Over the River LXXI
December 8, 2023
Highlights and lowlights from my 71st two-wheeled trek to the Great State of New York:
1. Find us in “St. Catherine’s” . . .
2. Serving me at U.S. Customs was the same CBP officer I had last time and the same one I’ve had at least five times before the war. It was no wonder he practically waved me through.
3. More scenes that just scream “Niagara Falls, New York” . . .
4. Greetings from Niagara Falls USA . . .
5. Spotted in the ’hood was an actual Caucasian. He must have been lost or just passing through.
6. The construction on Ferry and Walnut Avenues that has been going on for months is now complete. What were two car lanes with a wide parking lane is now one car lane and one bike lane with the parking lane left intact. Personally, I had no problem with the previous arrangement, as there were rarely any cars parked on either street. This new configuration seriously annoyed a driver who was behind another car waiting for a light at Hyde Park Boulevard. Desperately wanting to make a right turn, he swung around and honked a couple of times to try to get me to move out of the bike lane so he could squeeze by.
7. The Niagara Falls division of the Chinese Communist Party?
8. The Great Pumpkin has arrived on Niagara Falls Boulevard . . .
9. Get your dark meal here . . .
10. Who gets the job of tying the garlic cloves into knots?
11. Sticker spotted on the back of a pickup truck: “Old and in the way.”
12. Apparently there really is a New York State Department of State. It’s probably located in the same building as the Department of Redundancy Department.
13. Five grand for information on this stolen bobcat . . .
14. Inside the Confetti Cottage on Buffalo Avenue where I stopped for a break were ungrounded electrical outlets. ie. knob and tube. I’m surprised an insurance company would even cover them.
15. On display there was a poster with “♥ Ukraine” on it. I’ll go out on a limb and suggest there’s a high probability that the proprietor votes Democrat.
16. No. Too many in my circles have been falling victim to those death shots.
17. Spotted on the sidewalk on Buffalo Avenue was a young woman wearing a bright blue hoodie with blue streaks mixed in her light yellow hair.
18. Good to know . . .
19. A clerk inside the Niagara USA Visitor Center made sure to tell the customer she was serving that she had worked there since last May and loves it.
20. Maybe I need to get my eyes checked, but I didn’t notice any ice or dangerous conditions . . .
21. Approaching the toll booth at the Rainbow Bridge, I spotted a woman walking in the car lanes and stopped to ask if she was looking for the pedestrian crossing. She said she was, so I pointed her to the walkway on the opposite side of the bridge. In her thick Eastern European accent, she thanked me, then asked me what the name of the bridge was so she could punch it up on her phone. Apparently she was following her phone and not her brain.
22. My inspection at Canadian customs ended with the question, “Do you visit the U.S. often?” You could say that.
23. On the GO bus that took me back to St. Catharines, a DWAM who got on at 420 & Stanley was carrying another mask. Just in case. You can never be too careful apparently.
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