It was such a short, tiring trip that I didn’t even post my “Hello from X”-style post. I flew into Toronto late on Tuesday this week and took the short taxi ride to Brampton, which is one of the three municipalities in Peel Region (Mississauga and Caledon being the others). I was there to facilitate a two-day system architecture review workshop in advance of a pilot project to implement Cityworks. I didn’t get into my hotel room until 9:45, so skipped supper in favour of ironing my dress shirts and reviewing the information which had been sent to me while I was in the air.
The workshop went very well, and wrapped up just before lunch on the second day. We found a few issues to make recommendations on, but their knowledge and practices were quite good. We met at the annex building next to City Hall. It was an interesting building and obviously new and built to be growing space for the future.
The downtown area of Brampton is pretty nice and seems bustling.
My hotel was about six kilometers away, much closer to the major highways cutting through the area. It was not a nice area. I went for a walk after the first day and didn’t feel safe even though the sun was shining. Lots of low-rent businesses like payday loans and pawn brokers (along with high-end car dealerships, go figure.
Since we were finished early, I got dropped at the airport by Mahfuz around quarter to two with hopes that I might rearrange my flight home. No such luck: the afternoon flights to Calgary were full. So I spent a couple of hours in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel working on the documentation before checking my suitcase and going through security. I filled the next few hours with a mix of reading, programming and walking. I walked Terminal 3 from end to end almost three times.
The flight home was uneventful, but sweaty. The AC wasn’t working fully, I think. Tammy and the kids picked me up a little after 10 pm and we drove home. There was an impressive line of thunderstorms to the north, flashing lightning. I’m glad it wasn’t right over the airport, or my flight might have been delayed or diverted.
I’m taking most of today off because with the extra work in the evenings and travel time I’m already at 40 hours for the week. Next week I will work to get the draft document done for Brampton, and then it’s time for vacation!
