A BIG Sigh of Relief

You might have thought that my last post would have been the big sigh of relief since a solution to our traveling dilemma had been solved.....OH, if only that had been true. Yes, it was true that the U.S. Government had relaxed their rules for letting U.S. citizens back into the country. But that wasn't going to help us get out of the country. Our disembarkation point is Vancouver, B.C. and well, the Canadian government hasn't relaxed their rules. It's simple...you must have a U.S. Passport or a photo id, proof you applied for a passport and a certified copy of your birth certificate. If you've ever applied for a passport, you know that you submit your certified birth certificate with your application and in theory, you get it back when you get your passport. And how many certified copies of your birth certificate do you happen to have on hand?

Getting my birth certificate wasn't an issue....I live one county over from where I was born. It took me longer to find a parking space than it did to get through security, request my birth certificate, pay for it, get and return to my car. Not so easy for the hubby as he was not born one county over....he was born in New York. By NY state law, I am not actually allowed to request his birth certificate without a court order. To keep only one of us in panic mode, I enlisted the help of his mother who is entitled to a copy. She lives here, but thanks to the internet, we found a place online where she could order it....with delivery in 5 to 10 business days...with the clock ticking once the file was transmitted to the NY bureau who handles the request....(they tell you after the fact that the clock doesn't start ticking when you place the order). Worst case scenario, it would be due to arrive the day that we were due to leave. Now, doesn't that sound very good does it?

On the other front, I called the National Passport Agency to see about hurrying up the passports (kicking myself, again, for not paying that rush fee in the beginning). The first day that they would talk to me was this past Monday....something to do with how far behind they are that they are only dealing with people traveling within 14 days (Saturday is for traveling in 7 days only). I listened to 10 minutes of messages, then held for another 10 or 15 minutes and then thought that I had been disconnected when the hold music stopped. But I didn't get a dial tone or busy signal, so I kept holding until someone came on the line. I imagine that they are taking a lot of crap, but I got a really nice lady and was very nice in return...no use in pissing off someone who can help you now is there. Besides, she isn't personally responsible for this whole mess. I was ready to pay the rush fee, but wasn't required to do so since we'd been waiting so long. She put a "rush" on it and made note that we needed them by the 28th, but it wasn't exactly a promise.

In the meantime, my ability to sleep was on the fritz and I was doing a lot of tossing and turning, worrying and fretting. So this is what it's like to have a nervous breakdown? I checked the passport site regularly in hopes that they would show shipped as well as the website for the status of the birth certificate. This AM, after a fitfull night, I checked the status of the birth certificate and (insert scream of joy & thanks) it shipped yesterday. It was delivered to my mum-in-laws this morning and has since been delivered to us. So now, we really can travel...we are legal to get into Canada and to get back into the U.S. Now, I can let out a BIG sigh of relief and get a good nights sleep!

Listening to that Little Voice

When we went to apply for our passports back in March, I had it in my mind when we walked in the door to just suck it up and pay the rush fee...that's what the little voice in my head was saying. But the very nice lady at the post office assured me that I would just be throwing my money away, that even with the delays, we still had plenty of time. Uh huh. And if they hadn't come two weeks before our trip, I could call then and pay the rush fee. I should have just paid the rush fee, we would have our passports by now and I would have saved myself a whole lot of worry....especially with the reports that the delays are getting longer. It is typical of our government to enact a new law or regulation that they can't actually support. Passports are now required for traveling to Mexico and Canada (our port of departure) and for flying back into the United States (although we're coming back from Anchorage....and how would we get out of the country anymore without the passport?). This led to a huge influx of passport applications, which someone should have seen coming, that the government can't process in a timely manner. I am not a math wizard....but someone, somewhere must have some idea of the number of individuals who would be affected by this and plan accordingly. I understand the idea behind the requirement and coughed up the money necessary for securing the documents without complaint. But I don't think anyone is going to pay us back for the $$ shelled out for this trip.

But someone came to their senses and decided that maybe something should be done to, at least in the short term, alleviate the situation. So now all you need is a government issued photo ID and proof that you've applied for a passport which is handily available through the website I've been neurotically checking to see if our passports have been processed. You'll still need about 4 weeks for that information to get into the system or you're out of luck, but fortunately, we're ahead on that score. I printed the information today just in case their website had some sort of terminal failure....just like the little voice in my head told me to.

Nuts!!!!

If you read my post, "The Rundown", you might recall my displeasure over the decision of CBS to cancel one of my favorite shows, Jericho. Ok....I was really pissed off....I even wrote them an email insulting their intelligence (or lack thereof). Oh, if only I had thought of the nuts! After receiving about 50,000 pounds of nuts, CBS has decided to not pull the plug on the show, but order seven more episodes of the show as a mid-season replacement and give it another try. It's kind of funny that it's been reported that Jericho was their most watched show online, which, unless all the other shows are only getting watched about 25 times, should indicate to them some rather significant interest in the show.....but I digress.

If you watched the season finale of the show, you already know about the nuts. If not....indulge me while I catch you up. The finale includes a flashback in which the grandfather of two key characters is relating a story from WWII in which a German commander sends a note over to some trapped American troops asking for their surrender. The American commander sends back a note with a single word: Nuts! Which was an incredibly polite way of telling the German commander to go screw himself. As the finale draws to a close and the little town of Jericho is about to go to war with a neighboring town, the leader of the opposing forces asks Jake (one of the grandsons) to surrender to which he responds, "Nuts". Which was his incredibly nice way of telling the guy to go screw himself. So I guess the 50,000 pounds of nuts were the fans incredibly nice way of telling CBS to go screw themselves.

There's a post on the Jericho message boards on the CBS website announcing their plans to try and "salvage" the show. The P.S. to the message has a very simple request, "Please stop sending us nuts".

Today's Lunchtime Distraction

I found this over at blackcrag's blog and thought it was just a hoot. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get the code into my blog without it showing all my sidebar stuff to the bottom and since I'm on lunch AND I'm not technically inclined, I'll just have to put it in here without all the links and stuff the code comes with.

How will you be defined in the dictionary:

Hope: A real life terminator

Slightly Controlled Chaos: A person of questionable sanity who starts their own cult

Happy Bunny Hope: A human transformer (robot in disguise)

There is so much I could probably say about this if I weren't on my lunch!

Lunchtime Distraction

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

It has been noted that I do have a fine ability to "spin"!

The Rundown

For as long as I can remember, I've been addicted to television. I've gone through times where there were only a couple of shows that I had to watch to what now feels like watching every damn thing that they put on! And I like the noise of television as I lack the ability to concentrate in silence, but somehow the radio or a CD just doesn't fit the bill. It helps being married to someone who shares the same addiction (which explains why there are two people and five televisions in the house). I hate when the power is out and I have to fall asleep in the silence instead of setting the timer and the t.v. going off after I've fallen asleep. And it sucks if I wake up in the middle of the night and have to try and fall back asleep (yes, I have been known to turn the t.v. back on and set the timer again). I guess that makes me a child of modern times. So here's watch I watch:

Heroes--The first couple of episodes of this show held great promise although it was apparent that show wasn't as good as it could be. Fortunately, it began to live up to it's promise. After the season finale of another favorite, Lost, I was amused at some of the message boards pitting the two shows against each other as if liking one precluded liking the other and listing how each show "failed" compared to the other. One of the biggest complaints against Heroes was it's rather tidy ending. Yes, there were questions left unanswered (Are Peter and Nathan dead? Is Matt going to make it? Is Sylar really, really dead? And who out there is a more evil villian than Sylar?), but the "main" story line resolved itself in preparation for the next challenge or impending doom. Well, that's the way the engineered this story and explains that a few minutes before the show wrapped for the season they boldly proclaimed "End Volume One" following by "Begin Volume Two". It seemed a simple enough concept for everyone to follow.....oh, that and the fact that they are entirely two different shows! Of course, the show begs the question: "Which power would you want to have?":o

Flying...No thanks, I'll pass
Ability to regenerate: Yes, this would be nice...a little creepy (Claire waking up during her autoposy), but very handy.
Reading Minds....Well, maybe. This could be a blessing and a curse. Really....do you want to know what everyone is thinking about you.
Communicating with Machines....Maybe I could finally get my computer to do what I wanted and the ability to get an ATM machine to just give you money....bonus.
Radioactivity...Yeah, think I'll be passing on this one as well.
Invisibility...Has possibilities.
Excelerated Learning & Memory....In the blessing & curse department. Some memories are really meant to fade.
Super, Super Strength...Not a bad choice, but I'd like mine without the split personality.
Phasing...It's cool to watch the guy on the show let a bullet pass through his body and to walk through walls, but it's not exciting.
Controlling Time & Space....Other than the fact that you could royally screw up life as we know it by altering the past, very cool.
Absorbing/Stealing abilities....Two characters could take on the powers of others...one by simple contact, the other by cutting open peoples heads and taking them (I'll go for absorbing, but it seems that you can't be picky about which powers...which means you end up being radioactive and possibly exploding).
Power to Heal....Very cool! But how do you save everyone?

24--The season started off well, but it was like they ended the main plot line too early and just began to meander. This is why I ended up with the last three hours being recorded while I watched the end of Heroes instead of watching 24 and catching up with Heroes later. If they do another season, the show still has enough cred that I'd give it another choice.

House--The medical mysteries are cool even if they write in "carryover" story lines that tend to go on too long. And you really shouldn't like the main character, but you do.....probably because he says things that the rest of wish we could! Not sure what I think about the way they ended the season and if it really means that they're about to recycle about 1/2 the show's cast.

Bones--Ok, if I miss episodes of this show, it doesn't really bother me...I'm not hunting someone to see what happened or trying to watch it online, but it's easy to watch, the story lines are typically interesting and I like the characters (well, all but one).

American Idol--I can't say it was the worst season of the show, because I haven't watched all of them....but it was the worst that I've seen. I was really disappointed that Melinda didn't win, but no one really captured me the way that they had in the past.

Lost--The beginning of this season was...well...dismal. There was a point that I wished that I could make myself stop watching it....and now I'm glad that I didn't give up on it. The first season may always be the most brilliant, but the end of this season got close to the feel and energy of that first season. I think the show will get better now that they've decided exactly how many more episodes that there are going to be. There won't be any unnecessary stalling and so forth trying to stretch it out longer that it needs to be. And they finally answered some questions without strings attached (strings being where they finally answer a question, but it doesn't actually answer anything). We know who the real Sawyer is (and I actually feel a little foolish for not figuring that one out) and what happened to all the Dharma Initiative people. I applaud them for telling the backstory of the leader of the "Others", Ben, and despite all that he suffered, leaving him a completely unsympathetic character. It's still easy to hate & mistrust him. I guess a killer twist would be for him to turn out to be the good guy, but it'd be a real stretch. If you've never watched the show, each episode is split into two stories...what's happening on the island right now and flashbacks that give you insight into the character...their past, their story and how they ended up on the fateful flight. In a stroke of genius, the flashback from the season finale ended up being a flashforward, but it was so well written that until they slap you in the face with it in the last two minutes of the show, you never see it coming. The first reaction is "OH MY GOD...it's the future" followed by "Why does Jack think his dad is alive?" Can't wait for the next season to start.

Jericho--Like Heroes, this show wasn't as good as it could be when it started. But with strong writing and performances, it fixed that in short order. It was dark (post-nuclear) tinged with humor and a stark portrayal of the best and the worst that human's can dish out when the chips are down. If I missed an episode of this show, I definately watched it online so I'd be ready for the next episode. And the finale was incredible with a real cliff hanger. And yes, when the commericals said you'd never guess who was going to die...they were right. It would have only been more surprising if they had killed off Jake (Skeet Ulrich) or the guy with the nuclear weapon hidden in his garage. And then CBS goes and cancels the show so like two other previous favorites of mine (Invasion & Surface) you get these HUGE season finales and that is all. Of the three, this is the worst cancellation and even CBS says it was probably their fault by interrupting the season to try something else (an annoying habit a lot of the networks, etc have picked up).

Shark--Frankly, I'm not a James Woods fan and when the show started, he's why I didn't watch it, but somehow I ended up watching 1/2 a show one Thursday and found that it was actually a really good show with some solid acting (including Mr. Woods).

Stargate SG-1--Well, it's not the show it once was, but I'll be there until the end (which is a handful of episodes away). When the show lost Michael Shanks for a season, it was a huge blow to the show (no offense to Parker Lewis Can't Lose's Corin Nemac...I liked him as Parker, but never warmed to him on this show) that was fortunately corrected. But when Richard Dean Anderson all but left the show (a cameo here and there), it was pretty much cutting the show's heart out. To make it worse, they brought in Ben Browder who portrayed pretty much the exact same character as he did on Farscape (worked better there) and his Farscape co-star Claudia Black. I like her, but they saddled her with the most annoying role in recent history. So, it probably is time to say goodbye.

Stargate Atlantis--With all the changes to it's parent show, this has become the better show, but I don't think it will ever be as good as Stargate once was.

Returning soon:

The Closer--Glad that this show is getting another summer season...very clever, very well-written and a flawed main character make for good t.v.

Eureka--Quirky, fun Science Fiction...can't wait.

The 4400--I worried that this show might not make it back, but thankfully it does seem to be returning.

New:

The Starter Wife--I didn't LOVE the show, but it's good enough to give more of a chance. Some of the shows characters just grate on your nerves....people so shallow and empty it ought to be legal to put them down. But I love Debra Messing so it'll be worth rolling the dice on.

The Dresden File---On the surface, I should love this show, but I manages to just like it. Not sure when (if) Sci-Fi is putting it back on, but chances are good I'll watch it (unless it's against Heroes or Lost).

Ousted?

Medium--I really liked this show, but it lost out when Lost moved opposite it. Hope they move it to a new slot...maybe Wednesdays at 8:00PM since Jericho got cancelled....

So for what's it worth, there it is. I wonder what a person's t.v. viewing habits says about them......................