A Little Pittsburgh in Montreal

Today, we were walking to the dog park and saw this sign. Yep - it's a Pittsburgh Penguin. Apparently, the Match des Étoiles (NHL All-Star Game) was here last week. The signs have probably been up for quite some time - however, I didn't notice any of them until I passed this one.

Screws!

We're finally back! More entries about the last few weeks are yet to come. For now, we leave you with this photo. You see, my brother had a crazy motorcycle accident in 2005. Apparently, the doctors made a few mistakes. Here, they put in a few too many screws - the bottom of the fibula and tibia were attached, when they should not have been. The screws were removed today and Travis is probably having a steak ... that is how he celebrates the completion of every surgery!

Déneigement, or snow removal in Montreal

Last week, we got a combination of ice and snow, but mostly snow. In total, we got around 30 cm ... everyone keeps assuring us that this is nothing.


At some point after the snowfall, an orange no parking sign appears on your street.


At this point, everyone scrambles to try to move their car to the opposite side of the street. This results in cars parked in every which direction, in snowbanks, etc. One of the most interesting aspects of this part of the process is that people need to work together to get the street clear of cars - pushing out cars that are stuck and making room for others to park. Still, it is very chaotic.


Then a truck with a siren and a guy on a platform comes by. We don't completely understand its purpose yet. However, we suspect that it is (1) sending the last call ... move your car or else; and (2) surveying the street for any potential obstacles.

Then, little snowplows come through and move snow off of the sidewalks and away from the curbs.


Then, bigger snowplows come through and move the snow into a mound which runs down the center of the street.


The world's largest snow blower (as they call it) sucks ups the snow and shoots it into a dump truck.


The dump trucks haul the snow to some central snow dumping location. We saw one in the spring when we visited. We thought it was either a landfill or a large hill with snow on it. It was actually just a big pile of snow - the size of several football fields.


Finally, the salt trucks come through and spread salt over the somewhat snowless streets.


The whole snow removal process is quite fascinating, really. In fact, many have blogged about it (e.g., Chicagoan in Montreal) and others have posted videos on youtube - which have taught us a very important lesson ... if you don't move you car, it will be moved for you via tow truck, or even worse, snowplow.

Half Way to the North Pole

The way back from Boston was a bit rough. You may have seen in the news that the Northeast got hit with an ice storm. Well, we drove through that. Massachusetts - rain. New Hampshire - more rain with sleet, ice, and snow. Vermont - no rain, just sleet, ice and snow. Most of the trip was at 30 to 40 mph. Fortunately, Quebec mandates snow tires by December 15th - so we had them and the scion handled beautifully. The windshield wipers, on the other hand, did not and the windshield spent most of its time covered in ice. We ended up stopping south of Burlington, Vermont around midnight to check into a hotel and get some sleep. Friday was still slow going. We were going slow enough to notice that we passed over the 45th parallel in Vermont. Confirmed by a road sign...


Further confirmed by our GPS...

Rob in Boston

Last week, we were in Boston for the Society for Risk Analysis conference. We drove down Monday night - when it was -9 degrees Fahrenheit. While we were there, we saw several friends - some who we went to grad school with and some who we have worked with in a variety of places. In particular, we got to hang out with Rob a couple of times. Here, we are at Union Oyster House - apparently America's oldest restaurant (established in 1826).


If you happen to bump into this man - please remind him that he owes us a visit in Montreal!