Happy Holidays

Well, after about a month, I've finally returned home (my "real" home) after a whirlwind of a time down in Texas.  It feels really good to come home.  It only took me half a day before my seeds of doubt were planted in my subconscious as to whether the last month actually occurred or not.  Did I really move down to Texas or was that just a very long dream?  Everything looks normal and "same old" here in Richmond Hill...what's the date?  Then I look around my room at my empty desk, re-organized and nearly empty closet and remember that most of my stuff is indeed a 3-4-day drive southwest from here.  Luckily I flew back this time...the first of many 1-layover trips I'll be making, since there are not direct flights between Lubbock and Toronto.  This time, I flew with American Airlines involving a 1-hour flight to Dallas and then a 3-hour flight to Toronto.  The layover isn't too bad.  Dallas' airport isn't that monsterously huge and it gives me time to have some nice BBQ'd food...they even have a nice pub there - maybe next time I'll plan for a longer layover!  One thing I noticed at the airport is that although they sell cheap liquor there, there is pretty much NO wine there...kind of disappointing because I wanted to bring some cheap wine back this time when I came back.  Weird indeed.

Anyway, it's great to be able to see some friends while back - even already got to invite some over for poker the other day!  And for the first time, I had 2 tables going!  My kind of entertainment!  I also had the chance to have a family dinner and it was nice being able to see relatives since I'm not really sure when the next time will be before I can return to Canada.  With them, I tried this game called Monopoly: The Card Game - an abbreviated version of Monopoly that involves collecting properties and trying to make others pay you and preventing other players from collecting properties.  The game ends when someone collects 3 sets of properties (i.e. Boardwalk and Park Place) either by chance or by stealing/trading (via action cards as opposed to free trading) from/with other players.  The game is fairly quick and is probably over in about 20 minutes.  I think it could be a bit longer, but it's a great short game that can keep you entertained for hours.  Sure, a game like Puerto Rico or Settlers of Catan may require a bit more planning and strategy, but they both have their good points.  For one, the quickness of the game may prevent some from getting confused by having to think and asking "When does the FUN begin?" out of boredom, in reference to games like Puerto Rico.

While I'm not as lucky to get to go to Las Vegas for New Year's Eve like some (again), I hope to have a great time spent with good friends, one of whom will soon be giving birth to triplets!  I can't even imagine what a process that must be like!  My admiration goes out to both the mother-to-be, who has to deal with all this, and the father-to-be, who must deal with the mother-to-be in these last weeks...

I don't even really want to think about having to return to Texas...cause then the work really begins.  My supervisor is a really nice lady and took the lab out to lunch.  To my relief, I think so far I'm meeting or exceeding her expectations as to my being competent in the lab, but I'm not so sure I'm meeting my own expectations because I feel so sluggish doing things around the lab...sure, I'm doing things that I haven't really done before and in a setting where I don't know where things are kept and how the standard way of doing things are, but I really do hope I (continue to) keep my end of the bargain and keep that learning curve from appearing to be too steep! 

A few more days of relaxation for now...then it's back to Texas.  And when I get back, I'll have to start trying to explore the city.  It's so spread out and things are so hidden to me because I may not know of certain places (say restaurants or bars/pubs) that it almost seems easy to just lock myself in my apartment and just watch episodes of Fringe that a couple of my cousins were generous enough to give me for Christmas, but alas, I shall try to get out and explore a bit more in Janurary...and I guess I won't have the excuse of not wanting to shovel my car out of the parking lot or it being too cold, cause apparently it's still about 17-degrees Celcius there around now.  I'm sure this will be a main topic of my blogs in the immediate future...how I'm "finding" Lubbock to be...so make sure you check up on me every now and then!

Thanks to all the friends and family that are making my holidays so enjoyable.  I will surely miss being in Richmond Hill.  And so with these last several days here, I shall watch as much Leafs and Team Canada in the World Junior Hockey Championships as I can...Canada vs. Sweden on New Year's Eve at 4pm for top spot in their group and a bye to the semi-finals.  I'll have returned to Texas before the finals, which I'm glad will be streamed on tsn.ca because I doubt they'll broadcast it on TV there (unless maybe it's the final gold medal game and the US is playing, in which case I hope Canada can take revenge and get the gold).

Happy holidays and cheers.

A Month of Experiences

Right now time seems to be going a little slower than it really is.  The month I've spent away from "home home", i.e. Richmond Hill, seems as if it were about twice as long.  Again, it's probably due to the amount of stuff I had to take care of just getting to where I am now.  Someone has also been doing minor and moderate repairs to my apartment ever since I've moved in (upon my own request)...most of that's done now and I'm much more satisfied...especially the guest bathroom toilet leaking water and thus causing the tank to have to refill ever so slightly every 10 minutes and as a result making noise all the time...quite annoying and now the problem's fixed.  Tomorrow however, Sears has to come exchange my mattress because a little while ago I realized they had sent me the wrong one.  Luckily they'll do this for free, but I'll have to stay home tomorrow morning to let them in.  Sears actually used this computer system to make an automated call to my number to confirm the details and 2-hour window of delivery, which I thought was pretty neat and technologically sophisticated...do we have that back in Canada?  Anyway, at least I can plan my day this way.

So this weekend my car became more Texan because having registered my car with the State of Texas, I received new license plates to put onto the car...something that I've never done before because cars in Canada always appear to already have them on and never gets taken off.  I did this exchanging of license plates not without a sense of sadness...I feel as if my car and my life are slowly being swallowed up by the enormity that is the United States...American phone, phone number, address, work, health insurance, car insurance, currenty, bank accounts...and now I'm even forced to start using their weird way of spelling things, like "color" instead of "colour" and "neighbor" instead of "neighbour"...and even more nitty gritty things like using mm/dd/yyyy instead of dd/mm/yyyy, the latter of which I had convinced myself was the more systematically logical format to use years ago...and now I have to change cause that's how it's done down here.  Thank heaven that science is done in the metric system...that's right, grams, meters and Celcius....not pounds, quarts and Fahrenheit...that would have driven me insane.  English and the Metric system are god-sends that have been adopted by the scientific community - that I am thankful for.

A little over a week ago, I may have mentioned that I've finally obtained an American "checking" account (that's right, no more "chequing")...but would you believe it, the same bank that I signed up for that account with denied me a credit card!  It's something I took for granted in Canada...having too many of them.  I think ever since the recession hit down here, banks have been much more stringent of who they give credit cards out to...finally, I guess and understandably so.  But it's just not something I'm used to.  Luckily the debit card I got, which they call and "instant debit" card...actually has credit card-like methods of usage on it, such that it's linked with "Visa" and can be used as if it were an actual credit card (you sign for it and can use it online even), but the money is instantly debited from your account rather than have you pay for it at the end of a month's time.  So it's basically a debit card...but a little different.  There are a lot of American tendencies that I don't quite understand fully.   Ah...here's one more...they don't recycle here.  OK, technically you do, but there are only 3-4 places in the city you can drop off glass bottles and cardboard etc. off at...and not in very conveneient places.  I'm at least used to returning glass beer bottles foa a deposit back, but nope...not here...and they still use plastic bags at the grocery store (though interestingly enough some places ask you each time if you prefer the traditional brown paper bags you see on TV but never in real life).  I may try to collect some recyclables in the future, but it's a huge hassle without road-side pick up to recycle...they don't recycle, compost or pick up old furniture.  Heck, styrofoam is still a common material at fastfood joints...even in the cafeteria where I work!  Wow...there's something I haven't seen in a long time!

The holidays are coming up though...it'll be a nice "recharge" back in familiar territory before the long haul back down in Texas.  I'm not sure when I'll be visiting Richmond Hill (or Canada for that matter) in the near future.  In April, I have a wedding to go to but that's in Boston...there's a wedding back in Toronto I'd like to attend in the summer, but I have no idea how my work schedule will be...and flights aren't a little more than a few bucks in the bucket. 


Speaking of money, this is the first time when my cell phone bill with taxes will come to about $90.  The first month was ~$140...Sprint charged me all these fees and some options we didn't agree to...I cancelled them, but that'll only take effect next month...so it'll still be like $100.  However, I must say that 4G speeds are really nice and I'm using my phone as a wireless router, i.e. I get high-speed internet access anywhere I take my phone and am using that at home instead of cable internet...so I guess in the end, I'm either saving money or at least getting to use a smartphone instead of a regular phone...and I do enjoy technology...I can finally use FourSquare!  Haha...I've also found a way to make free long-distance calls throughout North America using Google Voice (Google Voice and Video in Canada...slightly different).  Ironically, when I come visiting to Canada, I can't use this service because it goes through my internet usage (unlimited right now), which will be unacceptably high while roaming in Canada.  Ah well, at least I'm making the most of it down here.

Now to enjoy some R&R back up in beautiful Canada...darn, I'll have some winter clothing back...and airlines charge $25/suitcase one way...let's see how well I can pack a carry-on...

Almost Settled In

Well, it's been a full three weeks since I've left Canada - it feels longer than three weeks however, since I've had to get so much done...the drive that was spread out 4 days already felt like a week.  Looking for housing only took a couple days, but felt like 3-4.  I've also had to buy a lot of things for my apartment, of which they've finally all arrived (with the exception that I need to get my mattress exchanged cause they gave me a slightly different model)...but all in all, things are starting to come together.  I still have yet to organize my study/guest room, where my desk and a few boxes are still laying unorganized in a corner...I guess using my office has been a lower priority with work and going out shopping for things for my apartment recently, added to the fact that I've been sitting in my work office a lot these past weeks getting settled in at work and doing a bunch of safety courses...of which I have more to do (next up: radiation training...fun).  I am glad though that at least I finally have a couch for my body to relax on (as apposed to sitting on the floor, which is at least carpetted) when watching TV.  Oh, and I finally have a bank account here...just need a credit card, then my life will be much simpler!

I'm a bit anxious to do some "real" work though in the lab...get my hands wet doing some experiments.  It's still a little disorganized on that front cause a third of our lab is moving next door and I have yet to really claim my spot in the (main) lab...some of the benches are a bit messy and if I'm gonna work, I'm going to have to clean and organize it!  Of course, some may say it's already "fine", but you gotta know where everything is that you need and that will already take some time for me apart from my own lab bench.

The people at Texas Tech University Health Science Center are nice, as are the people in my lab.  I do notice that most people are a bit more friendlier than I'm used to in Toronto.  They don't exactly stand there and hand you free beer, but I'd say at least 6 out of 10 people will smile or say hello to you (even if they don't know you), 9/10 people will do so if they've seen you before and as apposed to in Toronto, where I think about 1/10 people would say hello to you if they didn't know you and maybe 4/10 would do so if they've seen you before (i.e. a co-worker in another department).  People are also courteous on the roads...there is no road rage and people would rather wait a full minute before making a left turn into oncoming traffic rather than rush into traffic and expect others to let them in...then again, there isn't much traffic in Lubbock.

Although there are a few things that will take a little while getting used to, like how spread out everything is, one thing that I'm finding easy to get used to are cheap booze ($5/bottle wine, $6-8/6 bottles of beer) (I guess cost of living is generally lower too, especially with only 8.25% federal tax) and the warm climate...Again, the swings can be more than I'm used to, both within a day and between days.  Today, it's -3 degrees Celcius to about 8 degrees...a bit chilly by Texas standards.  But just a couple days ago, although the low was also around freezing, the high got above 20 degrees!  I guess you really have to dress in layers cause you never know exactly what the weather's going to like!  But hey, I'm not complaining, I can still see green outside as opposed to snow.

Now to get on track at work...which will be hard to do with the holidays coming up!  I can feel the urgency to get going...and I'm sure January will be a busy month for me!

Easing In

Well, my first week of work has come and gone and I've started to get settled into my new apartment.  In terms of work, it was more of just getting settled into my office, which I share with two other PhD students, one of which works in my lab.  At least I my desk is next to a floor-to-ceiling window, looking out to what is now a dried-up golf course and then onto the expanse of northern Lubbock, plains as far as the eye can see, full of farms, most of which grow cotton.  I couldn't really "do" anything other than get settled in and start reading some papers pertinent to my project because a) I'm technically not allowed to do lab work until I complete mandatory safety classes/exams (only takes a couple days to complete), b) I need to find out more about my project and read up more on background information, c) I have to turn my brain on, which may take a little extra kick and d) I've been really busy getting my SSN, a phone and had many items of furniture delivered.  So anyway, it was kinda slow at work, but I got to meet many people, half of who I have already forgotten their names.  But it's interesting that somehow I feel as if I'm treated with a little bit more respect being a post-doc vs. a graduate student - or maybe that's just in my head...ah well, so far I'm really enjoying this transition.  I'm sure I'll have my struggles when I start doing lab work again, and learning lots of new things - let's just hope this learning curve isn't too steep, cause somehow I get the feeling that there are a lot of expectations (and justifiably so) from my supervisor and probably others.  But at least my supervisor seems supportive and really happy that I've joined her lab.

As for my apartment, I've just gotten my TV and a TV stand (which weighed a hefty 100 lbs!)...tomorrow I will pick up a cable box and at least will be able to watch TV!  This past week, I also received my SSN, which is like the golden ticket in the USA - without it, I couldn't do much...having received it yesterday, I was finally able to sign a cell phone contract.  These are a maximum of 2 years in the US, vs. 3 years in Canada, something, I'm appreciative.  And as I did at Queen's University throughout my graduate studies, I got a discount being affiliated with an educational institution...not much, but hey, I'll take the 15%.  So I got the HTC Evo 4G that's only offered by Sprint.  Yup, it's 4G, as apposed to "3.5G" in Canada because the network protocols used in Canada aren't compatible with these higher speeds and neither Rogers or Bell will likely be willing to put lots of money to do a network overhaul required to support 4G in the next long while.  The phone comes with an unlimited messaging and data plan (which is useful considering the speeds akin to high speed internet (lite) I'm used to.  I've since started using my phone as an internet source by connecting it to my computer via the provided USB cable and through downloading a free app on the phone and program on my computer.  My next step is to remove the requirement for this cable to use the internet on my laptop and turn my phone into a wifi hotspot.  However, in order to do that, I need to "root" my phone (give it administrative options, not possible with the iPhone) and install a bunch of things...it's actually quite complicated and I haven't mustered enough courage to try it, but I'm watching lots of youtube videos and reading lots of material to help me prepare for it!  That way, whenever I'm near my phone (i.e. it can be in my pocket), I can use my laptop and surf the internet at high speeds (where 4G is supported) anywhere...on the road, at work, at a coffee shop, at many major cities throughout the US...but then again, at worst, the cable can act as the internet carrier and a way to keep my phone charged.

What's next...well, although I can't do this on the weekend, I'll need to purchase car insurance (I'm still covered by my previous insurance purchased in Canada), then get my car serviced and inspected by a certified dealer (just testing to make sure the basic mechanics work - brakes, lights, wipers, etc.), which is required if I am to be able to officially register my car in the State of Texas.  This is supposed to be completed before a month past my arrival date...so as long as I get this before Christmas, I'm fine.

I've also received my bed frame, so hopefully I can get that built this weekend before my mattress gets here on Monday...I also received a toaster oven I ordered and expect a microwave Monday and a blu-ray player...all that would then be missing is a couch to sit on to enjoy my new TV!  I'm gonna put the Men's Final from the Olympics on and blast the Canadian National Anthem for all to hear!! (and then run and hide so I don't get beaten).

Eek, Monday and half of Tuesday I have to go for new employee orientation...I've heard it was boring to the point of torture - not looking forward to it, but I don't know what I don't know, so I can't imagine how bad it'll be until it's too late...let's hope I survive it!

Lastly, it got up to 26-degree Celcius today, while the nights get down to freezing - the temperature swings can be a LOT compared to 4-5 degrees back in Toronto...tomorrow the high will only be 13 degrees.  Geese are starting to arrive from probably Canada...that's right, they ARRIVE in the winter...I'm so used to birds leaving as winter approaches...they arrive now...so different...as are the tumbleweeds I see every so often and which I almost drove into this past week.  Apparently they get piled up high on fences at a certain time of the year...

Btw, did I mention booze are super cheap down here?  $9 for 1.5L of Yellow Tail wine (or $6-7 for a regular sized bottle)!  Alright...that was a lot of typing...until next time...hopefully my apartment will be close to organized soon!

Getting Started, But Not Quite Settled

Well, I've finally moved into my new apartment this past Monday.  It was also technically my first day at work.  Luckily work in an academic setting is more relaxed than what I would expect in a private (pharmaceutical) company.  There was some paper work I needed to get done at work, so I showed up nice and early to get that done.  My plan was to get all the nitty gritty out of the way that day and quickly go my new apartment to get the keys, sign the necessary forms and finally be able to dump everything that had been packed in my car for 11 days into my new place and spend the rest of the day trying to get things somewhat organized and figure out what necessities I had to buy that very day.  It turns out my supervisor had to show up late that day and I didn't even get a chance to see her before leaving!  Luckily she knew I was moving in and I think it was alright that I left early my very first day of work!

Anyway, the move went quite smoothly.  It was really nice to be able to turn around from the driver's seat and see all my blind spots perfectly and the car almost felt lighter!  But before I was able to organize my stuff, I needed to buy essentials...stuff you take for granted...like toilet paper, soap, shampoo/conditioner, a shower curtain...even a pillow - stuff you might be able to do without your own if you were at a hotel.  But this time it's an empty box of an apartment and that's all you have!

It's been two full days since I've moved in and I still haven't gotten around to unpacking my suitcases fully.  Even tonight, I'll have to spend some time picking up some used furniture that I've been able to purchase from people working in my current building (so they're legit and reliable)...that'll basically be my evening, and I'll yet again be left with stuff I wanted to get around to organizing/unpacking, but unable to.  Oh, did I mention that until yesterday, I didn't even have a chair to sit on?  That's right, and empty apartment with no table, no chairs, no desks, no food, no bed, no mattresses...just carpet and that's about it.  What I brought in my car was mainly computer-related (which have no desk to rest on at the moment) and some essential kitchenware like utensils, a few pots, a pan, a few inexpensive plates/bowls/cups, a coffee maker, toaster, kettle...stuff like that.  Clothes and other stuff took up most of the rest of my space in my car driving down.  But that still leaves me without any furniture!  As you may have read though, I did manage to buy some things via the Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Saturday Sale weekend online and in person.  Unfortunately most things take 1-3 weeks to arrive...and then they insist on calling me the night before/day of to confirm shipping when I don't have a phone number!

Other "luxuries" like a TV will come later this week; cable will be easy to get.  But until I have a Social Security Number (SSN), I won't be able to sign a cell phone contract, which will also act as my internet connection...so until then, I'll still be cut off from the outside world apart from when I'm at work or at Starbucks - I'm glad they have free wi-fi.

So admist all this and a lot more I won't bore you with, I'm also starting work...everything is pretty much new to me and I'm having to really start to dig deep, do a lot of reading and learning things trial-by-fire style...luckily my supervisor is a really kind woman and the rest of the people in the lab are friendly - I shall hope that things go smoothly and my learning curve is not too embarrassingly steep.  After all, I am a post-doc...I'm "supposed" to know everything about everything, right?  Haha...

Even at work, there's still a lot of inconviences to overcome, like not even having internet access - I need to get others to log me in until I complete an orientation next week...luckily I was able to get all the necessary keys and be registered with payroll.

Anyway, lots more things to buy, organize and do before I can truly feel "settled"...and then there be more inconviences I have to deal with, like insurance, registering my car, getting a bank account, etc...yikes...I wouldn't want to go through this every year (unless a jab was worthwhile!)!

The Start of Many Things

Well, tomorrow I get to move into my new apartment.  Except unlike normal move-ins, I won't have a full truckload of stuff accompanying me into my apartment.  I won't have any furniture!  No bed, no dining table, chairs, sofa, desks or other creature comforts.  Heck, I think I'll only have a roll of toilet paper to get my by.  To complicate things, tomorrow's also the day I start work!  How will I manage?  Well, hopefully my work will understand if I have to leave early.  In fact, I hope I can get some critical paper work done (like filling out an I-9 form) and then I can start moving the stuff that has been packed in my car for the last week-ish into my apartment.  Then, I'll need to go shopping for a lot of necessities, like soap, shampoo, some cleaning products and inflating an air mattress I brought with me.  Then onto critical food items like vegetable oil, pastas, milk, juice...all the stuff that I usually take for granted as just existing inside any fridge.  Luckily, I've got some used furniture lined up for the coming week and hopefully I'll be able to at least pick up a couple chairs to sit on for tomorrow evening...at least I can use the kitchen countertop to eat off of.  Then by the end of the week, I hope to have some other small used items in my possession. 

By the end of next week, the deliveries will start to come - I have my TV coming on Friday, at which point I can pick up a cable box and at least have TV to watch, in addition to a microwave oven, toaster oven and a blue-ray player within a few days of this.  Next Monday, my mattress will finally be arriving, with the bed frame arriving a couple days later.  That following week, I'll also have a sofa sectional arriving along with an ottoman/coffee table and a work desk.  Meanwhile, I'll be on the lookout to buy some night stands, corner tables, desk drawers and maybe an inexpensive dresser to make my place more functional.  I don't think I'll really get around to "decorating" my place until the new year, after I've start to settle into my new apartment.

Next week, I'll also have to look into switching over my car insurance as being in the States so that in the near future, I can register my vehicle with the State of Texas, which is technically required to occur within a month of arriving in town.  I'll then also need to check if my Social Security Number has been processed...cause without that I can't sign a cell phone contract!  And I'm using that as my source for internet access...so no SSN, no phone or internet!  Brutal!  So for 1-2 weeks, I may not have internet OR a phone to use (not to mention TV)...talk about the dark ages!  I won't even get to update my Facebook status!  Yikes!  Haha...but don't worry, I think I might survive...

And wait, I'll be working at the same time! Time to turn my brain back on and start learning lots of new things from scratch!  It'll be a busy few weeks...I think I'm going to look forward to the holidays come mid-Dec...a short re-charge before really digging in the beginning of the new year.

Black Friday

So I celebrated my second Thanksgiving Day of the year in the same year for the first time - once in Canada, then another in the US.  As you may have read, this really could have given me problems had I not been able to sign an apartment beforehand since most businesses are closed for Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 25) and "Black Friday" (Nov. 26), with many places also closed for the last half of the 24th and the weekend following these dates.  I've heard a lot of "Black Friday", but hadn't really seen it first hand.  It's a day similar to Boxing Day in Canada (on Dec. 26) where people go crazy over sales at most every store.  Some stores open at 4am on Black Friday and the rare few, at midnight.  I didn't bother waking up early to line up for door crashers, but did actually take advantage of Black Friday sales online, many of which start the evening, say about 9pm before Black Friday.  As well, some items can ONLY be found online and not at the stores, although this means that you may have to wait a week or two for the items to be shipped to you or the store. 

Ironically, apart from a couple ergonomic/orthopedic pillows that I physically bought at a Sears for about 60% and 41% of their regular price, respectively, I ended up buying most everything else online.  Again, these online sales are just as good as the real deals, and you avoid buying older models of stuff that stores are trying to get rid of anyway.  Upon some of the great deals I scored were a 46" Samsung LED HD TV (120Hz) including a wifi-capable blue-ray player for 1K (I think I saved close to $900 on this one), including free shipping.  I also got a TV stand for about $100 (regular probably over $300), a sectional sofa and ottoman for another 1K and a desk from Ikea shipped to me for ~$100.

All in all, it was a pretty busy day, though because Lubbock isn't as big as Toronto, it was nowhere near as busy as Yorkdale Mall is on Boxing Day...and parking was still easy to find.  The sales seemed to be larger with electronics (30-50+% savings) and less so with clothing, from stores having 30% off the whole store, to 50% off, but only on selected items.  

Now I wonder how much stuff I may be able to bring back to the States from Boxing Day in Canada...

Apartment Hunting

Well, yesterday was a *full* day of apartment hunting.  I saw about 6 places which I had already previously researched online before having left for Lubbock.  They were all pretty decent, but I believe I made my best choice given the limited time I had (essentailly 2 days) to look for an apartment if I had any chance for being able to move in by Dec. 1, or better yet, earlier, considering that as an "alien" to the US, I'd have to go through many background checks and also keeping in mind that American Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the weekend eats up 4 more precious days...So I've scored a spacious 2-bedroom, 1000 sq. ft. apartment for about $600/month - can't really complain!

Now the hard part will be to furnish the place...unfortunately there is no Ikea in Lubbock and the closest one is a 6-hour drive, which of course I would not consider nor would it be feasible because for example, I would not be able to fit a bed in a sedan.  Shipping would cost hundreds of dollars and it's not worth it.  I've already tried looking at some local furniture stores - although I've found one that has decent priced furniture, it by no means has everything.  One-stop shopping is so much easier.  Ah well...I may even considering buying some things (online) from stores like from Walmart, JC Penney and possibly Target.

On other fronts, I've managed to apply for a Social Security Number, which will take a maximum of 2 weeks to receive.  A letter saying that I've applied for one is good enough to get me onto the payroll since I officially start work next Monday.  Unfortunately, only after I get my SSN, can I sign a contract to get a cell phone, which I plan to also use as my primary source for internet (via tethering feature).  Then I'll need to get digital TV!  Hard to imagine life without it...but of course, it's just not the same without having a couch to sit on to watch it or a bed to sleep on...so first thing's first...I need furniture!

Some random observations: I find it kind of interesting that there are actually a LOT of cops around...sitting around having lunch, cop cars parked here and there, I'd say I'd see a cop every 4 blocks I drive...even in rental apartment complexes...I found out that at least around apartment complexes, sometimes an officer will actually live there, which in a way makes them much safer.  Also, there is always highway construction going on...and there are a LOT of highways considering Lubbock only has about 275 000 residents...There's a "loop" 2-lane highway in each direction that encircles the city, and then a 2 lane highway in each direction that cuts across the heart of the city.  There is then a small highway that funnels to/from the university and then there are major roads that run just besides the highways that are used to enter/exit the highways and get to smaller streets.  The streets themselves are sometimes 4 lanes one direction, 2 lanes the opposite direction and sometimes 3-4 lanes in each direction...this is equivalent to having a Hwy 404/Don Valley Parkway in each community such as Markham, Scarborough or Richmond Hill...I can't see why they need so many highways!  The number of cops and highways leads me to think that the city of Lubbock and/or the state of Lubbock has a LOT of money (to hire all these government employees)!


Lastly, I went to a Starbucks that will actually be right beside the apartment complex I'm moving into...I was looking for Starbucks mugs that had "Texas" or "Lubbock" on it...but to no avail...I'll keep searching,  just for fun.  Btw, ~$2.69USD/gallon or $0.72CAD/L for gas ain't too shabby down here!

Finally in Lubbock - Day 4

Well, it was a long drive, about 2 700km from Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, to Lubbock, Texas, USA, via stops in Dayton, OH, St. Louis, MO and Oklahoma City, OK.  The drive was actually the most rough in terms of monotonous on the last leg of the journey from Oklahoma City to Lubbock, as all you see are cotton fields on the back roads that I ended up taking.  But I must admit it was a new sight to see and anything new is always interesting, if only for the first time.

Upon arriving in Lubbock, I found the highway system and traffic rules deceptively complicated...there were "turn around" lanes where you turn left after exiting a highway to go to a road running parallel along side the highway on its opposite side, from which you can get to streets and plazas...sometimes you turn left onto a highway, sometimes you bear right onto a ramp.  When heading perpendicular to a ramp or turn onto a highway, there are often 2 lights, from which you can be in a left turn lane before one set of lights but don't actually turn left until after the 2nd set of lights...very complicated...and there's no room for forgiveness if you're in the wrong lane approaching the turn within 500m because below that distance, cars in adjacent lanes make it near impossible to change lanes...I'm sticking to the regular streets!

Well, I had the pleasure of meeting my new boss for the next 2-3 years along with labmates and start to get some of the countless number of documents needed to be filed in the process...one of which is an authorization for a Canadian criminal background check.  Although I may try anyway, I may not be able to apply for a SSN until I have an I-9 form, which can only be filled out upon habing obtained my I-94 card and TN status (which I have) and having started work officially, which is next week.  Without being able to apply for a SSN, I can't get a temporary SSN to get onto the payroll at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and without a permanent SSN, I may not be able to get a cell phone plan, set up a bank account and all that jazz.  Luckily, I did obtain a proof of employment, which is needed for apartment rental purposes...which is what I'm off to try to do tomorrow...

Hopefully I'll be able to find a good apartment to rent and be able to make that decision by the end of tomorrow, as I have already done some research into which aparments I'd like to see and am slated to have a look at all of them tomorrow.  I have Wednesday as well should I need it, but then it's the American Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 25th, followed by Black Friday on the 26th and it'll be next to impossible to get any "stuff done" until next week after this Wednesday. 

On the brighter side, I do need to do a lot of shopping myself, so in the coming few days, I'll be on the lookout for furniture such as a bed, dining table, sofa set, a TV and other smaller things I could use around my hopefully soon-to-be-signed apartment.  My mother is down here with me for a little while before she heads back up by plane, so she'll come in handy for such purposes.  I've also caught glimpses of the phone that I want, without a means to purchase it because I don't have a SSN...almost torture!

Lastly, for dinner, I managed to find a Chick-Fil-A, which one of my friends LOVES...ironically in the main mall in Lubbock, Southplains Mall, it was one of the small few number of fast food places that were there!  Hey, I have no problem with it, though I'll have to really watch my caloric intake or I'll really balloon up in no time at all!

Alright...next of my agenda: apartment hunting!

Country Calm - Day 3

Well, the drive was relatively long from St. Louis, MO to Oklahoma City, OK, but for some reason, it didn't seem as such...well, let me rephrase that:  It didn't psychologically feel that long...physically, I felt like my feet had gotten taken out from beneath me on ice and I had hit the ice hard on my behind because I've been sitting too long...The scenery consisted of lot of deciduous trees with 90% of its leaves gone, myself wondering who would live in the plains of Oklahoma and Missouri when nothing else seemed remotely close except acres and acres of farmland, and how the driving speed limit was a nice, liberal 75mph, which is about 120km/h...however, not too many people exceed this limit (by much) as opposed to drivers on Hwy 401 in Toronto.  And another good thing...they have speed minimums, like 50mph (~80km/h), so that traffic is nice and smooth.

I was taken back by how the cashier looked at me at a McDonalds in southern Missouri when I asked for a side salad instead of fries - she looked at me as if I were from another planet in a blank stare...I was going to tell her that Canada was NOT another planet, but something tells me she would have given me the same blank stare.  I guess grease is something that comes complimentary and mandatorily in the mid-States, and cannot be substituted away for healthier foods...so I just took fries with my combo at McDonalds.  I also passed by Tulsa, Oklahoma, which I expected to be some small farming community, but it appeared to be a decently sized city...

Is it bad that I got gas at BP?  Well, I kinda needed it...but I'm pretty impressed that my measely Honda Civic was able to exceed 700km on one tank of gas - I guess highway driving IS pretty efficient.  I bet all car commercials only give their fuel efficiencies under ideal conditions such as this.  The gas station was pretty abandoned-looking there though, on a small exit off the highway in the middle of nowhere.  An elderly slender fellow with grey hair, coveralls and the look of days gone by under the sun whilst toiling in the field gave me a half-surprised look when I stumbled in the door to ask if there was a washroom I could use.  I don't think he gets too many visitors around there a day...I guess any customers are like the highlight of the hour.  Anyway, heading off to bed for an early morning so I can make the 6-hour drive to Lubbock with time to spare to visit the HR there to get some paper work done so I can be processed to be on their payroll and get forms so that I can apply to get a Social Security Number (SSN), something that may be needed in order to get a phone and possibly cable TV...then the day after, it's apartment hunting time!

I'm enjoying this balmy 23-degrees Celcius high right now - my dad tells me it just snowed back home in Toronto...Well, off to bed at a Country Inn & Suites, which is very new but oddly there aren't a lot of people around...(enter horror flick now)

Leo Goes To Whitecastle - Day 2

So today was luckily not as unpleasantly eventful as my first day, which involved crossing the Canada - US border.  As it so happens, I planned a lighter day of travel only about 6.5 hours of driving, allowing me to get a bit more sleep after yesterday's long day and have a more relaxed day...more time for lunch and the drive (6.5 hours).  I started from Dayton, Ohio and took I-70 West, going from Ohio into Indiana, passing through Indianapolis, crossed the south region of Illinois before arriving in St. Louis, Missouri.

As a treat, fate would you believe it, led me to finally try Whitecastle (http://www.whitecastle.com/).  OK, so my journey there (regrettably) didn't exactly involve wild kimchi parties, run-ins with hill billies' wives or hallucinogens, but hey, the place presented itself to me when I most needed it, at my stomach's beckoning.  I tried their double cheeseburger and chicken sandwich...they give you two half-sized square-bunned portions instead of one measely sized burger as you get as say McDonalds.  The double cheeseburger consisted of 2 mini-"meat" patties about 3mm thick and about 4cm squared with some small slices of processed cheese, that actually tasted a bit too processed for my liking, pickles and some high-caloric sauce but hey, it's fast food, I don't expect much.  The chicken sandwich consisted of a thin fried piece of breaded chicken that was a bit too salty for my liking.  There were options to get onion "chips" = rings or sweet potato fries...they were both "OK"...I probably wouldn't really go back, sorry to say, as most other places have better burgers than they do!  But at least I tried it and I did enjoy it...did you know Whitecastle started in the 1930's?  Yup...

 In related news, I had the chance to try a restaurant chain called Ruby Tuesdays tonight...I was actually quite impressed with their baby back ribs, which were pretty cheap at $13 (half-rack) and came with two sides, one if which was pretty good baked mac n' cheese (for $1 extra).

So enough about food, this isn't Diners, Drive-ins and Dives...

Having arrived in St. Louis, I saw the outside of Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, Busch Stadium, the home of the Cardinals and was surprised at how else there seemed to be downtown St. Louis...many areas of town seemed to literally be run down, with stores and homes boarded up due to lack of occupancy and maintanence.  I wish I had more time to explore the city and have planned places that I could have visited while here.  Ah well, there's always next time.

Tomorrow I will make an 8-hour drive south to Oklahoma City, passing through Tulsa, OK (where if you've heard of her, Carrie Underwood is from).  The weather is slowly starting to warm up half a degree at a time...seems like my southwestern trek is following the warm weather belt down...http://www.weather.com/maps/activity/fitness/usforecastsundayhigh_large.html

Well, I guess today wasn't too exciting...tomorrow may not be too much more exciting, but maybe I can count tumbleweeds and guess for a number between 2-4...haha...and btw, most radio stations play country music!

Border Battles - Day 1

Well, it was quite the eventful day travelling from Toronto to Dayton, Ohio...I woke up nice and early and hit the road at a quarter past 8 in the morning.  I reached the Windsor-Detroit tunnel to cross the US border at about 12:30pm to the sight of border officers in their black boots and tasers on the ready.  I had to go into the offices to apply for a TN visa, for which I had a very official and thorough package ready that had be Purolator'd to me a week prior.  To my amazement, they denied my entry because they wanted to see my original diplomas, despite having had documents prepared by a professional 3rd party agency whose sole purpose is to specifically investigate the validity of academic credentials for hiring purposes in the United States.  I had approved copies of my diplomas along with my job offer letter, evidence of ties to Canada and the whole sha-bang...and yet they still insisted on rejecting me until I had my original diplomas.

So I had a couple choices...drive all the way back home (4 hours) and back for a 8-hour round trip + gas money or have my diploma express over-night couriered to a hotel in Windsor for me to pick up in the morning...problem with option #2, is that I already booked my hotel for that night at my destination, so I'd be losing that hotel cost plus I'd have to pay for another hotel in Windsor and then pay for the cost of sending the diploma to that hotel, not to mention the chace that the diploma may be delayed or lost in the mail anyway...LUCKILY, my Dad came to the rescue and offered to actually drive my diploma to Windsor to save me time...and money...that way I could just enter the US later and eventually make it to Dayton, Ohio before night's end...that's what family is for, eh?  Turns out my Dad said the drive wasn't too bad and he didn't mind it: 3.5 hours one way.

My Dad made it back to Toronto an hour before I made it to Dayton Ohio...I checked in at 11:30pm...what a long and eventful day!!  Yikes...so that's where I stand.  It's getting late for Day 1 and I only have a 6-ish hour tomorrow so luckily I can sleep a little later, drive less and recover my wits.  Next stop: St. Louis, MO.  I considered going to the Blues-Devils game, but tickets prices are only half of what a Leafs tickets usually cost - not cheap enough - time is precious, so I think I may pass and hit up the city instead.  Let's hope my day isn't as unpleasantly eventful Saturday.

Over and out for now...now with my spanking shiny and new TN Visa (OK, it's just a piece of white paper stapled to my passport).

All Packed and Ready To Go

I've never been all packed the day before I had to move...I must have moved from place to place during my undergrad and grad years half a dozen times...even then, the day of the move, I always had something I knew I still needed to pack or disassemble (albeit in an organized fashion...things like a bed).  But this time, I'm all ready to go a day ahead of time.  Of course, the big reason being that this time I have no truck with near-unlimited space...only the trunk and the back seat of my car since I'm driving all the way down to Lubbock, Texas.  On Google Maps, I think they estimated that the drive would take 28 hours, but I figure that would not be humanly possible in one go and although 3 days would make it about a 9-hour drive per day, which is manageable, why suffer?  So I'll do it in 4 days instead.  Besides, sometimes in the big spread out lands that is central and mid-west USA, you can't just stop when your watch says you've driven your daily average of 9 hours or your eyes tell you you're tired.  I've planned it so that over 4 days, I'm stopping at places where there are people and I can find a hotel if I don't decide to make arragements ahead of time.

The first stop will be in Dayton, Ohio.  Here, I've made hotel arrangements already...it's about 8 hours of driving from Toronto, but keep in mind that crossing the border will likely take more than an hour considering wait times and the fact that I'm applying for a TN visa.  Luckily it appears that the package that I was sent by my boss seems very thorough and it looks like they've helped others do the same thing before.  Considering some timeouts for lunch, washroom breaks and dinner, it should be a pretty full day on the road.


I'll continue driving southwest until I hit my second stop of St. Louis, Missouri, followed by my third stop in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, before arriving in Lubbock, Texas on the final day.  I have my music all burned onto CDs (as mp3s), have some maps and most importantly a GPS.  I have medical insurance, a number to call in case my car breaks down and a phone that I won't use unless absolutely necessary.

I'm not sure it's hit me how different things will be down south.  I get asked this a lot, but I don't blame people because a) we live in Canada and b) I had the exact same question...where IS Lubbock?  First of all, Lubbock is pronounced Lub-ick, similar to "stomach"...it's in the Northwest area of Texas, called the "Hub City", has a population of about 275 000 people, but is not population dense, so it probably feels like a smaller city than it is.  However, it's still a full 6-hour drive from Dallas/Fort Worth and maybe a 5-6 hour drive to Albuquerque, New Mexico...but you don't want to spent much time trying to keep on going more West towards San Diego, California because that'd probably take a dozen hours.  There is a lot of cotton farms down in Lubbock and is generally pretty arid.  The coldest it gets in the winter on average is a low of -4 degrees Celcius and a high of 11 degrees Celcius...so snow is actually a rare occurrence and doesn't stay on the ground long, if at all.  Lubbock is the birthplace of Buddy Holly and a whole slew of country singers I don't though I have heard of the band the Dixie Chicks, of which Natalie Maines is from Lubbock.  Apparently college football is huge there...I'll be working at the Health Sciences Center at Texas Tech University (their Medical School there) and the Texas Tech football team is called the Red Raiders...I'm not a big fan of football, but I'm sure I'll check them out when I'm there.  I also plan on driving to Dallas if possible to see a Stars-Leafs game if possible!  Hmm...not too sure what else to say about Lubbock other than it'll take some getting used to, but hopefully it'll be a fun experience.  For more on Lubbock, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubbock,_Texas

I hear the portion sizes down there are huge...I imagine lots of BBQ, steak, fried food and Mexican food...they better have good beer!  Some of my friends say I may turn into a cowboy - that all I need is a cowboy hat, a big belt buckle and boots with spurs on it - I say unlikely!  Keep dreaming!  Maybe if it were Hallowe'en!  A friend also mentioned she couldn't get the song with the phrase "save a horse, ride a cowboy" out of her mind...well, I'll pretend to be a cowboy for a night if I get to choose she who would like to save a horse, lol...and no, I don't think I'll be developing some big Southern drawl accent...and yes, I'll only be able to have dim sum when I come back to Toronto...sad, but I think I may live.  Hey, they have an Olive Garden there...I'll just join their frequent customer program...haha.

Anyway, hopefully more from me when I'm on the big road down south...this will be the biggest road trip I've ever taken!  Time to saddle up!

Packing for Texas

Well, it's hard to believe that I'm about to move to Texas.  Looking for a job has been a long process, full of ups and well, even more downs.  But I guess that's how science is, so I guess I'm used to it by now!  Luckily I've found a great opportunity to do some exciting research in the field that I'm accustomed to, membrane transporters.  Maybe I'll leave it to a future post to talk about the research.

I've spent nearly a year back home in Richmond Hill and have enjoyed every day here!  Since then, I've been back to Kingston to defend my PhD thesis, finished corrections to it post-defence and had the pleasure of visiting Kingston one last time for my second and last university convocation.  I can't believe it has been 7 years since I convocated prior to my PhD convocation and that I've been "in school" at a post-secondary institution for a decade of my life...yes, a decade!  Crazy, eh?  But to be honest, grad school didn't really feel much like school because I only had about 3 courses that I had to complete within 2 year's time and spent the majority of my time doing research.  And although research often tests the patience of the person doing it, it also teaches you a lot of attacking problems, persistence and allows you to be creative with your ideas and approaches, a freedom many jobs often lack.  I found this opportunity to be quite satisfying.  I only wish I had been able to publish more.  But the conferences I went to in Innsbruck, Austria and Frederick, Maryland, were inspiring.  It's amazing how much brain power is at these conferences...I'll always feel like a lowly peon next to some of those minds.   But back to grad school, it was great to be able to have your own project, set your own deadlines, work your own hours and still make time to hit a local pub or two every weekend...with friends around and lots of activities in Kingston, it was a pretty sweet deal - I definitely enjoyed my times there.  And if I ever got home sick, I was only a 2.5-hour drive away. 

This time, the move will be of a much more significant distance.  I'll be starting a Post-Doctoral Research Associate ("post-doc") position with a well-known name in my field of ABC transporters down at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas.  It's a small city of only about 275,000 people, but spread over a large area to make it seem like a pretty rural town.  This will definitely be a change from Toronto, the city I've grown up to know and enjoy...I still don't know the streets well in Toronto!  It will take some getting used to, but I'm definitely up for the change and the new experience.  The position will probably be for the next 3 years, before I move on...it's not a set contract, just a chance for me to contribute to a lab and get some experience and papers out of it.  Where I go next is up in the air, just like my situation just 2 short months ago before I found this great opportunity.

So, I've started to pack my car for the long drive down...I'll be stopping in Dayton, OH, St. Louis, MO and Oklahoma City, OK before reaching Lubbock, Texas.  I've already receieved a TN Visa application package from the university in Texas that will hopefully allow for a smooth and speedy processing of my visa at the US border.  A catch to these visas is that you can't enter the US more than 10 days from your first day of official work, which can be tricky if you don't even have a place to live!  Upon arrival in Lubbock, I'll have to get a proof of employment letter just so I can possibly sign an apartment rental lease.  Upon starting work, I'll have to fill out additional forms that will allow me to apply for a Social Security Number, get a bank account and other essentials like a cell phone and TV service.  This is all while I may not even have an apartment to live in...luckily my boss is helping me out with accomodations prior to me having signed an apartment.  But I'll basically be starting to work before even having a bed to sleep in, assuming I've then "moved in" to an apartment - it'll be bare until I get a chance to buy lots of furniture - another chore for when I arrive.  Thinking about the logistics is a bit overwhelming, but I guess I'll just have to take it day by day...at first, without a phone, internet or a place to call home.

Well, let's see how much I can fit into my car...I may not be able to bring all that I want to bring, I just hope I am able to fit all that I need to bring in the car...the more I can bring, the less I need to buy!  I leave in a few days.  Just enough time to see a few more friends and have a couple more nice dinners!