and finally the clouds broke

i havent been in vancouver for more than 48 hours and already i was beginning to doubt the existence of our nearest star. my fears were put to rest today as the sun finally showed its glorious face. it didnt come out in the full southern california splendor that im usually accustomed to, no it was more of a gentle seductive tease with clouds lingering behind covering just enough but by late afternoon the clouds were tossed to the side and the sun was out.

i had just met with dwayne earlier in the morning in the city of new westminster, which is about 40 minutes away from downtown vancouver. dwayne works as an a/v tech for douglas college, which is where we met-up. we chatted a bit and then he showed me around his department and all of his cool audio gear. finally we got to the heart of it: the craigslist comeup. i tested the comtek transmitter, receiver and plugged in dougs ipod for signal; it was all gravy. the deal was done

it was 2:30pm and i was on a different bus this time headed to trew audio. i was looking to make another sound purchase when i saw that the sun was finally out. i quickly looked up the time of sunset and it had it at 5:27pm. i did the math and i had to make a choice: buy another piece of sound gear or get off and hop on another bus in hopes to see a vancouver sunset. it was tough choice.
sounds like im out of control but im not, its just that the canadian dollar is pretty weak right now or is it that the american dollar is strong?
i dont know but what i do know is that tomorrow is never promised and if today were to be my last, id like to know that i saw a great sunset.

i ran out of the bus and luckily i was few blocks away from the express 257 bus that sends you north about an 1 hour and 40 something minutes to a neat town called horseshoe bay.
the bus dropped me off in a random turnabout in a residential neighborhood. 2 kilometers of downhill walking later and i finally found what i was looking for. 

craigslist come-up: vancouver

i just arrived in seattle a few moments ago and things are barely beginning to make sense. i had the whole row on the flight up here and the last thing i remember is the retreating santa monica shore line. the past 3 days ive worked 16-hour shifts so i dont know how i even managed to get up this morning. my alarm went off at 4am, the second at 4:35am and after changing my mind a thousand times i finally got myself up, showered, packed and hit the road. 

if you know me you know that i love my sleep. i cherish my sleep dearly so why you might ask would i subject myself to so much misery. well, 

if theres one thing i do love more or equally as much is finding a great deal. oh, and travel, travel also. so when these three passions of mine come together its a beautiful thing. unfortunately sleep had to take one for the team but its all good; ive never been to vancouver and i keep hearing great things. 

monday was a pretty crazy day

my alarm went off at 4:00am but i snoozed a few times; i rolled my eyes, i didn't want to start the day. my flight to jfk was scheduled at 6:59am and there were two airport shuttles from downtown montreal that i could take: 5:01am or 5:31am. i knew it'd be risky but i went with the 5:31am not truly knowing how much of a risk it'd actually be.  

along the way these were some of the challenges that i encountered:

the shuttle was 10 minutes late 

my metro card for some reason wasn't reading but by thee grace of God the driver let me on

by the time i got to the american airlines counter, i was late for international check-in

the check-in lady must've felt sorry for me because the next thing i know she hands me a boarding pass and tells me "give it a shot, but we will not wait for you" that was all i needed. i thanked her and bolted towards the gates. i thought i had things in the bag but i quickly realized that it wasn't going to be that easy.

US customs and immigration is done at montreal airport so when i got to security the line was out of control. i was about to throw the cards and give it up but then i realized that there must be a global entry line somewhere! or not. 

i frantically looked but nothing, no signage, nada. i approached a security agent and asked him if there was a global entry line, he paused, my sphincter tightened, and then he slowly pointed. directly behind me, a few yards away, right next to the crew-member & airport employee line there was a sign that read global entry

my heart lepped. and yet again global entry saves the day. i've had global entry for a little over a year now and its probably one of the best $100 dollars i've ever spent. seriously. seriously seriously.

it was 6:25am when i got my customs slip from the kiosk and it was 6:35am when i got past the CBP officer. i was greeted by the pre-boarding announcement when i reached my gate. it was a sweet sound. there were so many variables in play that had to go my way in order to get where i was at. not just at the boarding gate but in general. a few minutes later i was given my seat and a moments later i was sitting in 18a waiting for push back.

i wish i could say that that was it but my day had only just begun. from new york i flew to san francisco and from there finally to seattle. it was long long day but thats the kind of job and life i signed up for. wouldn't have it any other way. God bless!

montreal: leisure or work?

i've answered this question many times before but this time was different; still, i checked the box that said leisure and went with it. as we got through the customs line the agent looked at my sketchy and battered passport and asked why i was in montreal.

i didnt freeze but i will say that she caught me taking an extra second to answer, which then prompted her to send me to secondary questioning. i walked inside this office that kind of resembled a clean DMV - if there was ever one - and standing in front of the line there was this huge black guy. he didnt seem all that happy, which was cool because he caused a scene and began demanding an explanation of "why am i in this damn line for?!" the customs agent was having none of it and quickly put him in his place "sir, you can go back if you want." he changed his tone and then i was called.

the agent, a young dude, hipster looking, asked me why i was in montreal and i said primarily for work. he suspiciously looked at my customs form and asked for who and for how long. i answered and he flipped through my passport a few more times. i flipped my shit a few times being that i didnt have anymore room in my passport. he didnt seem to care though and stamped right on top of another country and said welcome to montreal.

michelle was waiting for me at the bottom of the escalator and she couldnt have looked more beautiful. maybe it was the possibility being detained or deported back to the states, but it felt so great to see a good friend on the other side. we quickly figured out how to get into the city and found our hostel in minutes. the next 2 days were crammed with walking, climbing, laughing and eating. we had a great time exploring montreal and its definitely a city worth coming back to.