The person responsible for preparing letters of confirmation of degree
at University of Toronto’s School of Graduate Studies isn’t around.
I’ve called SGS every day to follow up on the letter, but no one else
can prepare it. My transcript currently shows that my thesis is still
in progress, so I can’t request a paper copy and use that as proof of
completion.

An international student advisor at U of T said that there’s
absolutely no way I can rush either SGS or Citizenship and Immigration
Canada. She advised postponing my start date to three to four weeks
after I send the application, which is dependent on when I receive the
letter.

I’m very uncomfortable with the idea of moving my start date forward,
but I don’t think I can do anything about it. I’ve asked SGS if anyone
else can prepare the letter. I’ve asked about my transcript. GWAAH!

Looking back, I really can’t see how I would’ve done things better.
This galls me even more than being late does. The tentative start date
for my offer was based on a fairly reasonable time estimate after my
thesis defense. I don’t think I delayed a lot myself. Maybe I should
have been more pessimistic, adding at least a 50% buffer to account
for delays in communication, unexpected absences, things like that. I
guess that’s it: be much more conservative when estimating around
other people’s times…

I can’t do anything about it now. I just have to wait.

Random Emacs symbol: change-log-mode – Command: Major mode for editing change logs; like Indented Text Mode.