A couple of years ago I realized that I'm "that guy". I'm that guy who asks city workers, and generally people out in the streets doing their job exposed to the public, exactly what it is that they're doing. People in these types of occupations are nice to me for the most and they usually don't mind answering a few dumb questions. Here are a few stories that we've published due to this breed of curiosity that I harbour:
- Painting traffic lines HERE.
- Snowblowing bugs out of trees HERE.
- Bumps in the sidewalk repaired HERE.
- BC Hydro literally has the keys to the city HERE.
- Measuring the City's 138,000 street trees HERE.
- Solar powered garbage compactor maintenance HERE.
Since our NEW OFFICE is downtown my daily commute from the Village on False Creek now starts with a brisk walk to the Main Street/Science World Skytrain station where I ride to the Burrard Station then walk about a block to our building on Thurlow (410-535 Thurlow, Vancouver BC, V6E 3L2 - SEND US MAIL!). It's now been a couple of months and the novelty of riding the train.
27 years ago today the Skytrain launched its first trip from Waterfront station, which you can learn all about in THIS PIECE from today's Vancouver Sun. I figured I'd bring you a different angle, and that is a dumb question I asked of a dude who was recently servicing one of the pay stations at Burrard.
I creeped up on him as he was servicing the machine and asked if it'd be okay if I shot his photo. He asked "It's not going to show up on the internet, is it?" to which I responded, "Yes it is" and he said "Okay".
The next question I asked was how many transfers are on each of the 2 rolls he was filling the machine with, and the answer is 750. My basic math skills tell me that there are 1500 transfers in each of the ticketing stations, which means this guy is likely performing this job at least once a day.
I am "that guy" who asks questions like this, and I will bring you more in the future. Stay tuned!
