The Quick Trip

Yes, I am back from my whirlwind trip to Vancouver. The long and short of it is, I had a great interview with Kore Interactive and I am told they will be making me an official job offer on Monday. So of course further details will be posted here as soon as that happens. But for those wanting more info on the events of the last few days, perhaps this format would be most suitable:

Tuesday
4:30 AM - Wake up, get dressed, eat, drive to the airport.

7:00 AM - Take off for Seattle.

8:30 AM - Land in Seattle.

9:30 AM - Board the Quick Shuttle Bus for Vancouver

12:00 PM - Cross the border into Canada. No hassles.

12:30 PM - Hop off the shuttle, find Dad's car which he's not using while he's in London and which was left there for me by my brother who is probably at work by now. Drive to Mom's.

12:45 PM - Eat leftover Easter ham and potatoes out of Mom's fridge. Watch TV, shower, put on nicer clothes than I would ever actually wear to work for this company.

2:30 PM - Grab resume and reference letters and head out the door.

3:30 PM - Park at a meter and wander around looking for a store that will change a $20 so I can pay the meter. No one will. Walk out of the fourth store and almost bump into two cops. Explain to them that I am trying to break my twenty and pay the meter and could they please not give me a ticket. They look at me funny. I find a currency exchange, get some coins, come back to the car to find that the cops put a dollar in my meter for me. Yup, this is Canada.

4:00 PM - Interview with Kore Interactive. This would be a great place to work. Todd introduces himself and informs me that he is quite sick. We have a short, animated conversation in which I ask him as many questions as he asks me, I brag about the cool stuff I've done at the BCA back home in Minnesota, he alludes to the fact that most developers with my skills and qualifications can't actually hold an actual conversation with normal people and seems very pleased that I clearly can. He promises I will hear from them early next week, and doesn't shake my hand because, oh yeah, he's sick.

5:00 PM - Make it back to White Rock and tell everyone the good news. Great dinner with my brother Brad, my brother Derek and his girlfriend Angie, my sister Brianna and her husband Caleb, my mom and her husband Don. Catch up with everybody, eat a plethora of desserts and drink wine.

9:00 PM - Drive over to Derek's place for some serious Rock Band 2 action.

11:30 PM - Back to Mom's, fall into bed.

Wednesday
6:30 AM - Wake up, get dressed, eat.

7:30 AM - Pick up buddy Steve. Much jesting as we drive up into downtown Vancouver.

8:20 AM - Fantastic coffee. Yup, this is Vancouver.

8:30 AM - Interview with Steve's company. I'm clearly not quite what they need right now, but reasonably close, actually. Great conversation with the HR department and this seems like it would also be a great place to work. I seem to have impressed, and if nothing else I've made another contact, at a place where Steve can always put in a good word for me if I need it. Right now it's looking like Kore is going to be the place, but it was fun to be able to interview here too.

10:45 AM - Ironically, this time I got a ticket, because I was there longer than I thought I was going to be.

11:45 AM - Back at Mom's, everybody's at work. Eat more leftover ham, watch a movie, go online and pay the parking ticket.

3:30 PM - My cousin Travis shows up with his wife and 6-month-old daughter. Fun talk catching up. We decide to drive over and see my niece. Stacey is glad to see us, Abby is enthused to see Kacia, and Kacia is cautiously observant of Abby. My niece Kacia is amazingly beautiful, adorable and definitely reminds me of her dad Brad, though I can't explain exactly how.

6:30 PM - The Vancouver Canucks play their first playoff game tonight. The gang (Derek, Angie, Brianna, Caleb, Steve, and a couple of Angie's friends) meets at Sawbuck's pub to watch the game and eat far too many chicken wings. I drink more beer than I usually do, but I still can't keep up with Steve. The Canucks win. Some guy gives me a Canucks hat, for free, and he gives my sister a T-shirt. Yup, this is Canada.

10:00 PM - Back to Derek's for even seriouser Rock Band 2 action. My voice has become hoarse from singing Disturbed, Metallica and System Of A Down songs. The drums kinda make your back sore too. If you've never done it...Rock Band is amazingly fun.

2:00 AM - Back to Mom's, fall into bed.

Thursday

6:00 AM - Wake up, get dressed, eat, drive to the airport.

9:00 AM - My mom and I are on a tiny plane from Vancouver to Seattle. There is no first class, no middle seats, and no coffee. So, my mom had already planned a trip to visit us in Minnesota before I lined up this interview, and it just happened that she was flying out on the same day that I had to be coming back home. So we got on the same planes.

10:00 AM - We land, wait two hours for the flight from Seattle to Minneapolis.

12:00 PM - Take off. Normal plane. I'm about half asleep for about half the flight.

5:30 PM - Land. Drive home.

6:30 PM - Mmmm...Michelle made pizza.

Friday
8:00 AM - Go to work.

3:00 PM - Email from the President of Kore: Hi Josh, your interview went great. I will be sending you an offer letter Monday afternoon.

Yes.