I decided today to make one of my semi-regular trips into Toronto not realizing this was going to be the coldest day of winter. Not wearing a fleece. Not wearing a scarf. Not wearing gloves.
I arrived at Union Station around 11am and for some God-unknown reason decided to “hoof it” on the underground PATH walkway system rather than take the subway - which would have gotten me to my destination in about five minutes for $2.75. And trust me. Given the temperature above-ground today, I would have gladly paid $2.75. I’m staring at the PDF of the PATH map (that in hindsight I should have printed) and knowing where I “came up” I can’t help but point and laugh. I really really really “made a wrong turn at Albuquerque” and ended up at the Toronto Hilton instead of the Eaton’s Center. Those of you who live in Toronto or know Toronto can point and laugh now. Or if you don’t, you can download the map and laugh instead. And yes… I’ve saved a copy of the map to my hard drive for future reference.
So I “surfaced” at the Toronto Hilton and looked for the front desk. I figured a front desk clerk at a Hilton would be - at the very least - skilled in giving directions. After she finished laughing… she basically told me that I’d screwed up any hope of getting to my destination in less than an hour on the PATH system because of the amount of backtracking I’d have to do. “An above-ground route is your only real choice”, she explained. Yeah, an five-block above-ground route in weather that “felt like” -25C (-13F) with the windchill, accompanied by 16 mph winds. When that’s blowing in your face, that’s cold. Especially when your scarf is hanging on the doorknob of your office at home and your gloves are on a desk.
So anyway. I got where I needed to go, saw everything I needed to see, and decided “this time” I was going to do “the smart thing” and go back “the sane way”, but not before having lunch and visiting the Apple Store in the Eaton’s Center. BAD MOVE. To make a long story short, I saw some speakers I absolutely must have. I wasn’t even looking at speakers. I had a set of Bose OE headphones on listening to a Nano when I felt the ground shake. I’m not kidding. The kiosk I was leaning against started to physically move. I took the headphones off and a couple of fellows visiting from an Eastern European country were test-driving the Bose Companion 3 speakers that were hooked up to a Mac Pro. I could not believe my ears. These things were putting out volume that would rattle your brain and it was crystal clear. After they left I went over and started fiddling with them. I zero’ed the “bass compensator” on the back of the subwoofer - which only made it better - and applied conservative EQ. I was blown away. Then I reached for the little plastic thingy with the price printed on it and just about had a heart attack. They ain’t cheap. But the good stuff never is. One of the salespeople (who was very nice) encouraged me to go to the other side of the store and sample the (even more powerful) Bose Companion 5 set but they were hooked up to the Final Cut Pro demo machine and it was tied up. Good thing, because they were $200 more.
Then it turned out I had the commuter train schedule that was in my head “all wrong”. I ended up staying at Union Station for another hour waiting for the train that I thought I was just “on time” for and ended up on the “cattle train” that was packed to the walls with people. But… at least it was warm.
I think I’m going back Saturday or Monday.
You may begin the verbal abuse now.
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