Over the River CIV
February 28, 2026
Highlights and lowlights from my 104th two-wheeled trek to the Great State of New York:
1. Amazingly, of the two Niagara Transit buses I took en route, neither driver was blasting loud music. That shouldn’t be a noteworthy item.
2. At the Morrison & Dorchester hub, the driverette of the #110 bus kept shouting at her colleague who was driving the #115, “Eddie, do it again!”
3. Upon my arrival at U.S. Customs, the CBP officer asked, “What’s the plaaaan?” Then he asked which bridge I’d be coming back on.
4. Beware of steel plates . . .
5. A little deferred maintenance on Buffalo Avenue . . .
6. While at Panera Bread, I listened as a couple of Canadian families were talking to each other. One guy was a real estate agent named Todd who was wearing a Royal LePage jacket. “We had one of our best years last year,” he said. He went on to say that he sold a house for $780,000 in a tough market. An older woman from the other group said she was going to Walmart, but “doesn’t trust those cards.” Then she began praising Trump and blasting Liberal voters. “It’s all the seniors,” she said. “Their houses are paid for, they’ve got their pensions, they’re brainwashed.”
7. As all this was going on, an older guy wearing a gray Sabres hoodie went up to fetch some stir sticks for his coffee, making sure to lick his fingers before opening up the plastic wrap on a package of three. He took one and left the other two for unsuspecting customers.
8. No, this isn’t salt, it’s rice . . .
9. Nearby, I found a Canadian quarter on the ground.
10. New signage at Southern Ontario’s favorite Walmart . . .
11. Since my last visit to the fashion outlet mall, more stores have bit the dust, including Saks and an ice cream place in the food court. In addition, Mountain Warehouse was having a closing-out sale. One can only wonder how much longer that mall is going to be around.
12. On the sidewalk on Niagara Falls Boulevard near I-190 was an older guy pushing a two-wheeled cart and wearing a dipshit mask. Outside. There’s no way to sugarcoat this anymore.
13. Large sections of the welcome center at the state park were blocked off as work was being done. This is practically a brand-new building. What could they possibly be doing?
14. While waiting in line to get back into Ostdeutschland Canada, I couldn’t help but notice the cameras pointing at each lane. They each had a sticker featuring Old Glory and “Made in the USA.” Elbows up, indeed.
15. An interesting sighting across the street from the Niagara Falls (Canada) Bus Terminal. I’d more have expected to see such a thing at a Davinder Tim Hortons.
16. Inside the bus terminal was an Asian DWAM™ going to the washroom. And his dipshit mask wasn’t even covering his nose. See above point regarding sugarcoating.
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