suffice. This, and Vancity Buzz, are the only Vancouver websites of any real use to you. Plan your trip at the start of your day and you will save yourself hours of cursing under your breath while you're getting lost, and soggy, in our city. Commuting via transit is trying in Vancouver and transit etiquette is useful in making the journey less so. Not only must you plan your booze ration for the weekend, plan how you will get home also. Skytrain closes around 1 a.m. (sigh), clubs and pubs close at 2 a.m. (scowl) and Vancouver has 9.4 taxis per 10,000 residents. Montreal has 27 and Toronto has 18. Vancouver's downtown core is the second most dense in North America behind Manhattan. If you find yourself downtown in the wee morning hours of a Saturday or Sunday, don't bother calling a cab. Drag your inebriated self to a busy corner, give yourself a mental pep rally and start chasing taxis. Once you've flagged one, get inside and declare your route of choice if you have not negotiated a price. If you do pre-pay, your ride home will be quick as though suddenly your cabbie is auditioning for Nascar. Every commercial holiday on the calendar is an excuse to drink. Actually, this is more en point with how to be a North American. Almost every holiday, we dress up our store windows, businesses, houses, bodies and pets and get merry. Why wouldn't you? Apparently we are a polite, but standoffish