On a fab Feb 18, we had the green card interview and were expected to wait a month to get it.
The service we got from the USCIS was impressive. This is a government service, not usually known by quality service. However, we kept getting email notification on every little step on the way. The approval is sent, approval card is being printed, and card is on its way.
My driver’s license expired recently and I was unable to renew it, because of my residence status change, (they cannot renew after the i-94 date) and I cannot get an I-94 until I finish the process. So for a month I drove with my Israel driver’s license. And after getting my work authorization card, I went with that to renew it. Of course having to pay a late fee, but I could only renew it until the date of my work authorization expiration (one year) then I have to rerenew. Guess what was waiting for me when I got home. I was certain that I will have the card waiting for me; it must be this way, since I just paid without it. We come home and I am saying we need to check mail, and Yes, the green card authorization (not the card, but the approval); so I could have renewed it for 2 years (and save the renew fee next year) is sitting there in the mailbox.
Yesterday while the mail dude was in the room and I was waiting for a cab, I was certain that the card is there, why, because I cannot access the room, it must be there. And yes, when I got home all upset from the flight cancelation, the green reward was waiting… and although the front of the card is white, the back has some green on it with the Permanent residence status, and now I do not need my work authorization or all the other supporting documents.
Oh, did I mention that the new Ohio driver’s license is pink, my student ID is pink too, are they telling me something that I am missing?
On a completely other subject. I have been listening to a new collections, which I mysteriously have for some years without realizing. One of the songs was barba-aba series opening song (for non-Israelis, this is a 70s cartoon- the characters look like odd balloons, I do not know the original series name, it’s not an Israeli show)). So any who; in the first verse, Barbaded is walking alone, and he is rejected and laughed at by all , then the chorus saying barbaDad is great and everyone loves him.
I can’t reconcile this difference, what is the nature of this change? Did he win the lottery? Did he invent something, bribe everyone; they don’t say.
The song goes on, BarbaDad walks and meets BarbaMom, these were their names before they got married (talk about parents hint hint) and in the wedding all the birds are singing for BOTH of them, “BarbaDad is great barbaDad, everyone loves you ”. Again, if they are singing to both of them, why isn’t barbamom mentioned in the chorus? Is this like the bible where woman are almost never mentioned, they still don’t say what makes barbadad great. This song is well known by a popular 70-80 kid’s song singer, how has no one outraged about it before. The last verse described their kids, who sit in the house and sing- again, barbaDed is great, barbaDed we all love you. This makes some sense, not in a nice way, these balloon kids prefer their dad (it can happen!!, he might take them orienteering or something), but it still does not say why is he great.
What should I now? Should I be looking for the author to get explanation, or just see the show (I recall the songs well, but nothing on the show itself)? Is this why some people fear balloon animals?
Wow, not even I knew I was so outraged by big balloons… on the plane now, somewhere over Spain. Is this a new route? NY to Tel Aviv flights usually goes over England and France, not Spain. Not that this is important in seat C- middle isle, I cannot see out the window. I would have like to see Portugal, having never been there. The flight was only 51 minutes late, practically on time.
Last few months I started having an annoying pain in my hip. It started minor, and I noticed I was starting to develop a limp. I attributed this to my calf injury from last year, but still the pain grew and became irritating, until it became permanent and I decided to have it checked.
It is strange to fill out these medical forms, since I am in a state of great health. I do not get seriously sick, my organs are great (knock 3 times on seat D), but I keep injuring my limbs. The trainee orthopedic comes and tries a few inquisition type moves on my left hip, compares them to the right, and finds a particularly painful location, then the actual doc I came to see repeats these moves and they pretty much figure it out. A labarum tare.
A tare in the layer between cartilage and bone in the hip. Never heard about this layer before. They say it is common for ballerinas and soccer players. I have played soccer, but not a soccer player (occurs from many lift of the knee) so I guess I fall under the ballerina category.
We think we found out what I am doing wrong; I usually sit with my left leg on the side and the knee bent, kind of like sitting on my ankle, with the legs to the side, not underneath, this over time caused damage.
But the docs weren’t 100% sure so they had me do an MRI.
I GoogleMap the place, and see the location and drive up there, only to find no such place. I was asked to come a bit earlier and I am circling the area and no MRI center, I call to check and its on this same road, but on the other side of the high way (if you can’t trust Google, who can you trust?) so I arrive late ( I must say this is not a theme, I am very much an on time person, I try to be there on time, not late or early, it doesn’t always work but usually does) and the machine is booked, so I return the next day for a new appointment. Lucky there is no late fee here.
Next day comes and I am wearing a lovely gown by Calvin notClean, and laying on a bad. There are 4 people doing the procedure. 1 nurse, 1 another nurse, a doc in training and a supervising doc. These are all guys who come to see me naked (since it’s a hip MRI, nearby areas are exposed. One of the nurses is a new guy. They actually introduce themselves in the room, they have never met before, this guy is a transferee. I don’t mind being experimented by new guys, but this is too new. He just came in, no one knows his names, is he really a nurse, I want to see credentials. He seems competent, but what do I know about MRIs?. The actual procedure is done by a radiologist, the young doc; now I do what to know what is his experience since I am to get a shot right in the hip (next to the hip bone) to inject dye. But I don’t ask. They numb me with Lidocaine, then inject steroids and dye. This is very painful for nano seconds then it’s all over. I am now waiting for the dye to spread and the numbing spreads down the thigh. 30 minutes later the MRI alien abduction begins. If you have done this before , then you know how this feels. You sit on a bed and placed in to this tube like machine. It hums, and make machine gun sounds, then stops and makes different sounds in different patterns. The techs have me listen to 80s music, and I do while lightly napping. After 20 minutes or so this alien probing process ends. The MRI confirms that it is a labarum tare. Unfortunately not much to do, the steroids resolve the pain almost that very night, and now a few days later , I am completely pain free, which is great, but this is a patch, it will return in 3-6 months, unless a miracle happens. I will have a minor surgery, to take out a part of this layer (which is pinched by the bone) and a mild layer of the bone. So kids , remember, sit up straight!
Passed by the Cleveland airport today and the restroom sign is interesting. It repeats in several languages. “Men” something in Arabic, something in Chinese, “Bano” (not sure which language is that), and then toilette. I guess in another language men are compared to toilettes…
Well nothing more to report today, about 3.5 hours away, Ibiza perhaps.
chers
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