california rest in peace

I'm too tired to write much tonight, but allow me to explain why I have been rather stressed lately. I didn't blog about it at all, partially to avoid causing undue concern, partially to avoid exposing a slight bit of incompetence on the part of my company. Anyway, to make a long story short, when I came into Ireland a month ago, I almost got deported because the right paperwork hadn't been submitted on my behalf, and it's taken the people here a whole month to get it resolved. When I was allowed into the country, they only gave me a month-long entrance permit, which expired today; so when I woke up at 7 this morning to go to the immigration office, I didn't know whether I would be allowed to stay, or whether I would have to find a flight home tonight. Needless to say, I've been just a bit stressed and angry about all of this.

So today, after many phone calls and much back-and-forth, my visa was extended until the end of June. I will still have to go home then, and I can't stay until September like I was supposed to, but at least I didn't have to leave today! So, Ritu, this means I'll see you in California this summer. Unfortunately for those of you who were thinking about visiting me, I won't be able to host you because I won't be here--but now that I'm settled, I can at least travel a bit over the next few weeks myself.

The whole situation was compounded by the fact that I haven't felt settled in a really long time; when I got back from India, I didn't know what I would be doing at work, and then I got the Ireland thing but I was supposed to leave two months sooner than I did, so I was effectively homeless for awhile, and then I got here and immediately had to start dealing with whether or not I would be leaving. Now, though, I'll go home at the end of June, find an apartment, and be settled again, at least for awhile.

So, that's my story. Let's address some other issues from the mailbag:

From 'The Wamp': "I just got my face eaten by one dozen starving, crazed weasels. Your luck must be turning."
--Sorry kid. I hope that you don't fail those finals you're taking today!

From 'anonymous': "Tom Cruise needs a hobby. He should consider enrolling in the Christopher Reeves' Equestrian School, John Denver's Flight Institute, or Sonny Bono's Downhill Adventures."
--That's terrible! But also hysterically accurate.

From 'not applicable': "yes, a little creepy. don't worry, this guy i saw for a while also enjoyed reading my sister's blog everytime we hung out - that's really creepy. especially since he wasn't a hot priest."
--This was in reference to the fact that I read a friend's sister's blog because the friend hadn't updated in awhile. This is a good time to tell the rest of you that I think it's ridiculous that I blog every single night and most of you either a) don't write in your blog often or b) don't have a blog at all. Those of you who comment frequently are exempt from my annoyance.

From 'anonymous': "So I clicked on your suggested link and read the wardrobe story, but the G ad below the story was for an Iowa Divorce Lawyer. Why would that ad show up on the website of an Indian newspaper?"
--Ads can be targeted by the user's location; so if you were located in Iowa when you read the article, you only see ads that were eligible to be shown in Iowa. You're more likely to be interested in a divorce lawyer (hypothetically) in Iowa than a dressmaker in Hyderabad, for instance.

From 'sis': "had a pretty good weekend despite feeling terrible I didnt go to the funeral, the buckets of rain coming down, Sammi getting soaked at Adventurelandand not getting flowers planted I purchased. I think maybe you should purchase the lotto tickets for bro. Seems your luck is better then ours anyways...."
--Did Sammi get soaked by rain, or did she ride the Ragin' River one too many times?

From 'one of the little ones': "You are not boring in any shape or form. You are one of the nicest and most adventurous people I know not to mention loved very much."
--Why can't everyone be this nice? I guess that the fact that 'anonymous' didn't suggest that *I* join Sonny Bono's Downhill Adventures is sort of nice.

From 'zen wizard': "You are very dedicated. You need to take the day trip for some "swampler time.""
--Who are you, zen wizard, and how did you get to be so wise?

Okay, the mailbag's closed for tonight. Goodnight, everyone!