Music Genome Project

This has nothing whatsoever to do with immigration, nor Canada - though k.d. lang was the first artist I "tested." And, come to think of it, it was my pal at the post office, as I was mailing our fingerprint cards, who clued me in to this project... Anyway, check out Pandora. I tend to prefer silence when I'm working, but for those who like a little background music while working at the computer, it seems pretty cool.

Fingerprinting

Took a quick trip down to the county law enforcement center for fingerprint cards earlier this afternoon. After a quick stop at the bank for the certified check and on to the post they are on their way to the FBI. That's the good news.

The "bad" news is that I think we may have unacceptable smudges. I don't know. Maybe rejection is a function of whether it interferes with the whorl, etc. I just know that hearing about others' experiences has made me wonder just how many times we'll have to get the darn things done. On the other hand, it's not like we're pressed for time.

So, there you have it. The latest mini-installment in the quest for the holy grail, er, no - wait a minute, I've got that wrong - I meant the quest for PR visas.

Germany

This morning I stopped at my local big bank, hoping to either wire 13 euro to Germany or get an international money order/draft. I discovered that it would cost about US$50 for the wire transfer and about US$25 for the money order/draft. Then, knowing that - while I know this isn't a great idea - they would also accept cash, I asked if they sold euro. Oh, they can get euro in two days, for about US$18 in fees. Um, I can go to the airport and get the same lousy exchange rate without that fee, thank you.

Suddenly, I remember my pal who often has euros lying around. Yes, she says, go to her office and have her assistant let me in. I can scrounge 13 euro from her desk. Then, I visualize my bedroom dresser- is that bill in my drawer Canadian dollars or euro? Hmmm. So, I tell the bank, no thanks and stop by the house. Sure enough, I had 20 euro sitting in my own drawer. After a stop at my friendly notary, I put the application for the Police Certificate of Good Conduct in the mail. Yes, with the cash.

Keep your fingers crossed for me! Will I have crossed the "i"s and dotted the "t"s? Will the cash make it there? But, mostly, will the Germans freak out at receiving more than the exact 13 euro? Inquiring minds want to know, or not.

On to the fingerprinting tomorrow...

Montreal

I'll be in Montreal from 25 -31 July for the 1st World Outgames and International Conference on LGBT Human Rights. I've only been to Montreal once and that was for Expo 67, as in 1967! Although there will be plenty to do with the games and conference, if anyone has any suggestions such as your favorite restaurant, etc., please let me know. Thanks!

Baby Steps

Yippee, I found out where we can get our fingerprints done. So, while we're at the state capitol on Thursday for GLBT Lobby Day we'll zip over there and take care of that. Kind of a nice irony - go to the capitol to rally for GLBT rights and take one more step toward emigration. I've also go to figure out how to transfer funds to Germany so that I can request a police certificate from them. Come to think of it, perhaps I should call the bank this afternoon...

In other news, I've added some links to the right; check 'em out. And, if you know of other blogs from US expats in Canada, or wannabes, please let me know so that I can add them! It's been great exchanging notes with those I've "met" via the blogosphere.

Finally, if you haven't done so, check out National Day Against Homophobia. It's amazing, really. Thanks to Mason and Nikolas for the heads up on that one.

Efram Zimbalist, Jr. and Co.

Well, I've been wanting to feel like we were one step closer! After reading all kinds of posts about when folks submitted their FBI documents I sent a note to our attorney. Unlike a lot of folks, we had been told explicitly not to submit them with the original application. Well, because of where we appear to be in the queue, today we received the go ahead from the attorney's office to get our fingerprints and request the FBI clearance. Yea!!!

The bad news is that I also have to get a clearance from Germany because I lived there more than six months. But, the potentially good news is that the request of state clearances is at the discretion of the immigration officer and that even if they ask for them I would need them only from those states where I lived for more than six months. That is fabulous because if I do need them, it halves the number from twelve states to six! So, we inch along!

And, if you don't get the Efram Zimbalist reference, you're either too young and/or you don't remember Sunday nights with the F-B-I! ;-)

Newt Gingrich on Poverty

Today I attended a Minnesota Public Radio program in which Newt Gingrich and Vin Weber were the guests. They were talking about the "new conservatism." There is, of course, a lot I could say about Gingrich's remarks, but I want to focus on just one thing he said.

He said, citing James Q. Wilson of all people, that there were three things one could do to make it almost "statistically impossible" to end up in poverty: finish high school, get a job, and don't have a child before the age of 20. Call me crazy, but it seems that, while those things are certainly important, what really matters is what that job pays. If you are making even $7/hr - a figure above federal minimum wage, I might add - you are earning $14,560 a year, before taxes.

In 2005, according to the US government, if you were a family of three, one of whom was a child under the age of 18 you are living in poverty if you make less than $15,720 a year. Don't even get me started on the issue of where the poverty thresholds should be. If you are fortunate enough to be making $10/hr you aren't in poverty because you're making a whopping $20,800/yr. Yeah, right.

Actually what Wilson has written, citing William Galston, is this: "To avoid poverty, do three things: finish high school, marry before having a child, and produce the child after you are 20 years old. Only 8% of people who do all three will be poor; of those who fail to do them, 79% will be poor."

I found myself wondering how these statistics were derived. That is, is this of all persons of a given age, say 18? Since the framing is "to avoid poverty" it seems to be that the study might have focused on adolescents not already living in poverty. If that's the case, the work seems terribly flawed methodologically; not to mention that it means there's little application to the hundreds of thousands already in poverty. But, even if the study was of all persons, what about those 8%, Newt? Or, is 8% not enough to worry about?

I just found this whole line of thought really frightening...

The Moral of the Story...

So, last weekend I stopped in at my local UPS store to ask what it might cost to ship a small chest. I gave the guy the weight and dimensions and told him where it would be sent. He looked on his little chart and said, "About $50." Great. He also quoted me "about $25" for them to pack it. Doing a quick mental calculation of what my time is worth and the materials I would have to purchase I decided that was a good deal. I returned later that afternoon and he measured the chest, looked at the chart and said - words to the effect - "I can't give you an exact price until we package it." He said he would call me on Monday to tell me the shipping options. That is, having determined what the final dimensions were he could tell me which speed of shipping would cost what. He didn't yet know because he would be "telescoping" two boxes together. Okay, cool. I can live with that.

Monday - no call.
Tuesday - co call.

Wednesday, today, I called UPS. The guy tells me that, as opposed to the $50 estimate he had provided, the shipping would be $125.23 because of the cubic inches total resulting from the 33x33x24 boxes. So I ask, why 33x33x24 when two of the dimensions of the chest are under 30" and the other is about 16". He replies, they can do it that way but it won't be insurable because there won't be 2" between the chest and the box on all sides, but if I do choose to do it that way it will then cost only $56.51. Under 130 cubic inches = $56.51; 147 cubic inches = $125.23. Ah, so close.

Then, I discover that it *will* still be insured for loss and/or theft, it just won't be insured for damage. It's shrink wrapped and bubble wrapped. Then it will be boxed. So, call me crazy, but since it's really only sentimental value and needs to be refinished I opted for shipping w/out insurance for damage. He assured me that they won't throw it off the truck or anything. Fingers crossed.

I'm posting this here since some of you might end up wanting/needing to ship things as part of your move, or just generally. As pleasant as they guy was, when I balked at the $125.23 he did not reply with, "Well, if you don't really care about insuring it for damage, you could do it for $56.51. It would still be insured for loss and theft." No, as is so often the case, it was only because I pressed him on it that I discovered that there was, in fact, another option.

So, they'll use slightly smaller boxes which, of course, are slightly cheaper than the boxes I paid for already. That goes in the "W" column (as in "Win," not George) for them. It's not worth my time to tell them, "Yo, and make the adjustment for the cost of the smaller boxes."

Anyway, food for thought. It's amazing how often if you just press them (them, being the capitalist, vendor, seller entity) you find out there really is another option or a better deal. But, heaven forbid they make it part of their customer service to give up the information on their own.

Note to self: I love downsizing.

E-mail

For those who wish to contact me via e-mail rather than posting a comment, please do so at 2moms2canada@gmail.com.
I have several blogs, a couple of which are connected to my work so I'm keeping separate e-mails for different conversations. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you!

ITMFA

I see that L-girl posted a link to ITMFA. If you haven't already seen this, it is definitely worth checking out. I was in New Orleans when a friend sent me the link. Being there made it even more unbelieveable that Bush, except for those falling "approval ratings," seems untouchable. And how 'bout Rummy? Retired generals, for goodness sake, calling for his resignation and Bush's resolve to stand by his man is ever strong. What is wrong with this picture?

If I believed that the Democrats might get their act together by '08 perhaps I'd feel a bit more hopeful about the future of this place. But, sadly, I am very skeptical. I really think the answer is to destroy the two-party system. I'm no political scientist, but it seems that the lack of viability of even the strongest third party candidate leaves us in a bit of a lurch...

But, back to ITMFA. I was in graduate school with a guy we called Teflon (insert name) because, no matter his indiscretions, all things negative seemed to just slide off his backside - or whatever. I've not heard it yet and it's definitely not catchy, but Teflon Bush seems appropriate.

Addendum - I just Googled "teflon bush" and it did come up. Ironically, it came up on CMAQ, a Canadian site! Why am I not surprised?

Well, we're somewhere under 1000 days until the 2008 election. The big question - besides the obvious, who will win? - is... where will we be living then? Stay tuned!

Ten Months

Today is ten months from the date of our AOR. The attorney's rep had said that at ten month's they would submit a "status request." Well, no surprise to those who know me, I promptly (okay, a day early) sent an e-mail inquiring when exactly they would be sending that request. I received an equally prompt reply stating that right now CIC is working on apps with an AOR of April and May 2005. So, if all goes well, next month they'll be working on May and June and hopefully that will mean us since our AOR is 13 June 2005.

As anyone who has completed or is in the midst of this process knows, the waiting can drive you nuts. Fortunately there's a lot of information out there (i.e., blogs, websites, listservs, etc.) and just reading about others' adventures helps keep ya' going. Thanks to everyone who shares their thoughts! Your stories and insight are a real help!

Back to the Future

This story really begins earlier than 2 November 2004, but, for all intents and purposes, let's begin there. Now, if that date doesn't call to mind "the election," then we're probably not of shared mindset. But, hey, read on anyway. I recall watching the election returns and thinking, "We have to leave, this place is getting dangerous." You might - or might not - recall that, on that day, 11 - count 'em - e-l-e-v-e-n - states passed legislation to amend their constitutions to prohibit same-sex marriage. A sign of things to come I'd say. Call me crazy, but I'd rather live in a place where my family is protected and, if not protected, at least not attacked. So, we started investigating the immigration process.

If you haven't already discovered this for yourself, Canadian immigration (CIC) has an incredible web site. It took six months to gather the information, but in May 2005 we submitted our applications for permanent resident visas. It shouldn't take six months, but when you've got 30 years between your eighteenth birthday and the year you're preparing your application it does take a while to collect everything. And, by everything, I mean every address, job, school, and what you were doing when you weren't working or in school. If you have military service, that's' another hurdle. Who was that commander back in 1979? Add to this the fact that, while CIC does have a great web site, it's impossible to get a response from the Buffalo Consulate and you see why it took six months. Even with a Ph.D. and a J.D. I finally decided to hire an immigration attorney to answer the annoying little questions and get the paperwork done. We are now approaching the magic date of 13 April, ten months from the date our application was acknowledged. In immigration lingo that's our AOR, acknowledgement of receipt. Hopefully we'll hear something soon! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

In the interim we have, like many others whose blogs I've found, been doing what we can to prepare for such a move. We've got the requisite "settlement funds" stashed away. We've been trying (and not being terrible successful) to get the stalled home projects completed. We've been getting rid of "stuff" that we won't take with us. And, we've been visiting Canada, a lot.

In the past year we've been to Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Victoria, Vancouver, Whistler, and Toronto. I also took a short trip to Kelowna. We had hoped to visit Nova Scotia this summer, but I don't think that's going to happen. BTW, we would love to hear from anyone in the Atlantic Provinces, especially immigrants from the US!

The purpose of this blog is to have fun and potentially post useful information about the process. There are lots of blogs and useful sites out there, but every story is a little different so, what the heck! But, I guess an introduction is in order, eh?

We're two moms, both in academia, living in the Upper Midwest, with our five year old son, one cat, and one dog. I was raised on the east coast, my partner in Missouri. Our son was born here in Minnesota. The obvious question - and many others have addressed this - is something along the lines of "You'd really move to Canada? Why?" Sometimes followed with the suggestion that we're "giving up" or "selling out." I hope to address this in a separate post when I have more time. For now, I'll just say that, as far as I know, you only go around once. We'd rather raise our son in a place that, on the whole, is more consistent with our values. Yes, it's that simple.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully I'll soon be posting that we're on the next step in our journey!