This Week’s Update
This week was pretty nice for me — I had the chance to catch up with a few friends. I had my first “picnic” outdoors thanks to this beautiful weather and I was finally able to deliver a Christmas gift to a friend whom I haven’t seen for much too long.
I will go to my first Passover dinner tonight. There are a lot of food restrictions for this religious celebration and I am wondering why something like legumes are not allowed. I was asked to make a green vegetable dish and my first thought was a green bean and cauliflower dish but then I realized green beans are legumes and are not allowed. Well, I hope to learn a bit about this Jewish ceremony and I will let you know how it goes. I would also like to know why celebrants are required to drink 4 glasses of wine during the dinner. I can’t drink 4 glasses of wine — I feel very dehydrated with just one glass of wine so my plan is to bring a thimble sized glass.
But the week was not without its frustrations:
I still haven’t received the computer I ordered over one week ago. I checked the order status online and it still says it is in production. It seems that buying a computer from a store that is close to you may be the best option. You get your computer quicker and if you need to contact someone but they don’t pick up the phone, you can always just go over to the store and give them an ear full.
A week after I brought my papers and photograph to the passport office for a new passport I received a call informing me that I need to retake my photo because I was “grinning” in the photo. When I had the photo taken at a passport photo studio the girl said I must not show any teeth — which I didn’t. The frustrating part of this setback is that I waited an hour at the passport office to see the passport officer who looked at my papers and photo, did whatever he needed to do and took my money. He didn’t say there was any problem with the photo. Shouldn’t the person that reviews your files in the passport office be able to tell you that there is some obvious problem with the documents? If they can’t do that, I think they might as well replace the officers with automatic passport machines (APM).
I hope you enjoy this gorgeous day — I’m heading out for a nice long walk after I do my weekend cleanup.
April 20th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Do they also know that peanuts are legumes?
Four glasses of wine will put you to sleep.
It sure is a Dairy Queen type of day….a lot of families thought so too.
The problem with your passport picture began with the person who took your picture. You will not believe how my photographer scrutinized my picture and did a retake. She let me keep the first one, which was kind of her. There are very strict guidelines and I do not understand why we can’t be natural in these pictures. When I approach anyone….it is usually with a smile and not a neutral expression!!!! Sometimes I feel I live in a communist country when we are controlled in many of our daily activities. I find many government employees very insensitive and cold. Maybe they just deal with too many problems and too many people and become desensitized. I have also had much difficulty with a single piece of paper I never received and now am black listed….so just be thankful it was caught now and not at the airport.
I am sorry to hear about you not having your computer yet. Is it a reputable company? Is it too late to cancel your computer order?