Robbery!

It has been a rough couple of days. A couple days ago someone broke into our garage and stole a bunch of stuff. Our old house that we are in the process of cleaning/selling has a separate two car garage in back, and it seems that someone just busted the door in and helped themselves to lawnmowers, a bike, maybe more. My childhood neighborhood isn't what it used to be, so I guess its good that we are getting the heck out of there. Anyway, I suppose it is fortunate that it didn't happen at our current residence.

Angelica got turned down a second time for a visa to come back to work in Carlinville, so it looks like she won't be coming back any time soon. Her experience has definitely educated me about our current visa application process, at least as it applies to Colombia. First, one has to pay for the government's permission to apply for permission to work in the US. Then, each time she applies, she has to buy a sort of pin number. Then she has to pay for a phone call to schedule an appointment for an interview. Then the interview itself costs around 100 dollars. She said that this time the line to get to her interview was around 5 hours long. Then comes the really bad part. An interview with one of the consulate people. Imagine paying all of those fees, waiting in line all that time, just to have a 5 minute interview with a bureaucrat through a prison-like glass wall with the aid of an intercom. Pretty rough stuff. Here is the website for the US embassy in Colombia... I'm considering whether I should write someone and complain.

In order to get my Japanese student visa, I had to send one sheet of paper to the consulate in Chicago along with my passport. A few weeks later they sent me back my passport with a visa inside, just like magic. I guess being an American does provide a few advantages.

Here's some random entertainment. This is what seems to be an Indian ripoff of the Thriller music video. Its so bad, its good. Enjoy.