G'morning!
I'm hung over.
And /wave to all you Canadians. I live in North Dakota about an hour away from the border. Just last week I went to Winnipeg to visit a friend: only a 2.5 hour drive not including any border time.
This last trip didn't go so well. At the border, they had me pull to the side for more questioning. I knew I was f
ucked, as I have 2 DUIs from when I was younger and more stupid (even a single DUI will make it damned near impossible to get into Canada if they check your record). I went into the immigration office, at which point they asked me the same 50 questions they had already asked me outside. Then he asked about my past criminal record. I told him about the DUIs. He ran a record check, and surprisingly, he came back and didn't say a word about the DUIs. I did however have to pay $200 for some bad checks I wrote nearly 12 years ago.
So, I thought I was ready to be on my way after paying the $200 to be 'rehabilitated' for my past heinous crimes. Nope. Then they start tearing through my car (my baby!). They find my laptop and have to take it inside to search for child ****.
No joke. But here's the best part: they find my security token in the bag, and start asking question after question about it! I had to explain that I play an online game where security is an issue because of people who steal accounts to sell fake money. It was a bit embarrassing.
The next day when I returned to the States, all was going well until they asked me the last time I had been through that checkpoint. I told them it had been about 4 months, when it had actually been 6. That was enough of an excuse to put me through the whole thing again.
The Americans didn't search my laptop for child ****, though.