Haze–We’re trying to get Daughter TO Boston, not the other way around. And now the 4pm flight has been delayed 2 hours…
Kudos on getting the new job! I say quit the old place, pronto. You will now have commute time as well as a new system to learn–why overstress yourself? Plus, you’re earning the Big Bucks now!
Off to shovel driveway. The Husband asked me to–since he (again) volunteered to drive Daughter (again) to O’Hare, I said I’d be happy to do it. Because I’m NICE, dammit!
Oh, er, that’s what I meant by “home.” :smack: Yeah, the snow doesn’t seem to be letting up.
I would immediately give up my M/W class at my present school if it weren’t for my visa issues. I don’t want to do anything that would jeopordize a potential sponsorship, and there’s no guarantee that the new school will sponsor me once my current visa runs out in June. ARGH. I HATE BEING AN IMMIGRANT IN THIS STUPID COUNTRY. :mad: I love the US. I speak the language. I am contributing to society. Just give me a citizenship. Please?
I would like to go get lunch, but Olive is sleeping on my lap.
Does the Tatu school (Des Plaines, Des Plaines!) know that you have a visa issue? Can you get something in writing from them saying that you are a productive member of society (it is to laugh! just kidding!).
I dunno how all that stuff works–or doesn’t these days…
Well, I did say I didn’t go over everything! or, in fact, anything…
**Roo **-- thanks for the welcoming words, too!
I’m starting to figure out what’s going on here – Rigs, hope daughter gets to Boston (plus, Boston is a great city! It’s the closest thing to a “hometown” for me in the US, too); **Haze **-- new job? Which one? And YAY!!!
Is **Lili **still around or has the **tinyninjachef **arrived?
**Spaz **-- glad to see things looking up for you, too
Thank you guys for the warm welcome back. It is nice. And thank you very much to our dearest anyrose, for playing along with me and passing on some messages to you guys.
In actuality I have a lot of people I could thank, and things I could comment on having been away for a month (deservedly so). But maybe instead of a big welcome back thread, I think it may be best that I sneak back into SDMB through the backdoor, without anyone noticing, in our MMP.
Always Bring Pie, it was nice to see you at Fathom. Come by more.
rigs - Heh. I need more than a letter to get a work visa. The thing is that my work visa is entirely dependent on the whim of my employers - at the moment I’m on an F-1 OPT, which basically means I can work wherever I want as long as it’s related to my MA degree. After that runs out in June, I need an H1-B visa, which requires one for each employer (so I’d need one from each school). Applying for an H1-B visa takes time and money, so your employer has to like you a lot. (It’s still easier than a green card, though. Your employer has to love you enough to want your babies in order to sponsor you for a green card.) Technically companies are not allowed to not hire you based on your visa status - so if the department head wants to keep me as a teacher, the school HAS to sponsor my visa unless they can find another reason they shouldn’t hire me.
The one advantage I have is that I’m working at an institute of higher education, so I’m not subject to the annual cap they have on H1-B visas. (This is actually a pretty huge advantage, because once the applications exceed the cap they do a lottery, which means if you’re unlucky you can’t apply again for another year.)
It’s frustrating because I think of myself as American, but all my paperwork says otherwise. Hello, existential crisis. :: puts on thick eyeliner and sulks in corner ::
Hey,** No1**, we missed you. I got two more classes at a better-paying school, so life is treating me decently at the moment.
Going to the hockey game tonight in Norfolk. They’re playing the Hershey Squirts. GO Admirals!!! (First time I’ve been to a game since they left the ECHL).
Here, you can borrow some black nail polish, too.
Good luck with all that. I have heard about the H-1B visa and the lottery (NPR is a real educational station). Let us hope your new school, which we KNOW will LOVE you, will at least get you through.
Am done shoveling the driveway which was mostly pushing water around. I have nothing to do except clean, and I’m bored with that, already. I did more housework today than I have since early November. Time for a break–but what to do? No idea.
Heck, all we need to do is marry you off to one of the eligible mumpers! Problem solved!
What? It always works on sitcoms!
Speaking of my van, apparently some rodent mistook some of the wires for sketties. Two different ones were almost chewed through. Plus there was something else wrong. About $350 worth. That’s about the value of the van. If nothing else, I’m sure glad the light didn’t wait till farther down the road to come on - that could have been really bad.
Roast beast is roasting. Tonight we’re bums. Tomorrow, I clean. Yep, you read that right - I’ll be a cleaning fool.
kai My late Hubby was on Celexa. He said that it helped him a lot more than anything else he had tried, and it also helped with pain. He was down to an Aleve a day. His Doc couldn’t get anymore samples from the rep, so he got switched to Lexapro, which is just a new version of the same thing.
Yeah, lotsa snow here, too. I’m glad I have a cool team leader. She knows I have a long drive and told me to cut out early cause the roads were getting bad. It took an hour and fifteen minutes to drive the 32 miles home. I saw 7 cars in various ditches, and the aftermath of one accident.
It was a beautiful 65° today, so I took the idgits to the dog park. My Dad came, too. They have so much fun! But I twisted my ankle a bit the other day, and it hurts to walk. I walked though, but we only stayed 1/2 an hour. Dad was getting a little chilly, because of the wind.
It’s almost the cocktail hour, and dinner (French poke chops) is in the crockpot crockin’ away… the long weekend has begun!
One more week of inpatient therapy! (The program I’m in is partial hospitalization, which means that you get to go home at the end of the day.) One of the therapists is exceedingly boring - she gives us handouts and then reads them to us. That’s it. Needless to say, the room tends to clear out if people know she’s teaching the next group. Today, I used her group to practice staying in the present moment - that was hard work!
Before my discharge, I’ll probably go in to work for a half day next Thursday, to make sure that I can function in my normal environment. It should be a pretty quiet day, and will give me a chance to talk to the temp before she leaves on Friday. If all goes well, I’ll return to work full-time on the following Monday.
I’ve made a list of things for Goodwill to pick up. Now I just have to clean up enough that they can reach them. I’m considering hiring a professional organizer to help figure out what to toss, and maybe renting a dumpster.
Howdy Y’all! No I have not been lyin’ around with a hangover all day. I’ve been a busy bear. We cleaned up ol’ y’all know who’s place today cause it needed cleaning. He actually got rid of some stuff too! That’s big. Real big. I made three trips to Goodwill with stuff he got rid of today. Next up is da cave. It needs a spiffin’ up. But not tonight. Prolly Sunday afternoon.
Oh and I had to get stuff for the big New Year’s Day dindin. I got some collards and some blackeyed peas. I did regular ol’ grocery store stuff too. So, on New Year’s we shall have fried chicken, collards, blackeyed peas, N.O.T. sallit, rice (gotta have it with blackeyed peas and onion), cornbread and peach cobbler. That should cause full tummies.
Tonight we’re watchin’ Tuna Christmas cause we have not watched it yet this year and it’s a tradition.
