Ingenious

Everyone drives a big honkin' truck here in Calgary.  Often, as I sit at a red light in my teensy weensy 11-year-old Honda Civic hatchback, I look over and am at eye level with the wheel well of a HUGE truck.  Gas prices?  Who cares!

So it was not really a surprise when I realized that the police here drive unmarked trucks to catch speeders.  Yes, they really do -- not just unmarked cars, big friggin' trucks.  Very smart move.  Saw another guy pulled over this morning on my way to swim.  Calgarians are terrible drivers, by the way.  They may even have Ottawans beat, but the jury's out on that one. 

I think it is because everyone is so young here.  With the average age of a Calgarian 37, everyone speeds and tailgates.  And do they know how to drive in snow?  Absolutely not.  The body shops make a killing every time it snows.  My 23-year-old neighbour just bought a lovely sleek, black Audi; it already has a prang in it.

The weather in Calgary is bizarre.  Chinooks will chase the coldest snowy day away in an hour.  Yesterday it was 13 and you could see grass, today we are back into -10 and more snow.  However, I have learned that you don't buy so much as a petal before the first week of June.  The May 24th planting rule doesn't apply.