Browsing Tag

Western University

Dear Greyhound, you have some explaining to do.

In this season’s Cougar Town, Laurie suggests Bobby start a blog. He is unemployed, with plenty of time to goof around, so why not? She tells him how a lot of people just use their blog as a forum to complain about bad service at restaurants. Well my experience with Greyhound last night certainly calls for a rant of my own.

I joined the line of Western students ten minutes prior to the scheduled 8 pm departure. It was busy, but it was Thanksgiving Monday, so that was to be expected. Then fifteen, twenty, thirty minutes went by, without a sign of a bus. There was supposed to be another one arriving to pick us up at 9 pm, but that never came either. If you were Brampton-bound, you could take your pick of GO buses, but us Mustangs had to wait.

Yorkdale’s bus terminal became quite the scene, as irate parents grew concerned about how their kids would safely return to campus. One father gave up, asked for a refund, and felt he had no alternative other than to drive his daughter to school himself. Meanwhile, another father retrieved an armful of forms to distribute to the antsy, frustrated students. “There’s no way they can ignore 30 complaints”, he said.

Inside the terminal, a mother demanded that the Greyhound sales reps contact head office, but still no explanation was offered. She even asked them to call the west coast office, hoping that the time difference would make them easier to reach, but no luck.

Instead of taking any chances on the buses leaving early Tuesday morning, I stuck around and took a 3 hour bus with stops in Guelph and Waterloo. We didn’t make it to London until 1 am.

It’s a shame that Greyhound rarely offers guarantees.

Big Bliss or Big Joke?

Without a computer, I’ve been watching more TV, including shows like TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress. During its commercial breaks, the network enthusiastically promotes their new spin-off featuring plus-sized, full-figured women shopping for bridal gowns.

The Biggest Loser’s executive producers can say all they want about potentially becoming “Weight Watchers for the 21st century”, but the reality is that many viewers sit in front of their TVs and crack cruel jokes about the show’s contestants. As such, I suspect that TLC’s new show will inevitably lead to more unnecessary mocking from their viewers.

Model Crystal Renn argues that “fashion can and should encourage all girls to feel beautiful”. Let’s hope that TLC’s new show will broadcast Kleinfeld’s consultants doing just that.

Happy Homecoming, Mustangs. If you happen to be flipping the channels on Friday, you can tune in to the premiere of TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress: Big Bliss and let me know what you think.

No Apple Care for me. I’m a PC.

School’s back in session, but this blogger’s computer is still in repair!

Here’s what happened in the last few weeks: I turned nineteen, moved back to London, and then downloaded Facebook Mobile, something I said I’d never do. But as someone majoring in media studies and enrolled in a course called ‘The Brief History of Social Networking’, downloading it seemed like the natural thing to do, considering the circumstances. It’ll be the first thing to delete off my phone once I pick up my laptop next week.

Nevertheless, I am still determined to never watch Gossip Girl, no matter how often I overhear my roommate following the lives of Blair and Serena. I’ll admit that I enjoyed reading the series’ prequel, but that’s where I drew the line. I just hope Blake Lively doesn’t lose sight of the genuinely friendly, down-to-earth girl she was when I met her at a movie premiere six years ago.

Despite weekly updates from Rescue Time (which tracks your online habits), my lack of computer access has also emphasized how much time we waste casually browsing the Internet. One minute you’re checking your e-mail, and then suddenly you come across an interesting news article or click a link in someone’s tweet, without acknowledging how time consuming this process becomes. Outside of keeping up with current events courtesy of The Globe and Mail’s mobile app, I’ve also had time to read two fantastic books: plus size model Crystal Renn’s autobiography, Hungry, and The Secret Life of Bees.

I’ve also been listening to new music releases on MuchMusic and MTV and adding to my list of albums and singles to download. You can be sure Brandon Flowers’ Crossfire album is on that list, in addition to Kings of Leon and Goo Goo Dolls. Hopefully they won’t be as disappointing as Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream record. Her latest two singles may be catchy, but the rest of the album was a letdown and not what I was expecting from her follow up to One of the Boys.