Category: Miscellaneous babble

After a 2 1/2 year patient wait, we were summoned to the Charleston USCIS office (formerly INS) for my Adjustment of Status interview. Armed with my ream of paperwork (still ended up forgetting a couple of things), we headed off to their new location off Highway 7. A much nicer setting than their previous location on Meeting St, although not nearly as nice a view. Actually no view at all.

After a short wait (30 minutes or so), we met with the USCIS officer, told him our story, gave him the requested documentation, answered his questions and at the end I was rewarded with a stamp in my passport giving me permanent resident status (more colloquially known as the “green card”)! I’m told the actual card should be coming in 2-6 months. Hopefully it doesn’t get lost in the mail when we move.

Now I can live and work here without having to remember to renew this or that every year. Big weight taken off now that I don’t have to worry about it.

Now if I can only get this house thing wrapped up…but that’s a story for another post.

There are two great big honking machines on the site of the new hospital hammering big long concrete pilings into the ground. You can almost do the bat thing and practically navigate the construction site with your eyes closed just by listening for the echoes from the pile driving. With a little bit of concentration, I can just about make a mental map of the surrounding buildings just by the echoes. Of course knowing where the surrouding buildings are helps a bit too.

When they’re both going at the same time, they make quite the racket. And from the looks of all the big long trucks delivering pilings, it’s going to be going on for quite some time.

So Nala’s been with us almost 3 weeks now. We got her just as pollen season was heating up. With the weather warming up, now everything is getting into full bloom and there’s the usual light green dust covering everything. Even the dog comes back home with a light dusting of green after going out for a walk.
This year the wife is being hit with allergies harder than ever. Sniffling, sneezing her head off and the Alavert/Claritin isn’t helping much this time. Time for a trip to the doctor for something a little stronger.
So, is it the seasonal pollen allergies, or is it the dog? Or maybe both?

10 years ago, if someone had told me I’d be doing what I’m doing whre I am, I’d have thought they were crazy. Me, leave Canada? Work in the US? Never! Not a chance!
But here I am, 6 years after moving down south and almost 9 years since leaving home (almost 4200 km/2600 miles away as the Mapquest crow flies), and I’m still here. 6 years ago yesterday, we packed up our meager little apartment in Detroit and flew out to New York. Bought a car from a friend of my brother-in-law and drove down to Charleston SC. And here I’ve been, ever since.
6 years…whodathunkit.

From the MedPhys mailing list comes sad news of John Cameron‘s passing on March 16. He was a well respected elder of the medical physics community as a researcher and educator. I only had the opportunity to meet him once and although I was a bit star-struck (like someone meeting one of their idols) he was very pleasant to talk to.
There are a lot of people who will miss him and his contributions.