Spring?

Yes, this was taken this morning, 26 April. Sigh...

Going, going... Part II

First, if you didn't read Part I, scroll down.

Back? Okay, now for the plan.

We leave seven weeks from tomorrow. 12 June. That's the day for which I had originally reserved the truck however many months ago. One week from 7YO's last day of school. That was the idea. We will load that day and drive a few hours down to Madison, WI just to get on the road. That's one of the benefits of summer travel. Extended daylight. Oh, and the fact that we're not starting out on Friday the 13th? Just a little bonus!

On the 13th we will stop in Chicago for an early lunch with a friend from my Army days. We were roommates from December 1978-August 1980. Then it's on to Cleveland where we'll have dinner with one of my best friends from here at the university and her husband. She moved in 2004, but for the three years prior - once I moved into the neighborhood - we walked for an hour almost every morning, Monday-Friday. When it hit 0 degrees we reserved the right to cancel, but I think I can count on one hand the number of days we did so.

We'll spend the night of the 13th in Cleveland and then, on the 14th, head to Wellsville, NY. P was contacted a couple of years ago by B, someone who had come across P's surname - B's "maiden" name - on the web. Anyone in the country with that surname is descended from two brothers who came to the US from Europe. One brother came west, the other stayed in New York. They have corresponded here and there since, but have never met. So, we'll be stopping for lunch so that a New York "E" can meet a Midwestern "E." Then we'll continue on to Schenectady... where we know no one. Really! If my cousin were still alive we'd see her, but, alas, we lost her to cancer almost seven years ago...

On Sunday, the 15th, we'll head toward Boston and have lunch with a friend, L, her partner, and their twins who will have just turned 8. L and I are a couple of hours apart in age (she's older!) and have known each other since 1987. Although I visited with her on my trip to F'ton in January, the others haven't seen each other since 2004 when we all went to Family Week in Provincetown.

From there we'll drive up to Freeport, ME and spend the night. That will leave about 5 hours of driving on Monday, the 16th, and we'll be in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

We will unload on the 17th and return the truck to Maine on the 18th. That gives us a day to spare for the unexpected.

Oh, did I mention that my mother flies out here on 7 June, will ride East with us, and spend a good part of the summer in F'ton? Well, that's for another post!

So...
28 April - 9 May - Classes
10-13 May - Tucson
14-17 May - Exams/Commencement
15 May - P's mother arrives
18-19 May - Ahhhh...
20-27 May - Fredericton
27 May - P's mother leaves
28 May - 6 June - Ahhhh...
5 June - 7YO's last day of school
7 June - My mother arrives
12 June - Leave for Canada

Now let's see how close reality comes to THE PLAN!

Stay tuned!

Going, going... Part I

Having a moment's peace, I thought I'd post a bit of an update re the - hopeful - sale of the house. When last we heard [insert radio mystery music]... The folks that made a verbal counter-offer that was allegedly pending their seeing the inside of the garage - these are the low-ballers returned - didn't show.

Then, on 15 April, their agent (L) contacted my agent (B) to say that he would be sending the amended purchase agreement; no comment about not having seen the garage. On the 17th they sent the signed amendment to the purchase agreement BUT changed the date to 26 May, Memorial Day. They had verbally agreed to 6 June. 26 May wasn't going to work because I'm still in F'ton, P's mother is visiting, and 7YO is still in school. B called L to see what, if anything, could be done around the date conflict. L then called back. It sounds like he essentially told his clients that the date they had written in wasn't what he and our agent had agreed to. I think he was annoyed with them. They wanted to know why the 26th wouldn't work and he apparently told them that why we couldn't really didn't matter, we couldn't, maybe we had kids in school, etc... Apparently they just picked that date because they will be here for the holiday weekend. L then told B that he expected to get a revised document that night - the 17th - or first thing the next morning.

Friday came and went. Nothing. No call. No email. Nothing. Then, after I about had a complete meltdown on Saturday, ready to cash it in, we went out and about for the day. Returning at 2:15, the phone rang. It was B saying that L had called, that he was "on his way" with the earnest money check and signed amendment. B was going into a meeting at 2:30 and said that she would call back before if he, indeed, showed up. The phone rang five minutes later.

She had the check and the signed amendment with a closing date of 15 June. We arranged to go to her office at 4:15.

But, she had had to remind L that the original offer still carried a contingency of the garage inspection. So, he called to set up a showing. The desk called to set it up and, because he didn't have his realtor's key, he wanted to know if I would mind being here to show him the garage. Mind? I didn't really want to meet the guy, but I would have crawled to the garage if that was what it took.

I sent my house guest, 7YO, and pup off for a walk. L showed up, checked out the garage, said he was satisfied, and off he went.

We went to B's office at 4:15, signed the papers, and left.

Today is Wednesday. This morning B received an email from L saying that he had faxed the amendment, removing the contingency, to his clients on Monday and had not yet had it returned. They also have to address the closing date because, as I pointed out, the 15th is a Sunday. Nonetheless, short of a medical emergency or some other catastrophe, we're pulling out of here on Thursday, 12 June. More on that in the next post.

So, once they return the amendment removing the contingency, if they walk, we keep the $5K earnest money and start over again. I'm, of course, three-quarters of the way holding my breath for the amendment. Then I'll only halfway hold my breath until closing.

Bottom line is that we sold for 91% of initial asking, a little over 95% of the reduced price. Cash sale, no appraisal required, no inspection requested. So, I'm not complaining at all. It's not what we'd hoped for, but in this market, we're more than fine with it. Now if I could just not be holding my breath!

Sold

Yes, it's true, we signed the purchase agreement late this afternoon. Barring the unexpected - which with these clowns wouldn't be shocking - we will pre-sign the week of 9 June and leave town on 12 June. I'll post more on this later, but I am so exhausted I can barely think. I'm going to go collapse now.

The Saga...

Picture this - it's Saturday morning. You have an open house scheduled for 2 pm. You're cleaning house, picking up. P returns from walking the dog and mentions that one of the downspouts has fallen off the house. Well, we can't get it fixed today, let's put it in the garage, you say. So, P goes to put it in the garage, in a way that it's not sitting there screaming, "Here I am, I fell off the house." Unable to do so because half the garage has boxes, toys, etc., she thinks, "Maybe I'll just lay it alongside the garage." Nobody ever walks by there because while it's on an alley, our access in from the street.

I'm sitting inside at the dining room table when P walks in, tells 7YO to be quiet so that she can make a phone call, says nothing to me and dials what I recognize as only being 9-1-1. She then reports that our garage has been "tagged." I thought I was going to have a heart attack, but when I realized that she meant the side of the garage and not the doors, I was actually relieved!

A couple of cans of some Kilz-like product later, it's not horrible. The garage could use some fresh paint anyway - if it ever warms up here - but the main thing is it now looks more like it's been primed, in general, not just covered tagging.

We had the open house, had a good turn out and then had a showing that was a second visit. They brought what appeared to be a set of parents with them, then, after the alleged parents left, the couple spent half an hour in front of the house talking with their realtor. So, will it turn into an offer? Who knows. The folks that made a verbal counter-offer that was allegedly pending their seeing the inside of the garage - these are the low-ballers returned - didn't show. We were not surprised.

So, the saga continues. Another day of getting everything "show ready." 7YO is NOT happy. Yesterday, in the car - we had to be out of the house with the dog and it was cold and snow showering - he said, "This was a horrible idea. Why do we have to sell the house?"

More as soon as it happens...

Immigration/Deportation

I don't usually like to post entire articles, but this one demands it...

April 12, 2008
Legal Immigrants, Until They Sought Citizenship
By JULIA PRESTON
(c) The New York Times

SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Dr. Pedro Servano always believed that his journey from his native Philippines to the life of a community doctor in Pennsylvania would lead to American citizenship.

But the doctor, who has tended to patients here in the Susquehanna Valley for more than a decade, is instead battling a deportation order along with his wife.

The Servanos are among a growing group of legal immigrants who reach for the prize and permanence of citizenship, only to run afoul of highly technical immigration statutes that carry the severe penalty of expulsion from the country. For the Servanos, the problem has been a legal hitch involving their marital status when they came from the Philippines some 25 years ago.

Largely overlooked in the charged debate over illegal immigration, many of these are long-term legal immigrants in the United States who were confident of success when they applied for naturalization, and would have continued to live here legally had they not sought to become citizens.

As applications for naturalization have surged, overburdened federal examiners, under pressure to make quick decisions and also weed out any security risks, prefer to err on the side of rejection, immigration lawyers and independent researchers said. In 2007, 89,683 applications for naturalization were denied, about 12 percent of those presented.

In the last 12 years, denial rates have been consistently higher than at any time since the 1920s.

Though precise figures are not available, an increasing number of these denials involve immigrants who believed they were in good legal standing, according to lawyers and researchers. Under the law, a number of grounds for naturalization denial can lead to an order of deportation, and appeals are more limited than in criminal cases.

“It’s no wonder there are so many illegal immigrants,” said Brad Darnell, an electrical engineer from Canada living in California who applied for citizenship but is also now fighting deportation. “The legal method is so intolerant and confusing.”

A legal immigrant since 1991, Mr. Darnell is married to an American and has two American-born sons. But after he presented his naturalization application last year, Mr. Darnell discovered that a 10-year-old conviction for domestic violence involving a former girlfriend, even though it had been reduced to a misdemeanor and erased from his public record, made him ineligible to become a citizen — or even to continue living in the United States.

Since 1996, when an immigration law overhaul first brought intensified scrutiny of citizenship applications, at least 85,000 naturalizations have been turned down each year.

The record year was 2000, when 399,670 applications were denied, one-third of those presented, according to an analysis by the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research organization. More recent denial rates remain high, but have fallen from the peak because more immigrants have prepared with civics classes and immigrant advocates before applying to become citizens, researchers said.

In three recent cases in Florida, aspiring citizens thought their green cards entitled them to vote or register to vote before they were sworn in as Americans. When the immigrants reported their elections activities on their applications, not only were their naturalizations rejected, but they were also ordered to leave the country, according to their lawyer, Jeffrey Brauwerman.

In a current Florida case, a British-born businessman saw his naturalization derailed and was detained for deportation because he forgot to update his home address with the immigration agency, Mr. Brauwerman said. He was charged with ignoring a notice in which immigration examiners mistakenly accused him of a felony he had never committed.

In a case that drew Congressional attention this year in Illinois, Marin Turcinovic, an immigrant from Croatia, was twice denied citizenship because he did not show up at the immigration office to be fingerprinted. As his lawyer explained to no avail, Mr. Turcinovic was a quadriplegic, dependent on a ventilator and unable to leave his home.

Mr. Turcinovic died in April 2004 without becoming a citizen, creating an immigration crisis for his French widow, Corina, who had taken care of him. In January Representative Daniel Lipinski, Democrat of Illinois, presented a bill that halted her deportation.

Immigration officials say denials have increased in the last decade because naturalization applications are increasing. They note that approvals are rising as well. In 1996 naturalizations soared for the first time to more than one million, and they remained above 450,000 each year through 2007.

“Whenever we see a period when large numbers decide to apply, there tend to be larger numbers of people who are not ready or might not meet the requirements,” said Chris Rhatigan, a spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Officials said the majority of denials went to applicants who failed a required civics and English language test or fell short of residency requirements. Those immigrants generally can try again.

But as the case of the Servano family illustrates, some denials come as a shock to both the applicants and the communities they call home.

Dr. Servano’s mother, five siblings and eight of his wife’s siblings became naturalized citizens, including one brother and two brothers-in-law who made careers in the Navy. His four children are Americans by virtue of being born here. He has been a legal immigrant in the United States for 25 years.

Following an outcry from neighbors, patients and local officials, Department of Homeland Security officials in December temporarily suspended the Servanos’ deportation. The Servanos and their supporters, including Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, are using the unusual reprieve to pursue new legal efforts to resolve the couple’s case.

For the federal government and for many Americans, naturalizations — the legal process by which legal immigrants become citizens — are a measure of immigrants’ willingness to join the society and embrace its civic values.

To become a citizen, a legal permanent resident must have lived in the United States more or less continuously for five years, or three years for the spouse of a citizen. The immigrant must demonstrate good moral character and allegiance to the Constitution, and pass a test of English ability and civics. Since 2002, citizenship applicants also undergo an extensive background check by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Applicants fail the moral character standard if they have been convicted of certain sex, drug or gambling charges or are “habitual drunkards.” They also can fail if they give “false testimony,” a term immigration lawyers say is subject to broad interpretation.

Dr. Servano and his wife, Salvacion, lived for years in the United States with no inkling they might have violated the law. They met in the Philippines when she was a nurse and he was a young traveling doctor. Her strict father insisted she marry, they said, but his family wanted him to wait.

In the early 1980s, their mothers came separately to the United States as legal immigrants and petitioned for residence visas, known as green cards, for Pedro and Salvacion under the category of unmarried children. But between the time the visas were requested and when they were issued in 1985, Pedro and Salvacion, hoping to escape conflicting parental demands, secretly married in the Philippines.

Unaware that their marriage could have violated the terms of their green cards, the Servanos settled in the United States. He completed a second medical residency here and began to practice in blue-collar towns where he made house calls and was known for attention to everyday ills. He and Salvacion married in New Jersey in 1987. They renewed their green cards punctually.

“My goal is to be fully functional and integrated into the society,” Dr. Servano said. They presented their 1991 naturalization applications without seeking a lawyer.

Immigration inspectors reviewing their applications discovered a record of their Philippine marriage. Accused of lying, they were ordered deported. In years of immigration court appeals, the Servanos had no opportunity to present broader evidence of their character, their lawyers said.

People in Selinsgrove and nearby Sunbury, Susquehanna Valley towns where Dr. Servano practices, were surprised to hear in October that the couple had received a final order with a November date for their deportation. Aside from his medical work, he and his wife had bought two blighted buildings on the square in Sunbury, refurbishing them with apartments and offices. Mrs. Servano opened a store, selling lottery tickets, homemade Filipino bread and DVDs in Tagalog, a Philippine language.

In November, more than 100 residents gathered in the Sunbury square for a candlelight vigil on behalf of the Servanos. Thousands of Filipinos in the United States have signed petitions supporting them.

“The fact that they want to displace and get rid of people we here feel are exceptionally good citizens quite frankly just doesn’t make any sense,” said Mayor Jesse C. Woodring of Sunbury.

The Servanos, huddled on the couch in their home in a Selinsgrove development, seemed numb at the prospect of returning to the Philippines.

“I live here, so I like America now,” Mrs. Servano said. “For 25 years we’ve been here; we didn’t even visit the Philippines. So it’s really hard.”

Their son, Peter, 16, an American, expressed his siblings’ anguish about being forced to separate either from their parents or from the only home they know.

“I want to stay here because all my friends are here, and I’ve grown up here, so it would be hard to leave,” Peter said. “But it would be hard not to go.”

Michael Gilhooly, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which handles deportations, said the Servanos’ removal had been suspended based on new information from Mr. Specter about their humanitarian role. Other immigration officials said the Servanos could recover their legal status by applying for new green cards as parents of citizen children.

For links to more stories on their case go here.

Recall Clearance Letter

I thought a diversion from real estate might be in order - though I hope to have news by the weekend. Things were going fine regarding the above referenced letter. I found the info on Honda and checked out the "Owner Link" website. I discovered that our car had had a recall in 1999. More on that in a moment! I then spoke with to a very nice and helpful woman at American Honda. Found out what I needed to fax to them to get the letter. Then I asked about the "recall" because I knew they couldn't issue a clearance if there was an outstanding recall on the vehicle. She said that I would need to talk with our dealer, they would have to address the "recall," notify American Honda, and that they could then send the letter.

I emailed with a really nice guy at the dealership. But, here's why recall is in quotation marks above... The "recall" is a problem with the driver's side Honda floor mat, which we never purchased. If we did have the floor mat, and wished to keep it, we would bring the car in and they would install a bolt that would keep it from catching on the accelerator. But, since we don't have the mat, we have to bring the car in so that they can see that we don't have the mat. Now, call me crazy, but what's to keep me from taking the mat out, going to the dealership, then putting the mat back in? I mean, obviously that would be stupid since they would be fixing it for free and eliminating a risk. But, doesn't it seem a bit ridiculous to have to drive up there so that they can look and go, "Oh, no mat" and make the notation in the database? Grrrr... Bureaucracy.

Fortunately we've got some work to be done before driving 2000 miles anyway and we'll just go sooner rather than later, but geez... So, once we can find half a day to spend at the dealership, we can get this one checked off the "moving stuff" list.

Hard to believe that two months from today we could be in Fredericton. I wonder, wonder...

A is for Anxiety

Well, we're into the sixth week of our house being on the market. The average in our neighborhood is right around two months. It has been some real ups and downs. Without all the boring details, we've gone back and forth with someone who is clearly interested but who, it appears, has an agent who doesn't understand the neighborhood, etc. We're only $6K apart, but I don't think we'll come to a "meeting of the minds" because he has them convinced, it seems, that they should get a HUGE discount for cash. Some discount, yes, but not what they have in mind. The good news is that we've had a flurry of showings this week and have two more tomorrow as well as an open on Saturday. All limbs and digits crossed.

This is really wearing me down. Between keeping the house sparkling clean and neat and just not knowing exactly when we're leaving, etc. I am losing my mind. Add to that dealing with the bank, realtor, and builder in Canada and I'm about ready to jump off the deep end. But, there are moments of progress and/or good news. I emailed with our Canadian attorney today and she's going to take a look at the construction contract gratis. I don't really think there's anything at issue, but a set of informed and objective eyes would be great.

We'd still like to leave mid-June, but we've figured out that if a 5 June closing/possession is what it takes, we'll pack the truck while 7YO is at his last day of school. Weirdly reminiscent of my high school graduation in Florida. I got home late that night and we left in the truck and cars for Ohio the next morning. I really want to be in Fredericton for Canada Day, but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

It's going to be a busy nine weeks or so. Although we've been weeding for over a year, we can't actually start packing until we no longer have to show the house. My office is looking very spare. I'll be going back to Tucson 10-13 May to take care of a few things for my mother before moving even farther away. P's mother arrives on the 15th. Finals, graduation, etc. all wrap up on the 17th. I'll be in Fredericton 20-27 May - partly for a conference, partly for house stuff. P's mother leaves the day I return. Then, depending upon when we are actually leaving - if we know by then - I'll return to only a week or so until we leave. My mother will be joining us at some point as she is driving East with us. It's going to be one heck of a spring here!

I thought I'd post some semblance of an update so there you have it! Can't wait until I'm posting that title: "SOLD!"