# The CanaDoper Café, 2013 edition. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 1, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736 "2013-01-01T03:29:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/361 "2013-02-18T19:30:42Z")
I am a slave to marketing and corporate branding. That is to say: Roll up the Rim is back. I have had maaaaaybe a dozen Tim Horton’s coffees in the past year since I moved to Vancouver. There are better, more convenient coffee places near me, (and small independent ones, so I am actually profiting the people behind the counter) and I have never been a slavish devotee (is the whole what’s-her-name debacle enough in the past so I can use that word?) to Tim’s, but I got the email this morning. Roll up the Rim is back. I drove 6 blocks out of my way (and the six blocks back) to get a damn Tim Horton’s coffee. And now I have to PLEASE PLAY AGAIN! ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/362 "2013-02-18T19:35:55Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’m glad you guys all had a good time. > > You’re a bunch of Canadians - I’m sure you’ve all done some winter driving and can empathize. We drove home from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan to Calgary, Alberta today - about half of the nine and a half hour trip was on roads that were covered in snow, blowing snow, ice, slush, etc. The worst part was passing the semis - they were blowing all kinds of slush out of their wheels, and passing them meant that for about ten seconds, we were driving completely blind in these conditions. “Nerve-wracking” doesn’t even start to describe it. > > [Here’s a good example of what the highways looked like!](http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s142/featherlou/Miscellaneous/securedownload_zps9739d047.jpeg) More than sympathy… if I knew you were driving in that you would have my prayers! Seriously, what **Muffin, Leaffan** et al. said. I grew up in Northern Ontario, and spent more time than I like to think about driving in crap conditions. (Once on no sleep, Winnipeg to Thunder Bay during a dirty old March snowstorm. Stupid, I know, but I am no longer young and foolish.) The drive takes as long as it takes. I phoned at 10am to cancel a shift at 7pm shift because the road from Kapuskasing to Thunder Bay was pretty bad. I ended up making it fine by 3 pm but not having the “gotta get there in time” pressure was a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/363 "2013-02-18T20:26:40Z")
Just finished a delightfully exhausting day of skiing (can’t stop shaking – time for some food and a hot bath). It occured to me that when it is snowing, I ski faster on the cruisers than I cruise on the highway. There’s something inherently right about that – waves of endorphins rather than adrenaline overload. Whoever invented gravity deserves an award. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/364 "2013-02-18T20:37:41Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > [Here’s a good example of what the highways looked like!](http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s142/featherlou/Miscellaneous/securedownload_zps9739d047.jpeg) Nerve-wracking indeed. I’ve had to drive in such conditions before, and I never like it. It’s the very definition of “white-knuckle” driving. Glad to hear you made it safely! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/365 "2013-02-19T00:48:02Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Glad you’re home safe. A week ago I had a five hour trip take ten hours due to a winter storm, so you have my sympathy. > > Seroius suggestion, though: don’t drive blind, even if it means not passing slow moving elephants. Life’s too short – particulary if it is lived out in ten seconds. > [@Leaffan](#): > > Can’t view the photo right now, but glad you made it. As someone who drives a lot you have my sympathies. I am very familiar with the blind passing, and as Muffin suggests just chill and hang back. That’s what I do now. Jim’s response - “My pony’s gotta run!” 😃 More seriously, I hope we never drive in conditions like that again. We like to go to Radium Hot Springs in winter because soaking in the hot pools is so enjoyable in cold weather, but I don’t like winter driving on bad highways. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/366 "2013-02-19T02:47:14Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Whoever invented gravity deserves an award. Hee hee. Just reminded me of a TV program I once saw as a kid where the host actually said that “Sr. Issac Newton _invented_ gravity.” I guess we were all just floating around the planet till then. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/367 "2013-02-19T02:50:44Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’m glad you guys all had a good time. > > You’re a bunch of Canadians - I’m sure you’ve all done some winter driving and can empathize. We drove home from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan to Calgary, Alberta today - about half of the nine and a half hour trip was on roads that were covered in snow, blowing snow, ice, slush, etc. The worst part was passing the semis - they were blowing all kinds of slush out of their wheels, and passing them meant that for about ten seconds, we were driving completely blind in these conditions. “Nerve-wracking” doesn’t even start to describe it. > > [Here’s a good example of what the highways looked like!](http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s142/featherlou/Miscellaneous/securedownload_zps9739d047.jpeg) Well, just viewed the photo and there’s no way in hell I would consider passing under those conditions: get in line and follow the ruts is my philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/368 "2013-02-19T02:54:19Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Hee hee. Just reminded me of a TV program I once saw as a kid where the host actually said that “Sr. Issac Newton _invented_ gravity.” I guess we were all just floating around the planet till then. Well, a really archaic definition for “invent” is “find, discover”. But I doubt that’s what they were going for. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/369 "2013-02-19T03:32:36Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > … I don’t like winter driving on bad highways. Me neither. I wish we had more options here on the Prairies to let professionals handle our travelling in bad weather, but better bus, train, and air service between communities doesn’t seem to be in the cards. > [@Leaffan](#): > > Hee hee. Just reminded me of a TV program I once saw as a kid where the host actually said that “Sr. Issac Newton _invented_ gravity.” I guess we were all just floating around the planet till then. And the Rhino Party wanted to undo all Sir Isaac’s work! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/370 "2013-02-19T03:37:11Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Well, just viewed the photo and there’s no way in hell I would consider passing under those conditions: get in line and follow the ruts is my philosophy. And then there are the days when you get to [make the ruts](http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/7388/img2012121100043.jpg). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/371 "2013-02-19T03:59:16Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > And then there are the days when you get to [make the ruts](http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/7388/img2012121100043.jpg). 😃 Yeah, no thanks. Even with snow tires that kind of drive just sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/372 "2013-02-19T04:02:24Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > And then there are the days when you get to [make the ruts](http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/7388/img2012121100043.jpg). 😃 Holy cats! **Muffin** , you’re driving? Northern Ontario? Not to minimize the challenges of winter driving in northern Ontario (it looks like it has its own unique challenges), but I will say that one of the problems we on the Prairies face is wind-blown snow across the road. There are times when it looks like the road ahead is moving left-to-right, because of snow blowing across it. There are few trees to block the wind; and where there are, the snow builds up into drifts that you may not see until you’re practically upon them. Suddenly, _whomp!_ You’ve hit a drift, and your speed drops by a third. Regardless, even with the solid wall of trees in your photo, **Muffin** , I wouldn’t want to drive the road you photographed. Glad to know that after all your winter driving in northern Ontario, you’re still with us. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/373 "2013-02-19T04:05:03Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Hee hee. Just reminded me of a TV program I once saw as a kid where the host actually said that “Sr. Issac Newton _invented_ gravity.” I guess we were all just floating around the planet till then. > [@hogarth](#): > > Well, a really archaic definition for “invent” is “find, discover”. But I doubt that’s what they were going for. [Sondre Norheim](http://www.sondrenorheim.com/history.htm) invented gravity. [Jackrabbit Johannsen](http://www.cccski.com/About/History/Photos-and-Stories/Jackrabbit-Johannsen-(1).aspx) brought it to North America. Before those guys, it was only dreamed of in [cave drawings](http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://miltonskirideclub.org/images/ancientskier.gif&imgrefurl=http://miltonskirideclub.org/history-of-alpine-skiing/&h=74&w=152&sz=14&tbnid=JGDE-jcPFb3DKM:&tbnh=59&tbnw=121&zoom=1&usg=__PUZwr48owCY-B2IdYHjUluBGqSo=&docid=Guj_GJwqVvouIM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pfYiUYLxFOSzygGBxIHYBA&ved=0CFEQ9QEwCQ&dur=125)about forty-five hundred years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/374 "2013-02-19T04:50:10Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Holy cats! **Muffin** , you’re driving? Northern Ontario? > . . . . > Regardless, even with the solid wall of trees in your photo, **Muffin** , I wouldn’t want to drive the road you photographed. Yes, that was me driving – just before Christmas 2012 (I visit a satellite office every couple of weeks). The drive took an extra couple of hours that time. Last Monday it took an extra five hours. Sometimes I stop along the way due to the weather, either at a motel for the night, or in my vehicle if I’m between towns. I drive a Jeep with snow tires, four wheel drive and traction control, and carry recovery gear sufficient to get me out of the bush and onto plowed roads (burned out my power steering last week making it to a plowed road, crappity crappity crappity), and bring along bedding and clothing sufficient to keep me comfortable indefinitely in the coldest of weather. Aside from moronic truckers who can’t figure out which side of the road they should be driving on, or who cause the Trans-Canada to close because they drive too fast and crash, it’s a nice quiet drive, given that I slow down until driving is comfortable. When it gets deep, I just turn on an MP3 audio book and turtle my way along. In a suitable vehicle, the only difference between a white-knuckle ride and a relaxed ride is the speed at which one travels. The rewards are worth it for me. I get to see some truly beautiful country (e.g. [last week](http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/3975/thunderbayunorganized20.jpg)) , and when the road is closed, if it is daytime, [I go for a ski](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-nqdcBsgB8http://). ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/375 "2013-02-19T05:21:09Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > The rewards are worth it for me. I get to see some truly beautiful country (e.g. [last week](http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/3975/thunderbayunorganized20.jpg)) , and when the road is closed, if it is daytime, [I go for a ski](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-nqdcBsgB8http://). Sounds like you’re well-prepared for any eventuality. Good to hear. It also seems to me that I should make a “business trip” to your location in the winter. I’ve been through northern Ontario many times, as you know, but never in winter. At any rate, hope to catch up with you some summer when I’m passing through. (Yes, I still do think about returning to Ontario from time to time, though not necessarily to Toronto.) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/376 "2013-02-19T05:43:13Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > It also seems to me that I should make a “business trip” to your location in the winter. On a sunny day, it is a [winter wonderland](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxipVxQNV2Y) if you are into cross-country skiing. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/377 "2013-02-19T05:52:28Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > On a sunny day, it is a [winter wonderland](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxipVxQNV2Y) if you are into cross-country skiing. I might have been once–I used to cross-country ski–but nowadays, I’m more into golf, as you may recall. Still, I guess I could get back into shape for x-c skiing. I should ask: any good golf courses up your way? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/378 "2013-02-19T07:10:33Z")
I wouldn’t know a good golf course from a bad one, but there is [a very scenic golf course](http://www.fwcc.ca/upload/images/background1.jpg)a few mesa’s up from my place. I tried golfing for a few years a few decades ago, but I found to too dangerous. Ever hit a birdie or an eagle? I hit a beaver. Coincidentally, the next day a beaver dam on that course broke and cut a path through the highway between Sudbury and Toronto. You know that vein in the middle of a forehead that pulsates when someone morphs into a monster? You’d be amazed at how much it will bleed when popped open by a golf ball. The first time I did this to my dad, it was a tee-off shot that went diagonally into a tree and ricocheted into his forehead. The second time I did this to my dad, it was a tee-off that top-spinned backwards into his forehead. I got pretty good at driving a golf cart into the hospital emergency department (sensor operated automatic double doors are the shiznitz). Not wanting to risk knocking him out again, I haven’t golfed since, and I think the world is a better place for it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/379 "2013-02-19T07:49:13Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I wouldn’t know a good golf course from a bad one, but there is [a very scenic golf course](http://www.fwcc.ca/upload/images/background1.jpg)a few mesa’s up from my place. Looks like a good place to play. At any rate, it would beat our prarie courses. > [@](#): > > I tried golfing for a few years a few decades ago, but I found to too dangerous. Looking forward to playing the course you cited! > [@](#): > > Ever hit a birdie or an eagle? I hit a beaver. I may have hit a beaver. [See this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=658777) Golf is golf. If it’s not your game, then it’s not your game. Regardless, **Muffin** , even though we may do nothing more than have a couple of beers and some sort of meal, I hope to meet you someday when I’m passing through Thunder Bay. I think we’d have a lot to talk about. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736/380 "2013-02-19T14:21:35Z")
The best I can offer would be a tour of the Thunder Bay inner harbour in a forty foot outrigger canoe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2013-edition/645736.md?page=20)