Odds

I consider myself a frequent visitor of Vancouver Island, due to the number of trips I have made across the Georgia Strait. This means that I have been subjected to the services of BC Ferries a lot. Not that I had a choice, because it is the only way to get across from the mainland by car. Sure, there are planes flying in and out of Qualicum Beach but they are rather small and certainly do not have enough room to store all the goodies that I used to bring with me for my family. So BC Ferries it is then, sadly enough. As I call myself an expert in the field of BC Ferries service performance, I have concluded that their service could do with a bit of actualization to bring it into the 21st century. And I am not the only person who is complaining about the crappy way the ferries are run nowadays. But do not despair, as there may be a major improvement on the way I discovered this morning on the Vancouver Sun website, and from an unexpected direction.

'A giant slab of rock sliding in from the Pacific is exerting so much pressure on the west coast of North America it is warping Vancouver Island, tilting it higher and squeezing it a few centimeters eastward every year.'

How is that for good news? I immediately fired up my computer to figure out how long I will have to wait till I can drive from the mainland straight onto Vancouver Island. 

Well, the result is somewhat disappointing, although it may well be competing with BC Ferries as far as the speed of implementing improvements is concerned. Let us assume that the existing ferry-ramp in Courtenay will be used, and that only the body of water between Vancouver Island and Texada Island has to be closed. From there it will only be a 'hop-skip-and-jump' to the main land. I suggest a few bridges, obviously with a large stretch of rubber to accommodate for the movement of the landmasses on either end. Or better still, when Texada Island has joined the mainland at that time there may well be no more need for bridges. Anyway, there are still roughly 20 kilometers to be covered which means that, at the current speed of 2 centimeters per year, I will have to wait 1 million years. A time-span that I would label 'not feasible'. Unless you believe in reincarnation, which I do not. 

Also bear in mind that there is no guarantee that your patience will be rewarded, reincarnation or not. It is the Vancouver Sun that brings 'not so good tidings' at this time of the year, in contrast to what the public expects at this time of the year. From what I gather it is altogether questionable whether there still will be a mainland to travel from. Or an island to travel to for that matter

‘Catastrophic’ earthquake and tsunami brewing off B.C. coast.' 

The odds seem to be favoring BC Ferries after all. Meaning that I will have to grit my teeth and endure the less than adequate BC Ferries service a bit longer...