Johnny and I left Boston last night just after 5:00 p.m. and we got to Montreal 40 minutes later (which somehow seems like magic).

Our trip through customs was slowed because I had a cheque from Yankee in my backpack that required checking the “are you carrying more than $10,000 in cash or monetary instruments” box on my customs declaration. In case you’re wondering what happens when you do this: I was diverted from the line where you hand your form in on your way out into a cavernous empty room with lots of counters where two agents were waiting to serve me. I answered a lot of questions about the cheque, and my reason for carrying it, and what business I’m in, and why “making a website” would cost so much — presumably all towards proving that I wasn’t a money launderer — and then signed a form that was along the lines of “I hereby solemnly swear that this is legit” and was let on my way.

As a bonus, I’d also checked the “are you carrying any plants or plant products” box because I’d purchased two pounds of coffee beans for Catherine at Polcari’s Coffee in North Boston. Fortunately this wasn’t a cause for their concern.

Once I was released, we had to do the annoying “back out into the general population and through security again” routine. And once we were back on the inside we started running into people we knew.

First it was CTV’s man on PEI Dan Viau in the hallway. Then MP for Charlottetown Shawn Murphy in the Air Canada Lounge. Down in the departure area we ran into Senator Libbe Hubley and her capable EA (and our client) Allan Rankin. Once we were on the plane we ended up sitting behind Dwight Thompson, an old colleague from the Dept. of Agriculture. And then, of course, the ubiquitous Ritchie Simpson came rollicking down the aisle.

If our plane had gone down the world, or at least our corner of it, would have been left without political leadership, musical accompaniment, agricultural policy, or private local television news. Oh, and discount mortgages.