Oh, The Olympics

Not sure if I am going to post much about the Olympics, but I wanted to make a couple comments on the opening ceremony. First off, how hot is Daniel Craig? And that was the final push he needed to topple Sean Connery off his long-held perch as my favorite James Bond. I just can’t see Sean Connery doing that skit with the Queen.

And whilst the opening ceremony was not as spectacular as one would have hoped, I am not embarrassed to be English today, like I am sometimes by English entertainment (I am talking about you, Benny Hill).

The Citizenshop Chronicles, #8

So yesterday was the fingerprints and photo deal (or, to give it its official name – the biometrics). For some reason, you are not allowed to show your teeth when you get your pic taken. Isn’t that strange? But I have found the INS seems to like their little photo quirks, because for the photos for the green card, your left ear has to be visible. WTF is that all about?

Most of you know about my driving phobia, so I was extremely nervous about finding the offices, especially because it is in a part of Vegas I have never been before (which, frankly, is about 75% of Vegas). But thanks to Mapquest’s neat little trick of being able to click and drag the route to your liking (which in my case is no highways and as few left turns as possible) I managed to map out a fairly me-friendly route (there was a left turn involved but it was at a major intersection so it involved lights). I was fine up until the last street which appeared suddenly and out of nowhere. Thankfully, the car behind me was far away enough that the sudden turn did not cause an issue. The good news is that the interview and test (the next part) take place at the same location so I won’t have to go through a driving nightmare again (no effing clue where the swearing-in ceremony takes place, though).

And I have no idea why this did not occur to me, but they take your fingerprints digitally now. I guess it is just part of my Luddite nature (that and watching way too many police procedurals on TV) but was I expecting ink. I had planned on ink, because I was going to take a picture of my ink-stained fingertips for you to see. So, instead, you are stuck with this, an artist’s rendering:

The Citizenship Chronicles, #7

News!!! I got a letter this weekend, with a date for the first of the three citizenship appointments. This one is getting my fingerprints taken (so the FBI can do their thing). It is THIS Wednesday! I wondered if that was exceptionally quick and so I asked a co-worker, who went through this process last year, and she agreed it does seem rather speedy. Then another co-worker opined that they want to get as many eligible voters as possible for the upcoming elections (and there I was thinking it was because I am special). And she bet that I would be a full-fledged citizen by Labor Day. Then someone else said no, it would be even sooner and so, long story short, we’re thinking of doing one of those betting pools, when you guess when the baby is going to be born, only this time, when I will be “born” as a citizen!
 

The Citizenship Chronicles, #6

Wow, you Yanks really like your citizens, don’t you? I am getting so much positive feedback when I tell people I’ve applied for my citizenship. One co-worker has promised to bake me a cake when it’s official, and another has said she will decorate my desk with balloons (that’s usually just reserved for birthdays!). Someone else gave me official flash cards for the civics test, and everyone is eagerly quizzing me when they walk past my desk (OK, well, after I have badgered them to “Test me! Test me!”). Why so much excitement, do you think? I mean, I know you are a very patriotic lot, but, really, your level of enthusiasm is surprising. 

Belated Birthday Greetings, Sammy!

Oh my gosh, what with all this citizenship stuff going on, I completely spaced out Sammy’s “birthday” (it was last Wednesday). It is hard to believe it has been three years since that one-eyed little biter came into my life…

I remember the day like it was yesterday. It was a scorching Saturday and I was reading a murder-mystery. The author had made a huge continuity error and so I decided to e-mail him (love that most authors these days include a website and/or e-mail address in their bios). I went online and was checking out the author’s website. He had a section on the rescue work he does with dogs, so, for some reason, I decided to look at the local ASPCA site.

Sammy’s info was one of the first listed. His being declawed was a huge plus, as was the fact that it was Cat Adoption Month which meant reduced adoption fees (I’m cheap).

But I hate driving…

Well, why not call O., maybe she needs to go to the shelter (O. is a friend who runs a dog-rescue charity here in Vegas). So I call her. She was out and about anyway and could fit in a shelter run (it’s actually strange that she and I were not doing anything together that day anyway, because this was before she got a boyfriend (sorry, he’s a fiancé now) and we used to do all sorts of stuff together pre-BF/fiancé).

So off we went and the rest, as they say, is history. 

It boggles my mind when I think of all the tiny elements that went into Sammy and I getting together. Just one could have been off-kilter and it wouldn’t have happened. What if I was reading a different book? What if the author had not made that mistake? What if the website was out-of-date and Sammy had already been adopted? What if O. was not available?

But I wasn’t, he did, it wasn’t, and she was, and I finally met my soul mate.

I love you, Sammy-Jammy-Bobammy.