Air Canada V British Airways - No Contest

Ukraine

Sat Feb 26th

Of more immediate concern is the news from Ukraine and the Russian invasion (unless you live in Russia where it is not an invasion).  

I've posted a note on Linkedin, where many of my former colleagues keep the message of free and independent media alive. I have had the privilege of working closely with them and meeting many BBC World Service language journalists in their local bureaux, including Moscow.

This is the post.

After 35 years in the BBC, most in the BBC World Service, it is impossible not to be thinking of all the journalists working on the ground, reporting what is going on in Ukraine and Russia, and the dangers they face. For my former colleagues in the BBC, particularly the BBC World Service Ukrainian and Russian services who have family in those countries, it is even more difficult, as some of the reports have highlighted. We enjoy and sometimes forget that we have a free and independent media in most democratic countries, that brings us impartial and objective news, enabling us to make our own judgements about the ‘story’.  In Russia, access to anything but the state output is currently severely restricted on all platforms. We can but hope that the work of the broadcast community is able to represent what is really going on in Europe and around the world, particularly in those countries that do not have local access to free and impartial news.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

In other far less important news ....... in 2020 when our plans to head out to Canada for Nick and Lizzie's wedding were curtailed due to Covid, we rescheduled the BA flights to the following year.  When the wedding of the decade was cancelled for the second time we had a fallout with BA who refused to refund the tickets.  We pointed out that as we were moving to Canada and were unlikely to be making much use of BA and their vouchers in the future and we'd really like our money back.  We also made the point that as they would not guarantee the flights to Vancouver in April 2021 for our scheduled house move and Jack transport in a Covid restricted travel world, a refund was the only option.  It fell on deaf ears.  

We booked and paid (again) for flights with Air Canada.  Several months later, BA's independent appeals process ruled in BA's favour.   We have two BA vouchers we are happy to sell on!!!

Roll on to the latter part of 2021 and an unsolicited note arrived from Air Canada asking if we would like to claim for our disrupted flight refunds.  Wow! 

Our outbound flight last April was switched to a Toronto transfer rather than direct to Vancouver and we could not use the return part even if we wanted to.  Claim submitted.  This week Air Canada sent us a note confirming that we would be receiving just over 50% of our ticket cost, some £1.4k each for the unused return portion.

There is a marketing truism, and I paraphrase, that if you don't get a good good service you tell many more people than if you do. So after forty years of BA loyalty, work and pleasure, Gold and Silver cards at various times and about half a million Air Miles (Avios) in the 'bank', we shall be avoiding Bloody Awful (BA) airways  wherever we can in the future.  They do not get "Customer Service".   What a euphemism that has become for anything but.  

The spray from the waterfall has frozen below the log 

So if you fly to Canada, avoid BA and book Air Canada.  Actually book anybody but British Airways if you plan to fly anywhere.

The last week has got cold again and though we have avoided snow, overnight temperatures have dropped below freezing and been close to zero for much of the day.  

On a number of walks we have found large ice crystals on the ground and the creeks down at Cliff Gilker have frozen around some of the rocks and created iced up logs where the spray has frozen around the running water.  Rather pretty.

Some readers may remember the run-in my offside rear tire had with a 4" bolt back in the middle of last year.  Four new tires and $1200 later I was back on the move.

This was the bolt which buried itself in the tire up to the head.

This week the low inflation warning light came on for the same tire.  Sigh.  I am not sure which is the sublime and which is the ridiculous, but this was the cause of the slow puncture!  Smaller than a fingernail!  But at least only a $40 repair this time.

House hunting continues and we saw a property on Friday we are considering making an offer on and another this Sunday, where we also likely to make an offer.  Crazy market here at the moment with most going 10% plus over asking.  Low supply, urban expatriates and the odd migratory Brits!

Until the rain arrived today the weather has been clear and the sunrises over Howe Sound from Hopkins Landing have been a delight.

Some more images below.

In other news, Bath won today away in Newcastle which is encouraging news given their performance so far this year.  AND England managed to squeeze a win over Wales, though not the most convincing of performances.  I'm still not sure why they keep bringing Ben Youngs on at the end to kick the ball around.  Great that he has a record number of England appearances but probably about 20 too many!

Sun up over Hopkins Landing Wharf

Howe Sound