Git R Done

As some of you know, I made a quick shot to Detroit recently to renew my Visa.

All is well... Here are some factoids:

• I had to leave the US and re-enter, so I was in Canada for the time it takes to do a U-turn around a small city block. I saw a ScotiaBank, a Tim Hortons, and newstands with the Toronto Sun. Neither Windsor nor Detroit have a lot going for it in the aesthetics department, so it was fairly uninspiring.
• It was great to hear really sharp Canadian accents (I don't have one). There is a ton of travel & commerce across the border and yet the accents are like night & day.
  
• However, I did catch the CBC on TV at the hotel. It was 'This Hour Has 22 Minutes'. It seemed so familiar (a studio audience just sounds different between the US and Canada, possibly because the latter are smaller) and yet I didn't get many jokes. I was more stunned by seeing people that I've read about: e.g. I've only heard Stephane Dion speak about 3 times.
• It is highly strange and humbling to see that your country has carried on just fine without you all these years, and is having a good time to boot.
  
• Hyper-light is the way to travel: a giant packing envelope and my ubiquitous backpack. I wore my suit the whole time.
  
• It was like an indy movie (re: coddling a giant yellow bubble envelope for 24 hours). I looked like a reject, probably, but it contained my actual university degrees so that thing didn't stray from my side. Those degrees have had a wild life (many airport XRay machines, travel, etc).
• I thought about asking a border guard to pose with some stickers for the tech blog, but sanity kicked in.
• It turns out that they do process my Visa 24 x 7 in Detroit, but one guard told me I was wise to come when I did. It is crazy busy on the weekends with hours long waits. I showed up there at 8:45 this morning and was out in an hour.
• I felt good in my suit (aside from the glaring yellow envelope). Big airports are like bars for business travellers (i.e. meeting places). Alas, I caught a cold and didn't feel very social. Pity.

That's a rap.... True experts on CC will note that I have rarely gone to the border in the past. That's because a previous employer paid for mail-in renewals. That was (sort of) an option this time, until I found out it would preclude my traveling over the holidays. That won't work, so it was off to Detroit.