Ottawa in January

January 8, 2017

7am (35 degree F ) Sacramento

Drove to SMF. (Sacramento International Airport). My car seems to know the way without me
paying attention. I have spent more time on the road than at home lately. I was traveling with my Demo POD which has its own Carnet(Passport). Which flying out of Sacramento is problematic. Even Though SMF is an international airport. It is not “International” on a Sunday morning (No Customs Agent to sign my carnet). I will have to get it signed in Chicago before I hop on my flight to Ottawa.

1pm  (-6 degrees F) Chicago

Glad I brought my heavy winter coat. When I got off the airplane the bitter cold came right into the jet-way. I knew it was going to be cold in Ottawa so I came prepared with heavy coat, gloves etc… Or at least the best that a Californian can get ready for the bitter cold of the great white north.  Short layover with a rush to the Customs office to get my carnet signed for the Demo POD. Made my connection with a couple of minutes to spare.

6pm (-30 degrees F) – Ottawa - You read that right, a 65 degree swing from California to Ottawa.

I forgot how cold anything below 0 degrees F really is. I sure felt it. The jet from Chicago to Ottawa was a small 50 passenger Commuter jet, very similar to the one that Intel has to shuttle people back and forth between major sites. Because the plane was so small, my DemoPOD would not fit in the overhead and I had to plane side check it. This meant I had to wait on the Jet-bridge for my bag. I have not been that cold in a long time. The Jet bridge did not cover the smaller aircraft all the way so it was just as cold in the jet-way as outside. Since it was so cold outside, we had to wait for the ground crew to come out and get the luggage. I guess they don’t make them stand outside and wait for aircraft when it is so cold. Needless to say, there were a number of us that froze on that jet bridge waiting  30 minutes for our luggage.

This is what -25 F looks like

I Retrieved my bag and headed to Customs and Immigration. Carnet and Passport in hand. I spent another hour and a half going through customs and immigration. Next, off to the hotel. It had already been a pretty long day, so I was looking forward to just relaxing before my meetings over the next couple of days.

I normally rent a car when I travel. It tends to save money since I am typically visiting several locations. This time my Ottawa based contact suggested I refrain from driving the wintry roads of Ottawa and get a taxi. That was a wise decision. I guess they figured a California boy did not know how to drive in the snow and ice. They were right. It has been over 20 years since I lived in the ice and snow of Toronto. It was nice to leave the driving to a pro.

This was my second time to Ottawa and my second time staying at the Marriott downtown. It is pretty centrally located and easy to get around Ottawa. Last time I was in Ottawa they gave me the presidential suite. One of the perks of travelling a lot in my career. No such luck this time. But I still got a nice upgraded room. My wife tried to surprise my by having a cheese plate and dessert in my room when I arrived for my birthday. But when I arrived they switched my room. She kept wondering why I didn’t mention something to her when I called. It is always nice to know that you are loved when something like that shows up.

January 9th – 9am – (-10 degrees  F)

A Narwhal in one of the buildings we walked thru

It actually was warmer this morning than the previous night. The weather here is constantly changing, and people know their way around the cold. Most of my meetings were downtown today. We spent our time walking through buildings to stay out of the cold. I remember when I lived in Toronto I could easy walk downtown without going outside. There are tunnels that connect all of the major buildings downtown. This is not the case in Ottawa. So you have periods of bitter cold between buildings. But everyone is doing it. I felt like I was a rat in a maze. I am glad I had someone with me or I would have been lost otherwise.

6pm – (32 degrees and snowing)

Snowy Ottawa

One thing I remember from living in Toronto was when it snowed it warmed up. It really does not snow when it is – 30 degrees. So the warm up was great and then the snow came in sheets. We got about 6 inches in just 3 hours. So walking home after dinner was very quiet. There were no cars or people in the streets at 9pm at night in a busy city. The snow also muffled the typical sounds of a big city. It was eerie and calm.

January 10th – 9 am (38 degrees and melting)

All of the snow from the night before was melting and causing a slippery wet and muddy mess. People were ready for the change in weather. The big heavy coats that I had seen from the days before were gone and just a sweater and light jacket were the fashion of the day.  I also saw some of the most colorful rain boots. People were ready to slosh through the messy streets of Ottawa. I of course, was not prepared for this, but I survived. I got to see an almost 70 degree swing in temperature in the 2 short days I was in Ottawa. Something I know I would not have experienced back in California.

3pm – (38 degrees) Headed home (Ya!!)

Off to the YOW (Ottawa International Airport). For a nation’s capital, Ottawa actually has a pretty small airport. But that makes it easy to get in and out of. They have one terminal and from what I could gather about 20 gates. So about half the size of Sacramento.  I still had a long day traveling home. My layover was in Chicago, which is always risky. I have been delayed out of Chicago too many times in my years of travel. I was concerned about my connection from Chicago to SFO and then on to SMF.

11pm – (42 degrees) SFO

I should have listened to my gut. My flight out of Chicago was delayed for 2 hours, which meant that I would not make my flight from SFO to SMF. I landed in SFO 15 minutes after my flight to SMF left. United gave me the option to stay the night at a local Marriott or drive home. It was already 11pm at night so I took the hotel stay and caught a flight the next morning.

So what did I learn from this trip.

Poutine Canadian Fries

• You have to dress in layers when traveling to Canada (The Great White North).
• There are flannel lined Jeans. Wish I had them on this trip.
• Don’t wear shoes, without treads on the bottom, to Canada in the winter.
• Don’t fly through Chicago (ORD). Even if another flight is longer. It will be shorter.
• Always remember the little things to show someone you love them.
• When in Canada you must try poutine canadian fries!

Safe travels!

DWP

Carnets and Lamp Shades (Experience traveling with declared computer equipment)

In a recent trip to China and Taiwan I experienced what a "carnet" is for the first time. I am carrying some computer equipment with me and needed to make sure it got through customs. I learned about something called a carnet. It is basically a passport for the equipment. But getting through the international borders can be some what tedious. My company uses a service to draw up the documents. Which are not trivial by themselves. Then they gave a set of instructions that needed to be followed.

1. Get the carnet signed and stamped in the US before you leave
2. When you arrive at your destination get the carnet stamped and signed in customer at customs in the foreign country.
3. When you leave the foreign country get it stamped and signed again by customs
4. When you arrive in the US get it stamped and signed again.

Seems pretty easy. But As I have found the first step can be difficult if you are flying out of a smaller airport or one that does not have a customs office. Sacramento (SMF) for example only has office hours from noon until 3pm, 5 days a week. My flight left at 9am. So I could not get the stamp and signature I needed in Sacramento. My connecting flight was in SFO. They have customs officers 24 hours a day, so it was not a problem. But getting to customs was a bit of a challenge. Since customs is on the other side of the security you have to go out of the secure area. And find the back door to customs and knock on the door. I basically did a lot of asking around. Until I found it.

Once I got to the Customs officer things went pretty quick and it was actually entertaining to talk to these guys. They have some pretty funny stories about people coming in from all over the world, especially in San Francisco. One guy standing in front of me was being pulled aside because he just looked funny I guess. He was wearing a lamp shade on his head an a full length fut coat that looked like it was hand made out of some small animals. He carried a walking stick and was not completely coherent, but very talkative. He was an American that had come from Thailand. They said they pulled him aside because he had medicinal herbs with him. He was going to be there for some time with the customers officers.

Now with the carnet in hand I had find my way out to departures and go back through security and then to my gate. Total time from one plane to the gate of the other was about 1 hour. Good portion of the time as trying to find the back door to the customs office.

So overall if you have a carnet, plan on an extra 30 minutes to an hour at the airport and make sure that the customs office is open before your flight leaves. I also learned that if you just smile a little and laugh with the customs agents and the guy with the lampshade on his head you can have a fun time.

DWP.