bad bad fingers

Well, the Red Sox didn't sweep the Indians, but did end up winning the series in 7 games. They just wanted to make it more interesting, I'm sure. As I write they're up 3 games to none against the Rockies in the World Series and winning in Game 4. Maybe this time they'll sweep.

Anyways, my fingerprints were rejected by the FBI again. Blah. It was kinda expected given what the fingerprint technician told me last time, I was just hoping I wouldn't have to go in. Again. But I went back to my local police station, and this time a different technician was on. He agreed that my fingerprints were naturally really bad. He said he does 3 - 5 sets of prints a day, and mine were some of the worst he'd ever seen. Great. But he confirmed that the FBI will just go with what they've got (primarily my Social Security number) after this submission, even if the fingerprints get rejected again.

So I didn't have to pay for the prints at the police state again, since it was a redo, but the FBI made me pay a second fee of $18. I don't know why they let you resubmit once without paying more, but make you resubmit twice before they give up. Whatever. The most annoying part of paying again was that this time they required a money order or certified check. The first time I was able to pay with a credit card. I should have gotten a money order at the post office, but I was at the bank, so had them print out a certified check. Unfortunately they charged an $8 fee. Oh well.

Besides the extra time and the extra $26, there's no worry really about all this. I got a response from the New Zealand Embassy in Washington DC about the processing time for a residency application. 3 - 6 months. And then I'll have to move there within 12 months. So so far I'm still on track for an October 2008 move. Yay!

let's talk about sports

While I'm waiting for my FBI background check to be processed I've got some time on my hands. I'm using a lot of the time to stress that I won't get residency in time to move to New Zealand in October of 2008 like we're planning. I know it's a year away, but remember, we had to wait over two and a half years for Aidan's US citizenship (the USCIS website says it should take about 7 months). The Immigration New Zealand FAQ says "Once you know which branch will be processing your application, you can access their processing times on our website, which is published in their individual branch pages, under the heading 'Processing Times'." Being in the US, I'll be submitting my application to the Washington branch. Their page doesn't have the 'Processing Times' heading. :( Guess I'll have to call them on Monday so I can stop stressing (or start stressing more).

Until then, let's talk about sports. In New Zealand, the biggest sport is rugby, and they've recently had a devastating result in the Rugby World Cup. They were eliminated by France in the quarterfinals. Oops. They were expected to win the Cup. As they are every time. And as the rarely do. They're good at choking I guess.

Over here, the biggest sport is baseball. And my local team, the Boston Red Sox, last week made it past the equivalent of a quarterfinal round, by beating the Los Angeles Angels in the American League Division Series (ALDS). Now we're in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) against the Cleveland Indians, playing for a spot in the World Series. Last night we won the first of the seven game series. Yay! 4 minutes to the first pitch of Game 2. Here's hoping for a sweep!

bad fingers

So I was all proactive and went back to the police station yesterday for reprinting. Turns out it wasn't a problem with the set of prints, it's a problem with my actual fingers. They don't print well. And so when the FBI says that the "quality of characteristics is too low to be used" they mean that my fingerprints are kinda boring and uncharacteristic without nice deep groves and nice defined whorls and such. So reprinting doesn't usually actually help. But they make you do it anyways. Great.

The lady in the detectives' office was nice and redid the prints, twice actually, since the FBI had sent me 2 extra print cards and we figured we might as well send them both. She said that the FBI used to have the rule that they'd make you send in 3 sets of prints before they finally just accepted them. She said she believed the new rule is just 2 sets. Here's hoping.