Whoops, forgot to post this last night. The long part of the week is getting to me, but now that things are getting stable, I'll be able to plan better.
I went to work, a group of people from work decided to go to a dim sum, so we went there, and it was as good as advertised. I haven't had one of those since I was in Toronto, and here, we had a group of 8. Because it was Chinese New Year, we had 20% off, on it all as well. For those unfamiliar, a Dim Sum is a type of meal, where you order all sorts of small dishes for your table, and essentially have a small buffet within your table. It's very interesting, and very good.
On a related note, I need to remember to sign my cheques "Year of the Horse", now.
Other than that, the day was mostly uneventful. We have a bunch of documents to finish at work, and I'm probably the only person 100% assigned to that, so I'm churning through them.
After work, there was light rain, which I've heard nothing but nightmares of on the road, and it's the first time I saw rain driving. As such, freeway traffic slowed down to about 45-55 mph, and I was fine with that.
Also, back home, my family was handling the checkout of my old place, and seem to have done a very good job with that, except for my brother breaking a window. Apparently, that'll be just over $300 to fix, so I'll wrap that in with the moving expenses.
Other than that, I watched Netflix and went to bed. I have the weekend ahead of me, so I'll be catching up on things. I'll also do my annual volunteering for the robotics competition, back in Fredericton, except I'll be doing it online. Given my job is to get them a working (and awesome) scoreboard, it's something I can do abroad, but someone else will need to run it.
So, other than that, I should be meeting up with people for volleyball and/or hiking on the weekend, and I'll also want to finally watch the Puppy Bowl game on Sunday, now that I'm in the "right" country.
Should be a good time.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Adventures at the DMV, part one
I had a 10:20 appointment, so I made sure to leave plenty early, in case of traffic, parking, or GPS-related issues.
10:00am: I arrived, so plenty of time. Turns out because I have an appointment, I just need to stand in line on the red carpet (it's not that fancy), and figure it out from there. I left the appointment paper in the car, and I don't know how anal they'll be. I'll just grab that quick.
10:05am: Well, I'm at the front of the line. New license, out of country, so I give the ID, and I forgot my passport, and they won't take the I-94 without it. Well. That's probably record time for getting in and out of the DMV. I passed by the postal office to send my watch to get replaced, and headed to work. I booked an appointment for Thursday, Feb 6th, and I'll try planning better next time.
Work went well. Got much further in the training manual of the old system, and got all the errors flushed out on the development side. We've got the new system running on our development environments, so we'll be able to start coding soon.
Also, using the phone as a GPS doesn't work so good, because the GPS unit is a bit wonky, and sometimes bounces around, causing silly recalculations. I should get me a new phone, at some point.
So, I got home, and spent the evening relaxing between the hot tub, and Netflix, because clearly, I need to rest.
On a related note, back home, my family is finishing up the logistics of my move by tidying up my old place and leaving it with a nice big red bow, so that it can be given back. I am very grateful that I can count on family to help me out on this stuff, because I can't do it all on my own. So thank you very much!
And in closing, if I'm to get to work somewhere in the neighbourhood of 7 am, I should probably find the bed. Tomorrow is Thursday, and I've got about 16-17 hours left to do, unless I fill the gap with vacation hours. 10-6 should suffice.
10:00am: I arrived, so plenty of time. Turns out because I have an appointment, I just need to stand in line on the red carpet (it's not that fancy), and figure it out from there. I left the appointment paper in the car, and I don't know how anal they'll be. I'll just grab that quick.
10:05am: Well, I'm at the front of the line. New license, out of country, so I give the ID, and I forgot my passport, and they won't take the I-94 without it. Well. That's probably record time for getting in and out of the DMV. I passed by the postal office to send my watch to get replaced, and headed to work. I booked an appointment for Thursday, Feb 6th, and I'll try planning better next time.
Work went well. Got much further in the training manual of the old system, and got all the errors flushed out on the development side. We've got the new system running on our development environments, so we'll be able to start coding soon.
Also, using the phone as a GPS doesn't work so good, because the GPS unit is a bit wonky, and sometimes bounces around, causing silly recalculations. I should get me a new phone, at some point.
So, I got home, and spent the evening relaxing between the hot tub, and Netflix, because clearly, I need to rest.
On a related note, back home, my family is finishing up the logistics of my move by tidying up my old place and leaving it with a nice big red bow, so that it can be given back. I am very grateful that I can count on family to help me out on this stuff, because I can't do it all on my own. So thank you very much!
And in closing, if I'm to get to work somewhere in the neighbourhood of 7 am, I should probably find the bed. Tomorrow is Thursday, and I've got about 16-17 hours left to do, unless I fill the gap with vacation hours. 10-6 should suffice.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Adventures in pretty much everything
Time can be a weird thing. The more thing that happens, the harder it is to keep track of what's going on, and interpreting time correctly. Last year, I'd have events happen earlier in the week feel like way earlier in the month. Now, I'm actually confusing events from today as being earlier this week, and it's only Tuesday.
So, let's see what I can remember of the day... the good news is that writing it down does jog the memory.
I'm back in my 7-6 days, and you'd think I'd be used to them by now, but last week, I had a bunch of appointments interrupt them, so I haven't had one in almost two weeks. As a result, I had a bit of insomnia and only really slept at midnight. But, I got up, and headed in.
My GPS is officially in the doghouse. There are basically two routes I can take. The freeways, or sneak up a mile or two, and take a straight line route on surface streets. Because of traffic, I wanted the surface streets, so I told it to use the alternate route. I live in a big apartment complex, and my parking spot is basically in the middle of the block. There are north and south exits, but my straightest route is north, while my GPS assumes I'll take the south. So, I set up in the garage, and when I go out the north route, it needs to recalculate. Doing so canceled out my previous request to use the surface streets, so it sent me on the freeways. I rolled with it.
The GPS did know about the traffic, and had me take an earlier exit, instead of going to the closest exit. However, others must have had the same idea, because the offramp was completely congested. So, the GPS had the brilliant idea to put me back on the freeway using a road that was closed. That's when I told it to just stop.
I pulled out the phone, got a proper route using current information, made a three point turn, and got to work within 5 minutes. I mentioned it at work, and someone told me of a crowdsourced mapping app that helps with navigation. Looks pretty cool, I'll need to try it when I take new routes, like going to the DMV tomorrow morning.
I'm not sure where my team was just before lunch, so I figured they must have left already, so I went to get something to eat, when I noticed them in front of me outside. We went to one of the Asian places near work where I haven't been, and they were pretty good. So, I have the Subway, two Asian places and a Mexican place to work with.
Work was interesting too, despite the fact that I never got the meeting request, we had a developer meeting, where our dev lead decided to stop relying on the architecture team to handle training, and walked his team through the setup himself. Our team did see new faces, so my old coworker and I have been helping them as well, while getting ours set up as well. So, I was able to spend most of the day in dev, instead of just playing around in the old system. I'd like to have an idea what's next, but working from the seat of my pants works too.
On the way back, I needed to hit a Staples to get a bubble mailer, so I can send my broken watch back and get a replacement. On that road, I spotted a Peruvian seafood restaurant that I was referred to by my car guy. It was really different, but really good, and generous portions. Also, for as worldly as I pretend to be, I forgot Peru was a Spanish speaking country. I'm still trying to talk Spanish, but I keep getting talked to in English, and forget.
I also picked up the new Rocksmith yesterday, so I started working on that. I'm extremely beginner at this stage, but they got me to tune the thing, and started taking some lessons, which is nice. It'll take some time, but it's something else to work on. I took the rhythm guitar path, so I can do acoustic stuff, which is my real goal. It still sounds a bit weird, and I can't tell if it's me or the guitar. But, we'll see. Making it sound good is a skill I need.
Huh. Guess I do still have plenty to talk about. Tomorrow is the DMV appointment, so I'll start working from home, then head in after. Unfortunately, I can't do dev from there without a VPN (connection to work network), so I'll stick to self teaching.
So, let's see what I can remember of the day... the good news is that writing it down does jog the memory.
I'm back in my 7-6 days, and you'd think I'd be used to them by now, but last week, I had a bunch of appointments interrupt them, so I haven't had one in almost two weeks. As a result, I had a bit of insomnia and only really slept at midnight. But, I got up, and headed in.
My GPS is officially in the doghouse. There are basically two routes I can take. The freeways, or sneak up a mile or two, and take a straight line route on surface streets. Because of traffic, I wanted the surface streets, so I told it to use the alternate route. I live in a big apartment complex, and my parking spot is basically in the middle of the block. There are north and south exits, but my straightest route is north, while my GPS assumes I'll take the south. So, I set up in the garage, and when I go out the north route, it needs to recalculate. Doing so canceled out my previous request to use the surface streets, so it sent me on the freeways. I rolled with it.
The GPS did know about the traffic, and had me take an earlier exit, instead of going to the closest exit. However, others must have had the same idea, because the offramp was completely congested. So, the GPS had the brilliant idea to put me back on the freeway using a road that was closed. That's when I told it to just stop.
I pulled out the phone, got a proper route using current information, made a three point turn, and got to work within 5 minutes. I mentioned it at work, and someone told me of a crowdsourced mapping app that helps with navigation. Looks pretty cool, I'll need to try it when I take new routes, like going to the DMV tomorrow morning.
I'm not sure where my team was just before lunch, so I figured they must have left already, so I went to get something to eat, when I noticed them in front of me outside. We went to one of the Asian places near work where I haven't been, and they were pretty good. So, I have the Subway, two Asian places and a Mexican place to work with.
Work was interesting too, despite the fact that I never got the meeting request, we had a developer meeting, where our dev lead decided to stop relying on the architecture team to handle training, and walked his team through the setup himself. Our team did see new faces, so my old coworker and I have been helping them as well, while getting ours set up as well. So, I was able to spend most of the day in dev, instead of just playing around in the old system. I'd like to have an idea what's next, but working from the seat of my pants works too.
On the way back, I needed to hit a Staples to get a bubble mailer, so I can send my broken watch back and get a replacement. On that road, I spotted a Peruvian seafood restaurant that I was referred to by my car guy. It was really different, but really good, and generous portions. Also, for as worldly as I pretend to be, I forgot Peru was a Spanish speaking country. I'm still trying to talk Spanish, but I keep getting talked to in English, and forget.
I also picked up the new Rocksmith yesterday, so I started working on that. I'm extremely beginner at this stage, but they got me to tune the thing, and started taking some lessons, which is nice. It'll take some time, but it's something else to work on. I took the rhythm guitar path, so I can do acoustic stuff, which is my real goal. It still sounds a bit weird, and I can't tell if it's me or the guitar. But, we'll see. Making it sound good is a skill I need.
Huh. Guess I do still have plenty to talk about. Tomorrow is the DMV appointment, so I'll start working from home, then head in after. Unfortunately, I can't do dev from there without a VPN (connection to work network), so I'll stick to self teaching.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Licence to thrill
Well, turns out I'm not quite done with logistics. My coworker was asking if I had gotten my new licence yet, and I swear, no one else seemed to think this is a thing, but if I'm a California resident, I'm supposed to get a drivers licence within 10 days. So, I'm about two weeks late on that. I knew someone was telling me about that, but couldn't remember who, or how credible they were. The car rental was fine with me for 3 weeks with a foreign licence, the car dealership was fine with it, and I'm pretty sure I asked them about it, and they said it was fine.
So, I've got an appointment with the DMV on Wednesday, and we'll see what needs to happen. As far as I can tell, I just need a lot of ID, and to pass the written and eye test, as well as a few other things. I'm going through the California driver's handbook, and that's not the funnest of reads, but hopefully common sense and my general intellect prevails. I will need to take a test behind the wheel, and that'll need to happen after I get my plates, so hopefully that happens soon.
Their manual seems to assume everyone's just turning 16, so we'll need to see how many of those actually apply. Technically, I need someone over 25 with a valid driver's licence to drive me there. You can make an interpretation that I count, or one that I don't. I'm hoping common sense prevails.
So, that'll be the next step in my adventure. Thankfully, I've got three weeks of experience to go by.
Also, Netflix didn't want to work tonight, hopefully that fixes itself. And, I'm in the long part of the week, so we'll see what happens. Wish me luck!
So, I've got an appointment with the DMV on Wednesday, and we'll see what needs to happen. As far as I can tell, I just need a lot of ID, and to pass the written and eye test, as well as a few other things. I'm going through the California driver's handbook, and that's not the funnest of reads, but hopefully common sense and my general intellect prevails. I will need to take a test behind the wheel, and that'll need to happen after I get my plates, so hopefully that happens soon.
Their manual seems to assume everyone's just turning 16, so we'll need to see how many of those actually apply. Technically, I need someone over 25 with a valid driver's licence to drive me there. You can make an interpretation that I count, or one that I don't. I'm hoping common sense prevails.
So, that'll be the next step in my adventure. Thankfully, I've got three weeks of experience to go by.
Also, Netflix didn't want to work tonight, hopefully that fixes itself. And, I'm in the long part of the week, so we'll see what happens. Wish me luck!
Downtime and meeting people
Well, the good news is, now that all the big goals are done, I'm no longer on insane hours, but it means I need to do something with the time, again.
The area I'm in is nice, and I'm within walking distance to some shopping, so I passed through there, and saw what was available to me. I did find a nice frozen yogourt place, and a smaller sports store than the big chain one I was using until now.
I have been spending some time at the pool/whirlpool, and I've started meeting more people, which is nice. I was also referred to a site for meeting people at activities, so I joined a volleyball group, and an outdoors group, so I should get more active soon. Just the timing this week was a bit iffy, since I need stuff. I did get new volleyball kneepads, and I know I have a new pair of running shoes, for when I resume my running, and/or go hiking, which I might be doing next week.
Other than that, I've also been catching up on some Netflix, and some shows I've been meaning to see. It makes good watching for relaxing.
Over the next few days, I'll also unpack more stuff, so I'll get more of my stuff going. But, the move has generated a massive amount of packing paper, so I'll need to see how recycling works here. I'm pretty sure they're big on that, though there are easy to find massive dumpsters, where it would be easy to dispose of large amounts of stuff, but I do like being at least somewhat environmentally friendly.
So, all things said, I basically went from 0 to 60 in about 3 weeks, and everything now, is way less critical.
Hopefully the tech issues at work get resolved, so I can finish developer training. That probably is the fastest way to be a major contributor at work. However, my actual team is pretty busy, so hopefully I get to talk to my team lead about short term goals, soon. I also found a new career counsellor, so once I have short term goals handled, we'll see what long term goals are. I did come here for growth, so we'll see what resources my company has.
So, I'm not entirely sure what the next step is, but I'll plant some seeds and see what comes out.
I did volunteer to take over the company softball team, and most of the office pools, and I think I also volunteered to lead our team at a 'tough mudder' style obstacle course, so I guess I might also need to train.
I also vow to finish that damned couch to 5k program!
The area I'm in is nice, and I'm within walking distance to some shopping, so I passed through there, and saw what was available to me. I did find a nice frozen yogourt place, and a smaller sports store than the big chain one I was using until now.
I have been spending some time at the pool/whirlpool, and I've started meeting more people, which is nice. I was also referred to a site for meeting people at activities, so I joined a volleyball group, and an outdoors group, so I should get more active soon. Just the timing this week was a bit iffy, since I need stuff. I did get new volleyball kneepads, and I know I have a new pair of running shoes, for when I resume my running, and/or go hiking, which I might be doing next week.
Other than that, I've also been catching up on some Netflix, and some shows I've been meaning to see. It makes good watching for relaxing.
Over the next few days, I'll also unpack more stuff, so I'll get more of my stuff going. But, the move has generated a massive amount of packing paper, so I'll need to see how recycling works here. I'm pretty sure they're big on that, though there are easy to find massive dumpsters, where it would be easy to dispose of large amounts of stuff, but I do like being at least somewhat environmentally friendly.
So, all things said, I basically went from 0 to 60 in about 3 weeks, and everything now, is way less critical.
Hopefully the tech issues at work get resolved, so I can finish developer training. That probably is the fastest way to be a major contributor at work. However, my actual team is pretty busy, so hopefully I get to talk to my team lead about short term goals, soon. I also found a new career counsellor, so once I have short term goals handled, we'll see what long term goals are. I did come here for growth, so we'll see what resources my company has.
So, I'm not entirely sure what the next step is, but I'll plant some seeds and see what comes out.
I did volunteer to take over the company softball team, and most of the office pools, and I think I also volunteered to lead our team at a 'tough mudder' style obstacle course, so I guess I might also need to train.
I also vow to finish that damned couch to 5k program!
Sunday, January 26, 2014
They like it! Hey, Mikey!
With a full apartment, and the car thing settled, there were some things I needed to go shop for, so I did a Costco run, for food, and some key things I'd need for. Essentially getting things like laundry tabs, so I can do laundry, because I really need some of those.
When I got back, we had a long Skype session, so I could show home all my cool new stuff. My parents liked the new car, seem to like the complex I'm living in, and seemed to like the apartment as well. So, I got everything to my and their satisfaction, and still ran within budget. Huzzah!
Actually, there is one question mark left... I still need to finalize car insurance, and I'm still guessing at how much gas I'll need, but I got a car that's good on gas, so that should work.
With that out of the way, I had a nice afternoon ahead of me, so I spent most of it by the pool, trying to learn to handle the sun. There were other people out there, and we were able to chat a good bunch. So, getting to know people too. We also managed to get in the pool proper, instead of hanging out in the whirlpool all day. It took some getting used to, but I was able to cover some distance, and tread water. However, it's still really cold, and when I got out, I was shivering uncontrollably, so much so that I could barely use my phone to show him something. There will still be things to get used to, but I'm getting there.
With a bit more shopping, whirlpooling, and chatting, when the wind turned, I headed back upstairs, got the PS3 running, and spent the evening relaxing to Netflix. I lost a show or two I was watching, but gained a bunch more. There will be plenty of stuff for me to watch, if I feel the need to. I also got rabbit ears, which I can plug into the TV at some point.
So, we have options, and I was referred to a site made for meeting people for things, so I might be playing volleyball tomorrow (but I will need to make a Sport chalet run for new kneepads). Everything's coming up Milhouse!
When I got back, we had a long Skype session, so I could show home all my cool new stuff. My parents liked the new car, seem to like the complex I'm living in, and seemed to like the apartment as well. So, I got everything to my and their satisfaction, and still ran within budget. Huzzah!
Actually, there is one question mark left... I still need to finalize car insurance, and I'm still guessing at how much gas I'll need, but I got a car that's good on gas, so that should work.
With that out of the way, I had a nice afternoon ahead of me, so I spent most of it by the pool, trying to learn to handle the sun. There were other people out there, and we were able to chat a good bunch. So, getting to know people too. We also managed to get in the pool proper, instead of hanging out in the whirlpool all day. It took some getting used to, but I was able to cover some distance, and tread water. However, it's still really cold, and when I got out, I was shivering uncontrollably, so much so that I could barely use my phone to show him something. There will still be things to get used to, but I'm getting there.
With a bit more shopping, whirlpooling, and chatting, when the wind turned, I headed back upstairs, got the PS3 running, and spent the evening relaxing to Netflix. I lost a show or two I was watching, but gained a bunch more. There will be plenty of stuff for me to watch, if I feel the need to. I also got rabbit ears, which I can plug into the TV at some point.
So, we have options, and I was referred to a site made for meeting people for things, so I might be playing volleyball tomorrow (but I will need to make a Sport chalet run for new kneepads). Everything's coming up Milhouse!
The final puzzle piece?
(I forgot to post this yesterday, this is for Friday, the 24th)
So, now that I have a car, the last loose end to tie up is to properly dispose of the rental car. By this point, I was at the dealer, trying to acquire the car. This time, I let the dealer try to figure out this one, since it was nice to have others trying to solve problems for me. This one was more akin to a puzzle.
So, I have a rental car, and my new car at the dealership. I need to get the rental back to the rental place, and I need to be with my car, to drive off. Also, the fox can't be with the chicken, and the chicken can't be with the grain.
So, the plan was... after I got the new car, I'd leave the rental at the dealership (they lock the lot down), and drive home with the new car. Then, the next day, I'd drive to the dealership, they'd get my car to the Norwalk metro station, and I drive in with the rental. (They had their own car and an extra guy to get them back). So, with both cars at the metro, I'd be able to drive the rental back to LAX, then take the metro back to Norwalk (it's on the same line), and I'd hop into the new car and drive back.
So, we got to the metro station, I parked the new car, they left, and I took the rental back to LAX. I'm getting better at not taking silly routes there, but it can always use improvement. However, I took the instructions so well, I forgot to gas it up. And if it's not gassed, they do it themselves, and charge you like 9 dollars a gallon. They let me drive out, I eventually found a gas station, filled it with $20, and went back to dispose of the car.
So, part 1 complete. I asked which shuttle goes to the metro station, and they have a shuttle that goes places. They were supposed to bring me to a bus stop that goes to the metro station, but we ended up talking, and he brought me straight to the metro station, so that was nice. I got a metro card quick, and loaded it with one fare (it was like, $2.50 total), and got on. Now, on a Friday afternoon, it was pretty packed, but I got back out in one piece. The public transportation there is not the greatest, but it worked. I got back to Norwalk station, got in my new car, and went back.
However, the freeway area near there is under construction, and half the connections are shut down. The GPS is still oblivious to this, and tries to send me through most of those. There were traffic jams as well, making a pointless road even more painful. But, I did convince it of a heading, and request to avoid highways, and it gave me a reasonable route. At least until we hit 2 miles of bumper to bumper traffic because of an accident.
By then, I was pretty exhausted and frustrated, so I set my heading to a sushi place near home, because I could really use their all you can eat deal. I eventually made it, but not without picking the wrong entrance, and needing to make a long U-turn. Remember you can't always turn left, and the GPS really tries to avoid left turns, even if it would save a mile of pointless looping.
So, I eventually got in, to notice all the assigned parking was used up. I was trying to figure out a gameplan until I saw people leaving, so I staked out a position and readied to take their spot.
It wasn't the place I was aiming for, they didn't have the all you can eat, or the kimono girls, but it was that first place I found, where I had an awesome lunch, so I made the most of it. Tried all sorts of fish and seafood I didn't usually take. It was still great.
Now, thoroughly exhausted, and out of obvious things to do, I did what any reasonable person would do. I crashed at the computer and played Minecraft. Oh, and I watched some US Netflix before going to bed. Weekend!
So, now that I have a car, the last loose end to tie up is to properly dispose of the rental car. By this point, I was at the dealer, trying to acquire the car. This time, I let the dealer try to figure out this one, since it was nice to have others trying to solve problems for me. This one was more akin to a puzzle.
So, I have a rental car, and my new car at the dealership. I need to get the rental back to the rental place, and I need to be with my car, to drive off. Also, the fox can't be with the chicken, and the chicken can't be with the grain.
So, the plan was... after I got the new car, I'd leave the rental at the dealership (they lock the lot down), and drive home with the new car. Then, the next day, I'd drive to the dealership, they'd get my car to the Norwalk metro station, and I drive in with the rental. (They had their own car and an extra guy to get them back). So, with both cars at the metro, I'd be able to drive the rental back to LAX, then take the metro back to Norwalk (it's on the same line), and I'd hop into the new car and drive back.
So, we got to the metro station, I parked the new car, they left, and I took the rental back to LAX. I'm getting better at not taking silly routes there, but it can always use improvement. However, I took the instructions so well, I forgot to gas it up. And if it's not gassed, they do it themselves, and charge you like 9 dollars a gallon. They let me drive out, I eventually found a gas station, filled it with $20, and went back to dispose of the car.
So, part 1 complete. I asked which shuttle goes to the metro station, and they have a shuttle that goes places. They were supposed to bring me to a bus stop that goes to the metro station, but we ended up talking, and he brought me straight to the metro station, so that was nice. I got a metro card quick, and loaded it with one fare (it was like, $2.50 total), and got on. Now, on a Friday afternoon, it was pretty packed, but I got back out in one piece. The public transportation there is not the greatest, but it worked. I got back to Norwalk station, got in my new car, and went back.
However, the freeway area near there is under construction, and half the connections are shut down. The GPS is still oblivious to this, and tries to send me through most of those. There were traffic jams as well, making a pointless road even more painful. But, I did convince it of a heading, and request to avoid highways, and it gave me a reasonable route. At least until we hit 2 miles of bumper to bumper traffic because of an accident.
By then, I was pretty exhausted and frustrated, so I set my heading to a sushi place near home, because I could really use their all you can eat deal. I eventually made it, but not without picking the wrong entrance, and needing to make a long U-turn. Remember you can't always turn left, and the GPS really tries to avoid left turns, even if it would save a mile of pointless looping.
So, I eventually got in, to notice all the assigned parking was used up. I was trying to figure out a gameplan until I saw people leaving, so I staked out a position and readied to take their spot.
It wasn't the place I was aiming for, they didn't have the all you can eat, or the kimono girls, but it was that first place I found, where I had an awesome lunch, so I made the most of it. Tried all sorts of fish and seafood I didn't usually take. It was still great.
Now, thoroughly exhausted, and out of obvious things to do, I did what any reasonable person would do. I crashed at the computer and played Minecraft. Oh, and I watched some US Netflix before going to bed. Weekend!
Friday, January 24, 2014
Vroom
Well, today was another long day.
I needed to wait home this morning for the cable guy to come install the internet. It took some time, since he needed to drill some holes, but everything is working, and I've got some pretty good speed.
I didn't get much more out of the boxes, since the core necessities are out. I did get the TV back on its mount, and into position. Nothing is plugged into it, but I hear I can get a $20 antenna at Target.
We were supposed to have a team lunch at work, but the cable appointment cancelled that. Oh well. I did my half day, and got some stuff done, and learned a few more things. However, I will have another appointment tomorrow morning, but with the internet, I'll be able to work from home, until the guy shows up.
After work, I went back to the dealership, and got the last few pieces of information they needed to secure the lease. They needed proof of employment, proof I'd stay in the country long enough, and proof of residence. They got all they needed, and we could finally talk finance.
It's a 2014 Toyota Corolla, with a rear camera. It had 4 miles when I drove it off the lot, and about 16, when I got home.
It took a lot longer than I was hoping, I got in soon after I left work at 6, and left well after 9. But my situation wasn't the most ideal. I still ended up with a good rate, though I will be losing a few thousand in interest. However, not too shabby. They did manage to package on some extra insurance, and I did make them nervous when I was questioning their math, but I did get them to notice an error, lowering the monthly cost, and I did see the accounting as to how we got to the number.
Overall, it seems like a very nice car, and I guess I'll see how it goes. It's a car, but I'll be paying way less than rentals, and it's pretty good on gas.
I did start looking at insurance, but it's getting late. Shouldn't be hard to get, since Geiko seems to count Canada/US as equivalent for the questionnaire. I should be able to get insurance around 100-115 a month, depending on how much I want.
So, we're really getting close to being done here, and I might have the weekend all to myself. But I need sleep, badly.
I needed to wait home this morning for the cable guy to come install the internet. It took some time, since he needed to drill some holes, but everything is working, and I've got some pretty good speed.
I didn't get much more out of the boxes, since the core necessities are out. I did get the TV back on its mount, and into position. Nothing is plugged into it, but I hear I can get a $20 antenna at Target.
We were supposed to have a team lunch at work, but the cable appointment cancelled that. Oh well. I did my half day, and got some stuff done, and learned a few more things. However, I will have another appointment tomorrow morning, but with the internet, I'll be able to work from home, until the guy shows up.
After work, I went back to the dealership, and got the last few pieces of information they needed to secure the lease. They needed proof of employment, proof I'd stay in the country long enough, and proof of residence. They got all they needed, and we could finally talk finance.
It's a 2014 Toyota Corolla, with a rear camera. It had 4 miles when I drove it off the lot, and about 16, when I got home.
It took a lot longer than I was hoping, I got in soon after I left work at 6, and left well after 9. But my situation wasn't the most ideal. I still ended up with a good rate, though I will be losing a few thousand in interest. However, not too shabby. They did manage to package on some extra insurance, and I did make them nervous when I was questioning their math, but I did get them to notice an error, lowering the monthly cost, and I did see the accounting as to how we got to the number.
Overall, it seems like a very nice car, and I guess I'll see how it goes. It's a car, but I'll be paying way less than rentals, and it's pretty good on gas.
I did start looking at insurance, but it's getting late. Shouldn't be hard to get, since Geiko seems to count Canada/US as equivalent for the questionnaire. I should be able to get insurance around 100-115 a month, depending on how much I want.
So, we're really getting close to being done here, and I might have the weekend all to myself. But I need sleep, badly.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Like Christmas
Today, the movers arrived. I met the lead one while his helpers arrived, and did a quick once over to figure out the best plan of attack. They parked on the main street, and walked everything through the gate, around the corner, up the stairs, and in.
They made it look easy. They were in and out in like two hours, assembling everything that had been disassembled, and putting the boxes where I wanted them. I had to make some spontaneous interior decorating, but we've got a setup, and there's plenty of room.
I then went to work, and technical issues cancelled the training we were supposed to have. However, most of the dev team had other things to do, so their tasks here weren't ready. Since that's the most productive thing I can do now, I took over a bunch of those, and got another one done. They're pretty easy, so it's just getting a rhythm. I also got some HR tasks handled, and I'll soon be talking about career growth.
I let the guy at Toyota know the letter they were waiting for was in, and they said tomorrow is better. I passed by Mazda just out if Anaheim, and got progress there too. Good to have a backup, since my credit or lack thereof is still problematic.
I got back home and started cracking at boxes. I needed the TV powered to give it time to warm up, so I got a bunch of computer things out. Opening those boxes was like Christmas, unwrapping all the packing paper and seeing what was inside... I was literally giddy, even though there was a lot of junk too. I'll need to figure out what to do with some of this, since I'm low on souvenir space.
But, I have the real bed, so I'll get my new bedding on, and get rest. Tomorrow, the cable guys come, and I have no idea how were doing that, since the computer and TV are in separate rooms now. We'll see, Ethernet cable and drills must be cheap, worst case.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Settling in
Well, things are slowly getting productive at work. Have access to the baseline code and, there's a lot of code. There's a reason there are hundreds on this project. I'll also get involved in the activities, while I can. I'm focusing on sports, since it relies less on knowing the geography.
That said, I am getting used to the area. I wouldn't navigate without a GPS yet, but I know when to ignore it and go my way.
The movers will be here at 8 or 9 am. It won't be easy, but they know what they're doing. I'll do what I can to facilitate.
I also got the papers I need for the car, sort of. I'll check the dealership tomorrow.
That said, things are going well. I had to pass through 3 stores to get garbage bags, but learned more about the stores here, including two different grocery stores.
So tomorrow, I'll have my stuff, Thursday, the real internet will be set up, and with any luck, the barriers behind having a car will be lifted. I might finally be able to relax as early as Friday. But, for now, I need to crash.
Monday, January 20, 2014
The home stretch
This morning was the first time sleeping at the new place, and I took an air mattress for the time being. However, I did overestimate the temperature at night, and despite being fine with just the one cover at the hotel, it was really cold at night. So, I grabbed a plush blanket, and that should cover it. I miss my wolf sheet.
I also called HR before going to work, since I need that letter for the car. Apparently, these things take time, but I did get them to make a letter. However, that'll take two business days, so I guess the car will be acquired on Wednesday. I also contacted the dealer, and asked about insurance and getting the rental back. Sounds like they'll cover that at the time, but I'll try getting estimates on insurance on tomorrow.
Either way, we're getting dangerously close to the endgame here. My stuff arrives on Wednesday, the letter for the car should get in on Wednesday, the internet will get set up on Thursday. So, by the end of the week, I should be covered, and can start spreading out to other things.
I also called HR before going to work, since I need that letter for the car. Apparently, these things take time, but I did get them to make a letter. However, that'll take two business days, so I guess the car will be acquired on Wednesday. I also contacted the dealer, and asked about insurance and getting the rental back. Sounds like they'll cover that at the time, but I'll try getting estimates on insurance on tomorrow.
Either way, we're getting dangerously close to the endgame here. My stuff arrives on Wednesday, the letter for the car should get in on Wednesday, the internet will get set up on Thursday. So, by the end of the week, I should be covered, and can start spreading out to other things.
So, today, I mostly just went shopping for other logistics. My phone's data connection wasn't doing anything, so I went there, and all they needed to do was restart the phone. So, I'll be connected at all times, which is nice. I also started getting more money orders, to pay the movers on Wednesday. I'm glad I got one more question mark out of the way.
One way or another, things are winding down. I'm running out of things to say, but that's a good thing. There's a lot of directions I can go from here, and there's a meeting at work tomorrow for social activities. I'll attend that, and see if I can get involved there. Like I said, I'll probably inherit the softball team, but that might not start for a while. But I do need to start getting involved.
I also want to wish a happy birthday to my youngest niece. I wanted to call after work, but realized it would be like 8 or 9 local time, a bit late for a 6-year old. To be honest, I still have a hard time believing it's January. But I do hope to get things in order soon, so I can stay up-to-date on things. The lack of communication is a bit new to me, still.
Home sweet home?
This morning, I woke up at the hotel, caught up on my usual reading, then made sure to get all my stuff into the car or garbage. I checked out, so I'm officially living at the new place. It's very empty, but for a few days, I'll manage.
I also had to get the rental car renewed for another week. I tried calling, and when they told me it would cost $1400, I told them I'd just do what I did last week, and go to the place in person. As usual, this was harder than it had to be.
I didn't remember which one I hit last week, but I put the GPS to the nearest one, (heading west in case I had to go LAX), and I arrived to find nothing. I picked a second one, drove there, and discovered it was closed, and barricaded off. Looked like they repaved.
Since the third one was halfway to LAX, already, I just went straight to the airport. It looked like I'd get there in time, but I misinterpreted the GPS or the road, and ended up passing right by the airport pickup area. After more driving, some in the right direction, I found myself there, and was able to extend without a hitch. It also turns out I can leave it at another location, but it'll cost $25-75, depending on how far it is. I'll keep it in mind when I lease the car next week.
So, given how warm it was in the car, I went right home and took take 2 at the pool. It was still way too cold. So I tried the hot tub, and after a few minutes, it was too hot. The beach volleyball court seemed just right, but no one else was playing. So, I went for food and shopping.
Now, I should know better by now, but portions in the US are big. At least it means I can get a lot of food cheap, if I choose to go that route. But, if I ever open a restaurant, everything on the menu will have pictures, and each picture will have a banana for comparison. The banana wouldn't come with the meal per say, but it's a banana. If they ask, we'll give them one. Or make them the little breads on the table.
So, I got some basic things, and I'm set up. I'll probably continue to eat out, but I have plenty of breakfast crackers, fruit, bread, deli meats... Some basics that need no real cooking, as well as a bunch of dollar store utensils and plates. I'm pretty surprised how thorough their 99 cent stores are, they even have produce. It won't be my core shopping spot, but I have some ideas that would be cheaper and less wasteful than my usual.
However, the internet won't be set up until Thursday, and the public WiFi here is very iffy. I actually lost it an hour or two ago (Sunday evening), so this won't be posted on schedule. Sorry. I'll get it up first thing in the morning. I'll also need to talk to my cell phone provider and see why I can't get internet access. Phone always works.
Well, tomorrow, I'll try getting that letter and look at getting that car. I may have put 1000 miles on the rental, but all those trips to LAX add up. I'll use way less gas once I'm stable.
Oh, and I just heard from the movers... They should be here Wednesday afternoon, and the actual cost is less than we were expected, so that frees up more cash! Huzzah!
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Questing for the pool
Ok, I'm not sure if I was talking about this, but the pool at the new place has been taunting me for almost a full week. So, instead of my usual priorities, today, the goal was getting into that pool. As usual, it was harder than expected.
All the paperwork was done yesterday, so all I needed was to go through inspection, and the place was mine. Since I read all the rules as part of the massive contract, I knew I needed a shower to not get yelled at. So I asked where the pool shower was and learned it was broken. So I needed to use my own, but it only came with the curtain rod. No curtains. So, off to Walmart!
So, I do some shopping, get the curtains, head back, and go to lace them up. No rings. So, I go off to a nearby dollar store. I get some stuff to help me rough it until the movers arrive, but no shower curtain rings. So, back to Walmart, and I eventually find them. Now, I head back, weave it in, wash up, and finally get ready. It's like 3, now, but it's still a warm 80.
So, I go in the spa, and get to relax for the first time in weeks. I tried the pool proper, and it's really cold. I guess that's why no one was ever there. I'll keep it for when it's over 90°F in the midday sun.
However, during my explorations (GPS assisted of course), I often spot cool things, and I marked off a corner with cool things. I passed by the Radio shack, which is full of cool electronic components I'll never have the patience to use, but it's good to know I can go there if I need a program to do something mechanical.
I also spotted a Japanese grill next to a Vietnamese place. Since I had pho yesterday, I went for the sushi combo, and it was glorious. They also have an all you can eat scheme where you can order what you want. They have an insane variety, so I'll need to try that when I'm hungrier, to try out all those.
I've also asked around, and collected a checklist of other nationalities to try, and some recommendations. I'll need to start looking into those too.
Overall, it's going well, but I'll need to rely on communal WiFi, which is better than the hotel. I'll be roughing it for a few days, but the end is in sight. I have a permanent address, so I can get stuff mailed. Just need that paycheque!
Everybody's working for the weekend
Sorry for not having this up already, it's been a long week.
The prize to the long middle of the weak was a short Friday, so I was trying to get as much done as possible. Our team had a pretty major deliverable, and while there wasn't much I could do to help, sanity was at an alltime low. One of my teammates tries to recharge his phone with an apple, and given my education, my first reaction was to figure out what was needed to pull it off. Initial estimates tell me 30 lemon batteries may be enough, so it might be technically possible. If I spot a Radio shack, I might see what they have for parts, but odds are, I'll just cheat and hide some watch batteries in a piece of fruit and fake it.
I did get good news about the car, the Toyota dealer contacted me and said there was an option: if I could get proof of employment/income from my company, that should be enough to secure the loan. So, I tried doing that, but my SSN wasn't in their system yet, so I couldn't get the letter (since they outsource that to another company.) It'll have to wait for Monday.
However, I was able to finish the money order, and get everything ready for the new apartment. Turns out all those attempts the day before looked like fraud, and the bank locked things down. One call got that handled. I'll be moving in this morning, around 11 am. I did need to set up the electricity and internet, which was easy enough, but the cable guy is only coming on Thursday, so I'll be without internet for a few days. At least I have the phone.
One logistic I'm not sure about is how to return the rental car. I assume at the dealership, they can drive the new car to the rental place, I drive the rental, leave it there, and we both go back to the dealership tomorrow. They must have done this stuff before. We'll see what they think.
That should be it. I am going to need to find things to do/people to hang out with, but that shouldn't be too hard to find. I'll try getting into some sports, that'll cover both nicely for now, and there's even beach volleyball at the new apartment, so I won't need to go that far. We'll see. I have plenty of time.
The prize to the long middle of the weak was a short Friday, so I was trying to get as much done as possible. Our team had a pretty major deliverable, and while there wasn't much I could do to help, sanity was at an alltime low. One of my teammates tries to recharge his phone with an apple, and given my education, my first reaction was to figure out what was needed to pull it off. Initial estimates tell me 30 lemon batteries may be enough, so it might be technically possible. If I spot a Radio shack, I might see what they have for parts, but odds are, I'll just cheat and hide some watch batteries in a piece of fruit and fake it.
I did get good news about the car, the Toyota dealer contacted me and said there was an option: if I could get proof of employment/income from my company, that should be enough to secure the loan. So, I tried doing that, but my SSN wasn't in their system yet, so I couldn't get the letter (since they outsource that to another company.) It'll have to wait for Monday.
However, I was able to finish the money order, and get everything ready for the new apartment. Turns out all those attempts the day before looked like fraud, and the bank locked things down. One call got that handled. I'll be moving in this morning, around 11 am. I did need to set up the electricity and internet, which was easy enough, but the cable guy is only coming on Thursday, so I'll be without internet for a few days. At least I have the phone.
One logistic I'm not sure about is how to return the rental car. I assume at the dealership, they can drive the new car to the rental place, I drive the rental, leave it there, and we both go back to the dealership tomorrow. They must have done this stuff before. We'll see what they think.
That should be it. I am going to need to find things to do/people to hang out with, but that shouldn't be too hard to find. I'll try getting into some sports, that'll cover both nicely for now, and there's even beach volleyball at the new apartment, so I won't need to go that far. We'll see. I have plenty of time.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Pho, phone, and the most money I've ever used at Walmart
Today was the last of the week's 10 hour days, so I'm starting to get used to it, but I'm still doing simple things, and trying to absorb as much as I can. There were two meetings, a project orientation, and a developer checkpoint. We were supposed to compare progress, but me and one other were done (I had easy ones), and I got enough answers to tweak my deliverables. Should work. Monday, I'll get access to the baseline code, which will open things up.
I also heard back from the apartment. They came to the conclusion that I had no American credit, and would need to pay an extra deposit. However, I was expecting it to be like 500-600, not a full month's rent, so that ate the rest of my pre-first pay budget, and into my safety net. I mean, I kept a generous I-have-no-idea-what-I'm-doing fund, but this was almost a grand, and wiped out my safety net.
I had to do some financial acrobatics, but I have the funds. It does mean I can't look at the car until that paycheque comes in. That's also where my moving expenses will be paid, so that deposit will fix all of my money issues, non outright-buy-a-car department. They also insisted on getting a cashier's cheque, or money order, which is difficult when your bank is thousands of miles away. I did hear that Walmart has money orders, so huh.
Speaking of which, I went back to Mazda's site, and not only do they advertise the foreign resident program, they also have a first owners program. There's also a dealership right next to where I live (which seems to be in Orange County), and I'll go there with the printout. So, we'll see tomorrow, when I have time. If I do go with them, it'll be despite that guy from yesterday.
So, yesterday, I tried setting up the phone on the, uh, phone, and I was expecting a response, which I never got. So, I went to the T-Mobile place first, because it closes at 7. I have no idea what they did on the phone, but at the store, we got it running. But, I couldn't port the number, so I have a new number. The old one will work until the burner runs out.
So, next step is the Walmart. However, driving back, I keep spotting this Vietnamese place that has pho, and today, I managed to turn somewhere in the vicinity of it, and getting some. I know I missed the spirit of it, but when I paid at the end, it was technically Friday back home. Either way, I took the 'authentic' version, which contained tripe. I always thought that was dog food, and I expected to taste offal, but it was... weird. It wasn't bad, but it was pretty tasteless. Like chewy cartilage. Either way, I couldn't spice it to my liking, but it was really good. Also, I did my first legal U-turn on the road to get out. So, that's something.
So, Walmart. I went there and noticed they had a money center near the service center, so I went there. I told the girl I needed a four-digit money order. Turns out, they can only do $1000 at a time, so we'd need four. Thankfully, it's only 70 cents an order. So, she rung them up and tried charging me the full amount. That didn't work. So we tried paying $1000 at a time, which did work, until the third time. I thought I set up with the bank for a large withdrawal!
Either way, she cancelled it so we could start over, and it took 5 minutes, and possibly manager intervention. So, we decided we'd just do one money order at a time, so we can claim partial victory if something goes wrong. We get the first one out, and celebrate with a high five! Then we tried getting the second one out, and the card refused to work. Screw that, I'll finish tomorrow. One down, three to go!
Again, this country is not making things easy for me!
I also heard back from the apartment. They came to the conclusion that I had no American credit, and would need to pay an extra deposit. However, I was expecting it to be like 500-600, not a full month's rent, so that ate the rest of my pre-first pay budget, and into my safety net. I mean, I kept a generous I-have-no-idea-what-I'm-doing fund, but this was almost a grand, and wiped out my safety net.
I had to do some financial acrobatics, but I have the funds. It does mean I can't look at the car until that paycheque comes in. That's also where my moving expenses will be paid, so that deposit will fix all of my money issues, non outright-buy-a-car department. They also insisted on getting a cashier's cheque, or money order, which is difficult when your bank is thousands of miles away. I did hear that Walmart has money orders, so huh.
Speaking of which, I went back to Mazda's site, and not only do they advertise the foreign resident program, they also have a first owners program. There's also a dealership right next to where I live (which seems to be in Orange County), and I'll go there with the printout. So, we'll see tomorrow, when I have time. If I do go with them, it'll be despite that guy from yesterday.
So, yesterday, I tried setting up the phone on the, uh, phone, and I was expecting a response, which I never got. So, I went to the T-Mobile place first, because it closes at 7. I have no idea what they did on the phone, but at the store, we got it running. But, I couldn't port the number, so I have a new number. The old one will work until the burner runs out.
So, next step is the Walmart. However, driving back, I keep spotting this Vietnamese place that has pho, and today, I managed to turn somewhere in the vicinity of it, and getting some. I know I missed the spirit of it, but when I paid at the end, it was technically Friday back home. Either way, I took the 'authentic' version, which contained tripe. I always thought that was dog food, and I expected to taste offal, but it was... weird. It wasn't bad, but it was pretty tasteless. Like chewy cartilage. Either way, I couldn't spice it to my liking, but it was really good. Also, I did my first legal U-turn on the road to get out. So, that's something.
So, Walmart. I went there and noticed they had a money center near the service center, so I went there. I told the girl I needed a four-digit money order. Turns out, they can only do $1000 at a time, so we'd need four. Thankfully, it's only 70 cents an order. So, she rung them up and tried charging me the full amount. That didn't work. So we tried paying $1000 at a time, which did work, until the third time. I thought I set up with the bank for a large withdrawal!
Either way, she cancelled it so we could start over, and it took 5 minutes, and possibly manager intervention. So, we decided we'd just do one money order at a time, so we can claim partial victory if something goes wrong. We get the first one out, and celebrate with a high five! Then we tried getting the second one out, and the card refused to work. Screw that, I'll finish tomorrow. One down, three to go!
Again, this country is not making things easy for me!
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Winter ball
Oh, one more thing... I was talking to someone at work, and there is a company softball team... and the guy in charge is leaving soon. So there is a nonzero chance I might end up running that team. Which would be a nice twist. And it might also help show my leadership skills at work, at something I'm already familiar with.
This could go very well, we'll see. And we'll definitely need to size up the odds of having an All Star game... maybe halfway? Iowa?
This could go very well, we'll see. And we'll definitely need to size up the odds of having an All Star game... maybe halfway? Iowa?
Not exactly getting a break
Well, I heard back from the car lease. I'm probably going to need a briefcase full of cash, unless I can coax someone to co-sign on my loan. However, it should be totally possible to lease a $19,000 car for 35 months for less than 300 a month.
I did hear that Mazda has a foreign resident program, but when I went to the dealership, the guy had no clue what I was talking about. So, I didn't let him waste any more of my time. Tomorrow, I'll need to print the page, and go to a competent dealership. Any reviews I should know about Mazda?
After walking out of the dealership cross, I needed a win, so I hit the nearest Walmart, looking for a good prepaid phone plan with a SIM card. Unfortunately, they weren't very useful, and they were out of Straight Talk, the one I heard good reviews about.
Given I'd have to go home to find new info, I started driving back, dejected. I saw a Target, and decided to go in, in case they had something better. Turns out they have their own plan which was surprisingly good, but I decided T-Mobile was better. This is ironic, because that was the plan that I tried getting the first day, and all their SIM cards were expired. However, all the SIM cards there were minis, so it implied I should go to a T-Mobile store.
So, I went to the car, saw there was a T-Mobile 0.1 of a mile away, and driving out of the parking spot, I see it. However, it closed at 7, so I couldn't get very far. I set the GPS for home, but noticed there was another T-Mobile store, which was lit. However, it closed at 8, and they were settling up the people already there.
I was going to head home one last time when I remembered there's a Best Buy, which may or may not have been the same one I originally went to. I went there, got the SIM card, made sure it wasn't expired, and got it set up home. I'm also stealing my own number back from the burner, so my number shouldn't change, but it'll probably take overnight.
So, not my most productive day so far, but I still got good info, and got some progress in. I wonder what the best way to denounce that xenophobic dealer is...
I did hear that Mazda has a foreign resident program, but when I went to the dealership, the guy had no clue what I was talking about. So, I didn't let him waste any more of my time. Tomorrow, I'll need to print the page, and go to a competent dealership. Any reviews I should know about Mazda?
After walking out of the dealership cross, I needed a win, so I hit the nearest Walmart, looking for a good prepaid phone plan with a SIM card. Unfortunately, they weren't very useful, and they were out of Straight Talk, the one I heard good reviews about.
Given I'd have to go home to find new info, I started driving back, dejected. I saw a Target, and decided to go in, in case they had something better. Turns out they have their own plan which was surprisingly good, but I decided T-Mobile was better. This is ironic, because that was the plan that I tried getting the first day, and all their SIM cards were expired. However, all the SIM cards there were minis, so it implied I should go to a T-Mobile store.
So, I went to the car, saw there was a T-Mobile 0.1 of a mile away, and driving out of the parking spot, I see it. However, it closed at 7, so I couldn't get very far. I set the GPS for home, but noticed there was another T-Mobile store, which was lit. However, it closed at 8, and they were settling up the people already there.
I was going to head home one last time when I remembered there's a Best Buy, which may or may not have been the same one I originally went to. I went there, got the SIM card, made sure it wasn't expired, and got it set up home. I'm also stealing my own number back from the burner, so my number shouldn't change, but it'll probably take overnight.
So, not my most productive day so far, but I still got good info, and got some progress in. I wonder what the best way to denounce that xenophobic dealer is...
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
5 to 9
Seems the average work week where I work is a 6-10-10-10-4, where you sacrifice the midweek to get an awesome weekend. Last week, due to orientation, I did straight 8-8-8-8-8, but this week, I figured I'd do as in Rome. Today was the first "ten-hour day", which is nominally 7 to 6 with an hour lunch, but in practice, people tend to do more like 8 to 7.
I almost forgot the SSN stuff, this was today, and it feels like halfway last week. We're Tuesday, heh. The person I met with yesterday basically set everything up so I just skipped the line going in, and within 5 minutes, I had my number, and was good to go!
Some people on the team ordered pizza, so I was able to get a quick lunch, and used my lunch "hour" to try to finalize the apartment stuff. That went... adequately. There's a bunch of construction in Norwalk, and once I missed one freeway entrance, the GPS kept bouncing me between two that were actively closed. So, my solution was to drive a mile in a direction I figured was the right way, and let the GPS correct from there. It worked.
The heat might have affected my driving, since I may or may not have ended up in the middle of an intersection, and had to cut off a couple of 18-wheelers turning left "for the greater good" of the intersection. I'll need to start getting used to the heat. Seems the average coping mechanism in town is to crank the A/C.
I got to the apartment complex, and got most of the logistics out of the way. They'll take a few days to check my (nonexistent) credit, which ultimately will just decide whether or not I need an extra deposit to get in. Also, seems some of these places enforce that your income is at least X times your rent, which sounds like a good idea, but that number seems low for the area... 2.8 is like, 40% of your take home pay. The Life Pie, which is a Canadian thing has like, 35% (but that includes stuff like heating).
That took just under 2 hours, so my 10 hour day didn't really pan out. I clocked out at a quarter after 6, so I have like a 9.3 hour day. I'll catch it up on Friday if need be.
However, after work, I went straight to the car dealership, with SSN in hand, see what they got. I'm aiming at a Toyota Corolla, which has a decent price, and features I want, like a spiffy entertainment system and backup camera. I spent another two hours there, alternating between the guy getting info from me, and talking to the guy in the suit. I swear, it felt like the world's worst episode of Deal or No Deal, and that's saying something. Two hours, and not a single briefcase or offer!
But they're aiming at getting me qualified for a 3-year lease. I figure costs 20k now, worth 10k in 3 years, 10k / 36 months is a bit under 300... I can live with that. Throw in insurance and gas, and I'm under budget. I'll know tomorrow what the banks think.
So, after the car, it was 8:30, and stuff closes at 9. So, the other thing I needed an SSN for was the phone. Unfortunately, turns out all the big companies with the contracts are terrible, and the best plan is a prepaid. Which I could have done weeks ago! I went to Best Buy, and saw what they had, and applied for a credit card because I had nothing better to do. Oddly enough, I think Walmart might be the answer, and I'll check their Straight Talk, because they have good plans with SIM cards, so I can use my existing phone until I get the cash for a new phone. Aiming for an S4, but if I can pull it off, I might wait for the S5. Or not. We'll see.
But, that's about it for now. I was really surprised the blog lasted this long, but I've had no lack of stuff to say. It's also nice to see others are enjoying it. I'll keep it up as long as I've got cool things to talk about, and it looks like California is full of cool stuff to happen. Enjoy the ride, I know I am.
I almost forgot the SSN stuff, this was today, and it feels like halfway last week. We're Tuesday, heh. The person I met with yesterday basically set everything up so I just skipped the line going in, and within 5 minutes, I had my number, and was good to go!
Some people on the team ordered pizza, so I was able to get a quick lunch, and used my lunch "hour" to try to finalize the apartment stuff. That went... adequately. There's a bunch of construction in Norwalk, and once I missed one freeway entrance, the GPS kept bouncing me between two that were actively closed. So, my solution was to drive a mile in a direction I figured was the right way, and let the GPS correct from there. It worked.
The heat might have affected my driving, since I may or may not have ended up in the middle of an intersection, and had to cut off a couple of 18-wheelers turning left "for the greater good" of the intersection. I'll need to start getting used to the heat. Seems the average coping mechanism in town is to crank the A/C.
I got to the apartment complex, and got most of the logistics out of the way. They'll take a few days to check my (nonexistent) credit, which ultimately will just decide whether or not I need an extra deposit to get in. Also, seems some of these places enforce that your income is at least X times your rent, which sounds like a good idea, but that number seems low for the area... 2.8 is like, 40% of your take home pay. The Life Pie, which is a Canadian thing has like, 35% (but that includes stuff like heating).
That took just under 2 hours, so my 10 hour day didn't really pan out. I clocked out at a quarter after 6, so I have like a 9.3 hour day. I'll catch it up on Friday if need be.
However, after work, I went straight to the car dealership, with SSN in hand, see what they got. I'm aiming at a Toyota Corolla, which has a decent price, and features I want, like a spiffy entertainment system and backup camera. I spent another two hours there, alternating between the guy getting info from me, and talking to the guy in the suit. I swear, it felt like the world's worst episode of Deal or No Deal, and that's saying something. Two hours, and not a single briefcase or offer!
But they're aiming at getting me qualified for a 3-year lease. I figure costs 20k now, worth 10k in 3 years, 10k / 36 months is a bit under 300... I can live with that. Throw in insurance and gas, and I'm under budget. I'll know tomorrow what the banks think.
So, after the car, it was 8:30, and stuff closes at 9. So, the other thing I needed an SSN for was the phone. Unfortunately, turns out all the big companies with the contracts are terrible, and the best plan is a prepaid. Which I could have done weeks ago! I went to Best Buy, and saw what they had, and applied for a credit card because I had nothing better to do. Oddly enough, I think Walmart might be the answer, and I'll check their Straight Talk, because they have good plans with SIM cards, so I can use my existing phone until I get the cash for a new phone. Aiming for an S4, but if I can pull it off, I might wait for the S5. Or not. We'll see.
But, that's about it for now. I was really surprised the blog lasted this long, but I've had no lack of stuff to say. It's also nice to see others are enjoying it. I'll keep it up as long as I've got cool things to talk about, and it looks like California is full of cool stuff to happen. Enjoy the ride, I know I am.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Almost legal!
Liveblogging from in line at LA county office, applying for SSN. It's 9:35, we'll see how it goes.
10:18 and I'm about to see security and get in.
10:26am: That line was to get to a waiting room. Security went fine, but he was confused by my two phones. The good phone on roaming and the burner with the battery. (Also, the security guy had to deliver a message inside, so it took longer to get screened.) Looks like seven people ahead of me with my letter, but I've got time. I only start work at noon.
10:33am: I'll need to resist the temptation to call out bingo when my number does come out.
11:02am: Might not have the time to lock up the place when I get out of here, but I'll try.
11:07am: I'm the next B... Might be out soon!
11:02am: Might not have the time to lock up the place when I get out of here, but I'll try.
11:07am: I'm the next B... Might be out soon!
11:30ish: Alright, I went in with my application, and all I needed was my passport, and my immigration documents, the I-94 info. It went well from there, but because I don't have a consistent place to work, I put my current work address, which happens to be the same building I was applying at! So, he wanted to make sure that would get to me, and I ran in and out quick and confirmed the suite number. It took a little while, but he had good and bad news. Everything got approved, but I'll only have the number tomorrow (and the card in like 2 weeks). Since I work there, I'll just show up when the office opens, I have an appointment, so I'll skip the line, and all should go well. Almost there!
I also got an e-mail back from that parking lot... turns out the guy who did the pass tallied the payments in the wrong stalls, so they tore up the ticket. Huzzah!
So, tomorrow, I should have my SSN, and over lunch, I'll lock up that apartment. The next step is to look at a real phone, but it's starting to look like all the big companies are equally terrible, and my best bet might be to go with a prepaid. If I knew this, I'd have done that weeks ago! But it seems I can't even recreate the plan I had in Canada without paying twice as much.
But, we'll see. I need sleep, since tomorrow is my 7 am debut.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Beachfront and property
I thought yesterday was going to be the househunting day, but I had a sixth place to visit today, and it wasn't as impressive. However, I did get an e-mail from a seventh place, and figured it was worth a shot. I'm glad I did.
Yesterday, I joked it was down to the dishwasher or the beach volleyball court. This one has both, and is cheaper. I couldn't find anything wrong, other than the fact that the cupboards are wood. None of the places were perfect, or terrible, but this last one seems to have the most intangibles. I also consulted with people familiar with the area, and they're all fine spots. It's slightly farther (20 minute commute instead of 10), but given there's all sorts of shopping on the way, it's not too bad. And, it's Orange County, so taxes will be a bit lower.
So, I tried going to work to print out some things, but couldn't card in. I'll ask tomorrow how one would do that. So, tomorrow, I'll probably spend the morning standing in line for the SSN, and start the application process.
But, being unable to do anything else productive that day, I took a friend's advice and went to Newport Beach. I figured I could make it before dark... well, I got close. Hit the city as the sun was going down, but parking proved difficult, and by the time I actually hit the coast, it was pretty dark. But, I was able to walk down the coast a bit, went on the pier (just straight fishing, not as interesting as Santa Monica), and got some food.
So, I got back to the car to find a parking ticket. The company that owns the lot I parked on has a board where you insert money into a slot, and park there. One dollar was supposed to be good for 2 hours, so I stuck a one dollar bill in, and parked in the right spot. No clue what I did wrong, but I e-mailed them, in case they can clarify something. The ticket is just $20, but it is silly to pay a ticket when I did everything as described on their sign. We'll see. If they don't answer, I can call them, too.
So, that's today. Hopefully, tomorrow, I get a SSN, letting me finish all the other things I wanted to do.
Yesterday, I joked it was down to the dishwasher or the beach volleyball court. This one has both, and is cheaper. I couldn't find anything wrong, other than the fact that the cupboards are wood. None of the places were perfect, or terrible, but this last one seems to have the most intangibles. I also consulted with people familiar with the area, and they're all fine spots. It's slightly farther (20 minute commute instead of 10), but given there's all sorts of shopping on the way, it's not too bad. And, it's Orange County, so taxes will be a bit lower.
So, I tried going to work to print out some things, but couldn't card in. I'll ask tomorrow how one would do that. So, tomorrow, I'll probably spend the morning standing in line for the SSN, and start the application process.
But, being unable to do anything else productive that day, I took a friend's advice and went to Newport Beach. I figured I could make it before dark... well, I got close. Hit the city as the sun was going down, but parking proved difficult, and by the time I actually hit the coast, it was pretty dark. But, I was able to walk down the coast a bit, went on the pier (just straight fishing, not as interesting as Santa Monica), and got some food.
So, I got back to the car to find a parking ticket. The company that owns the lot I parked on has a board where you insert money into a slot, and park there. One dollar was supposed to be good for 2 hours, so I stuck a one dollar bill in, and parked in the right spot. No clue what I did wrong, but I e-mailed them, in case they can clarify something. The ticket is just $20, but it is silly to pay a ticket when I did everything as described on their sign. We'll see. If they don't answer, I can call them, too.
So, that's today. Hopefully, tomorrow, I get a SSN, letting me finish all the other things I wanted to do.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Rent: not the musical
Today was the first day I was really available to do stuff in daylight hours, so I spent it looking at a bunch of different places to live. I checked a lot of places, contacted many, ended up seeing five (I'll see a sixth tomorrow).
None of them were terrible, but none of them were ideal. Some were better than others, and I've got two front runners. I like to say it boils down to dishwasher vs beach volleyball court, but really, it's price, location, and the actual floor plan.
I have a lot of stuff in a truck coming towards me, and I need to fit it all in the new place, so enough square footage is required. However, not all rooms are the same, even if they are similar sizes. Doors can make it tricky to put both the couch and chair in a nice place to see the TV. The dining room and master bedroom shouldn't be an issue, but I will probably use the guest room as the computer room, instead of my previous scheme of stuffing it between the living and dining rooms.
I'll pass my ideas through my contacts here, to make sure neither area is a terrible idea, but I think I've got an idea which one breaks the tie.
However, because I'm definitely not moving in before my hotel week expires, I went and extended that, giving me room to breathe. I tried to do the same with the rental car, but their system seems to have no idea who I am, and when trying to forward me to a live representative, managed to hang up on me. I'll check a local office tomorrow, since I'm not driving anywhere near LAX unless I have to.
Other than that, I think I'm running out of critical things to do, but I finished after dark, so I couldn't take the suggestion of heading to the beach. I will want to look at sport groups I can join, since I do want to meet people who aren't co-workers. We'll see tomorrow when I have my business sorted out.
None of them were terrible, but none of them were ideal. Some were better than others, and I've got two front runners. I like to say it boils down to dishwasher vs beach volleyball court, but really, it's price, location, and the actual floor plan.
I have a lot of stuff in a truck coming towards me, and I need to fit it all in the new place, so enough square footage is required. However, not all rooms are the same, even if they are similar sizes. Doors can make it tricky to put both the couch and chair in a nice place to see the TV. The dining room and master bedroom shouldn't be an issue, but I will probably use the guest room as the computer room, instead of my previous scheme of stuffing it between the living and dining rooms.
I'll pass my ideas through my contacts here, to make sure neither area is a terrible idea, but I think I've got an idea which one breaks the tie.
However, because I'm definitely not moving in before my hotel week expires, I went and extended that, giving me room to breathe. I tried to do the same with the rental car, but their system seems to have no idea who I am, and when trying to forward me to a live representative, managed to hang up on me. I'll check a local office tomorrow, since I'm not driving anywhere near LAX unless I have to.
Other than that, I think I'm running out of critical things to do, but I finished after dark, so I couldn't take the suggestion of heading to the beach. I will want to look at sport groups I can join, since I do want to meet people who aren't co-workers. We'll see tomorrow when I have my business sorted out.
Friday, January 10, 2014
My way or the freeway
Driving around LA is weird... from my hotel to work is a 12 mile stretch over one big street. Sure, there's lights, but I thought it was a nice simple route. I ran it from point A to point B, getting confused at point C, and turning on the GPS to figure out why I can't recognize a landmark I'm looking at, or if I went too far. However, I never bothered turning on the GPS to start a straight line route.
When I was gone shopping, I did turn the GPS, and I figure I'd do that same 12 mile stretch, and whatever else was added on. However, the GPS thinks I should take the freeway, and switch like 3-4 times to get there. Uhh, ok. I figured they knew better. Then, it tells me the best way to do a straight line route is to run that array of freeways. I tried it this morning and got caught in traffic, so I'll stick to the straight line route until I find a new place.
I also went car shopping, but turns out they won't set up a loan without a SSN. On Monday, that 10 day mark will pass, and I should be able to go downstairs, wait in line for an hour and see if I can get it. But, it's really the worst part of living here.
I am getting the hang of driving, though, and while the GPS is still mandatory, I am starting to see some patterns. And I can step off the path if the GPS is making uninformed decisions (like telling me to use an exit that's closed.) However, there are still some weird and interesting things that people back home might be surprised by.
They are pretty good at telling you which lane is a bad idea to be in. There are signs saying through traffic left, warning you your lane is destined to go somewhere else. There are also arrows telling you when a lane is disappearing/merging. So, you can tell which lane not to be in most of the time.
Most roads are wide enough to make U-turns on, and you can pretty much do it anytime you can do a left turn at a light. So, you go to make a left, but actually do a 180 and turn into the rightmost lane going the other way. There are signs telling you where you can't, so you have no U-turn signs, and no left turn or U-turn signs. I've yet to do one, and am in no rush to try.
In places where the traffic can get bad, you'll see signs on the highway saying how far it is to key points. But it doesn't tell you in miles, you already know that. It tells you in minutes, giving you an idea just how bad traffic is. You can go one mile going 70-80, and the next, you're stuck crawling around 20.
Most of the lines in the road have little bumps in them. They looks like those temporary markers you have, and are usually reflective, but they're probably the size of a matchbook, and give you a little unevenness when you drive over them, but not enough to disrupt anything. It's useful, because you know exactly when you start drifting lanes, and you also feel it when you change lanes intentionally. It's a nice feature.
So, all in all, driving out there isn't too bad, it's just when the traffic gets bad that things slow to a crawl. One accident can delay thousands of people for half an hour. And I did see some remnants of a crash at a point where the chokepoint lifted. Some people cut across multiple lanes without as much as a signal, but they're easy to spot ahead of time. They're usually missing a bumper or two.
Tomorrow, I'm visiting apartments, and I'm not sure what else I can do. Start looking for stuff to do, I guess. Can't do too much until I have a SSN.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Disorientation II
Knowing how long rush hour traffic is, I left accordingly, and got there on time. However, a 90 minute commute is always terrible, and time spent there will be rare.
Orientation was alright. I was able to help the rookies a bit, and picked up a few nice features of the company that I should be able to leverage later. I also got to know more of them, and once we found common ground, started to make friends. I also drove one back, since it wasn't too far out of the way. We'll probably do something later, once her account is less messed up.
I also looked up some locations, and found some key places close to work that I'll likely frequent. There is a nonzero chance I can get a credit card via Costco, due to my existing card, so cheating the line there would be nice.
Other than that, I picked up a new laptop and GPS. My current one is slightly shotgunned, so this should be much better. And, a GPS is pretty mandatory here, so might as well stop the rental clock asap.
So, tomorrow, I'll visit the car dealership, and Saturday, I'll mostly be visiting apartments. I did hear back from the movers... They're in Ontario and ready to cross the border, and I confirmed some info, so they should be here in two weeks. I just need to let them know exactly where here is.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Disorientation I
Today starts two days (technically three) of new hire orientation, which might prove slightly awkward, given I've actually worked for the company for just under four years.
The actual obstacle is getting to the company office, which is 30 miles away, and across a sea of interstate and cars. In a fit of optimism, I gave myself about an hour to get there, and still ended up a half hour late. Thankfully, they weren't ready either, so no harm, no foul. I did make some little GPS mistakes, but I'm getting better. The more often I do the routes, the more I know where I screw it up, and I can try to overcompensate.
However, getting to the parking garage, I ended up going into the monthly parking entrance instead, which got me trapped when someone else tried getting in behind me. Between four way flashers and reaching out the window, I convinced them to back out, and I went in the nearby entrance, which still wasn't where I wanted to be, but it was parking. Surprisingly enough, they didn't seem to charge anything. Afterwards, I realized that might be a horrible mistake, but the people at the office figured it should be fine.
Orientation was uneventful, it was mostly PR videos trying to convince people how awesome the company is, and teaching how to use most of the tools needed for administration. But, there was also info on US benefits, and other US-specific things I needed. They also catered, so we had food. Bagels, muffins, wraps, salad, oxford commas, and cookies.
At the end of the day, I went back to the parking garage to see how badly I screwed up. The car was not towed. It was not booted. I didn't even get a ticket. So I Houdini'd out of that one. I don't know why there's a free parking garage next to the $12 a day one, but I'm not tempting my luck again, unless I forget in an 8 am daze.
However, driving... at a snail's pace... for an hour and a half... each way... is absolutely rough, not to mention my driving toe, and knee. Thankfully, I don't need to make such a commute often.
The actual obstacle is getting to the company office, which is 30 miles away, and across a sea of interstate and cars. In a fit of optimism, I gave myself about an hour to get there, and still ended up a half hour late. Thankfully, they weren't ready either, so no harm, no foul. I did make some little GPS mistakes, but I'm getting better. The more often I do the routes, the more I know where I screw it up, and I can try to overcompensate.
However, getting to the parking garage, I ended up going into the monthly parking entrance instead, which got me trapped when someone else tried getting in behind me. Between four way flashers and reaching out the window, I convinced them to back out, and I went in the nearby entrance, which still wasn't where I wanted to be, but it was parking. Surprisingly enough, they didn't seem to charge anything. Afterwards, I realized that might be a horrible mistake, but the people at the office figured it should be fine.
Orientation was uneventful, it was mostly PR videos trying to convince people how awesome the company is, and teaching how to use most of the tools needed for administration. But, there was also info on US benefits, and other US-specific things I needed. They also catered, so we had food. Bagels, muffins, wraps, salad, oxford commas, and cookies.
At the end of the day, I went back to the parking garage to see how badly I screwed up. The car was not towed. It was not booted. I didn't even get a ticket. So I Houdini'd out of that one. I don't know why there's a free parking garage next to the $12 a day one, but I'm not tempting my luck again, unless I forget in an 8 am daze.
However, driving... at a snail's pace... for an hour and a half... each way... is absolutely rough, not to mention my driving toe, and knee. Thankfully, I don't need to make such a commute often.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Tuesday's gone with the wind
I've got to get up early tomorrow, so I'll be brief.
Today at work was mostly uneventful, though there will be some events, such as Pi day, and an ugly sweater day. I have half a mind to take the ugly sweater day competitively, and see just how bad we can go.
I also checked out a few stores for other things I need to buy. My laptop is wheezing pretty badly, so I might get a small one to replace it. I also need a GPS, and I think I can find a small model that has Canadian maps for pretty cheap.
I've also been spending a lot of time talking to family... I know this is a big thing for them, and I want to be there for them, even though communications aren't the best right now. Though every time I park at the hotel, my phone finds the WiFi, and I can get back on. But, things are slowly falling in place, and they're getting less worried. But, it is a difficult time for all involved.
However, I also met another one of my online contacts today. We saw a few places, and caught up a bit. It was nice to meet new people in person.
And of course, there's a new Humble Bundle with some cool games, so I'll throw some money at them, and hopefully be able to play them one of these days.
Tomorrow and Thursday, I'll need to go back to El Segundo to work, for orientation, for 8 am. So, I need to catch up on sleep. I'll keep you up to date of anything else happens.
Today at work was mostly uneventful, though there will be some events, such as Pi day, and an ugly sweater day. I have half a mind to take the ugly sweater day competitively, and see just how bad we can go.
I also checked out a few stores for other things I need to buy. My laptop is wheezing pretty badly, so I might get a small one to replace it. I also need a GPS, and I think I can find a small model that has Canadian maps for pretty cheap.
I've also been spending a lot of time talking to family... I know this is a big thing for them, and I want to be there for them, even though communications aren't the best right now. Though every time I park at the hotel, my phone finds the WiFi, and I can get back on. But, things are slowly falling in place, and they're getting less worried. But, it is a difficult time for all involved.
However, I also met another one of my online contacts today. We saw a few places, and caught up a bit. It was nice to meet new people in person.
And of course, there's a new Humble Bundle with some cool games, so I'll throw some money at them, and hopefully be able to play them one of these days.
Tomorrow and Thursday, I'll need to go back to El Segundo to work, for orientation, for 8 am. So, I need to catch up on sleep. I'll keep you up to date of anything else happens.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque
Today was the first day of work, and I needed to meet someone at the office at 9 am. I set the alarm at 7, after checking out of the hotel and getting everything done, it was about 8:10. That gave me just under an hour to drive 3 miles and find the office.
The GPS made the drive really easy and I got there around 8:30 with minimal little detours.
The hard part was finding the office. I went in, took the elevator to the 3rd floor and looked for the suite and couldn't find it. Turns out there are multiple towers to the building, and it took some guidance to find the right one. But I'm there now with 10 minutes to spare. Success! The last mile is always the hardest.
The hard part was finding the office. I went in, took the elevator to the 3rd floor and looked for the suite and couldn't find it. Turns out there are multiple towers to the building, and it took some guidance to find the right one. But I'm there now with 10 minutes to spare. Success! The last mile is always the hardest.
So, with that done, the next step was to drive 18 miles west on the freeway. Which I had never done before. I figured my coping mechanism would be to drive like a grandpa in the rightmost lane, and hope nothing goes too wrong. Thankfully, rumours about how crazy it is are greatly exaggerated. Most of the lanes hovered right around the speed limit, and despite a lot of traffic, it drives very smoothly.
I did end up missing the exit for the end of the highway, shunting me to another highway, but the GPS pointed me along a different route, despite some construction, and I got to the Norwalk office without much delay.
Turns out I'm on the same team as my former co-worker from NB, and other than a quick meeting to set up a team, and getting all the employment paperwork done, my main task is to get up to speed with the system as much as I can.
But, it's a nice open office, parking is free, and the people are really fun to be around.
So, with a car rented, and the extended hotel booked for a week, the main priorities are to get a real car, and a real place, and since I have a rental car, that gets a lot easier.
Unfortunately, it takes like 10-15 days to get a SSN, so I won't get a crack at that until next week at the latest. And, I probably need my birth certificate, which may be in the moving truck, which I have no idea what the status is. So, we might need to improvise a bit. We'll see what they want. Turns out the office to have that done is right under where I work. I walk past the line to get to the elevator.
So, we know how the next few days will go.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Put a hundred down and buy a car
Now that we know what needs to happen, we need to figure out how to execute it.
The current situation: the stuff I flew in on me is at the hotel. I'm due to check out tomorrow. I need to go to work at one office at 9 am, and another at 11 am. I still need a place to live.
After some deliberation and consulting, I have a plan.
I will rent a car. I'm in line for that now. I will bring that car back to the hotel, and put my stuff in there. I will go to bed.
Tomorrow morning, I will check out of the hotel and drive to work. Then drive to the other office. After work, I'll drive to the extended stay hotel, and check in there. That should cover the most pressing needs.
After some deliberation and consulting, I have a plan.
I will rent a car. I'm in line for that now. I will bring that car back to the hotel, and put my stuff in there. I will go to bed.
Tomorrow morning, I will check out of the hotel and drive to work. Then drive to the other office. After work, I'll drive to the extended stay hotel, and check in there. That should cover the most pressing needs.
By tomorrow, I'll have a better idea what the company can add.
8:36pm: Ok, other than the long lines, renting a car went extremely smoothly. I was surprised. Seems the company discounts are pretty nice, so I'm glad I ran everything through them. I did have to pay for a GPS, because I still don't have a proper phone, but because of it, I was able to drive the 0.9 mi back without issue, so that's something.
However, everything going perfectly smooth is boring so of course I get in trouble back at the hotel. I mistakenly drove down the valet parking entrance, and couldn't back out of it. (Steep angle, not the most powerful car...) So, I had to get one of the valets to help me pull it out, and muscle his way out of my mess. At least he made it look hard, so I don't feel as bad.
But, the car is parked in the hotel parking garage, and I'll be able to move a bunch of stuff in there, so I can drive to the office tomorrow morning. So, I'll work on getting into that extended hotel, and we should be good for the next week!
Five years of engineering school, people
Last time, we had a burner phone that insisted on not charging. And now, the thrilling conclusion:
In the morning, I checked the phone battery, and it had yet to charge. I could get a screen to flash by unplugging and replugging, but nothing else. So, the only solution was to put it back in the box and try to return it.
In the box was the battery.
Now, I wanted to physically check the battery yesterday, but the back of the phone really didn't want to come off, and it felt like it wanted to break when I tried to get it off, but I got it off, put the battery in, and it started charging fine after that. They actually have some pretty good plans, though I don't know if I can get away with using that on a smartphone. We'll see. This'll work for now.
With a phone number, it was much easier to get responses for places to rent. However, the big limiting factor is the lack of car. So, I'll look for a rental. Seems like Budget has the best rates... I can shuttle from the hotel to the airport, and then shuttle from the airport to the car rental place. I'll need to figure out where to stash the thing, but I'll move from the hotel to an extended stay hotel pretty quick. I'm sure I'll have more answers when I go to work, and talk to more people.
So, tonight, I'll go look into those two things, and keep moving from there.
First day of work might be interesting, since I need to report at one office at 9 am, then the other at 11. So, rental car will be mandatory.
In the morning, I checked the phone battery, and it had yet to charge. I could get a screen to flash by unplugging and replugging, but nothing else. So, the only solution was to put it back in the box and try to return it.
In the box was the battery.
Now, I wanted to physically check the battery yesterday, but the back of the phone really didn't want to come off, and it felt like it wanted to break when I tried to get it off, but I got it off, put the battery in, and it started charging fine after that. They actually have some pretty good plans, though I don't know if I can get away with using that on a smartphone. We'll see. This'll work for now.
With a phone number, it was much easier to get responses for places to rent. However, the big limiting factor is the lack of car. So, I'll look for a rental. Seems like Budget has the best rates... I can shuttle from the hotel to the airport, and then shuttle from the airport to the car rental place. I'll need to figure out where to stash the thing, but I'll move from the hotel to an extended stay hotel pretty quick. I'm sure I'll have more answers when I go to work, and talk to more people.
So, tonight, I'll go look into those two things, and keep moving from there.
First day of work might be interesting, since I need to report at one office at 9 am, then the other at 11. So, rental car will be mandatory.
You cannot get ye flask
I knew today would be a big day, but it seems that no matter how much you prepare for things, there are always enough question marks to make the logistics tricky. I made sure to have a positive attitude going in, but implementing the plan proved a bit tricky.
The plan was, this move was fundamentally the same as Toronto, and I could basically do the same thing as there. However, there were a few changes that made things trickier:
The plan was, this move was fundamentally the same as Toronto, and I could basically do the same thing as there. However, there were a few changes that made things trickier:
- Hotel near work. In Toronto, this was in the middle of nowhere and it was a very short walk to work. Here, the first day is close to LAX, and the hotel was close to LAX. This means it's harder to get cars in, and parking is hell.
- Having a car. When I went to Toronto, my father insisted on driving me, so we had the car to be able to get things done. Here, I have no car, and no immediate place to put one (I'll need to check with the lobby to see if it's included.) This hotel might be nice, but the fancy places don't nickel and dime you, they five and ten-dollar bill you.
- If you want to do anything remotely permanent in the US, you need a social security number (SSN), and a phone number.
- To get a phone number, you need a SSN.
- It's hard to get government things done on the weekend, and I arrived Friday night.
So, I spent the start of the day basically stuck at the hotel, because I had no obvious way to get anywhere. The LAX region is geared to tourists, not residents, so unless I want car rentals, or cheap thrills, there's not much nearby for me. I wouldn't be surprised if the booby bars would require SSN either. So, I'm on foot or on transit.
However, I do have internet at the hotel, so I did as much as I did there. The key priorities are:
- Get phone
- Get SSN
- Get accommodations
- Get transportation
As you can tell, there are a lot of dependencies in there which you could call circular. So, it looks like I need temporary solutions to most of these. I've got a burner phone charging, I'll arrange for extended stay hotels until I find a real residence, and I'll try to rent a car before I lease one for good.
However, I'm not alone in this, and I had a lot of help from some 'friends of the family'...
A friend who we'll name Bads agreed to meet up with me and help me out, so this afternoon, we met and got a few things done.
We went to Best Buy, and tried to get the phone, but that's where we learned you need a SSN to get a contract, so we tried getting a prepaid SIM card. Thankfully, Mrs. Bads didn't let us leave until it worked, which proved fruitful, because turns out all the cards on the shelf expired 4 months ago. So, I picked up a burner which I am still trying to charge. I might need to visit the customer support aisle again.
We then took a bit of a tour of the city, going down most of the famous roads downtown, Sunset Strip, Beverly Hills, Tommy's Famous Burgers, and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. And I remembered the time where we left it all behind. Either way, we got some good culture exchange going, as I scared them with stories of winter while we needed jackets for 55F weather.
But it was a great evening, spending time with them and the kids. It's good to know we already have friends down there, looking out for us. I'll also use the intel to make sure I end up in the right parts of town, but it turns out that my hours are pretty favourable, given that I'm almost always avoiding rush hour.
We'll see what happens, but seems I've hit my quota on things I can do today.
Jet lag
People were asking me how the jetlag went. I have no idea. I don't really know what it would feel like, and have no idea if what I did counted, but if I did manage to avoid it, and people want to try my approach, here it is:
- Day 1: Go to bed early, so that you have about 6 hours sleep (like 11 pm)
- Day 2: Wake up super early (like 5 am), and then have a full day (over 20-22 hours) of stuff to do, so that you don't have a chance to get tired until it's over. Then, try to catch up on things and end up going to bed at what would be a pseudo-reasonable hour for that time zone (say 1 am in the new time)
- Day 3: Despite wanting to get 8 hours sleep, feel a dire need to wake up a bit early (like a quarter to 8), and try catching up on stuff you didn't want to do the night before. Then, go have breakfast, and go about your day. At the end (it's almost midnight now), go to sleep in what is basically a normal day.
- Day 4: ???
- Day 5: Profit!
Right now, it's the end of day 3, and I'm about ready to go to bed, but I've got some day to document. While your life is getting flipped-turned upside down, it's a good time to take a minute and sit right there and force a few other changes on while you can, so if there are any habits you've wanted to change, it's a good time to wrap those in too. So, I have no idea when this fatigue is going to catch up to me, but until it does, I'll do what I can to get things done.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Opportunity
I am successfully at the hotel, and this is like, hour 22 or 23 or so, meaning I'm not sure why I'm still functioning. But, I've sent out a few messages to try to secure accommodation, since I've technically only got the hotel until Monday.
However, I guess we'll figure out tomorrow what needs to happen to make this work. I think I have a date with a shower and a bed.
However, I guess we'll figure out tomorrow what needs to happen to make this work. I think I have a date with a shower and a bed.
Due south
Last leg of the trip is coming up... It is now 7 pm Alberta time. I have been up and running since 2 am Alberta time, and there's more to go.
I'm pretty sure once I reach the hotel, I will crash. But we'll see.
7:15pm: On the plane, next you hear from me, I'll be at LAX.
7:35pm: the de-icing looks pretty cool... Can't be long now. Wonder how that works, I'll need to Google it later.
7:55pm: Still on the ground. But we have the emergency seats, so more legroom. And if we need to use it, god help us all. Nothing between us but mountain range.
8:03pm: seems like we're really taking off this time! Man, they're bad for faking us out all the time.
8:08pm, now we're thinking with portals!
8:59pm... Going into hour 20, and we have some turbulence. Literally. But I barely feel it. Showing signs of fatigue, though. We're going the nothing of Idaho or Oregon. And there's no light, so we just see black out the windows. Oh well, can't be on all the time. Two hours to go.
9:17pm: I was checking out my passport because I wanted to see my first stamp, and it reminded me of a few things. It's a blanket L1 visa, which is tied to my company and position. So, I can't change jobs without returning to Canada, and I can't exactly transfer either. I'd need to keep the same role. So, I can get promoted, but my official title can't change. I'm a Java Developer. Which is much less sexy than Senior programmer analyst/Application system specialist. Oh well, it's a title. I do expect to get promoted though, if I do really well, and that's totally something I can do.
9:25pm... Also, I'm questioning the info the monitors are showing me. According to that, it's 50°C outside and we've travelled over 10000 km from Calgary to basically Boise, ID. So I'd take that -50°C from earlier with a huge grain of salt.
9:34pm PST... We're descending into LA, and I can finally see signs of civilization in the dark, so that's nice. I forced the phone to PST since I have no idea when it'll see a proper signal again. Almost there!
9:52pm... And we're landed! That hotel bed will be sweet.
10:13pm... At baggage claim, must find wifi.
10:43... Have everything, waiting for hotel shuttle.
We come from the land of the ice and snow
I'm officially through immigration, and am now a valid US resident. Couldn't exactly liveblog it, but it was uneventful, just like we want it.
Thankfully, it was done fast so the lost hour in Toronto(?????) didn't hurt, and I have an hour to spare. Once the plane's ready to leave, I lose my good data plan, so I'll be reliant on WiFi in LA.
I'll update as I can.
6:51pm MST: for some reason, I think this is mountain time. Boarding should be soon.
Young Man Gone West
Ok, on the plane, heading for Calgary, now.
I know it's a little nuts to have three layovers, but it's a rough time of year to travel. I'll live.
1:03pm EST: That said, there's going to be a 10-20 minute fuel delay.
1:35pm: Ok, we have been fueled. Waiting for paperwork, should leave in 10.
1:42pm: ...and we're off!
1:48pm: really this time!
1:59pm: we're finally off the ground!
2:18pm: Ok, Lake Huron, with the islands and snow looks pretty awesome from the plane. Picture might not go so good, though.
2:39pm: Cool fact: at about 10 km altitude, the external temperature is about -50 to -60°C. When I flew in September, it was about the same. Go atmosphere!
5:21pm EST: Ok, watching snowed over prairies from above is also really nice... You can see borders for farms, and the rivers and surrounding streams coming from it, all snowed over as well. Unfortunately, my window isn't good for pictures.
5:58pm: And that would be the Rockies, out in the horizon. We're getting close, but we lost at least an hour. I'll switch to CST when I reactivate the phone part of the phone.
4:10 MST: And we're on the ground. Thankfully I already ate on the plane. However, the delay was really awkward for some, so we have rushed people. I... Might be one of those people.
Feivel Goes West
We're on the plane to Toronto, now, and it's about 9:53. Boarding was a bit late, but we should leave around 10 as expected.
10:26am: We're at cruising speed, and I feel the need to point out how nice the snow looks on the ground from this high up... I think they said 20k feet, so 7 km up or so?
10:53am: Wearing headphones and dropping altitude is not a good combination.
11:13am: We have landed in Toronto. .-...-....--
11:20am: and rolling to a stop... Now. I think. Yes.
11:27am: they'll start moving people off soon. I need to move, bad. And the plane is rolling again.
11:41am: I'm at the airport. Calgary connection is on time.
Change of plans
Got to Montreal and there was a slight problem... Turns out between a mistake with my baggage in Fredericton, and a slight delay knocking things out of whack, my flight to Chicago was no longer available.
Thankfully, I was able to work with them to get all that settled, and I'll be routing through Toronto and Calgary instead of Chicago.
Just goes to show, if something happens, be pleasant and friendly with them. Kicking and screaming gets your bags sent to Japan. So if those Air Canada ladies are reading this, thank you very much. If their bosses are, you have good staff.
I'll be boarding for Toronto at 9:25 eastern, and upon arriving, I'll be in Toronto until 12:25.
Itinerary:
Montreal 10:00
Toronto 11:26
Toronto 13:00
Calgary 15:27
Calgary 19:15
Los Angeles 21:32
Flight out of Freddy
We found the airport, and everything is uneventful, which is nice. Got through security and we're at preboarding.
People kept asking me if I was nervous, and I never had a reason to. I've done this all before, flying, going elsewhere to work... But this morning, the nervousness kicked in. Mostly fear that I'll have a 'YOU HAD ONE JOB' moment and screw up royally.
But I expect things to go well. We put a lot of time to make sure everything was ready. Sounds like engines are go. See you in Montreal.
5:55a AST: Oh we have the propeller seat, that'll make for an interesting view.
Fredericton does look nice from above at night.
6:18a EST: Sounds like we're about to reach Montreal. Airline pretzels were a bad choice.
6:27a EST: Montreal looks pretty awesome from the sky too.
6:37a EST. Landed safely in Montreal.
6:51a EST: Gate delayed, still on plane. Have plenty of time, though.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Going away party
Apparently, a lot of people want updates on my upcoming adventure, so I'll start this blog in order to keep everyone up to date.
At the very least, it will become documentation of my descent into madness, but I expect a lot of awesome and interesting things to happen. If you want to take part of this with me, I want to thank you, and remind you to keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times.
Tonight was the going away party. Most of the crew from softball was there, who have been my main circle of friends this last year. We've really gotten close this year, and I'll miss you all. I hope I find a team and friends half as awesome as you guys. We didn't take any pictures there did we? Oops.
I'm glad I got to spend my last day in town with friends and family. If you're reading this, I probably have good reason to thank you as well. I really appreciate it.
My flight's in like, 8 hours, so I'm off to sleep. Tomorrow, we'll fly across the country. Yea.
See you on the other side,
At the very least, it will become documentation of my descent into madness, but I expect a lot of awesome and interesting things to happen. If you want to take part of this with me, I want to thank you, and remind you to keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times.
Tonight was the going away party. Most of the crew from softball was there, who have been my main circle of friends this last year. We've really gotten close this year, and I'll miss you all. I hope I find a team and friends half as awesome as you guys. We didn't take any pictures there did we? Oops.
I'm glad I got to spend my last day in town with friends and family. If you're reading this, I probably have good reason to thank you as well. I really appreciate it.
My flight's in like, 8 hours, so I'm off to sleep. Tomorrow, we'll fly across the country. Yea.
See you on the other side,
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