A couple of posts back I alluded to an amazing adventure that
Donald and I had in Victoria, which I will explain in 11 simple steps.
1) The night I arrive in Victoria, the cab driver taking
Mrs L and I to our hotel gives us some restaurant recommendations and then lets me know that the cost of a cab ride from our hotel to the University is between $15-$17.
2) The next morning, Donald and I call a taxi from the hotel to take us to the University of Victoria for
Victoria Code Camp.
3) Japan Taxi arrives soon afterwards.
4) Donald and I enjoy the ride, chatting about a variety of different topics. At one point, I look over at the meter to note that the price of our ride is $45 thus far, slightly more expensive than the $15-$17 I was quoted last night.
5) 5 minutes later, we are still not at the University of Victoria, but we have *just* passed a sign reading something like:
6) Donald, also noticing the sign, looks over at me with an expression similar to this:
7) I say to the cab driver, "Hey, we don't know our way around Victoria that well, but we are going to U Vic, right?"
8) The cab driver whirls around with an expression similar to this:
9) "Uhm...NO!?! That's where you guys needed to go?"
10) "Yeah. So, uh...where *are* we headed right now?"
11) "To the
*AIRPORT*!! And we're almost there!!!"
Fortunately, this story had a happy ending that did not involve my having to pay $300 for a cab ride all over British Columbia, and we arrived at Vic Code Camp safe and *almost* on time. Thanks to Japan Taxi for being such a gracious driver!
A lot of time could have been saved if
a) Donald or I actually knew our way around Victoria
b) Donald or I checked with the cab driver to ensure where we were going earlier on
c) The cab driver checked with us before taking off to the airport
The lesson:
it's always good to have your destination clear at the outset before you start on the journey, and I don't mean just geographically.
I didn't share this story with you because I just felt like posting some inane missive - I do enough of that already! No, dear reader, we're going somewhere with this; you'll see where in the next post. And after that post, not only will you know where *I'm* going with this, but you might even know where
*you're* going with this...