shapelike

Hah, beat ya. Thanks, teh interweb.

Check out Wordplay as well.

jeremywhitehorn

i feel that. but it's only funny when they're truly bad and hideous to look at. when they start taking it seriously i'm out of there.

my guilty pleasure is still 24.

jeremywhitehorn

Oh man, the Steelworkers' union has got to the messengers!? i used to be a member of that union as a former employee of ACTRA; if the messengers get a deal as good as we had they're laughing.........and not laughing as people hang on to those union jobs until they die.

jeremywhitehorn

it looks as though my work schedule has me busy sat/sun all day (and wednesday nights) but free on fridays. who's all going to CM? or is there perhaps a safety meeting needed?

SamHouston

Naw we're just using their hall for dinner, Toronto messengers are still debating unionization & favour none.

zippered

thanks guys, now i'm gonna have this song stuck in my head all day:

When the Union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun.
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one?
But the Union makes us strong.

somnambulant

Saw it already.

I'm a steelworker now (UofT employee).. we work hard and we play hard.

I_bRAD

I plan on being there.

TRaffic Jammer

Wes....you are a Steelworker, because you work for U of T? I suppose that makes a warped sense, there's bound to be a steel girder or pipe in the building somewhere. Do you get an honorary hardhat when you sign up? I'm all for solidarity so a messing company doesn't over hire. If a union is brought in I hope the faster messengers still make the better buck. I still see messing as a dog eat dog industry, and while the actual riders are usually quite tight with each other, everyone is out for themselves. That and the spandex fetish.

CM could be tempting. A slow sub-arctic CM doesn't appeal. Can't we just rip a CM one month?

Shiznaz

My fingers almost fell off on the way to work today. Riding around at 10km/h for two hours in this doesn't sound fun.

duppy.conqueror

I was just gonna say...CM is a summer evening pace...not a -25 subarctic one...

Shiznaz

We should all get BMXes and do a CM through the PATH system. Thats right, 3 acronyms in one sentence.

TRaffic Jammer

Shizy what kinda gloves do you wear? to the bmx's, jumpin' the stair sets. Damn that would be fun....subway stop run?

Shiznaz

I wear some Spyder freestyle skiing gloves. They're not really all that warm but they are 'moto' style which means they are a nice shape for bike riding. I wear some weird silver glove liners underneath for extra warmth. My thumbs and palms stay warm but my fingers get oh so cold.

Like this but with bloody looking red grip
I should really just get some mitts.

somnambulant

I bought some MEC branded lobster claws a few weeks ago. They're not nearly as comfortable as gloves (at least on my urbanite's bar setup), but DAMN they're warm. I was quite toasty on my way in this morning, other than my cheeks (only exposed skin). I wore leg warmers under my pants. Sweet, sweet leg warmers..

TJ: yeah, all the fulltime admin staff at UofT are Steelworkers. Obviously the union started as a union for well, steel workers, but has since branched out to include other professions.

canice

technically, that's two initialisms and one acronym.

</offhoff>

Shiznaz

Actually the PATH isn't an acronym or initialism or anything at all and I have no idea why its capitalized. I threw it in knowing someone would pull some silly semantic argument.

In fact, the name is insane and makes no sense:
"Each letter in PATH is a different colour, each representing a direction. The P is red and represents south. The orange A directs pedestrians to the west, while the blue T directs them to the north. The H is yellow and points to the east."

How the hell did they come up with that crazy system?

TRaffic Jammer

^^colours and compass points?^^^ Learn something everyday

Steelworker Wes.... it's got a ring to it.

According to Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex with 27 km (16 miles) of shopping arcades. It has 371,600 sq. metres (4 million sq. ft) of retail space. In fact, the retail space connected to PATH rivals the West Edmonton Mall in size.

https://www.toronto.ca/path/

I remeber once going from 121 King (Standard Life) to the Four Seasons? I was with ppl that knew how, but had to return by myself and I got sooo flippin' lost, I HAD to hit the street just to get my bearings. You could make a weird Brothers Grimm interpretive tale in the massive Mall of Forever...

canice

my joke was funny, and then you ruined it!

(i never knew PATH stood for... nothing)

Shiznaz

I had to do a few 'studies' in the PATH when I was at U of T for a marketing geography course. Basically the idea of the PATH is to get you hopelessly lost and then make you buy a Yogen Fruz. Ancillary marketing at its best. Think of it like bacteria living next to deep sea vents.

I work with a few people that can navigate the PATH flawlessly. I'm still pretty bad at it and avoid it when I can. I think they designed the weird navigation system so that it would help you get lost. There were lots of complaints from the individual buildings when they instituted the PATH navigation system because they were concerned people would leave their section too easily and shop elsewhere. So some sections do not in fact have any PATH signage. I guess the ******** system was a comprimise to keep people lost. "OH YEAH! RED P IS SOUTH! IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!"



Edit: https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/americas/6297149.stm

God help us all. Now the US military has functioning rail guns, heat ray guns, laser weapons and artificial black ice. What the hell.

I_bRAD

I had no idea the letters represented directions! I don't really have a problem with going outside though... and I just can't navigate underground. Kinda like how you get turned around in Vancouver 'cause the water is to the North!

They could have called it "NEWS" (Negligible Exposure Walking System?) That would have been a bit more intuitive.

TRaffic Jammer

Cool toys Shizy....we are merely steps away from the Portable Pocket Hole TM ala Bugs Bunny
Black Ice Polymer, spray on grip.... and this is the stuff they tell us about.

iherald

A CM in the "PATH" system would be awesome. You'd likely need a dude on an adult tricycle to ride first and get all the doors open. But, we'd have to play Paper Rock Scissors to decide who is the lucky one to ride the Tricycle. I know everyone would want too.

TRaffic Jammer

the triple stair cases they have to connect elevations would rock so hard.

somnambulant

"But it penetrates the skin only to a tiny depth - enough to cause discomfort but no lasting harm, according to the military."

Tell me that doesn't have "cancer" written all over it.