Alright, here's what I learned that I wish I had known:

1. Faxed copies of anything aren't accepted unless it's sent to them. Which is dumb, 'cause you can take your fax, white out the fax info at the top, and refax it to them. The fax number for the border is (315) 393-2099 (that ogen-whatever border)

2. It's exactly $56 bucks US. (not just fifty)

3. If you're stuck waiting, don't expect to be able to eat anything anywhere 'cause you can't drive around the area and come back and let them give you a visa. Which is dumb in my case, 'cause I already gave them the info and they knew I was calling California. It's not like I was going to drive around and find a job in NY that all of a sudden I was going to apply for.

4. Nor can you buy anything at their duty free shop unless you've been there for a certain number of hours (there goes the food option).

5. They actually gave me a hard time because they said that was the most they'd ever seen a tech writer get paid (I don't think they were looking at the location). He kind of raised his eyebrow to that.

6. The letter has to state: the actual offer with the exact position, any payments (salary + bonus + relocation), the start AND end date (max of a year), and the job description ALL IN ONE LETTER. I had two letters (faxed at the other location too) and THAT was what held up the whole time 'cause it was noon in Cali so I had to kill time before the hr person came back

7. You gotta pay at the border coming in AND going back out, even though you were just hanging out at the toll gate the whole time anyway (at this location anyway).

8. Mapquest's directions from Ottawa to NY are a bit off, thankfully I had a friend with me who just told me to drive basically to Kingston and the signs were there.

9. Side note: we saw an amish guy on a horse-drawn buggy who littered his McDonald's meal along the road. Dealing with WEIRD people.

And that's that.