Over the River CV
March 31, 2026
Highlights and lowlights from my 105th two-wheeled trek to the Great State of New York:
1. According to the display inside the inbound #308 bus, the forecast for Wednesday was “overcast clouds.” As opposed to sunny clouds?
2. My Falls-bound trek via Niagara Transit proved to be another unwanted adventure. First, there was the extra ride on the #308 to get downtown because the regional routes no longer serve Fairview Mall. Next, rather than take the #45X or #55X, both of which, by design, would cause me to just miss a connecting #110 bus at Morrison & Dorchester, I took the #45B to Niagara College, where I caught a #45A which took me to Morrison & Dorchester. That’s three buses where I used to need only one. Thanks again, Niagara Transit, for “simplifying my ride.”
3. Two of the four Niagara Transit drivers I had were again blasting loud music. Having repeatedly complained about this issue before, I fired off a much more strongly worded message to them upon my return home. Either deal with the problem or just take the message down from the website where they ask passengers to refrain from playing loud music and instead state that it’s perfectly acceptable is pretty much what I said. That in addition to the fact that drivers playing music has never been a problem with any of the other transit systems I’ve used over the years.
4. On the #45A, where the driver was playing some local radio station, the male DJ said, “There’s nothing worse than a middle-aged man carrying a backpack.” His female colleague, however, begged to differ. “That’s a guy who’s got his stuff together,” she said.
5. Perhaps I’ve just never noticed it before, but on the more modern fare boxes, the message “Fare Satisfied” comes up when you swipe a valid transfer through the reader.
6. Having got through U.S. Customs quickly, I was able to catch the #77 Buffalo-bound express bus, which stunk of weed.
7. Disembarking at Black Rock-Riverside was a black DWAM™. I would later spot two more walking downtown. Outside. Sadly, they’re still around.
8. The Glee Building in downtown Buffalo . . .
9. New signage inside the Metropolitan Transportation Center:
10. In spite of the signage, there was a morbidly obese dude with an oxygen tube stuck in his nose stress-testing one of the benches. He was obviously not a passenger as he was still there when I returned to catch the #40 bus back to Niagara Falls.
11. I don’t know why, but I nearly laughed out loud when I overheard a black woman pushing a walker on the sidewalk by Fireman’s Park who exclaimed, “Ah cain’t walk!”
12. When I saw this “Control the Narrative” caption, my first thought was that it had something to do with the government . . .
13. Scenes at the new DL&W Station, which is now the Metro Rail’s southern terminus:
14. So it’s OK to operate unsafely if there’s no sign?
15. This probably used to be known as the Eskimo Terminal . . .
16. While I was stopped at a light on South Park Avenue, a black guy seated on his walker at the bus stop asked me, “What’s with the band, man?” I explained that I always put a rubber band around my lower right leg when out cycling because my pants would sometimes catch on the chain and crank. In fact, I had chewed up a pair of pants many years ago. “Makes sense,” he said. “Thanks, man.”
17. You’d think with such a name, it would be a German, not an Irish tavern . . .
18. At Undergrounds Coffee House in the Old First Ward, I noticed this sign plastered on each table. This in a place where the background music was not loud, but still, being played at an annoyingly high volume. In other words, do as we say, not as we do. Just like Niagara Transit.
19. Stairs with drawer handles . . .
20. Seated at a nearby table was a guy who looked to be in his early 60s and was having difficulty walking up and down those stairs. “Oh to be young again,” he said. He proceeded to leave his bag on the table, then went down the hall to collect his coffee and a stack of napkins. And his stuff was still there when he got back. This is not Winnipeg. But I digress. After digging a stack of papers out of his bag, he asked me if I was on a motorbike or a regular bicycle. Of course, I answered the latter, then he asked me where I was from and amazingly, he seemed to know where St. Catharines was. Following this exchange, he got up to leave again and, one more time, left all his stuff behind and came back with a cup of water and a smelly breakfast sandwich, which must have set him back quite a bit. For the second time, his stuff was there when he got back.
21. “Tennants” & tagholders only . . .
22. Good to know . . .
23. Funny, but I’ve never associated gayness with friendliness . . .
24. Leftover sign from a protest at Niagara Square . . .
25. A four-legged Erie County Sheriff’s deputy on patrol . . .
26. Also spotted at Niagara Square. People like this probably would have been equally sympathetic to “heroic” Germany during the previous war.
27. Those who produce signs like these are often the ones who need them the most . . .
28. Oy. I’m sorry for the people there, but why is Ukraine still a thing?
29. Parking fail . . .
30. OK, it’s time to take signs like these down . . .
31. Make America Great Again . . .
32. Inside the washroom at the MTC was a black guy standing in front of the mirror putting drops in one of his eyes.
33. Seated just outside the washroom was an older black woman with a dipshit mask hanging from her chin and toting a purple bag with the message, “Harm reduction saves lives” on it. I wondered what the over-under was on the number of shots she had taken.
34. Waiting for the #1 bus was an older black guy passing the time by doing a sketch of what looked to be E.T. Don’t quit your day job, I thought. If you have one. When he got up, he let loose with a series of deep, hacking coughs that suggested he wasn’t long for this world.
35. Making her way to the same bus was a fat black woman pushing a walker she had put so much stress on that one of the rear wheels was bent.
36. It’s been a long time since the Sabres have been a thing in Buffalo . . .
37. Weaving his way through traffic on Ellicott Street was a black dude on a minibike.
38. Seated across from me on the #40 bus was a guy who was telling the driver that he had just been hired by NFTA, but he wouldn’t be starting until June because they’re not having another set of classes before then. In the meantime, they gave him a book to study for his commercial driver’s license. He went on to say that some of the other applicants couldn’t pass the drug test. “My mom would be upset with me if I had any drugs in my system,” he said.
39. Disembarking on Buffalo Avenue was a guy who wanted to catch the #50 across the street, so the driver honked at her colleague, who stopped and waited for the guy. See, Niagara Transit, that’s the way it’s supposed to work.
40. On the way to Checkpoint Charlie the Rainbow Bridge, I was following a car with PA plates with a license plate cover bearing the slogan, “Proud to be a Sikh.” Funny, it didn’t look like a cab.
41. The GO bus driver that took me back to St. Catharines had flashy blue ornaments weaved into his dreadlocks.
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