gate for your twelve and a half hour flight seems like a prelude to traveller’s hell. The timing for an upgrade to business class couldn’t have been better.

Thank-you Air Canada check-in counter supervisor! I slept in peace the entire trip.

The Governor General comes to town

Chad — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 06:35:00 +0000

I spent three weeks in Guangzhou helping to prepare for the visit of the Governor General. The staff in Guangzhou did an awesome job.

Pharmacies and deer

Chad — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 14:56:00 +0000

I can only imagine that the deer’s better parts have some perceived pharmaceutical value, but that doesn’t explain to me why many Beijing pharmacies have stuffed deer in their windows.

Dear Leader: Lady’s man

Chad — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:09:00 +0000

I was walking by the North Korean Embassy and stopped to check out the photos that were posted outside. I had seen many of them recently in this collection, while others I hadn’t seen before including these of Dear Leader with the ladies.

Here’s a similar setup from his younger days.

Airport search absurdity

Chad — Thu, 20 May 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Of all the absurd airport search experiences I’ve had, my flight from Christmas Island has by far been the most absurd.

“Sir, please step over here.”

“OK.”

“Sir, you have been randomly selected to have a personal frisk search conducted.”

“How Personal?”

“Sir, do I have your consent to conduct a personal frisk search?”

As I raise my arms and wait for the metal detecting wand, “Yeah, OK. Go ahead.”

“Sir, read this,” pointing toward a sign on the wall with a list of gibberish rules on how searches should be conducted. “Do you understand and agree?”

“Sure.” I start raising my arms again to be searched.

“Sir, please sign this.”

“Huh? OK, this is getting absurd.”

“Sir you must sign this.”

“Why?”

“To give your consent to being searched.”

“I already gave consent.”

“No you didn’t.”

“Yes, I told you that you could search me.”

“That’s not consent.”

“Huh? Sure it is. I’m telling you that you can frisk me.”

“You must sign.”

“Why?”

“Because you were randomly selected to undergo a personal frisk search.”

“There’s a difference between randomly being selected and being arbitrarily selected, but that’s beside the point. What if I don’t want to sign?”

“Then you don’t enter into the sanitized area.”

“I don’t imagine health codes would permit an unsanitary route to the airplane would they?”

“Sir, if you don’t sign the form then you’re refusing consent.”

“OK, but I’d like a copy of the form.”

“You can’t have that.”

“Why not? You want me to sign something, but not have a copy of what I’ve signed. That doesn’t sound right.”

At this point, the supervisor stepped in to say that I could keep a blank copy of the form. I started to run out of energy so I finally signed it.

The security contractor then proceeded to conduct the most awkward frisking I’ve ever had. For someone who is a professional frisker, this guy wasn’t comfortable touching me at all.

What got me going is the fact that every other airport in Asia frisks 100% of passengers incredibly efficiently. In the time that I spent reading search consent wall signs and signing paperwork, he could have searched everyone boarding the plan. In fairness, there were only nine of us on the flight.

The birds of Christmas Island

Chad — Mon, 17 May 2010 06:44:00 +0000

Yes, the sky really was that beautiful blue colour.