Thursday, August 10, 2006

More reunions... then sad departures...

Sushi dinner with Jumpmaster, BEG, and BEG's friend "tries to fit giant sushi roll in mouth" (TTFGSRIM).

Eric squared. People encountered at Calgary's answer to the Grad Club. Naturally they were found by the Fly Fisherman.


A long awaited reunion with the Fly Fisherman and Jumpmaster.

All of us at Calgary's "Grad Club"

A fairly standard pose for the Fly Fisherman.


The Visa renewal process went well too. I had all my documentation like last year, and copies, and originals, all neatly organized etc. The customs officer only wanted to see my masters degree. Made it simpler, but the 1/2 cm thick pile of documentation and effort felt a little wasted...
So, I got through check in (desperately having to pee due to the coffee I had while waiting and the lack of bathrooms available before check in) and ran off to the next stage. It turned out that was customs, no bathrooms in site. So I got through customs and was sent to the "secondary holding room" (seriously, that's what it was called and if I didn't have to pee so bad AND didn't want to get in trouble, I would've photographed the room sign). There I waited until I was seen by a customs officer to do the Visa thing. We chatted, she looked at my masters, dismissed the rest of the documentation, and asked if I had US cash or checks with me. Of course I didn't. Last time I paid with credit card. You can't do that at the airport.
So she sent me back through customs, backwards, to go but US cash from the currency exchange booth. The currency exchange booth would not allow me to buy US cash with a US debit or credit card. So they sent me back through customs (forwards) to my belongings to find my Canada wallet. Then I went back through customs, backwards, to the currency exchange booth to buy US cash. The debit machine was not functioning properly. I really really really had to pee. The currency exchange lady unplugged and restarted everything, and we got going. Then I went back through customs AGAIN (forwards) and back over to the secondary holding room with money in hand. I exchanged it for a new Visa and sprinted to the bathroom. Whew!

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