My review of Carleton University has nothing to do with academics, as I never attended this…read moreuniversity. I was recently here to attend my friend's hockey game at Carleton Ice House, so my review is about setting foot on campus for the first time as a visitor. Getting to Carleton Ice House from my hotel in east Ottawa was straightforward. What I find to be a bold move is that there is a roundabout on campus. University Drive runs east-west at first, but you take the roundabout to continue on this street to head north-south. Nothing like messing with prospective students who are trying to do a campus tour and have to deal with a crazy roundabout perhaps for the first time. Same goes with first-year students who have enough to deal with that a roundabout may be intimidating to them, causing them to avoid it at all costs and yearn for a normal intersection. I frankly like roundabouts. They are efficient. I find them enjoyable because I grew up in a non-roundabout community. It was a pleasant surprise using one here. Ottawa, in general, has its parking act together, compared to some major Canadian cities. You pay for parking with an app at any parking lot on campus. You can either download the app (I'd recommend it if you are here often) or use the browser on your phone if you are an infrequent visitor like me. It works. It's efficient. I had a great experience using it to park. The Carleton Ice House is a wonderful hockey facility. It took me by surprise that it houses two NHL-sized ice rinks. It was great taking in a few games, including my friend's hockey game that I came to see. It is a state-of-the-art hockey facility with a sports therapy clinic. My friend and I had dinner at Lansdowne Park after his game. It was ridiculously close by. I liked my brief visit to this university. It has a nice balance of parks and buildings. It's also cool that the university is bounded to the north by the Rideau Canal and Dow's Lake, and to the south by the Rideau River. It was nice getting a brief introduction to the university while I was on vacation. It was totally unplanned and a pleasant surprise! I doubt that I'd ever get a doctorate degree here, but never say never, as the saying goes. (248)

I worked at Carleton for 2 years. People there used lies and gaslighting on me for the whole time…read more My supervisor never stood up for me. Despite that I had excellent reviews and 2 of the 3 people I supported agreed to be references for me. I went off on sick leave, and when I was able to return, they had reorganized the office and eliminated my position. A coworker told me that they actually created 3 full time positions to cover the work I had been doing. HR told me there were no equivalent positions and I would have to take a lower paying job. Then they offered me off with a paltry payout to leave their employment. I admit I agreed to take it and never return, but that was due to the fact that they said the offer was no longer available if I left the meeting. I should have consulted a lawyer. My fault. HORRIBLE place to work!

They make you sit inside even when there is like no rain????!?!???…read moreThey do not have value.

I turned to Dovercourt to try to get lifeguarding lessons for my daughter. Unfortunately, classes…read morewere full. Having said that, the administrator with whom I spoke was very helpful and sympathetic. When more instructors were added to meet the demand, she called and got my daughter in. The courses were organized and well taught. So, I found the people at Dovercourt do their jobs well, and seem to truly give a damn. It is rare to find such character and expertise. I highly recommend this recreation complex.

teachers follow students here at the most clickish school in the city. Ranked no. 3# academically…read moreafter lisgar and ashbury, it can be fun if you went to the right feeder school since the first grade... (fisher, broadview and Deroy?) So if someone liked it, then that is why. I recommend down the street at notre damme, Lisgar or even Glebe High schools for a better overall social!

I went there with a friend to purchase a part for her violin. She played professionally and knew…read morewhat she needed. The owners appeared to have come from a former eastern block country. Lots of signs up telling you what you are not allowed to do. A person who appeared to be security appeared. As well a vehicle parks I the alley behind the store had security. Having been in law I for cement it did go unnoticed. STAY AWAY.

I moved to Ottawa in July of 2015. i am a native Montrealer…read more While investigating fun things to do in Ottawa, I happened upon a link to the School of Rock site. What a fantastic concept! They allow kids to learn and play instruments. But, what attracted me was that they also offered what they boot camps for adults. This allows adults to join ad-hoc bands and learn a number of songs and then play them live at a local Pub. I have raw talent on the drums, but I am by no means an experienced drummer. I have never owned a drum kit. Before attending the School of Rock, I must have sat in front of a drum set perhaps somewhere around 15 times. I called up the School of Rock and told them my situation. I was informed that I only needed to be willing to have fun playing. I was in! To date, I have attended about 5 rehearsals with my band and we are having a blast rehearsing our songs in the category Arena Rock (AC/DC, Heart, Peter Frampton, Bad Company, etc.) I never expected that I would be having so much fun learning music and being part of a band. I recommend the School of Rock to anyone that loves music and feels that they might enjoy playing an instrument. They also give lessons on playing guitar, drums and singing.

My friend and I were looking for a place to do pottery painting and we randomly found this place…read more we had an amazing experience! The staff is sooo friendly and kind, there's a lot of option and colors too. We both painted a classic size plate and it was 30$, really good price in my opinion. I would totally recommend!

We came in with a group of 4, originally booked for 6 but 2 ended up running late. They were super…read moreunderstanding! They explained everything really well and were super helpful. They also weren't too worried when we went a little over our time slot. There's a wide array of pieces to pick from and the turn around time was pretty quick too! Would definitely come again!

This place has been a miracle to me; becoming recently disabled I can call in and get food…read moredelivered, I even needed dry cat food once and the call taker checked carefully and send a bag my cat could eat from for the rest of that month! Very considerate and friendly, helpful and kind.

Highly recommended. Instructor LP had our anxious child doing stuff in our home pool within one…read morelesson that city lessons couldn't achieve in 2 sessions. Patient, lovely to work with and the prices were a bargain considering our kids' progressions. Simply amazing.

I recently visited the National Arts Centre (NAC). It wasn't to take in any performance at this…read morevenue. I was downtown for Canada Day. I wanted a place to park. Its parkade was where my car was for a few hours. My original plan was to park at CF Rideau Centre and walk over to where the festivities were. I did it four years ago and it worked out nicely. Afterwards, I'd simply walk around the mall. However, I was curious to check this parking lot out. It's a part of NAC that I was not familiar with. The parkade is a 24-hour one. If you enter it before 4 pm, it's $3 for each half hour, to a maximum of $20. That's actually not bad if you consider that it would be an arm and a leg in other Canadian cities. It's automated. You do get a parking attendant when there's a performance or some activity happening at NAC. I don't know how all that works. I just know that for this national holiday, the parking attendant got a break. I inserted my credit card to enter the parkade. I used to same one leaving. It was pretty straightforward. I parked on level P1. I took the stairs to get to street level. It was perfect. I have only seen one concert at NAC. It was years ago when I lived in Winnipeg and travelled to Ottawa for vacation. It was a meaningful concert that holds a lot of fond memories. I saw my first Jann Arden concert here. Back then, I bought a ticket over the phone. The box office was a block away from my hotel on Slater Street. I walked over to fetch my ticket. On the night of the concert, I walked over to the NAC. It was November. There was snow on the ground. It was pretty, but a bit nippy. The female usher was so great showing me where my seat was. My seat was the last row of the orchestra section, the first seat on the left by the aisle. I was extremely happy. This concert set up countless Jann Arden concerts that I have attended all over the place. She is a wonderful performer and singer. Opening up for Jann Arden back then was Melanie Doane. This show alone sparked me to also see Melanie whenever she was playing over the years. What is cool is that when Jann recent played a couple of shows in Toronto, she had a bit of a reunion with Melanie. The latter has a ukelele school and students came down the aisles playing their ukes with Melanie leading the way to Jann. Such a cool moment! I got a Jann Arden t-shirt at the merchandise table. It said Happy? on it, to mark her newly released album back then. It's crazy to think that this album is nearly 26 years old. Yikes! I didn't grab any refreshments or snacks that night. I only remember happily walking back to the hotel and the sound my boots made walking on the snow. I had a great time then. I also had a decent parking experience on Canada Day just over two weeks ago. The NAC has changed since I last stepped foot. It looks like for the better. The digital leaves blowing around that you see above the NAC's main entrance was a nice touch. (240)

Beautiful space and always a pleasure to attend shows there…read more The ushers are always helpful and washrooms are easy to find. But the seats are a bit small and uncomfortable. I think they might need to update the seat or at least change the couchions - my left leg kept falling asleep and my back got noticeably sore at the end of the last show.