Houston, we had a problem...

Wow, so I just looked and it's been almost two years since I posted anything on this blog.  Well, no better time than the present as they say.  For those of you who don't know, I have moved to Houston recently to work for six months and I'm going to try and keep this blog while I'm her
e for those who are interested in what I'm up to.

But lets not put the cart before the horse, you might be wondering how my trip down here was...

My flight from Kamloops was originally scheduled for 7:35 am on Monday September 2nd, the Labour Day holiday in North America... whoops. (Probably shouldn't travel on those types of holidays next time, noted)

Monday September 2nd:

5:15 am 

Woke up to the great smell of fresh pancakes and fruit prepared by my loving mother.  Man I love coming home to visit.


6:30 am

Made it through air port security in Kamloops and into the waiting berth for my flight which was scheduled to depart at 7:35 am.


7:10 am

The staff at the Kamloops air port informed me and the other Air Canada patrons that our flight was cancelled due to mechanical failure and that we would not be leaving to Calgary until 9:15 am.  No big deal, I can reschedule my connecting flight to Houston when I get to Calgary.

Asside: I have flown out of Kamloops 3 times in the past 5 years.  2 out of those 3 times I have had my flight cancelled due to technical / mechanical difficulties.  I'm not sure what's going on with the planes going to Kamloops.. but I might start flying out of Kelowna.

9:25 am

Fly out from Kamloops air port on route to Calgary International air port.


11:35 am 

Arrived in Calgary international airport.  At this point I had missed my connecting flight to Houston, so I had to re-book my ticket.

"Just stand in that line over there and we will re-book your ticket" the Air Canada rep says.

"Oh you mean that line full of angry people waiting for the one and only woman trained by Air Canada to re-book tickets?  Sure, that sounds nice."


1:30 pm

After standing in line for about an hour, I got my ticket rebooked for 5 pm and got a free meal... well... $10 towards a meal.  I think $10 will get you the bun of your burger and a glass of water.

So I went and had something to eat and proceeded to customs... a little nervous as this is the part everyone at work had been talking up for so long.


3:00 pm 

I round the corner of the customs hall to see the line up for customs is completely empty.

"My lucky day", I think to myself.

I get to the customs agent and let him know that I would like to apply for my TN Visa, he looks at my paper work and escorts me to the secondary screening room.  So much for the short line up...

So I sat in the waiting room for about 45 minutes as I got to watch the border guards grill people and escort them back out of customs.  There were four people in there with me, and I watched one by one as 3 out of the 4 were refused whatever request they were looking for... oh boy.. didn't anticipate this.

 "Colter McQuay!" The lady behind the desk shouts

I proceeded up to the desk and listened to the woman tell me that it was necessary that I had a letter from the company that I was to be working for in the USA.  I explained that our company has sent multiple people from Canada under the same premise with the same documentation and pleaded for her to go through her regulations again to be sure.  She said she was quite sure and had an escort come get me from customs.  She said I would not be flying today.

4:40 pm 

I rebooked my flight to Houston for Friday September 6, 2013 @ 1 pm (fingers crossed I can make it)

4:45 pm 

Called the office in Victoria and explained the problem.  They instructed me to get a flight back to Kamloops and that they would look into the matter from their end.

8:15 pm 

Departed from Calgary on my way back to Kamloops.

8:25 pm 

Arrived in Kamloops, short flight eh? (The flight is about one hour long with an hour time change)

9:30 pm  Played night bocce on Sun Rivers golf course with my buddies to try and unwind, it definitely worked.

Tuesday:

The next day I went golfing with my friend Jim and around 3 pm my work called and explained that the letter that I needed would be at an office in Calgary by Thursday night, so I would be able to catch my flight on Friday down to Houston. 

  

Thursday:

I left Thursday at approximately 2:30 pm for Calgary.  I arrived in Calgary at 4:30 pm, I spent the night in Calgary at a friends house.

Friday:

8:00 am 

 I took a taxi to the office for 8:30 am to pick up the signed letter of endorsement for my visa. 

9:00 am 

Checked into my flight and went immediately to customs to try this all over again.  This time I had an older man with glasses who seemed to know what he was doing.  After spending some time reading my application he called me to the desk. 

Shaking his head while reading the documents, he looks back up at me and says:

"Not sure why they couldn't give it to you the first time, this letter is nice... but its not necessary"

Nice.  Really Nice.  

10:30 am 

Had breakfast in the airport diner.  Food wasn't actually as bad as I thought it should have been.

1:00 pm

 Lift off!  On route to Houston!

5:50 pm 

Arrive at the Houston International Airport.  I collect my bags and go find a cab when a cab driver approaches me and asks me if I need a cab.  Perfect.  Little do I know that this cab driver was actually out here to pick up some dignified business person and he got his times wrong and was really supposed to be there at 5 am the next day.  So I got to ride in style on my way into town:

I wish I could have put a Canadian flag on the front corners of the car.


6:30 pm -  Home sweet home.  The furniture has already been delivered so I have a bed and couch and things.  Awesome.  But no bedding.. darn.


8:30 pm - Having eaten some dinner at the pub next door and having nothing else to do with myself.  I decided to retire... to my sheetless bed where I soundly slept under a pile of my own clothes for the night.


It wasn't quite how I anticipated the journey being, but in hind sight.  I'm glad it was a story that could be used to start up this blog again.  I look forward to writing more about things that I'm up to down in Houston and wherever else I go to.