Long time coming- Shriram Update

Hey Guys, I haven't updated in a long time, and most of you are aware of what's going on with me, but I figured I"d share anyway.


1/9/11
The story started with CCS (California Creative Solutions) GlobalTech, who offered me a "position" (basically I was accepted into training) in Poway, CA for the potential position of SQL Server Developer. I packed up my bags and went south to Poway (SFO - LAX - SAN, then cab to Poway) and met the first of my potential roommates. He was a really nice guy, and a consultant with CCS that was just looking for a new project.


1/11/11
My new roommate showed up, and he had just graduated from his Masters program (in Computer Science). He was a nice guy too; but kept to himself, mostly.


1/12/11
My roommate and I went to the CCS office, and I met their program director. He was kind enough to give me a ride back to the apartment building (so I didn't have to keep wasting cab money), but during our chat, something weird happened. He told me that he had no concerns about my being able to handle the work, but was worried about how to add the 5 years of experience to my resume (since I'm only 23). Yes, you read that correctly...That is how casual he was about the whole thing. My immediate reaction was "Wait, I'm sorry. Did you say you were going to add years to my resume?"


I got home that day, and had my first phone call with Dan and Sean (my manager and team lead, respectively) and they asked me if I'd like to come in for an interview ASAP, as they'd heard about my timeline. I booked my flight for the 13th, got the interview date set for the 14th, and said my goodbyes.


1/13/11
I head back to San Diego, and find out that my flight in LAX has been pushed by an extra hour and a half, so while messaging Nut, I remembered that his sister was in LA. I hung out with her for a couple of hours, had some coffee, and went back to SF.


1/14/11
Nervous, I drove to the office (wearing a suit) and had my interviews. Each interviewer was really nice to me, and no one sounded even a little bit annoyed that they were roped in at such short notice. One thing that stood out: when Dan came to interview me, his first words were "First things first, you have got to lose that tie." I met a bunch of people from the team, and I found out that they were discussing me outside the conference room I was sitting in, so that they could give me a speedy decision. By that day, I had an informal verbal offer, which was followed by a formal verbal offer and then a formal written offer the following week.


1/21/11
My H1B application was filed! The lawyers at Immigration Law Group and immigration case manager at Juniper got all the paperwork filed, and I made sure there would be no delay from my side.


1/26/11
The H1B Cap was reached; no more visas given! My application was filed just in time (thank you everyone involved!)


2/3/11
We finally got my approval, and with some magic and sleight of hand on Dan's part, I was accepted to the orientation on 2/7/11.

2/7/11
I had my orientation, but missed out on Google I/O tickets, unfortunately. Orientation was good, and I sat next to Edwin Menor, the Mr. California of the year before, I believe. After orientation, I met the team, got situated, and began cramming my head full of information... and now I'm still doing it, there's a lot to learn :)

Just an update; cheers folks, Shriram out.
ps- I'm moving to Mountain View tomorrow, so my 1.5+ hr commute to work becomes like 30 minutes.