What a day....

What a horrible, horrible, horrible day. Ryan Smyth traded and the stock market crashed.

Tomorrow can only get better.

CaRMS Waiting

I submitted my ranking list a couple of days ago, and I've considered changing it a few times (but haven't). Match day is March 14. I really wish it wasn't so far away. It's all I've really been thinking about -- looking at housing prices at all the cities on the list, thinking about if I ordered everything properly. As always, the unknown is killer for me. I can always deal with something once I know what I'm dealing with, but I hate not knowing what is going to happen.

Anyways, the Office is on, time to go!

CaRMS Travel Costs Part 2

Now that the CaRMS tour is over, I had a chance to calculate how much the whole process cost me (3 weeks, 11 cities, 12 interviews), not including application or postage costs (which would be around $500).

I've calculated how much it would have cost if I travelled alone, and how much it actually cost splitting the costs between 2-3 people for the majority of the trip.

Some things to keep in mind....
1) I went from west to east, and didn't have to travel back and forth, which drastically reduced my flying costs.
2) We travelled by rental car in Ontario/Quebec, which, again, reduced the costs significantly.

Here are the numbers....

1) Travelling Alone:
TOTAL FOOD: 421.3
Total Accomodations: 1675.74
Total Car: 295
Total Parking: 58.75
Total Gas: 210.89
Total Flights 963.93
TOTAL: 3625.61

2) My costs:
TOTAL FOOD: 421.3
Total Accomodations: 816.23
Total Car: 175.52
Total Parking: 34.08333333
Total Gas: 99.63
Total Flights 963.93
TOTAL: 2510.693333

So, as you can see, I saved over $1,000 by travelling with people from my class. People last year said that they spent around $6,000 on the interviews...I didn't come close...which is nice, that's for sure.

The next big day in the process is March 14th, which is when we find out where we will be for the next 5 years!

Almost done the CaRMS tour...

Hi everyone,

I'm in Halifax, the final stop of the CaRMS tour. It's been kind of a bizarre day so far. It started with my super early flight, which required me to get up at 4:15 a.m. to get to the airport on time. The flight was interesting to say the least. I sat by this woman, who was nuts, so absolutely crazy that I ended up moving seats because of her bizarre and erratic behaviour, which the flight attendants did not appreciate. I then proceeded to lose my gloves somewhere between the airport shuttle and my hotel room (which I assume I left in the airport shuttle.)

I walked around Halifax a bit when I got here. It's pretty neat. I continued my poor eating habits by having the Extreme Classic Sandwich meal at KFC, which included a classic sandwich, fries, popcorn chicken, coleslaw, apple turnover and a pop. Way too much food. I didn't end up eating most of the fries, coleslaw or apple turnover. I'll have to resume my running when I get back home.

Anyways, I'm stealing this wireless internet from someone in the hotel. Lots of unsecured wireless routers here.

Cold in TO

I arrived in Toronto last night from Winnipeg. My flight was slightly delayed, but I still ended up getting to the hotel around 11:30 p.m. at night. I'm staying at the Westin Harbour Castle. I love the rooms but dislike the non-free internet. I did, however, cave and bought 24 hours of access for $11.00. It's still cheap entertainment if you think about it.

I wandered over to Eaton Centre today. It was very cold. It actually wasn't that cold when the wind wasn't blowing, but that didn't occur very often. My ears were freezing by the time I actually got into the mall. They've got lots of shops and a really cool Apple Store, even though I'm not a fan of the Mac. iPod accessories are very cool, but very expensive.

I ate at McDonalds. It was awesome. I then picked up some Ruffles and Pepsi for the Oilers game, which I'm watching right now. On the way back I tried to stay underground all the way to Union Station, then I walked outside from there to my hotel. Again, it was cold.

I'm debating what to eat tonight. It would be nice to go to a sit-down restaurant, but I kind of feel like a loser going by myself. I may just hit up the deli across the street, because it's close.

Anyways, I'm off to Kingston tomorrow and I'll be picking up Ryan and Robyn at the airport before we start the drive to Kingston. Hopefully the weather holds up!