AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!

So you know we have submitted out I-600-A to the Dept. of Homeland Security.

That was at the beginning of August. We Fed-Ex'd it. I have a receipt dated 8/3/07 for the fees. ($830 in case anyone wants to know how much filing a govt. form runs nowadays...I swear, why do we bother to pay taxes?)

The processing time for the Dallas office is supposed to be 3 months. We are two months in and haven't heard a word about the fingerprinting process. From what I understand, they are supposed to notify us of the day and time we are supposed to go get fingerprinted. I've been anxiously awaiting this, hoping it doesn't fall during one of C's business trips.

So I finally decided, today, to call and find out what the deal is. I bring up the website. Apparently there is supposed to be a receipt number you can check your case status with. Three letter, ten digits. My receipt has no such number. The only phone number there is the same one on the piece of paper they sent me with the receipt. So I call it. It's the number for the National Customer Service Center.

It's automated hell. They want my receipt number. I don't have a receipt number. No receipt number? Press 2. "We cannot release information about your case without your receipt number. press 6 to hear this message again. To return to the previous menu, press 8. To eturn to the main menu, press 9. To end this call, hang up (no shit.)"

So after punching buttons in circles I hung up and tried again, listening carefully for any hint of getting an operator. After ten minutes of announcements and menus and yelling at the phone to please give me a human being, I finally hit the magic combo. Apparently if you say you sent your paperwork in more than four months ago and haven't received a receipt, they will let you talk to a live person.

Who was very nice and very helpful. Thanks, Dave. He gave me the e-mail address I can expect to get a response back from within two days. I hope it doesn't take that long.

C is on his final leg home. He called yesterday at 3 pm my time to tell me he was up and headed to the airport in Singapore. Singapore to Hong Kong. HK to Los Angeles. L.A. to here. He should be in at 6:45pm.

I have some pity for him. Not too much, though, since he's doing all this in business and first class. If he was doing it all in coach, he'd get my full, unmitigated sympathies. Plus, he sleeps easily on planes, even in coach. Unlike me. It is a hell of a long trip, though, and he should be sufficiently wonky when he gets home.