Time flies and it is now time for an update
It has been ten days since my last post. Let me give you a quick update.
Last Saturday, a group of twenty two colleagues and family members went rafting on the river that goes across Calgary and which is called the Bow. Okay, it was more floating that rafting since there is no white water but it was certainly a nice way to spend a few hours. This was fun and we ended up all wet. I fought with a six year old named Michael to see who would be the toughest. Some embarrassing photos were taken and I hope they will never surface on the Internet. I cross my fingers. The temperature was above thirty degrees celcius and I managed not to burn. This was a first for me. Sunscreen is usually a disappointment.
On Sunday, I spent six hours emptying the moving truck. I mean, I watched the movers unload while I was checking off items on the list. I helped a little but given their efficiency, I was mostly impeding their work. We received all the items and we only got one item broken that we will be able to repair. I suggest you go with Allied if you need to move. They were extremely professional from A to Z and I would not go with another company.
The house looks great and seventy percent of the boxes have been unpacked. Melissa is doing wonders with the furniture and accessories.
This week, I have continued to implement Scrum at work with one of my teams and it is quite fun. There is of course more work and learning to do but I will certainly recommend you give it a try if you have a chance.
This week end, Melissa and I are probably going for a bike ride. We acquired two road bikes a fortnight ago.
I am now commuting daily by bike which reduces my commute time from forty minutes to fifteen. I still have to try the bus for the "cool" days of winter.
In other news, I will probably go to SEG in Las Vegas next November and I hope to see you there.
Home Sweet Home
The whole family is now safe in Calgary. We took off from Houston in the middle of the tropical storm Edouard. We landed in Calgary with a small thirty minutes delay.
We have been amazed by the kindness of Canada immigration and custom officers. They were extremely friendly, helped us all the way. Because of my status, Melissa was able to obtain a working visa right away. This is a big difference with the USA where, to my understanding, workers' spouses are not allowed to work.
The cats are adjusting to the new home. They are confined to the mud room downstairs and the female (smarter than the males, this goes without saying), managed to escape the room at multiple occasions and we had to double our efforts to refrain her from escaping.
Our furniture is hopefully on its way and we should see it unloaded in about two weeks. In the mean time, we are camping in the house (sleeping bags, and all).
Today, we walked downtown for about ten kilometers to get Melissa started.
Saturday, we plan on going for a short hike. We need to enjoy the summer while it lasts...
Booking a flight to Calgary
Before I begin, let me tell you that since my last post, I was in contact via Skype with three of my former colleagues. This was great to get fresh news and exchange notes. Don't hesitate to contact me, please... The conversation was different that it used to be at times because we now work for different employers and we are all incredibly respectful of our NDAs. Anyway, the bootstrapping in Calgary continues and it is time to tell you more about traveling with four cats. More precisely, how to book a flight to Canada for four cats. Yes, I have four cats. Why do you look at me funny?
- Identify an airline you are comfortable with and who will be accepting cats. Air Canada does not accept cats during the summer. I am guessing that they use natural cryogenics the rest of the year. I picked Continental. They were more expensive but they have a good service in Houston.
- Book a flight for the slaves — you know the saying, "dogs have masters and cats have slaves". Of course, the price of the flight increased by 50% since the last time you check two days prior but this is the usual boring story.
- Call the Dedicated 24-hour Live Animal Desk
- Learn that you need the exact dimension of each of the four kennels before you can make a reservation
- Learn that they only ship three animals per flight for Calgary and that the flight you booked already has a four legged passenger in cargo
- Be reminded that you will need health certificates from a veterinary dated less than ten days prior to departure
- Learn that the cats will need to have three inches of room above their head when standing up. Thankfully, they did not ask about room on the side. My cats are not fat, they are horizontally challenged
- Be asked to call once you have the proper information
- Sweat a bit
- Have your partner shove the biggest fattest cat in one of the kennels and measure
- Call your veterinary
- Hear that they need to check if they issue international health travel certificates. One month ago they did but they may have change their policy
- Wait for the veterinary to call back
- Hear that you may need a stamp from Austin before the airline can accept your cats
- Collect the kennel dimensions from your partner in crime
- Call continental airlines
- Answer questions about kennel size, number of pets, each pet weight (this is the embarrassing bit), pets age, address, phone number, etc.
- Hold on, anxiously, and for an eternity while they book the flight for you. OK, it was only five minutes but you are a bit anxious after all
- Write down the confirmation number
- Learn that you are indeed going to travel in the same plane as your cats
- Heave a big sigh of relief
- Write a blog post about it
I am flying back to Houston on Friday. Movers will be packing our things on Saturday and will be loading the truck on Monday. The cats are visiting the veterinary on Monday (they love this part) and our flight is on Tuesday. We are going to camp in the rented house until our furniture arrives after hopefully clearing customs.
Transferring funds
I thought that It would be simple to wire money to my new account in Calgary. It would have been a simple matter of calling the bank, proving my identity and have the funds wired. Unfortunately, deep down hidden on my USA bank web site, you can read that this can only happen if you previously obtained a pin number by going to a branch in person. As a consequence, Melissa had to go to the bank and wire the money.
Nevertheless, I surprisingly had to assist the banker over the phone since he was not familiar with transferring money to Canada and was confused between the SWIFT and the ABA number. Then, the transfer failed because he wired the money to the wrong name. A day later, Melissa fixed the situation.
In retrospect, I should have gone to the bank beforehand to get the pin number or bring more funds with me as I entered the country. Live and learn.
Renting a home
The housing market in Calgary is interesting. The median price for a house is $420K while it is $120K in Houston. This means that we are going to rent for a while until we know the town and we are ready to buy.
There are quite a few websites out there to help renters find their home and rentfaster is clearly the best due to its advanced search capabilities. Melissa located a few houses that she liked based on the description, photos, and budget. The landlord had be be willing to accept cats. I called about ten people and was able to enter in contact with about half of them. Three days later, I was able to schedule two visits; A house located in Mount Pleasant, a neighborhood in the north west at ten minutes by car from downtown and a house located in Scarboro, a neighborhood in the south west, also ten minutes from downtown.
The first house was quite nice, the interior was new and clean. It was located one street north of Trans-Canada Highway 1. Thanks to double pane windows, the house was really quiet but we didn't really want to live right behind a strip mall facing one of the major thoroughfare across Calgary.
The second house, per Melissa's description, was a jewel. Built in 1929, the house has original wood flooring on the main level and the finished basement opens to the back yard garden were you can find a huge outdoor fireplace. From the deck situated on the main level, you can see hills in the northwest. I went to scout the location and it is a green and hilly neighborhood. In brief this was the house we wanted.
The only problem was competition. Other potential tenants were visiting the house when I arrived and the landlord later told me that he had many other applicants. It took some convincing and Melissa, still in Houston, had to have a conversation with our nice landlord before he decided to rent the house to us. For obvious reasons, most people move during the summer and combined with the low inventory, this creates quite a demand for houses.
Now, my commute to work is going to be forty minutes, just like in Houston. The only difference is that in Houston I had to drive while here, I will be walking to walk. I could also take the bus but I am going to pass on this option for now. According to long time Calgarians taking public transportation won't be necessary except one week a year when the temperature drops to -30C (-22F).