9/11 and Covd

 9/11/2022 14:46 Covid

Last Tuesday, I woke up feeling miserable.  My brain was throbbing, coughing, fatigue and aches and the rest of the symptoms that would make anyone guess, they got it.  I heard the expression a couple of weeks after people were getting hit with Omnicom, it’s not a matter of IF you get it, it’s a matter of WHEN.  I thought I beat it.  I take care of myself.  I eat well and run and workout.  I play baseball.  But it caught me.  I made an appointment at the local Rite Aid and took a test.  The results came back Thursday morning as positive. I took a rapid test which looked inconclusive.  Wednesday and Thursday I was feeling better and thought, I beat this.  Friday, I woke up feeling sicker.  Yesterday, I woke up feeling horrible, as if I had a hold cold, but without the mucus and in the shower, I noticed my sense of smell was gone.  We played our first in a series of three in the playoffs and lost.  We were down a few players, but next weekend we will play a double-header and that will be it for the season unless we win those games.  I feel better today.  Still no smell.  I heard this thing kicks ass for two weeks.  So, I am resting and reading, Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana which came from Strand as part of a fiction Book of the month club.  I am enjoying it, the characters are in a series of train wrecks which constantly pop up.  

Received a text from my publisher and they are scheduling interviews and promo pieces.  I need to jump on marketing my book now that it’s out for a year.  It’s time.  Worked on Part II of Bones. 

It has been raining all day.  A stark difference to that day twenty-one years ago.  May those souls rest.

Thank you for reading this  

Installing Ring and Immigration frustration, Part 2

September 5, 2022

19:53

 

It’s Labor Day.  I was drilling holes in our home trying to find a way I get the Ring wires up from the basement where’s there’s plug set up high and the mystery is getting the damn wires up and through the wall to where the doorbell will be.  Let me explain. This house is solid.  Concrete. It’s not blowing over.  I may need to hire an electrician.  If you live in an older home and thinking of Ring, try the wireless.  In my opinion, it will be less hassle and less money in the long run, but you need to charge the batteries.  I ran earlier.  More than four miles, but my right knee is acting up.  A lot of walking and I had a shitty time in the humidity.  There was minimal traffic due to the holiday.  Passed a few dog walkers who scowled when I said good morning.  The attorney called Meli from Mexico.  Here’s the scoop, one of my clients works and lives in CDMX and reached out to a friend who is an attorney. The attorney thought Meli was in Mexico and a Mexican.  She said Meli needs to submit her birth certificate with a stamp.  The good news, we found that we could request the police records on-line, avoiding the trips back to the Mexican Embassy in San Jose.  No handwritten letters.  The bad news, all of September is booked, and she scheduled an opening on October 3^rd and now she needs to get a birth cert with a stamp.  Always something.  The attorney told her on Friday, we should have the police record this week, this Friday the latest.  Now that is out.  We’re back to waiting for October which will come fast.  I waited for August to breeze by since she had her interview on the 23^rd.  I thought about flying down to visit her, but that would be a waste since there is a possibility, she will fly back with me next month.  I can look back on this and say, I should have hired an immigration attorney.  If I did, we may be together at this time.  The normal process is two years for a spousal visa, and yet this is not normal.  She lived in Chile and Mexico.  More paperwork. More bureaucratic bullshit.  She went to the post office and sent for her birth certificate with a stamp.  It will take two weeks from the Costa Rican government.  I need to be patient.  We need to be patient.  I’ve been patient.  We’ve been patient.

  

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Installing Ring and Immigration frustration, Part 1

 8/27/2022 21:40

Today, I installed a new Ring doorbell, clipped some wires, and tried to kick start the thing, but it’s not functioning.  I need to buy another device in hopes I get the thing working before my wife joins me.  How is that going?   Thank you for asking.  The interview we waited for was this past Tuesday.  Last week, the staff at the US Embassy reviewed her paperwork and it was all in order.  The week before that, Meli had her medical, up to date vaccinations, a check of some vitals and she passes and had to pay out of her pocket for it.  Each trip (3) my wife makes to San Jose can take up to five hours.  She had spent nights there.  Last week the interview took place and the only thing holding the visa from being approved it her police records from Chile and Mexico.  She now has Chile.  I asked her to spend the night and go to the Mexican Embassy the next day and explain the situation.  They recommended she return this Monday and wait in cue and once at the window, explain to the embassy rep that she is from Tilaran which is five hours away.  They will make an appointment on Tuesday.  That would be two nights in San Jose.  She would have to go back the next day and write two handwritten letters which will be sent DHL to the police records in Mexico City where a friend will have to pick them up and mail it back to the embassy in San Jose CR.  What happened to email?  The internet?  Chile sent her police records by PDF in a few hours.  I know what would happen with Mexico.  On the first two attempts, they will apologize and explain they lost the letters, or they misplaced the filing, and she would need to start the process again.  Go back to San Jose for the third attempt, since three times is a charm, and let’s face it, it will be a new year.  I know it.  The whole concept it too vague.  But the US Embassy promised, hey get us the certs from these countries and we will send your visa in two days!  On Monday, she’s speaking to a friend in Mexico City who will work on this request.  I asked Meli to speak to another friend whose husband is an attorney and maybe he can assist with these records.  I reached out the local congresswoman’s office who called me back mixed up thinking I was calling about my wife working at the US Embassy, nope, not me.  I reached out to an immigration attorney who explained she does not need the national police, but the state police record will be sufficient.  And other friends and clients have offered suggestions, do you know an attorney? So, for now, we are ignoring the Mexican Embassy since that will not work. 

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Flying to Costa Rica 30May22

05/30/22 10:05 30,000 feet above the Atlantic

The sunlight is pouring through the open window.  I can pull the shade, but don’t want to.  I like looking outside, even if it is the endless ocean.  The sky is clear.  There has been minimal turbulence, dare I say none.  I was a nervous flyer.  That was before starting this long-distance relationship.  Last night, I stayed at the Fairfield Inn at JFK.  I was thinking about all the flights I made to Mexico City and Costa Rica over the past four years to visit Meli.  I flew Jet Blue, Aero Mexico which is a class act, blankets on each seat and a nice shot of spirits before landing.  They even serve a hot delicious meal and alcohol which is part of the fare.  I also flew Inter-Jet which I don’t believe exists any longer, they were cheap.  I think I bought a sandwich on their flight.  The service was minimal, flickering lights in the cabin and I thought just maybe it’s not the safest airline.  So, I stay at this same airport for these trips to CR.  It’s what I do when I depart from JFK in the morning and Jet Blue only offers these flights a few days out of the week.  But this last hotel booking was expensive, almost $250 with tax for the room…for the night?  Seems steep, but it’s supply and demand since today is Memorial Day and the first of summer for many American travelers.  I waited for the 6 AM shuttle to the airport, met an older gentleman who asked where was I going?  JFK, I answered, no, your final destination?  Oh, Costa Rica.  I’m flying down to Costa Rica to visit Meli.  Not that I mentioned my wife’s name.  He doesn’t need to know her name. 

Meli moved back there this past September, and I feel this is the third trip I made to see her there.  Once in November and flew down on New Year’s Eve and back to New York on the 9^th of January.  Haven’t been back since.  I wish she was here with me.  I wish we lived together and the good new is, we are getting closer to when the visa is approved.  There’s still a few pending steps.  My paperwork and the interview date still needs to ne arranged.  She will need to see a doctor sponsored by the embassy ten days before the interview.  On July 27^th will be two years since I submitted the spousal visa paperwork.  I heard it took that long, but somehow, I didn’t believe it.  I was fooling myself, not believing the facts, no.  Not me.  It won’t be that long.  No way.  It’s becoming that long.

The media and the pundits should know the average duration to immigrate legally into the US.  Yes, the previous administration had an impact, but this was for certain countries.  I’d like to think.  Yes, COVID did have an impact, and I believe still has an impact.  Yes, I should have hired an immigration attorney, instead of going the cheap route with Catholic Charities, but what difference would it have made?  You complete paperwork and submit and wait.  The last review, they needed additional paperwork from me for proof of my divorce and tax forms for transferring a portion of my 401K to Ali.  Meli’s paperwork is approved.  I was certain she’d be flagged.  So that put us back a couple of months and it’s where we are at.  Waiting to see if my paperwork was accepted and from there, our case is transferred to the embassy in Costa Rica.  If Meli still lived in Mexico or the Philippines, the process will be longer since there is such a backlog in those countries. 

There is a little girl in the seat in front of me and she’s stretching her hand back onto my tray.  Time for wine!

 

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The Last Lonely Year

 

    05/23/22 Bethlehem

     Well, look.  We are here again, and you are there, and I am tapping these words onto the page and thinking of you and how much has changed since we exchanged glances.  It’s in the past.  Isn’t it nice to be separate and living our own lives?  There is much to say about distance and passing years.  You may assume I am writing about you. 

               Since the last entry I bought a small cape in Bethlehem.  I am next to a highway and am used to the traffic like constant gusts of wind or waves crashing into the shore, but there is the asshole and the hollow radiating muffler who demands attention.  The fuck.  He passes and I ignore him or her or whoever may be behind the wheel. 

               My last novel was published under a pseudonym, Roberto Picado.  Black Market Bones which is by far the best thing I’ve written in a few years.  It’s part of a trilogy and I am banging out Part II this year.

               More later

Christmas and Covid in Mexico City

December 19, 2020 2035 Coyoacan, Mexico City

I flew down here on Monday, leaving Bethlehem with the threat a major snowstorm to blow through the area on Wednesday.  For the first time I used Lyft which came in a few minutes and dropped me off at the bus depot.  Through a light snowstorm, the bus took off to pick up more passengers at Allentown airport, Easton, and another stop in Jersey before Newark.  At Newark, I checked my bag, security and had a good two hours to drink a couple of beers and have a veggie burger and fries.  I sat at the bar and had the bartender to myself and after a few minutes wanted to be alone.  The airport was eerily quiet.  A girl rode a skateboard through the terminal and glided by with ease.  I wanted to ask her if I could take it out for a spin since she looked like she was having fun, but instead I was responsible and worked - answered emails and kept an eye on the crowd that was forming at the gate.  I like a couple of glasses of wine while flying. I got up and asked the woman at the counter if there was wine on-board.  The United website was vague. Oh, yes, the woman said. Good.  I boarded and spoke with Bella Boop, grateful to Ali since Bella cannot use her phone.  And we were off.  When the flight attendants came around with a bag of snacks and a small water and soda or coffee I asked if they had wine.  Oh, we’re not serving wine or beer in economy.  I was not happy and had a ginger ale.  I watched sports which is something I don’t do.  And looked out of the window at the distant lights and was prepared for the usual bouts of turbulence.  I’m used to it.  I felt immobile in my tight economy compartment.  My knee was against the seat in front of me.  It has been more than 9 months since I flown and yet it felt good to be back in the sky even though it was night.  I prefer the day when I can see more, especially the clouds.  We landed a little early in Mexico City, after flying over buildings and cramped roads.  I sent a message to Mel that was here.  My wife was waiting for me and after taxing, immigration and recovering my luggage, and at last after 9 months we were together.  We had a late dinner and an Uber to the Airbnb where I am writing this.  The days have been filled with work expect for today.  Meli and I bought a few things at a local shop - to decorate the apartment for Christmas and afterwards went out for a bite.  Mexico City is in a code red which means the museums we wanted to go into are closed as well as the parks.  We’re smack between the Frida Kahlo museum and Leon Trotsky museum, but cannot go inside either.  The storm did hit the area.  I’m grateful for my neighbor who dug a trail for the post.  I owe her.  In Mexico City, it’s 70, in the days and there are no hints of rain or snow.  

Thank you for reading this.

This to shall pass, but some days it feels like this ain't going anywhere else real quick

11/15/20 21:02

Earlier today Meli and I watched a church service, Passion City Church which is broadcasted around the world through YouTube their website.  Energetic and positive.  It is our routine for Sunday mornings.  It was Meli who introduced me to the church.  She found it through Chris Tomlin.  Somehow he was affiliated with the church and I feel I wrote about the church already for my blog.  Maybe it is this Covid mindset, which I can easily slip into.  Went out and ran.  Mowed the lawn and waiting for Lowes to tell me the battery and charger has been ordered for my battery powered lawn mower.  Forty percent off, but waiting is the hardest part, especially when they don’t call back.  I borrowed my neighbor’s lawn mower and moved both of our lawns.  But here it is.  I can make healthier choices.  For instance, running, reading and what about Dinner?  I made my own from scratch and feel better for it.  I will still go out to pick up a burrito like I did last night from Orizaba on Broad Street, they make an incredible shrimp burrito and a delicious veggie taco.  If I ate meat, I would share more options, but this restaurant is a weekly place for me.  One of the owners is from Costa Rica, so I need to be there!  Buenos Tica!  Pura Vida!  Another is the pizzeria on the corner of New Street and Elizabeth, Fratelli’s – an amazing white pizza which I savor the garlic enriched topping on most Friday’s…it is across the street from where I used to live.  Thinking about the house and how barren it was and yet, it was home for over a year and the landlord was accommodating and welcoming, I was invited to their house for Christmas last year.  This year, I hope to be in Mexico City, visiting Meli.  I will be in quarantine for most of the visit.  We hope, I will make it there.   I don’t want to spend our first Christmas – married and our first wedding anniversary in Bethlehem; alone.  But Covid is the determining factor.  No news on the spousal visa.  I left a voicemail for Catholic Charities. Yes, I am grateful for the incoming Biden administration.  The current immigration policies by the Trumps is impacting all of the applications and yes, they can imply Covid is a factor – I am sure it is.   

At the end of the day – at any time of the day it is all in God’s hands and I can have faith.

Thank you for reading this.