And now for something completely different.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Cats Cats Cats
Safe and sound!
The cats arrived on Friday with my lovely mother. They were stuck in Chicago for a couple of hours but made it here eventually. Cats were surprisingly calm considering what they had endured.
Welcome home ladies!
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Pittsburgh's quirky
Let's start a list of weird things about Pittsburgh:
- What I call "The Pittsburgh Left". Pittsburghers often let the first person turning left at a light that just turned green go before the rest of the traffic continues straight through the intersection. People sometimes flash their lights at you to let you know they are going to let you have a Pittsburgh left. People will also almost hit you with their car if you do not observe their "right" to a Pittsburgh left. We're not sure where the law stands on this.
- In Pittsburgh, sometimes you pay when you get on the bus, and sometimes you pay when you get on. You always pay when you get on if the bus does not pass through the downtown core on its route (59U). You pay when you get on a bus if it is on its way downtown, and off if its on its way out of downtown (61C). Oh, but if it's after 7pm you always pay when you get on. This is very confusing to me. I have a bus pass. I usually just show it on my way in and out, though it makes me look like a tourist. A tourist with a bus pass.
- This next one is jokingly referred to as the Pittsburgh salad phenomenon, by which would everything (including salads) has fries, cheese and meat on it. If you don't believe me check out Primanti Brother's sandwiches. They make a vegetarian version, which just has cheese, and I must say it was the blandest 1500 calories I ever ate. The salad bar at work even has pepperoni. My office mate, Andrew, has pepperoni on his salads, so I know it's not just for show. I've asked where the tofu is, they're not sure. There is a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's in Pittsburgh, so I know I'm not the only person in the city who eats these things.
Monday, April 2, 2007
First post!
You know, I set up this blog almost 2 months ago. This is how long it's taken for me to get my act together. Without further ado, let me get you up to speed with the adventure that was moving over 3,000 km.
We had a huge problem with our movers before we left. On Tuesday (my birthday, for heaven's sake!) the movers showed up. I was supposed to be out of my apartment by the next day at 3. However, because I didn't have a work Visa they movers threatened not to take my stuff. This was less than 24 hours before I had to be out of the apartment and I hadn't even cleaned the floors. The situation was that my work visa is a rare kind. Because I'm a "NAFTA professional" (go figure) I just apply for my Visa at the airport on the day I leave. So I had nothing to show my movers on my moving day, and so they had no reason to believe I was actually going to be granted access to the US. Also, the movers were going to have nothing to show customs officials when they tried to take my stuff across the border. After the movers got fairly upset, and I threatened to faint, the movers decided to wait an extra day and a half to see if we got our work Visas at the airport. They were very sceptical that we were even going to get a Visa, as most Visas take like 8 months (and a whole lot of paper work) to process. So then I got really freaked out and thought maybe I'd missed some crucial step in the planning of all of this. Anyway, the movers loaded our stuff into their truck and took $800 from us, just in case we didn't get Visas, so they could put our stuff into storage. I don't think Mark and I slept in the two nights following.
Everything worked out fine, though. We got our Visas, faxed them to the movers and our stuff showed up almost 4 weeks later. We've found ourselves a nice little townhouse with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and moved in on Valentine's day. It's a little bigger than we need, but there wasn't a whole lot in the way of apartments at the time. Understandably, not a lot of people are interested in moving in the middle of February. But, more bedrooms means more room for visitors! It's in a safe part of town and close to basically anything you could want: coffee, a tea house (like Steeps in Edmonton), movies, groceries, yoga, restaurants, pubs.
The neighbourhood is a really neat one. Apparently it's the largest population of Jewish people in the US, second only to Brooklyn. Our neighbours to the north wear yarmulkes and those sash things. And I heard a lady in the grocery store bragging about her son's bar mitzvah. The grocery has a very large kosher section. We've yet to venture beyond kosher pickles and some strange kosher yogurt drink. Most of all I love the bus ride, which only takes 10 minutes to work. It rivals the LRT. And there's like 3 buses that cover the route from here to work. Working at a university is such a great gig, 'cause students can't afford cars. ;-)
Somehow we're getting by without a car. I think we're going to rent occasionally, though. For big grocery trips. And we might need to go back to IKEA. It's like a strange addiction. I hate most of the furniture we bought at IKEA when we got here... but we just need a few more things... Meh.
Oh my... getting a social security number has been a hassle. For four weeks I didn't have one which meant:
* Cannot get cell phone
* Renter's insurance is expensive
* Cannot get credit card
* Cannot register for health benefits at work (though they will be retroactive once said SSN is issued)
* most importantly: WAS NOT BEING PAID. This includes 1/2 month's salary (and counting) and my moving allowance. I've spent close to $5000 already on the move, all out-of-pocket.
Thankfully I got my first check in the mail this past Saturday. Due to another mix up it's only for one pay period and doesn't include my moving allowance. I'm being patient, though. We're not out of money, and I know the rest will come in time.
Whew... that pretty much catches you up. Mark and I are just settling into our new life in Pittsburgh. Navigating the bus system, trying to find cool stuff and cool people in Pittsburgh. Enjoying the coming of spring and tolerating the spring showers.
We had a huge problem with our movers before we left. On Tuesday (my birthday, for heaven's sake!) the movers showed up. I was supposed to be out of my apartment by the next day at 3. However, because I didn't have a work Visa they movers threatened not to take my stuff. This was less than 24 hours before I had to be out of the apartment and I hadn't even cleaned the floors. The situation was that my work visa is a rare kind. Because I'm a "NAFTA professional" (go figure) I just apply for my Visa at the airport on the day I leave. So I had nothing to show my movers on my moving day, and so they had no reason to believe I was actually going to be granted access to the US. Also, the movers were going to have nothing to show customs officials when they tried to take my stuff across the border. After the movers got fairly upset, and I threatened to faint, the movers decided to wait an extra day and a half to see if we got our work Visas at the airport. They were very sceptical that we were even going to get a Visa, as most Visas take like 8 months (and a whole lot of paper work) to process. So then I got really freaked out and thought maybe I'd missed some crucial step in the planning of all of this. Anyway, the movers loaded our stuff into their truck and took $800 from us, just in case we didn't get Visas, so they could put our stuff into storage. I don't think Mark and I slept in the two nights following.
Everything worked out fine, though. We got our Visas, faxed them to the movers and our stuff showed up almost 4 weeks later. We've found ourselves a nice little townhouse with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and moved in on Valentine's day. It's a little bigger than we need, but there wasn't a whole lot in the way of apartments at the time. Understandably, not a lot of people are interested in moving in the middle of February. But, more bedrooms means more room for visitors! It's in a safe part of town and close to basically anything you could want: coffee, a tea house (like Steeps in Edmonton), movies, groceries, yoga, restaurants, pubs.
The neighbourhood is a really neat one. Apparently it's the largest population of Jewish people in the US, second only to Brooklyn. Our neighbours to the north wear yarmulkes and those sash things. And I heard a lady in the grocery store bragging about her son's bar mitzvah. The grocery has a very large kosher section. We've yet to venture beyond kosher pickles and some strange kosher yogurt drink. Most of all I love the bus ride, which only takes 10 minutes to work. It rivals the LRT. And there's like 3 buses that cover the route from here to work. Working at a university is such a great gig, 'cause students can't afford cars. ;-)
Somehow we're getting by without a car. I think we're going to rent occasionally, though. For big grocery trips. And we might need to go back to IKEA. It's like a strange addiction. I hate most of the furniture we bought at IKEA when we got here... but we just need a few more things... Meh.
Oh my... getting a social security number has been a hassle. For four weeks I didn't have one which meant:
* Cannot get cell phone
* Renter's insurance is expensive
* Cannot get credit card
* Cannot register for health benefits at work (though they will be retroactive once said SSN is issued)
* most importantly: WAS NOT BEING PAID. This includes 1/2 month's salary (and counting) and my moving allowance. I've spent close to $5000 already on the move, all out-of-pocket.
Thankfully I got my first check in the mail this past Saturday. Due to another mix up it's only for one pay period and doesn't include my moving allowance. I'm being patient, though. We're not out of money, and I know the rest will come in time.
Whew... that pretty much catches you up. Mark and I are just settling into our new life in Pittsburgh. Navigating the bus system, trying to find cool stuff and cool people in Pittsburgh. Enjoying the coming of spring and tolerating the spring showers.
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