winnipeg visit

No Air Canada strike, yay! Allison and I are here in Winnipeg (we miss Jodi :( ). Lots of people staying in the Bhigg House...thirteen houseguests at one point! It's been interesting coming down to the kitchen in the morning and meeting new people each time. :) Allison, Paul, Beckett and I are staying in the Music Room. Other people staying here include Nate Buckland, Mark Wise, Bill Rintz, Jeri, Jack, Peggy. Most of the Bhigg house folks are staying in the campground ("country mice"). We opted to be "city mice" (my reason was because I wanted to be able to get enough sleep to be functional when I have to go back to work next week :)).

The Winnipeg Folk Festival is amazing...so many incredible musicians. Saw Sam Baardman perform several times yesterday. In one of his concerts, he sang his song about Dave Clement's guitar being stolen...pretty cool when he got the entire crowd singing along on the chorus.

Weather's been exciting. Poured buckets the first night, sunny and hot yesterday, and then cold enough last night for me to wear four layers of clothing! Really enjoyed hearing Vance Gilbert, The Four Bitchin' Babes, The Ennis Sisters, Sam Baardman, Lucy Kaplansky, Ellen Thorn, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Dee Carstensen, Natalie MacMaster.

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Tuesday, July 6, 1999

air canada strike?

So I've been on the phone for the past half hour, trying to reach a live person at Air Canada to find out whether I will be able to get home from Winnipeg on Monday (as scheduled on my ticket) if a strike happens after I get there. Called the regional office number listed in the phone book to ask for the Customer Relations phone number, was told by recorded Bell message that the number had changed. Called the new number, was told by an Air Canada recorded message that the number had changed. Called the second "new" number, was given a spiel about how Air Canada cared about its customer feedback. THEN was told that they weren't accepting customer feedback by phone anymore, and would I please write by surface mail. (!!!) Grrr.

Called the Arrivals and Departures number and instead of making any choices, waited ("if you don't have a touch tone phone, please wait and an operator will contact you shortly"). And waited. The first time, the phone rang, was transferred, clicked again, and I got a garbled message, then the connection ended. The second time, I got an endless ringing phone. The third time, I got silence.

Still very hot in T.O....maybe the heat has melted the Air Canada phone lines. :\