Is the world spinning or is it just me?
Wal-Mart is open for business 24 hours a day until Christmas. Right here in Dryden! The mind wobbles.
So let's add these up. Tim's, Seven-11, The Husky, and now Wally World are keeping this schedule. It seems insanely 'urban' for this pinprick on the Trans-Canada highway, although I should probably wait for the first armed robbery in the wee small hours of the morning before declaring our dusty little whistlestop yet another in the long line of "Naked Cities with a Million Stories." Come to think of it, I'm not sure we even have a building with over three stories. I am technically allowed to call it a whistlestop because the Christmas...oops Holiday Train does make a stop here once a year and provides we locals with a half hour concert from some up and coming pop rock star. (We got Valdy this year) For practical reasons the concert is kept fairly short as donations to the Food Bank are always encouraged and it only takes so long in our frigid temperatures before the non-perishables become the perished. Apart from this once a year appearance of a human on a train, the railway depot remains vacant and passenger service is now conveniently routed through Sioux Lookout, roughly an hours drive to the North. Freight trains do pass by to the tune of about thirty-five a day. I can attest to this as I lived about fifty yards from the tracks for two and one half years in a shall we say...'experienced' Hotel which shook perilously with each passing and would surely put whitecaps in one's glass of beer.
For those unfamiliar with the layout of Dryden I should point out that the town...oops city (Hee; must be a Fed funding thing) lies hidden away and is accessed at either end by an under or overpass.
There is grave concern over rumours of a by-pass being built and the devastation that would have on the downtown business economy. The downtown businesses are collected in about a one block square area and consist of almost equal numbers of active shops and For Lease signs. In the five years I have lived here I can honestly say I have seen more deer downtown than tourist plates, so I am not sure why all this by-pass fuss. I can see where there might be losses for the retail strip along the Trans-Can, which includes such uniquely Northwestern Ontario businesses as Wal-Mart, The A & W, McDonalds, Tim Hortons, Pizza Hut, Canadian Tire, Robins Donuts, Seven-11 etc...Oh, there are a few car outlets as well and no doubt they are going to miss those Wisconsin people who often stop in on a whim to pick up a new vehicle, munching furiously on donuts, sucking hot coffee and wondering what the hell a litre is. I will say this about the residents however. They have charitable hearts and seem impervious to the cold. And they love fishing.
Back to the spinning world.
I was panhandled the other day and when I asked the person how much they needed, they texted someone for an answer. Is it just me?
I spotted what might be the first 'scraper kid' doing windshields at a stop sign the other day. Brilliant!
I called the local Post Office to enquire about what tapes were allowed on packages and they told me to call some long distance number so quickly that I had to call back three times to get it all jotted down. Speedy service gone wrong.
I tried a new latte at Tims. Ordered the large and it came half full because I didn't want any sugared flavourings or whipped cream or sprinkles. "We have to leave room for those," the weary service representative told me. They are always either trying to kill us or ripping us off, let's face it.
A friend commented that Subway Shops always seem to smell like urine, so she won't eat there. I am now in hot debate myself.
Several people, make that several friends have suggested that I am perhaps a tad cynical.
"Its just because everything is so screwed up!" I retorted, more than a little indignant over the comment. Sheesh!
So let's add these up. Tim's, Seven-11, The Husky, and now Wally World are keeping this schedule. It seems insanely 'urban' for this pinprick on the Trans-Canada highway, although I should probably wait for the first armed robbery in the wee small hours of the morning before declaring our dusty little whistlestop yet another in the long line of "Naked Cities with a Million Stories." Come to think of it, I'm not sure we even have a building with over three stories. I am technically allowed to call it a whistlestop because the Christmas...oops Holiday Train does make a stop here once a year and provides we locals with a half hour concert from some up and coming pop rock star. (We got Valdy this year) For practical reasons the concert is kept fairly short as donations to the Food Bank are always encouraged and it only takes so long in our frigid temperatures before the non-perishables become the perished. Apart from this once a year appearance of a human on a train, the railway depot remains vacant and passenger service is now conveniently routed through Sioux Lookout, roughly an hours drive to the North. Freight trains do pass by to the tune of about thirty-five a day. I can attest to this as I lived about fifty yards from the tracks for two and one half years in a shall we say...'experienced' Hotel which shook perilously with each passing and would surely put whitecaps in one's glass of beer.
For those unfamiliar with the layout of Dryden I should point out that the town...oops city (Hee; must be a Fed funding thing) lies hidden away and is accessed at either end by an under or overpass.
There is grave concern over rumours of a by-pass being built and the devastation that would have on the downtown business economy. The downtown businesses are collected in about a one block square area and consist of almost equal numbers of active shops and For Lease signs. In the five years I have lived here I can honestly say I have seen more deer downtown than tourist plates, so I am not sure why all this by-pass fuss. I can see where there might be losses for the retail strip along the Trans-Can, which includes such uniquely Northwestern Ontario businesses as Wal-Mart, The A & W, McDonalds, Tim Hortons, Pizza Hut, Canadian Tire, Robins Donuts, Seven-11 etc...Oh, there are a few car outlets as well and no doubt they are going to miss those Wisconsin people who often stop in on a whim to pick up a new vehicle, munching furiously on donuts, sucking hot coffee and wondering what the hell a litre is. I will say this about the residents however. They have charitable hearts and seem impervious to the cold. And they love fishing.
Back to the spinning world.
I was panhandled the other day and when I asked the person how much they needed, they texted someone for an answer. Is it just me?
I spotted what might be the first 'scraper kid' doing windshields at a stop sign the other day. Brilliant!
I called the local Post Office to enquire about what tapes were allowed on packages and they told me to call some long distance number so quickly that I had to call back three times to get it all jotted down. Speedy service gone wrong.
I tried a new latte at Tims. Ordered the large and it came half full because I didn't want any sugared flavourings or whipped cream or sprinkles. "We have to leave room for those," the weary service representative told me. They are always either trying to kill us or ripping us off, let's face it.
A friend commented that Subway Shops always seem to smell like urine, so she won't eat there. I am now in hot debate myself.
Several people, make that several friends have suggested that I am perhaps a tad cynical.
"Its just because everything is so screwed up!" I retorted, more than a little indignant over the comment. Sheesh!
posted by Byron | 5:20 AM
1 Comments:
Cynical?? How about highly observant!
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