Our long provincial nightmare is over

Q Tell me about the new customer service ambassadors on every train.
A We’ve decided we need someone who is the voice of the customer on the train. They’ve been trained using the WestJet model, which is really a lot of voice inflection, personalizing the service, tracking the frequency of announcement if there is any delay.

What glorious news! Switches may freeze, heaters may break, trains may face delays of an hour or more — but there’s voice inflection.

Semantics is my middle name IV: A new hope

The inauguration will take place on January 20th, 2009 in Washington D.C. on the steps of the United States Capitol. President-Elect Obama will take the oath of office, which states the following:

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Vice-President Elect Biden will have already taken a similar oath.

Indulge me while I spent the next 20 seconds naively believing that a capital letter-infused entry on my unknown blog made the difference.

And now, back to reality.

Semantics is my middle name III: The Search for Spock

ARGH.

SERIOUSLY.

The inauguration will take place on January 20th, 2009 in Washington D.C. on the steps of the United States Capitol. President-Elect Obama will take the oath of office, which states the following:

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Following this, the Vice-President Elect Biden will take a similar oath.

THE VICE-PRESIDENT IS SWORN IN FIRST. ALWAYS. LOOK IT UP.

</head explode>

I can’t believe I even have to say this, but…

He is not President Obama yet.

He will not be President Obama until noon on Jan. 20, 2009.

That is 75 days from now.

He will become President Obama during a massive ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Trust me, you will know when it happens.

There is even a case to be made for the notion that he won’t even be president-elect Obama until the electoral college meets on Jan. 9, 2009.

Thank you.

(This post is brought to you by, among other things, the numerous Twitter users who started talking about “President Obama” as soon as CNN called the election and Jon Stewart’s erroneous declaration that Barack Obama was already president of the United States. “Semantics” is my middle name.)

Where was this last year?

blogTO’s list of the best non-Greek restaurants on the Danforth is worth reading.