Category: Miscellaneous babble

USCIS (formerly INS) does this thing now that they call biometrics, where they take a digital photo and fingerprints for any of your immigration related things. Problem is not all of their offices can do the biometrics thing.
So yesterday, I had an appointment at the Charlotte NC ASC (Application Support Center) which was the closest place I could go for the biometrics thing for my EAD application. Charlotte NC is a 3 hour trip (200 miles). Here’s how the day went.
0830: Drop the wife off at school and head out on the road to Charlotte.
1130: Arrive in Charlotte. The ASC wasn’t too far off I-77, so it was pretty easy to find. Get in line, person says I need to come back closer to my appointment time. :P. Head off to find a place for lunch.
1230: Back at the ASC. Hand the person at the desk my paperwork and passport. She stamps it, paperclips them together and hands me a number. Go sit down and wait for staff to come back from lunch.
1330: My number finally comes up. Head over to the computer, right index finger gets smushed onto the fingerprint capturing thingy, then I sit down to get my picture taken.
1345: All done, processing person stamps my paperwork again, then tells me my card will be mailed.
1350: Fill up the car and head back home.
1700: Arrive back home.
Argh. Could have had all this done the old fashioned way in Charleston and had my EAD card right then and there. Instead, it was a 6 hour round trip for something that took 15 minutes to do. And I didn’t even get my new card!
sigh
The fact that they can do all this stuff digitally is great though. I just wish it was available at their local offices so I don’t have to spend the whole day travelling just get something that takes 15 minutes to do.

I did absolutely nothing today except watch over 11 hours of Lord of The Rings: Extended Special Edition. All three of them. Back to back. Short pauses for bathroom breaks and food.
It was fantastic. Can’t wait to do it again.

Back home the day after Christmas, Boxing Day, is traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year. In the US, Boxing Day seems to be the biggest day of the year for returning things.
The wife and I spent our Boxing Day preparing and roasting 24 little chickens (those alleged Cornish game hens) for a party of 20 or so people that never materialized. So instead it was just a party of 13 or so people. And now there are a lot of extra little chickens filling the fridge.
They were tasty though, and I certainly won’t mind taking a few of them back home with me.
The problem with my holidays is that they usually aren’t. Unless we go away somewhere, we always seem to end up working, mostly catering for parties the wife’s folks are having. I guess it’s partly our fault…we seem to have developed a reputation for cooking really well. I suppose there are worse reputations to have.
Christmas day was a pleasant event. The wife’s family opens their gifts at the stroke of midnight (or as close to it as she can get). So we were up until about 2 AM Christmas Day exchanging and opening gifts. Santa was surprisingly good to me this year. I must have been a very good boy.
Then it was off to bed, and then breakfast at her brother’s place. Followed by more gift opening, and then the roasting of the turkey. Christmas feasting was at 5, and then everybody lapsed into a food induced coma for a few hours before heading off to the airport at 9PM to pick up the wife’s cousin. Then it was back to the compound and her aunt and uncle’s place for more gift exchanging and gift opening.
All of that made Christmas a long, tiring but satisfying day. Lots of good food, lots of presents, and best of all lots of family to hang around with.

It’s Christmas Eve, and there are a surprisingly large number of presents under the tree with my name on them. Santa must think I’ve been a good boy this year.
Preparations for tomorrow’s feasting started today with the Tart Cranberry Dipping Sauce and the mac & cheese. We ended up with a monster 24lb turkey this year because the wife didn’t want to waste her time on a measly 13 pounder, which was the next smallest size they had at the store. We should have plenty of leftovers to take home with us.
Just about to get the turkey prepped for a nice long soak in the brine. The bird will soak for a good 12-15 hours or so before it goes into the oven for roasting. Then I get one of my favourite jobs, carving it up.
From the wife and I, we wish all of you a happy and safe holiday season and much prosperity and happiness for 2005!

The wife and I were doing a little bit of shopping Sunday gathering a few more supplies for Christmas baking. One thing that struck me odd as we were walking around was just how un-Christmasy things were in the stores. Stores were relatively empty (although it was a little late on Sunday evening). All the racks and shelves of Christmasy things had been relegated to the back corners. There wasn’t even any Christmas music playing in the Target (I’m sure it was a welcome break for the employees). Couldn’t find any Christmas cards to save our lives either. If I didn’t know any better I’d have thought it was just another day rather than the holiday season.
Maybe I’m just going to the wrong places.