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Minnesota Update #7

September 1, 2004

 

 

This update will probably be more image-intensive than descriptive, which is probably good news, because a picture is worth a thousand words. And that's one thousand less I'd have to write.

AUTHORIZE THIS!

First and foremost, I received two very special documents. Praise the Lord! (He's so cool!)  The first is my WORK AUTHORIZATION!!!  This little card allows me to work. I can work as many jobs as I want. A hundred even, but that would put 99 fellow Americans out of work, so I'll be quite content with 1.  Monday morning I'm going to go down to the Social Security office and apply for my very own SSN. 

Sarah and I are thrilled that this is all coming together. We're very blessed that it's happened so quickly.  We were told that it can take as many as 90 days (end of October).  The Missouri office processed this in just a month. Wow.

The second document I received was my advance parole. Parole from what? you ask. Well, from my application. Now I can leave the US and enter again, which means I'm cleared to visit Vancouver, which will be very nice.

Just for fun facts: I'll need to renew both of these documents by the time a full year expires. And I'll have to keep renewing it as long as I'm not a US citizen (I think).  No biggie.

 

Now.... going back in time a bit, to a time when I was still having my application processed (not too long ago):

 

FINGERPRINTS 'R' US

I am sitting in the INS Service Center, waiting for my fingerprints and biometrics appointment.  I'm not quite sure what 'biometrics' is, but I would imagine it has to do with my bios and/or my metrics, which is good, because I'm Canadian and know all about that.

I am number 827.

The room is filled with 100 grey plastic chairs. There is a TV which no one is watching and an American flag who's pole just fits under the ceiling. Around the corner are 4 large ATM-like machines. I assume they take my fingerprints digitally. Too bad - I was hoping to do it the old fashion way and get black ink all over myself.

They're at 820 now.

Most of the people here look like they could be from Nigeria. All of us are joined together by a single bond - trying to make sense of this entire system.  Some of them struggle as they attempt to understand what they need to do. Since every employee here is very intimidating, saying that you don't understand something makes you feel small.

821.

My appointment was at 9am. Sarah slept in and missed her alarm this morning, but we were still able to get into the neighborhood on time (she works just down the street, actually).  Unfortunately, I had a hard time finding this place, since it's part of a strip mall.  The pressure's on coming here. If you miss your appointment they deem your application to be abandoned and you have to start from scratch.  Thankfully, I found it and entered just before 9. However, it doesn't really matter when you get here since you sit around for 45 minutes.

822 and 823. I best get ready.

More to come.....

...but not that much more.

I entered the second large room to the ATMs and was asked to have another seat. The lady operating the machine began pecking away at the keyboard. Shortly after, she turned with a bottle of some sort of gel, squirted a bit in my hand and told me to rub it in until it was gone.  Good luck, it would turn out as I continually tried to rid my hands of the oily substance. It was kind of like One-Step, only it left a slight residue.

She then had me stand and she took my hands. Placing each finger on a thermal touchpad she scanned in each of my fingertips. It was cool because I could see them appear on the screen as she rolled my fingers across the pad.  The computer would then draw red and green boxes over various areas and then either accept or reject the 'print.

After my fingerprints, my picture was taken, as well as my signature being captured.  Oh, and I asked them what my biometrics were. It was simply my fingerprints, photo and signature. A quick lookup on Dictionary.com gives another definition, so I don't know what to believe:

biˇoˇmetˇrics

    n. (used with a sing. verb)

        1. The statistical study of biological phenomena.

        2. a branch of biology that studies biological phenomena and observations by means of statistical analysis

If I were a dramatic writer, I would have liked to end this section with "and as quickly as it started, it was over". Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. A long wait to get goo slapped on my hands and my picture taken and then whisked out the door. Very anti-climatic. Oh well, mission accomplished.

Here's a photo of the outside of the building:

EEK! HOW DO I GET OUUUUUT?

The printer for our invitations is located downtown.  On a Monday afternoon, I set out to drop off the CD with the files/designs. Using my Mapquest printout I had no problem finding the building.

I parked in their parkade, which was a small, low clearance type of place... fit 'em all in by wasting no space. Since I'm driving the truck around, it seemed even tighter.

10 minutes later, I had dropped off the CD and submitted our wedding invitations for printing. On my way back, however, I noticed a nice sign which read: Parkade - Cash and Checks only.  First I thought, "What are checks ?" and then I thought: "I have neither."

No problem.  Nearby in the food court was an ATM. I'd use my credit card to get a small cash advance and then free my truck from the clutches of the tiny parking lot.

Mission failed.  As I put in my card, it asked me for my PIN.  Huh? I didn't ever recall setting one up. I then used my cell phone (which had 1 bar of battery left) to call MasterCard.  Unfortunately, they couldn't reset my PIN over the phone. Now I was beginning to panic. I felt like I was alone is a distant foreign country.

"Can you tell me what my PIN is?" I asked.  She replied by letting me know that my PIN was sent to me in the mail.  Her records showed that was in April... of 2001!  She also offered to mail me a letter with my PIN on it. Hmph.

I was then transferred to Global MasterCard. Still, they were unable to reset my PIN. I then asked if they could tell me which banks would allow me to withdrawal cash using my credit card.  The guy at the other end then informed me that he was surfing the net to find out.  I waited.

He came back and told me Wells Fargo would do it. Perfect! Now, the problem was finding one.  Mr. MasterCard once again got on the information superhighway and began to search for the nearest back to my location. Bingo! Down on 8th street... I know downtown about as well as the back of my knees, but I had an idea that it was close.

It was kiddy-corner to where I stood.

35 minutes later, I received my money from the back, returned to my car and ended up paying $6 for parking the 45 minutes. What a rip.  I guess it was better than paying $5 for 30 minutes or less...

FREE SHIRT UPDATE

First of all, there is a correction to my last free-shirt update. I forgot to mention that Sarah's grandfather had given me one of his polo shirts that had shrunk in the dryer a bit. Surprisingly, it fits incredibly and is one of my nicest church shirts.

Unfortunately, my other new shirts aren't of church-caliber.

Added to the list are the following:

As you can see from the above list, I have become a styling man. I should actually become a male model, like Matt in the picture below... Matt's a friend of the guys here and is actually moving to Paris to pursue his modeling career.  At his farewell party, he graced us with a catwalk.

ALAS! THOU ART THINE THOUST...SHWEH?

The Renaissance Festival. It happens every year in Minnesota. When Sarah got free admission, and said she really wanted to go, I was a little skeptical.

The idea is a festival where people walk around dressed in Renaissance era clothing on grounds decorated like the same.  There are various activities going on like Maypole dancing and jousting.

Needless to say, it sounded odd, and the website didn't seem that enticing.

When we arrived there (way out in the 'countryside') we pulled into a huge parking lot which was full of cars. As we got out, the people parked next to us were dressed up in their historic garb, and two of the guys wore capes and had plastic swords. I reminded myself to have an open mind.

And I'm glad I did.  Stepping onto the grounds was like being transported to another world. Everything was so well done in making you feel like you were in another time. Everything from volunteers wandering the streets acting as townsfolk, to dozens of shops designed and tailored to the time.

Rather than me talking about it, here are a few pictures instead....

    

MN: THE LAND THAT NEVER STOPS

Minnesotan's love to do stuff.  As if the "Ren-Fest" wasn't enough, they also hold a State Fair (which I've been told is one of the largest in the US).  The grounds for this place were huge and we wandered pretty much all day (with the exception of meeting up with Sarah's parents to watch the parade which Stephen was in).

It was a lot of fun (tiring on the feet) and a great way to get from fresh air. You'd think that would be healthy, but no. We're at the State Fair, which is far from healthy.  I'll let the pics do the talking:

 

Now, the ironic thing is this pavilion right in the midst of it all....

Here are just a few more images taken at the fair...

 
Here's Sarah taking some video of the Edina School Marching band. On the left is Stephen in all his garb. Gotta love the gold tinsel!    Each year a young woman is voted "Princess Kay of the Milky Way" as part of the Minnesota Dairy something or other.  There's a whole program associated with it that I won't bother getting into. The "exciting" part is that the following year, the Princess and the runner-ups get to have their head sculpted in a large block of butter. Yep. That's right. Butter.  Best of all, once the fair is over, each woman gets to keep theirs....
 
Lookin' hardcore with our pig ears.   Sarah wanted me to insert a picture of a cute barnyard animal, but I thought one of me and Bill Gates would be cooler.
 
An incredibly large hot tub.  I would be nice to soak in, though.   There's a food booth that sells just chocolate chip cookies and milk. That's it. They sell cookies by the cup full, or by the pail-full. Here is a picture of half the staff working behind the counter.... and there's still a long line to get cookies.

 

AND NOW...

Things not really spoken from a corner.... 

Hi everyone!  It's Sarah!!  YAY!  I'm so excited to finally have convinced Michael it's time I had my own little corner in our Minnesota updates -- especially since he puts such weird pictures of me in it for all to see.  I really don't know what you might possibly think of me by now...

It's been a really exciting last few weeks!  We moved!!  Or at least I moved.  I'm now officially out of my family's house I grew up in and finally all the way in to our new apartment.   I'm officially here for now and then Michael will join me after our wedding.  Although Michael and I hang out here together most of the time, I have to admit it's really nice to be the first one in and be able to get my things unpacked and set up first.  Oh wait, did I say unpack?  As you can see from the pictures below we still have quite a bit left to go. 

Our cell phone numbers will remain our only numbers for now.  We'll keep you posted. 

What else can I tell you about me?  Well, I work in radio.  I'm the sales assistant for three radio stations in Minneapolis/St. Paul (AKA: The Twin Cities): AM 1500, FM 107 and KS95.  They're very different stations ranging from political talk shows to a hot A/C music variety to female gab.  I love working in broadcasting and I do everything from helping sell commercial air time, voicing commercials, editing our monthly radio network online newsletter, and answering the constant bizarre questions from the wacky people who call the stations.

Wedding planning is taking up pretty much my entire life right now.  RAH!!  It's a beautiful, happy, insane time.  I love checking in at our wedding website and reading all the wonderful things you've written us in our guestbook.  [NOTE:  Thank you SO much to everyone who's written us!  Feel free to drop a line in there any time, even if you've already signed.]  I can't wait to see so many of you in October!  Can you believe it's only FIVE WEEKS AWAY?!?!!  ACK!!  I need to do more planning!!!  Michael and I are still planning on being in Vancouver in January for a second reception of sorts.  I've even been thinking of wearing The Dress then -- after all when will I get to wear it again?  The newest development on the wedding planning scene is music.  Two of my closest college friends, Dan and Diana, are coming over on Monday to start practicing on their duet and possibly do a little BBQ-ing as well.  I just sent my aunt Pam music today as well.  Aunt Pam has an amazing voice and our wonderful new friend Christa will be joining with a beautiful sacred dance, both of which will be during the unity candle.  It is such an honor to have these incredibly talented four people gracing our wedding and I can't wait for you to hear/see/smell it all too! 

I want to thank you all for lending Michael to me all the way out here in Minnesota.  I know how hard it is to miss someone so far away.  Being with him here is such a blessing and I truly couldn't imagine life without him.  Thank you.  It means the world to me.

Aww, now I'm getting all mushy.  Back to Michael before this goes to far...

 

THE APARTMENT

Here are some pictures of the apartment progress... We're still working on getting Sarah unpacked.

THEN IN PROGRESS NOW

 

Here are some other pictures of the apartment....

 

OTHER PHOTOS AND STUFF

I'll leave you with a number of random photos! Enjoy!

 
This is Corey and I on his last day at the office. Since he was just working during the summer, he packed up his stuff the other day to return to school.  Now, I await to find out who the new mystery person will be.  And since Corey still doesn't get these, I can continue to say what I want about him. Corey: When I said that my new computer was sexier than you, I was only partially kidding.    Sarah and I tried this new "Carb Options" side dish. It's only 8g of carbs because there's only 8.5 grams of noodles [as in about 12 noodles].  It looks gross, but it was quite good.
 
There's me in all my nerdiness, posting my score in the Ninja Gaiden tournament.  I was going to leave this picture out of sheer embarrassment, but Sarah really wanted me to put it here... I guess she wants the true me to shine :)   Just some of the odd things we found cleaning out Sarah's room.
 

Alright, I'm not going to explain how this game works, but I'm planning on having one ready for when the guys get here, because it's a ton of fun.

   Our first meal at the apartment... notice the napkins we used as plates (because we hadn't unpacked them yet)
 
I already send Mike R this link, but a friendly reminder never hurts...   This is the Fireside room at CPC. We'll be having the rehearsal dinner here.
   

This is where Sarah worked last summer at the State Fair. The table behind her is where they broadcast their shows... one of which I listened to over the internet while Sarah was only a few feet away. And for the briefest moment, we were connected....  <insert awwww's>