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).
