TimQuest 2008

We Broke A Thousand Hits!

2008-02-06T11:34:00.001-08:00

Thanks to everyone who's viewed our website!

Sincerely,
Stephen Smith

A Little Sunshine In My Day...

2008-02-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

I posted the blog to a popular link sharing site, and here's one of the comments I received.

"Those two kids are absurdly ugly. One of them looks like a cross between Lou Abbot and Hitler. Just thought I'd note."
-CommandantVonThrash

That made me laugh SO HARD. Thanks, CommandantVonThrash.

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...

2008-02-02T16:57:00.000-08:00

Well. That was fun. It took 11.5 hours, and over 20 kilometres of bussing and walking all over downtown Halifax, from Dutch Village Road to the Halifax Ferry Terminal.

I'd also like to take a moment to thank everyone who made this possible, and gave us publicity: The Daily News, Z103.5, and Web Junkie, you're all amazing, and this couldn't have become what it was without you.

And that brings us to the second and final secret. If you look up at the list of places we've been mentioned, you'll see that one is a newspaper, one's a radio station, and one's a webpage. This only leaves one major media source - television.

Yes, courtesy of the good people at Eastlink Television, Graham Mason, and King's College, we proudly present TimQuest 2008: THE MOVIE.

True, it's not a feature-length blockbuster, but I'm treating it like it is. It'll be airing this Thursday, February 7, at 7:30 PM, on Eastlink Television. It'll also be on the web, and I'll post a link to it here.

But as promised, I have a bunch of photos and commentary, and they can be accessed by clicking on the "Read More" link at the bottom of this post.

Stop 1 - 9:17 AM - SMU Loyola Colonnade. This is Nick. Nick is not a morning person, as you can tell.

Our second stop - 9:24 AM - the SMU library.

Stop 3 - 9:50 AM - the Queen Victoria.

Stop 4 - 10:12 AM - the IWK. Our cashier gave us two cookies for the price of one, which was nice. Ironically, this made it tougher, as now we had more food to eat than we expected. Such is the price of fame, haha.

Stop 5 - 10:21 AM - the Dalhousie Student Union Building. Wait, what's that? Whose day? Huh. Apparently it was Munro Day, so the SUB was closed.

Oh well.

Same story with the Dal Life Sciences Centre...

and the Dal Tupper Building.

Anyway, moving on. This isn't a Tim Hortons, I know, but this is the Subway at Robie and Spring Garden where I dreamed up this crackpot scheme. Thought it should be here for posterity.

Stop 6 - 10:57 AM - Spring Garden Road #1. I got a Homestyle Hash Brown here for the first time. It was a little small for 99 cents, but very tasty.

Stop 7 - 11:20 AM - Spring Garden Road #2. The danishes at Tim Hortons are very tasty, but they're much larger than they look on the shelves. I was getting quite full at this point, and had to eat smaller things for the next few.

Stop 8 - 11:39 AM - the Old Halifax Infirmary.

Stop 9 - 11:59 AM - the New Halifax Infirmary. After this, we went up the street to the bus stop and parted ways with Graham for a little bit, while we went up around the North End.

We originally wanted to go the Tim Hortons in CFB Halifax, but frankly, both of us weren't sure we were allowed on a military base, and both of us were too freaked out to ask.

You see, we both have a friend in the Canadian Forces, and we both know from personal experience that they take their job VERY SERIOUSLY. Neither of us wanted to do anything they might consider "trespassing".

Stop 10 - 1:07 PM - Young Street. The employees at this restaurant were very interested in our quest.

Exterior shot of Young Street. Just after taking this photo, we ventured forth into the parking lot. While we were walking, we walked past a car stopped in the middle of the road (bad driver). Then another car nearly ran me over after swerving around it (worse driver).

That was the first of a few times I nearly died that day. Oddly, I thought that this quest could end with me in the hospital, I just didn't think being hit by a car would be the way it'd happen.

Stop 11 - 1:44 PM - Lady Hammond Road. The yogurt and berries was tasty, and apparently (according to the approximately 20 promo videos I saw that day) is very low in fat. Good to know.

Exterior shot of Lady Hammond Road. After this, we went and waited for the bus to come and take us to Mumford. To pass the time, we argued about whether or not the Animaniacs theme song contains a reference to Bill Clinton playing the saxophone. Upon further research (http://tinyurl.com/ypnwl5), apparently it does. Well played, Mr. Burbidge. Well played.

Stop 12 - 2:26 PM - Halifax Shopping Centre. On this quest, I met three people I never thought I'd see again - my FYI instructor, my presentation groupmate from last semester, and my Grade 8 Math teacher. Here's where I met my FYI instructor.

Stop 13 - 3:27 PM - Bayers Road. This was a TINY Tim Hortons. You can see the left side on the left, and the other side was just a few metres out of frame to the right.

Stop 14 - 3:49 - Village at Bayers Road. This is where it started to get tiring, haha. Buses are rare this far out of Halifax, so there was a lot of walking.

I don't know if you've noticed in the pictures, but I wasn't wearing a coat at any point during this day. It got very cold when the wind blew, brrrr. But I kept going. For the fans, and for science. And also because this is when it really started to feel like an accomplishment.

Stop 15 - 4:27 PM - Dutch Village Road #1. I got a "Candy Cane Donut", because I love all things with mint and chocolate (my favourite thing at Tim Hortons is an Iced Cappucino with chocolate milk and a mint flavour shot).

Why they were serving presumably Christmas-themed donuts in February is something I really don't want to think about.

Stop 16 - 4:31 PM - Dutch Village Road #2. Nick got a BLT sandwich, and I got a toasted ham and cheese biscuit. Delicious, and warming for the long walk back to Mumford.

Along the way was the second time I almost died by being run over by a car. The sidewalk we were walking on suddenly ended, leaving us stranded between two major (and very busy) roads. We had to wait for the light to turn red, and then dash like mad across the road in the few seconds before it turned green again. Fun, eh?

Want to know another fun thing that happened? We had to stop in at a Petro-Canada to warm up, because my arms had developed purple and white blotches! Yay! I wasn't that cold, but I felt that that wasn't a good sign. This was Low Point 1 of 2, to be honest.

Stop 17 - 5:18 PM - Mumford Terminal. After the Halifax Shopping Centre, we went to the Tim Hortons in the background, and forgot to take a picture. Here you go.

Stop 18 - 5:49 PM - Quinpool Road #1. This is where we met up with Graham again.

Stop 19 - 6:17 PM - Quinpool Road #2. Tim Hortons brand bottled water is actually pretty tasty. Nick says that water shouldn't be tasty, but I stand by my appraisal.

Between here and the next stop we hit Low Point #2. I don't know what it is with the area around Cogswell and Duke Streets, but it was like a natural wind tunnel I swear. Plus I was really starting to feel the effects of too much caffeine.

Stop 20 - 7:17 PM - Scotia Square. The picture's on a weird angle because there were a lot of people lined up for food and drinks before the Michael Bublé concert. One of them was my Grade 8 Math teacher.

Stop 21 - 7:25 PM - Halifax Ferry Terminal. See the January 27, 2008 edition of The Daily News for the photo. On the way back we met a group of possibly drunken 40-somethings, probably going to get something to eat before the Bublé concert.

There are some things you just don't expect to see. Bunch of drunk teenagers going to an Ozzy concert? Sure. Bunch of drunk middle-agers going to a Bublé concert? Didn't see that one coming!

Stop 22 - 7:49 PM - Check the shirt. These people were the nicest of any Tim Hortons we went to all day. As you can see, one of the employees was nice enough to autograph my shirt.

After this wasn't so much a low point as an indication of our day:
"Hey Nick, let me know if you see a #9 bus, it's the only one that'll take us to our last Tim Hortons, and it'd be a pretty long walk without it."
"You mean like that one?"

I then looked up, saw the #9 pulling away from us, and loudly cursed our luck.

Wide shot.

STOP 23 - 8:29 PM - 1047 BARRINGTON STREET - WOOHOO! As you can see, Nick and I were exhausted by this point. I could barely stand, and Nick was looking the same as he did at the start of the day.

Conclusions? It reminds me of an issue they brought up in Starbucking - chain coffee stores, with their uniform decoration, uniform menu, and friendly employees, provide a sort of universal living room for today's world, where we spend less and less time at home in our real living rooms with our real families. I know that even over one day, I began to feel more at home in Tim Hortons.

So at the end of the day, I could barely move, I was oversugared and overcaffeinated, simultaneously tired and hyper.

And it was worth it.

-Steve

The Aftermath

2008-02-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

So...tired...pictures...later.

-Steve

Hello Web Junkie Readers!

2008-02-01T04:16:00.000-08:00

Welcome to TimQuest 2008 World Headquarters! If you're not coming here from Web Junkie, check out the link in the title of this post.

Anyway, today's the big day! We'll have full coverage for you as soon as we get back, but until then, check out all the things our site has to offer. We have a poll off to the right side, and a map of our route below this post. We also have advertisements between the posts, because Nova Scotia has the highest tuition in the country and neither of us have jobs.

Thank you for visiting, and have a caffeinated day.

Sincerely,
Stephen Smith

Two Days Left...

2008-01-30T11:49:00.000-08:00

Today I went over the itinerary for TimQuest 2008 and found that I had missed a few Tim Hortons. I have added these, but since Google Maps has a limit of 23 destinations per trip, it is now split between two maps.

PART 1 - GOING WHERE NO CAFFEINE ADDICT HAS GONE BEFORE

View Larger Map

PART 2 - THE JOURNEY HOME

View Larger Map

Note: One of the destinations in Part 1 is not a Tim Hortons, but a Church of Scientology. I was unaware that Scientology had set up shop in our fair city, so I'm going to try and stop by. Should be interesting.

Sincerely,
Steve

P.S. Xenu, if you're reading this, would like me to pick something up for you? Nothing shakes off the morning Thetans better than a cup of Tim Hortons coffee.

P.P.S. Nick hath spoken: He's not going anywhere near a Scientology church. So that's out, haha.

Secret #1

2008-01-29T14:44:00.000-08:00

I promised you that I would reveal one of the two big secrets about TimQuest today, and I will keep my word.

Keep in mind, this is a smaller secret, as we're saving the best for last. If you feel that what you can offer us is better than anything the second secret could possibly be, let us know, so we can let everyone know how awesome you are.

For example, if you work at Tim Hortons HQ, or you know someone who does, please put in a good word for us. Nick and I would really appreciate it.

Don't have Tim Hortons connections, but still want to help? The best thing you can do is tell people about this website. There are plenty of ways to do this. If you run a popular website, mention us. If you're about to give a speech on national television, see if you can work us in somehow. Thanks.

Anyway, on with the show. Our first big secret is that TimQuest, in association with Shirt Shack Custom Shirts in Scotia Square Mall, has been provided with our very own personalized custom T-shirts!

Yes, we'll certainly stand out in the Tim Hortons lineup with these one of a kind, 100% cotton shirts custom printed with our beautiful TimQuest 2008 logo. Thanks Shirt Shack!

-Steve

P.S. One thing you can do really easily is Digg our article. If you have a Digg account, please click on the link in the title of this post and give us a boost.

Stay Tuned...3 Days Left!

2008-01-28T18:45:00.000-08:00

Greetings! Steve here, with a TimQuest 2008 update!

I've got two amazing pieces of news, and I can't wait until I can share them with you.

However, Nick and I are still working out the details, so the curtain's going to have to remain securely down on these secrets for now. Sorry.

With any luck, I should have one of the secrets ready for the public by tomorrow, so check back, won't you?

-Steve

Welcome Daily News Readers!

2008-01-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

Hello, and welcome to TimQuest 2008 World Headquarters!

If you don't read The Daily News, or got here some other way, please click on the link in the title of this post. It's a great read.

Anyway, here is where I'll be posting pictures, possibly videos, and commenting on my experiences.

I will be embarking on my journey starting at 9 AM on February 1st at Saint Mary's University. I hope to have the pictures and comments up by the day after. If not, please assume that I am currently undergoing a MAJOR caffeine crash.

So, now that you're here, take a look around. Up at the top you can see our lovely logo, designed by Nicholas Burbidge (aka my accomplice in this whole event). Nick is both smart enough to excel in the Science program at Dal, and artistic enough to whip something like that ^^^ up.

Hopefully that makes up for me pressganging him into helping me.

In the post a little bit above this one, you can find a Google Maps file that will help you stalk us like wild game if you so desire. Hint: We'll be the two nerds in white t-shirts with black marker on them. (UPDATE: Thanks Shirt Shack!)

To the right, there's a poll. Tell the world your favourite Tim's product! Below the poll is a little info about yours truly. Note: Any usage of said information to create a perfect clone of me is strictly prohibited.

Comments, questions, or suggestions can be sent to the email in my profile, or you can use the handy-dandy comment feature located at the bottom of this post.

And finally, if you like this blog, and want one of your own, simply look to the blue bar at the top of this page. Tell them Steve sent you, they'll set you up.

That's about all I have to say so far. Be sure to keep your eyes open around town this week, I might have some tricks up my sleeve. I am a Marketing guy, after all.

Sincerely,
Stephen Smith

P.S. About the ads: Nova Scotia has the highest tuition in the country, and neither of us have jobs. That's why they're there.