So it’s been an intense week of blogging and writing, two posts I’m proud of and an op-ed I’m even more pleased with. Good times! On the lighter side, I’m just finishing up two days in Atlanta that started badly but have become really enjoyable.

The bad was the taxi ride in. After asking the driver if I could pay with a Visa before getting in the taxi he then said (mid-trip!) I was supposed to have done all this special stuff at the airport (something the hotel concierge said sounded fishy). I’m so tired of American cities where taxis don’t take Visa… Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, even Montreal most of the time, take Visa no problem. What is up with that? (Other than the obvious tax evasion that dealing only in cash allows you to engage in).

The ugly of Atlanta is the traffic. If ever there was a case for more robust public transit, Atlanta has to be the definitive case study. It is gridlock in the town… incredible.

The good is pretty much everything else during this trip. The crew I’m working with are nice fun guys. I’m at the “W” hotel where the staff (right down to the repair men) are the nicest I’ve ever met (and the most fun). The client took me out to see the Thrashers play the Penguins (that’s a hockey game for non-canadian readers) and I got to see Sid the Kid score from about 30 feet away. Brilliant. And the hockey fans here are awesome – good spirited and up for a laugh. Atlanta is also surprisingly racially integrated – I’m not citing facts here, just casual observation, so I could be dead wrong on that one.

Best of all it’s been nice getting a steady stream of emails about yesterday’s piece (which they told us would only be online, but then somebody emailed Taylor saying they saw it in the paper… so now we’re just confused, but happy – anyone know for sure?).

Next stop Ottawa to give a talk on public service sector renewal to Stats Canada and do a few brown bag lunches. See you Monday!