Edmonton bound

This is a story of a travel day gone wrong, and how Air Canada (the corporate entity, not the employees) doesn't care.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012 flying YUL - YYZ - YEG. The YUL - YYZ was where things started to go wrong. We pushed back on time, de-iced and went back to the terminal as YYZ was closed due to fog. Finally left but landed as our YYZ - YEG flight was taking off.

We were standby on the 14:55 Embraer 190. No seats available. The agent says they are overbooked by 5 people.

Mill Street Brewery for a late afternoon meal. Cobblestone Stout very good, close to, but not exactly a Guinness, less after taste, not as heavy, but very good. Kathy tried an Argentinian Cabernet Sauvignon, not bad. I had their California Club, grilled chicken club with avocado and a little BBQ sauce, nice and Kathy liked the fish & chips. Highlight of the day so far.

Next we were standby on the 18:00 Airbus 321. We must have been well down the list as many were called, but not us. We were definitely bumped further down the list  by 2 AC employees who walked up while I was talking to the agent. They managed to get on the flight and not us, we had been at Pearson for 8 hours, in airports for 11. If I had been working, I would have been home by now. As a matter of fact I could have been in Hawaii, and I was only trying to get to Edmonton.

Finally we were standby on the 20:40. We made it! Thanks Judy Air Canada agent, we were worried for a while. We did have boarding passes for the 22:50 flight, arriving in YEG at 01:30, but didn't need these tickets.

The story's not over yet! Pleasant flight, slight turbulence, a little rough on landing. Entertainment system didn't work properly. It crashed several times during the flight. Of course our luggage never made the flight. It was ticketed for 22:50. Reported it and it was delivered to the hotel overnight. At least that's better than out Amsterdam trip, it took 4 days to get our luggage.

So what is the problem? Overbooking? Sure. Surly staff, not this time. The AC staff were great, everyone did their job as well as could be expected. Competition, or lack of it is the only explanation. In most markets AC id's the only game in town, in others Westjet doesn't have enough frequency to be a real threat to AC.

We need more competition in our skies. Between YUL and YTZ the addition of Porter has improved service in all areas, frequency, quality of in-cabin service and price. Porter has managed to get Air Canada's attention in every market they enter. If you don't believe me you haven't flown Porter.

Westjet has shown the same in other routes as well, and the Westjet agents seem to care more. Yes, if I have a choice I would fly either of AC's competitors, happily, willingly. I'm going to start driving to Plattsburgh!

Google Nexus 7

So as you may know I've taken to eReading in a big way. So I purchased the Sony PRS-600. It was a great reader, but I wanted a single device that could be used as an eReader and tablet, so I purchased the Kobo Vox (See an older blog entry on that device). That was great when I got it, but I always found the performance as an eReader very good, but occasionally sluggish. As a tablet, it fell short in the performance department. My latest purchase is the Google Nexus 7, purchased online as there were no local stores that had it in stock, and I tried. It arrived about 3-weeks ago and it is great.

The quad-core processor and 12-core are amazing. If used for reading and web-surfing and email processing the battery lasts about 3-days. I use the Nexus Calendar, People, Aldiko, Chrome, Hotmail and GMail. When I play games (Angry Birds) the power consumption increases so that I have to recharge daily if not more often. Normal business use allows me to recharge every second day at the most.

The unit is thinner, lighter and the screen is superior to the Kobo Vox. I can't compare it to other tablets as I haven't bothered to do a serious comparison, the processor convinced me to just buy the Nexus. The most noticeable difference between the Nexus and the Vox or my Android phone (Acer Liquid) is the speed that it connects to my home wifi network. By the time I power it up and open Chrome, it is connected. Where my other devices had a measurable delay. Jelly Bean is neat with the voice support, similar to Siri. I prefer the Nexus to the iPad as I prefer the format for eReading books. I don't often read magazines, but I do read Laptop Magazine and Wine Access on the Nexus.

I did sell my Kobo Vox ($100) and an HP 110 Netbook ($125) to subsidize the Nexus. So far so good.

A different Japanese restaurant: Big in Japan

A restaurant that serves Japanese comfort food, updated. The soba was excellent and it made an yummy bed under the soft shell crab. That was one of the specials today and it's worth waiting for. Their poutine has mozzarella cheese and scallops with a little curry, very good. The mackarel special was very good too, but quite large and the salmon dish was enjoyed as well. The desserts were very different and delicious as well. The mochi ice cream and the green tea cake were wonderful and enjoyed by all.

Paul McCartney - Kisses on the Bottom

Paul McCartney - Kisses on the Bottom

This is a fun album, brings back memories and will appeal to grand-parents too.

At the 2011 Montreal Jazz Fest I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Diana Krall sing songs from her childhood. Songs that she used to hear at home. Now Sir Paul is doing the same on this album. You almost think that his time as a Beatle was a waste, he could have been a crooner.

Diana Krall, John Pizzarelli, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder and a host of others join Sir Paul singing and playing songs that I heard when I was a kid. This album is a hoot, give it a listen, but be prepared to fly backward in time about 45 or 50 years.

BNO at Ettinger's Deli

Apparently the formatting is screwed up on a Mac on Safari. I don't know if it's Safari or the Mac. If you have a Mac, go buy a PC. Ha Ha!!


A few guys get together several times a year for dinner. This week it was Ettinger's Deli in Lasalle. We've been doing this for a few years now and aside from the good eating, we get together for the laughs, revelations on getting older, we try to keep up-to-date on Dave and Norman's curling exploits and what's going on at Trinity United Church. On this occasion we were missing one regular. Sorry Dave, you missed a good one. The goal is to visit new restaurants (like Ettingers) and old favourites (those that are still around from our youth). There are dietary restrictions and/or preferences to take into consideration, so a deli is never a bad idea. We plan the dates around our schedules (which is a problem during curling season) and meet every 4-6 weeks.

Ettingers Deli is a new restaurant, 2nd generation family in the Montreal restaurant scene. The previous generation (Saul Ettinger) owned Briskets, Il Etait Un Fois and Linguini. With that heritage we had to check it out. 

The decor is subdued, almost dark. It was a quiet night in January, but it was busy enough. One of the co-owners stopped by and he mentioned that Thursday and Friday are much busier, but this is the quiet time of the year.

They have been open for a few months and are concentrating on preparing small quantities of high quality smoked meat. Their deli counter is not yet open and large quantities must be ordered in advance. On one occasion, a customer ordered 10 platters (5 lb. of smoked meat) and wiped them out.

Gary T., Tony, Gary K. and Norman hoisting a few at Ettingers.

Tony's choice, The Classic Luxenburger. Reminds us of Il Etait Un Foi 

I think Tony was impressed. As the web-site says:  In a standalone building in heart of Old Montreal at a time when it was a relative ghost town, Saul pioneered a new phenomenon. When McDonald's was selling burgers for as little as $0.60, Saul decided it was time to introduce Montreal to a gourmet half-pound burger at $5. In those days, the thought of a burger for $5 was ludicrous. Yet, within a short few weeks, Il Etait Un Fois attracted huge line-ups and rave reviews.  


Gary K remembers this as a good date restaurant. I just remember it as one of the best burgers I had ever eaten. We weren't sold on the idea of a basket and paper, but it is a deli and even Gordon Ramsey does that at Laurier BBQ.

Gary K's choice, the platter. Looks like Gary's wall of condiments protects his smoked meat from Tony's burger.  He also had a starter of Gravlox. 

 To which one of the guys asked, "What's a gravlox?" (Swedish style, cured salmon) Gary ordered a platter with no fries. This is 1/2 pound of the "fat" cut. The smoked meat is made by Ettingers following the Brisket's recipe. Again from the web-site: Brisket's smoked meat was not only homemade, but it was NEVER pumped. What does this mean you ask? Most smoked meat in Montreal and elsewhere was and still is prepared with briskets that are pumped with phosphates and a preponderance of nitrates and sodium. ... Briskets' smoked meat was made with UNpumped briskets using a tightly-held secret recipe. They were dry-cured the truly old-fashioned way over a period of 2 to 3 weeks producing superior smoked meat. This tradition continues at Ettingers and results in mouth watering smoked meat.

Norman and I both had the Reuben.

Norman had a starter of light battered, calamari with a spicy sauce for dipping. Thanks for sharing! I had a side of onion rings, I had to taste the Guinness beer batter. Both the calamari and rings were fantastic, worth going back for. I've had Reuben sandwiches in almost every deli in Montreal and this is the best. In some places they add another slice of bread between the meat and the sauerkraut, who needs the extra slice of rye. Norman and I both thought this sandwich was great. 

Here's a picture from Gary's side of the table.

I didn't get a picture of Gary T's smoked meat sandwich (Saul's Original Home Made Smoked Meat Sandwich), but it looked every bit as good. I'll let Gary post a picture and comment, maybe he's already done that in Facebook. 

This is one place we will return to:

• Better than Lesters (we all agreed on this one)
• Closer (geographically) than Smoked Meat Pete's, better decor. I wouldn't be shy to take a date here.
• Better than Jarry Smoked Meat (comment from Gary T needed here)
• Better than Dunn's
• Better than Chenoy's (but they've really been terrible for a while)
• Service was better than all of the above places and so was the decor. A slightly upscale deli is the way I'd describe it.

I'd ask Tony to comment on his burger, but I'm not sure he w/could.

I forgot to mention that there were plenty of TVs around so that you can watch your favourite sporting event or Food Channel show. Whatever Food Channel show was on had Paris as a backdrop, so that held my attention. Of course the sports stations had continuous Cammalleri video clips as he had just been traded back to Calgary. I liked him and hope he has a better end of the season than his beginning.

Guys, it's your turn to wade in and let me know how you feel.

Web site:  http://www.ettingers.ca/en/index.php 

Next BNO is scheduled for Leap Day, the venue is Restaurant Jane in Little Burgundy.