At Ossington Street, waitin' on the TTC:

Mormon missionary: Excuse sir: Would you like to learn about the Book of Mormon?

Me: No

MM: Do you know anyone who would?

Me: And I should tell you because ...?

MM: Okay, thanks.

Nice lady: How long have you been waiting for the bus?

Me: About six hours.

A study inspired by a Seinfeld episode finds that double-dipping -- using the same chip to dip twice -- does indeed transfer bacteria from the mouth of the double-dipper to other dippees.

But first, some history on the episode.

CBC just ran a clip of Sgt. Cam Woolley from the Ontario Provincial Police talking about this morning's snowstorm.

"We're getting a lot of calls from people in distress," he said.

However, there's one problem in helping them: These people have no idea where they are.

"Try and remember the last exit you drove by," Woolley suggested. But he also said it's getting sufficiently nasty that people won't be able to see roadmarks from the highways.

When I worked in Regina, I remember one early 1990s blizzard where people were using their cellphones to call for help -- after the highways had been closed by the RCMP. We could overhear the conversations using our police scanner. For context, this was about the time cellphones started coming into wide use.

"Can you help me?" someone would ask the cops.

"No," would be the terse response, usually met with a stunned "Wha-a-a???!!!" in response

"The reason we closed the highway is it's too dangerous for us to be out there," the RCMP would say.

The advice was for the unfortunate individual to stay alive until morning, and the Mounties would come pick them up then.

From AP via CTV.ca:

A U.S. federal judge has denied fallen press lord Conrad Black's long-shot request to remain free on bail pending appeal of his fraud and obstruction-of-justice conviction.

Black, the former chief executive officer of Hollinger International, has until March 3 to report to prison and begin his 6½-year prison term.

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, who presided over Black's trial, said in her order Thursday that Black is not a flight risk or danger to the community but his lawyers failed to show his grounds for appeal are likely to result in a reversal or new trial.