Trains and Archives and Patience

I know that the British complain endlessly about their rail system, but any Brit would die if they found themselves on the ambling, stuttering Via Rail. I spent nine hours shuttling between Toronto and Ottawa in the past two days which gave me lots of time to fall in love with the latest Death Cab for Cutie album, watch four previously missed episodes of Six Feet Under, and panic about my Ph.D thesis.

Once I got to Ottawa, I spent a day in the National Archives. It was very cool - going through security, being ushered into a room with huge tables where the boxes containing my research were awaiting, wearing gloves as I sifted through old manuscripts and correspondence. Part of me wishes I had gone into Library and Archival Science - it would be so interesting to sort through literary collections and archive them. But I also know that I don't have even a quarter of the patience required for such a job. Enjoying someone else's hard work will just have to do.