hexstatik

we have been avoiding trips to the grocery store for weeks now, which has resulted in far too many trips to local restaurants and lackluster lunches at work. so, after a recommendation from a friend, crystal and i decided to sign up for home delivery of organic fruits, veggies and other organic foods from green earth organics.  every week, they create a basket of fruits and vegetables, choosing local produce whenever possible. clients then have a chance to customize their box (individual, regular or family) by substituting up to 4 items before their order is delivered on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

we received our first order last night and so far have been extremely impressed. the delivery was on time, without hassle and the quality of the produce has been excellent. i also really enjoy the fact that we don’t pick what goes into our box and that the resulting variety can bring a new surprise and challenge every week.

with our continued commitment to reducing our impact on the environment, eating organic, having a delivery service come to us (and others on the route), and not a single shred of plastic in our order is a great way to do this. it also means that we have more free time to hit up the local stores by foot for the rest of our grocery order, which is great for local merchants and stimulates the economy in our neighbourhood.

so, apparently i was justified in calling skycops ‘trigger-happy-taser-toting’ shmucks. through access to information laws, the CBC has learned that skycops have fired their tasers 10 times since January of last year, for as little as fare evasion. fare evasion folks. $2.50 gets you fucking tasered? i’d sue the bastards if i got tasered for under $3.

according to translink policy, skyshmucks (my new word for skycops) are only supposed to deploy their tasers when

the situation demands control over a non-compliant, suicidal, potentially violent, or violent individual and lower force options were ineffective

then again, we all know how “fantastic” translink policies are.

Update: corrected “January this year” to “January last year”.

crystallitis has the details!

first and foremost, let me start off by saying that i did in fact pay for today’s trip on the sky train. thank very much.

there i was at the front of the train, on the phone with crystal, who was at the back. we were both taking a series of photos for a time lapse video project we were working on. having almost reached the end of the line, we were trying to coordinate out next move - get off now and go home, or go around again and do it reverse.

suddenly, i saw a blue jacket walking on the platform looking into the train. he spotted me and stepped onto the train while talking on his radio “hold the westbound at commercial”.

“what are you doing?”, he asked.

“just taking some photos”, i replied.

“do you have a permit for that?”, he asked

“why do i need a permit?” i hung up the phone on crystal. (read here for crystal’s story from the front of the train.)

he informed me, “you need to have a permit. you’re going to have to leave.”

“sure, ok. just let me get my stuff.” just then the doors closed on the attendant and the train started to move, so i let my camera finish the series of shots between commercial station and the last stop on the line, VCC-Clark.

during the short trip to VCC-Clark, the gentleman was getting more and more flustered with me, as was i with him. i asked him what rule i had broken, and to produce proof that i was in fact doing something against the “rules”. he then replied it was posted on the “translink website”.

“really? so you just post all of your ‘rules’ on the website where people can see them?”

“do you want to speak to the police, sir?”

by now, i had started to get my bag ready while the attendant began to speak into his radio and turned to the front of the train where he suddenly spotted crystal and her set up. he immediately turned to me and asked ,

“you have another one set up there?”

“no, that’s my partner.”

“do you have any ID on you?”

“for what? no!”

it was definitely time to go.

i tried to call crystal, but my phone was taking too long. i shoved the phone in my pocket, unplugged my gear, packed my laptop and grabbed my camera on it’s tripod and headed to the back of the train to get crystal. luckily, during my initial phone call, crystal heard the attendant ask “… you have a permit?” and was on high alert. as i was approaching the rear, i called out for her to “grab your stuff. we have to leave.” she was off the train before i arrived.

as she tried to leave the station, the attendant told her;

“you’re going to have to wait here.”

“don’t stop, keep going” i yelled out.

as we were briskly descending the stairs, i glanced back to see if he was following us. he was standing at the top of the stairs ,still talking into his radio. the look of disbelief on his face was priceless.

photo by freedryk

today, i executed a great escape in a tunnel below the streets of vancouver. on my way home tonight, as i walked toward my skytrain platform, i spotted two skycops. luckily for me, they were busy with a street person, so they didn’t see me head for the stairs down to other platform in an (obvious) attempt to avoid them.

i went downstairs to nervously wait on the platform for the train while keeping an eye open for the skycops and being watched on the security cameras. i was going to get onto the train and head in the wrong direction to get out of dodge, but i was already nervous enough and didn’t want to spend one more moment in the fare paid zone than was necessary.

i decided instead to try to blend in with the riders coming off the train and head for the exit. this way, i could head up the stairs to see what the situation was and simply make a clean exit if necessary, or, if the coast was clear, i could wait for the next train heading my way. when i arrived to the upper platform level, there wasn’t a skycop in sight. sweet! i had just totally avoided getting a $173 fine and headed for the platform to wait for my train.

a few short moments later, the train arrived and i boarded. the train was the new type, where the cars are connected in groups of two and you can walk from one car to another, with a total of 6 doors. i decided to head to the rear of the last of the two cars, just as the two sky cops hopped on from out of nowhere.

fr@ck!

i was just about to get busted. luckily, as i was walking to the rear and approaching another door, i heard the chime on the overhead speakers indicating that the doors were about to close. at the very last second, i darted through closing doors and onto the platform. as i looked back to see if the doors would jam because of a hand or foot, i saw the sky cop on the train, pointing at me with a smile on his face. i returned his smile with one of my own, turned my back and headed out of the station.