Destination Irvine: Day 1 Can I have a Mulligan?

Finally, Saturday came and we were ready to depart. My detailed plans were designed to ensure we would have a smooth entrance into the U.S. (the last thing I wanted was to give a U.S. Customs officer a reason to screw with me). The movers came and loaded our furniture in a smooth operation the day before. All we needed to do was to cross the border. Something, as a person who grew up in a border town, had done a million times.
Things did not go as smoothly as planned. First, I asked Lindsey to verify that we had our passports and completed paperwork to cross the border. The documents should have been in my meticulous cared for folder, but Lindsey discovered that my passport went missing. As a person who thrives on planning and control, I was shocked to discover that I did not take this news very well (I think my face went ghost white and I started hyperventalating). After ruling out somewhere in my briefcase, when I thought about were it could be, I thought of two options: 1) the movers had stolen it; or 2) it had fallen into the crack of my leather chair (which was with my mover, well beyond the U.S. border). Either option was not very attractive. Oh Shit...
Thankfully, I am a white Canadian. I was able to get across the border with replacement documentation using only my drivers license and a birth certificate. So, Lindsey and I headed out to the border. The border was only about 100 km away. Driving a route that I have driven at least 50 times, for a weird set off circumstances that is not worth getting into, I missed the first critical exit to get on to the proper highway. Worse it took us 30 minutes to discover we had missed the exit and another 60 minutes to get back on the proper highway (two strikes)
We got across the border, but the wait was long. Surprisingly, the customs officers seemed more concerned that we had corn beef sandwiches in our cooler than the fact that I lost my passport. For the sake of national safety, they confiscated our sandwiches and reprocessed my paperwork. We had planned to be beyond the border by 7:30am, we had crossed it by 12pm (a little off schedule).
Well, we are in the U.S.; everything should be great right? We would you believe, driving on a highway that I have driven over 50 times, I missed the next critical exit? Strike 3, luckily this detour only set us back 20 minutes. I am happy to say for the remainder of our trip (no less on roads I rarely or never have traveled) we did not miss another critical exit.
Some times you just want to go back to bed and start over. This was one of those. Amazingly, thanks to some open roads and Lindsey being able to drive for quite a few hours we were able to make it to where I had planned to stop on our first day. Sure a few hours late, but we were back on schedule and I could stop hyperventalating.
As a post script to this fiasco, we found my passport with the I-94 card in the crack of our leather chair. What are the chances?!!

Time to Catch Up

So we're live after missing about a month. I am going to try to start from the beginning and talk about the events of the days that have since passed.

First, I will give a brief update. We are all settled and I have just finish my business school orientation and first week of classes. I was moving at a rapid pace trying to keep up with business school and home set-up activities when I first arrived. Things are much calmer, but I am finding it difficult to keep up with this blog. I am hoping I will get into a grove as things settle.

I am enjoying business school. The first semester is not terribly exciting, but very important. I have courses in Accounting and Statistics that are giving me a solid foundation. I am excited to learn more about the financial statements that I have looked at in my work, but never fully understood. I have dropped a course in Microeconomics (as I have my degree in Economics) and taken Project Management in its place. I recently was self-teaching myself project management processes to encourage my last company to pursue a more comprehensive software development process. With this course I hope to pick up even more knowledge. My last course is IT Management. It is an introduction to how IT impacts a business. There is a lot of strategy (which I love) and the class is taught primarily in case study method (again which I love).
California has a three quarter program which takes me some time adjusting. Therefore, courses will go by very quickly. You will not get the same depth as a two semester course, but you will get exposed to a variety of topics.
Overall, I am impressed with the quality of my classmates. They are all very unique and interesting. I have found the international students very fascinating. This is not to say the American students are not, but if you consider that to be accepted as an international student you must have an exceptional background for you to be (i) accepted and (ii) decide to make that type of monetary and family investment, one can understand why they are very interesting.
Before I get any further, I am going to stop and try to catch you up on this journey (I hate this overused word, but it is very appropriate).

All Our Bags are Packed...but we are not leaving on a jet plane

The movers arrived at 8:30am and they packed up our condo by 12:15pm. We are going out for a nice bite to eat with family tonight and then we are departing tomorrow morning at 6am. We got our border paperwork out of the way this past Tuesday after a four and a half hour ordeal.

The U.S. border is 45 minutes away from my home. There travel time there and back is 1.5 hours; you can do the math. Americans will be happy to know that your Customs Agents are diligently reviewing every vehicle crossing the border to the point of creating a massive line. Of the 3 hours of non-travel time it is safe to say that over an hour was spent in line.

It is almost comical to see the difference in how Canadian and U.S. Border Guards handle visitors. The immigration booths for Canada are like a revolving door. "Hello, do you want to hurt us? No. Come on it!" While the U.S. is "what is your name? What is your passengers name? How do you know her? Why are you coming here? Where will you be staying? Do you have evidence of a reservation?"

Now, the U.S. diligence is fine to a point of reason. While white with no criminal record, being a young whipper-snapper I can still accept a few extra questions for myself. But why grill the old people driving the card-carry AARP vehicle of choice, the Cadillac. My god, they are lucky to remember their name. While I am not an American, but I am sure they would be willing to accept the security risk of just waving them through.

Bitch, bitch, bitch Trevor. Don't you have anything positive to say? Sure, I am looking forward to another roadtrip across a magnificent country. The proliferation of air travel has made us cringe at the thought of a 8-12 hour drive. Sure the drive is long, but the things you will see. America is an amazing land with so many distinct cultures, scenery, and people. I feel it is a shame for an American to die without experiencing at least a quarter of it.

Anyways, as I noted earlier, my lap top is sold (I hope you like it Susan) and I am officially off the grid. Internet withdrawal is hard. I hope to take advantage of a couple of hotel business centers to keep you up to date. Our furniture will be delivered around the Tuesday after we arrive. So it is only 5 days in Irvine without it and my computer. I think I will survive.

California here we come...

Zeus' Thunderbolts! We're Packing!

Nothing tells you "things are a changing" more that seeing your condo being packed up. The boxes are starting to fill up and take space in our home. The movers are coming on Friday morning and we are leaving on Saturday.
The best news is that Lindsey and I finished work last week. So our biggest priority is to clean out the liquor bar. It's a tough job, but someone has got to do it. There are other serious tasks: we are changing a ridiculous amount of addresses; getting our passports stamped; securing US travelers checks; selling the remaining vestiges of the furniture not making the journey with us; packing; ensuring we have all the needed paperwork; and finalizing travel arrangements for our trip out to the big C.
The paperwork and preparation are not a pleasant experience. As a person who grew up on a border town, I can safely say that U.S custom's officers can be big pricks. It has only got worse since 9/11. Of course, I am speaking from the perspective of someone who does not want to destroy the United States. So, any delay seems needless. I am sure they are truly protecting America when they give me a hard time.
I sold my laptop and TV, so aside from internet cafes, we will not have ready access to a computer until we have been in Irvine for at least one week (more likely two weeks - plus). Without them I think I will go information deprived (as will my faithful readers). If any reader can offer me computer internet access close to UCI for the period September 7th - 20th, I would appreciate it.
I can't wait to arrive. Til then be lucky...

God is in the Details

Lindsey and I will be finishing up our jobs and the end of this week and leaving our country at the end of the next week. Wow, this is really happening!

As the departure date gets closer, we are getting closer to resolving the numerous tasks that we need taken care of before leaving. We just purchased our vehicle out of its lease; chose Lindsey's medical coverage; made arrangements for a student loan; selected a professional mover; and have begun changing our address with everyone.

I am now planning our trip down to Irvine. The goal is that is will be a bit more leisurely than our whirlwind tour of U.S. business schools that we completed this March. We have a plan to trace the legendary Rte.66, stop at the famous Wigwam hotel and experience Vegas. We will be arriving in Irvine on Thursday, September 7th and taking possession of our apartment the next morning. We still do not have a set date for our furniture to be delivered.

Our condo hasn't sold yet, but we know it will sell at some point and we accepted that the planned influx of cash will be delayed.

I am getting excited to see all the great people I met at our admit weekend and meeting some people on the Admit Website who appear to share my passion of commercializing technology.

'til then...be lucky!

More Merage Housing Woes!

Well, if I thought Lindsey and I had housing problems, it appears we are better off than some other Merage incoming students. A comment on my last post left by a fellow student advised that she will not be able to get housing in Vista del Campo Norte (the singles resort) until September 16th! That means some students won't have a place to stay for the first week of our orientation! Not Cool. I am not sure if Merage is making alternate arrangements.

If Merage isn't making alternate arrangements and any of my new student colleagues are in this boat, Lindsey and I will have a spare bedroom and an inflatable mattress that we are willing to offer to anyone who needs it. I can be contacted at trevor.speirs (at) gmail.com. We will do our best to help out. Our only challenge may be that we aren't sure when our furniture will be delivered after we move in on the 8th, but we will work things out.

Housing Finally!

Yesterday, I finally got a call from UCI's Palo Verde housing department asking me if I was interested in a housing assignment. Interested? Hell Yeah!

There was little in the way of selection (more on that below). I felt I was getting the sloppy seconds. I was given 2 choices (both were on my bottom of my preference list). Given, time was of the essence, I selected one and now I am going go roll with it.

The housing assignment did cause a problem: my move in date is September 8. This problem is that my first "mandatory" international student orientations for Merage is September 5. So if I want to attend these orientations, Lindsey and I will have to hotel it. I am not thrilled, but I am rolling with it.

As for why this years MBA housing assignments were such a disaster, it appears to be an unfortunate combination of new employees and a new university policy. Merage's "guaranteed" housing offers were never guaranteed in the official university sense. It was the product of a relationship and understanding between Merage and the housing department. This past year, UCI instituted an official policy guaranteeing housing for PhD and MFA students. File it under "it seemed like a good idea at the time" as a lack of implementation plan and new housing employees created difficulties in fulfilling that policy in a timely fashion.

This year the MBA's were not going to be assigned housing until all the PhD and MFA students were allocated. Sucks to be us. Hence the drama and the very late assignment date. While it was out of their direct control, Merage got caught with their pants down here. As soon as they saw that new policy they should have taken steps to ensure their students were taken care of. Something I will have to raise when I get there.

Oh well, another task to strike off my list.