Two hours waiting and 10 minutes talking.

That wa sour experience at Immigration and Naturalisation Services in Philadelphia yesterday. Jill Marc and I got there with 15 minutes to spare and we waited for about 2 hours all the time nervous about what could possibly be the problem. In the end and after seeing people come and go, we were called. We filed in o the inner office and he took my index finger prints and we moved on into his office. It was almost instantly that he said..."well I am going to pass you today"...."some knucklehead in Vermont called you in to me and there was absolutely no need".

Done deal. I got a temporary stamp on my passport and will get a new greencard in about 3-4 months and can apply for citizenship in September and that process will take about 1 year. So in the end and after Jill worrying herself sick...we got passed easily.

Update since last post.

Hi everyone, sorry it has been a while since my last post. I am just now recovering from what turned out to be a chest infection, it was not a lot of fun I can tell you. We (Jill and I) have a date with Immigration on Tuesday 20th and Jill is not looking forward to it. We dont know what its all about, maybe they are questioning some part of our relationship (should I bring the video footage and photographs) ;-)
We are just over what they call a "nor easter" (north eastern) and on Wednesday we got lots of lovely snow followed by lots of lovely freezing rain followed by lots of lovely sleet and I had to call off from work for the rest of that lovely day, which was the first day I have ever missed at work here. Also later that day after the plough came we had to dig out the driveway and i had to free my wipers from all that lovely ice, just a fun day overall and me with the cold and chest cold. I am really looking forward to the weekend at this stage, work is making me kind of mad and immigration shit is making me mad. Last night though we did file our taxes and we are getting nice check from the government for $1260. Sweet!!!

Enjoy the weekend yall.

Feeling shitty.

Theres not too many good things about today. I have a terrible ould head cold, a very sore throat kind of deal which makes me feel very lethargic and out of it. Combine all of this with the fact its Monday, I am at work and the weather here is soo cold (-18c not to mention the windchill) then maybe you can see how today is going for me. Quite busy here and I am expected to design as well as cut samples until arrangements can be made to bring someone in at least part-time to help us out. I dont usually get colds or feel unwell and I am having a bad ould dose.

Birthday wishes from Ireland answered.

Yesterday I got a package from my brother and dad. It was quite unexpected as while it had been expressed to me that a package was coming, somehow it did not lodge and register in the brain that something would be coming. I got a lot of good stuff and Jill and Marc were included too. Namely a windbreaker/anorak of Kildare GAA, thank you very much. You should always represent where you come from and Frankie Lynam would know that, also U2's latest and greatest and a few dvd's and food (tea bags/weetabix/various soups and crisps and sweets). Such packs are always important to recieve, as some things just cant be replaced when in a different country.

Back to Philadelphia again.

Saturday a letter came in the post in relation to our petition with the immigration people in the Philadelphia office. Unfortunately we have not got the immediate clearance that we had hoped for and the lifting of the restrictions on my greencard will be subject to an interview which will take place on February 20th at 10.20am in Philadelphia. I am unconcerned about this as our marriage is a legitimate one and we hope that the interview will go smoothly and and that it will all be done with the minimum of fuss. Jill however is very worried about it and has been doing a lot of reading on the internet about such interviews. Experiences seem to range from the easiest to the most arduous, it may be down to the immigration officer who interviews us whether they are hard ass or not. Keep your fingers crossed for Jill that she doesnt lose it in these times of worry for her. I am more pragmatic and will face whatever senario comes when it happens. I am sure all will be well. The things we dont know is questions such as:- "is it a randomly called interview"? or "is there a red flag that needs explaining"?. We shall see.

Ever look up and see this in the sky.

Last friday I was walking from the house to get to the car and drive to work, when I heard a steady noise above me it was loud but not deafening and when I looked upwards I realised that it was in fact geese in the familiar "V" shaped pattern. However instead of just the one "V" as shown above in the picture there were many many of them and also very long ones. It was a truly nice sight.

Groundhog day in PA.

The second day in February in the state of Pennsylvania brings the custom of waking a groundhog named "Phil" out of his hibernation and checking to see if he casts a shadow. If no shadow is cast it means that early spring is on its way, however if a shadow is cast then winter will carry on. This tradition has been in existence since 1886 and in that time only 15 times has there been no shadow.

It was declared that there was in fact no shadow and that spring would come early. With temperatures over the weekend forecast to be in the -18 to -20C range, without even taking the windchill into account, it wont feel like spring time is coming.

Finally it is time to smile with Beamer TV.

Update on Beamer TV:-

Those of you who have been reading for a while know that I had been exploring an idea to talk to my family back home and we purchased a product called Beamer TV. The day that we tried to talk continent to continent was a day that I was not beaming as it was a frustrating affair involving various kinds of carrier numbers and just trying for the sake of trying,hoping that it would work. Last Tuesday evening I got the support people at Vialta to call my sister and after about 30minutes of them troubleshooting it seems that the initial phone was not compatible and after using a different (wireless) phone it worked. It is really great to actually be able to see the person you are talking to, over the course of time people change hairstyles and such and it is fantastic to almost be there with those people. My nephew Adam is nearing 1 year old in about a week and its going to be great to see him grow up and with this product and now knowing it truly works is a good feeling. We plan more visula meetings. Beamer TV connects to both a tv and the phone to allow people to talk via the two media.