Add another expensive aspect of expatriation to the list...

We just went to the UPS Store to ship our computer. Ended up costing a little over $300! After getting over the shock, we deliberated on it a while and decided to go with it anyway. It's a great computer and well worth the cost. It will be much cheaper than buying a new one in Europe, certainly. Plus, it's set up the way we like it and has another year of warranty left on it. We feel good about the decision. It's just a big nut to give up. And, of course, it had to go on credit.

We were originally going to ship at the Postal Annex in Canby (much closer than The UPS Store in Tigard), but when we got there we found out they had special "holiday hours" and had closed two hours earlier than usual. Too bad they didn't say that on their voice-mail which we had checked in the morning. However, it ended up being a good thing that we had to drive out to Tigard instead. Postal Annex apparently charges about $50 more for shipping than where we went. The proprietor's of the store we went to used to be a Mailboxes Etc. They said The UPS Store prices are much cheaper. Anyway, we should have our computer by Sept. 9th or earlier.

So, now we're computerless. One step further away from self-reliance. This blog post was typed at Jake's computer! It's the purging process before we are "reborn".

On the down side, I won't be able to ship my box of 140 CDs like I had planned. Not spending another $200-$300 for that! Sucks because I like my CDs and I like having options of what to listen to. I'll just have to narrow it down even more (140 was narrowed down from about 500 total). Shove some in the suitcases and then just bring some more when we are back in this neck of the woods.

This morning Jake and I brought the large items that didn't sell in our yard-sale over to a neighbor's yard sale. Our table and chair set sold by mid-day. Cross that off the list! I suddenly feel much lighter.

By the way, I called the INS (or as it's now called the BCIS) to find out about how long I am allowed to stay out of the country before something happens to my residency status. Officially, it's a year. I asked the guy how they know when someone leaves, since they only check you when you come in. He said that when you enter the other country, it is reported back and that "things are more connected than you think". Sounded very ominous. It was kind of a creepy conversation. When I got through to this guy he first asked me what state I was calling from and then if "there was a name he could call me for the duration of the call". And if I start thinking of Orwell's "1984", would I be off-base? That's not a criticism. This country should tighten up the borders a little more. As a whole, people are not responsible enough to handle total freedom. But, I digress. If I wanted to stay out of the country longer, I can file a form pleading for "Advanced Parole" which extends the period of vacancy to 2 years. However, it takes about 15 months to process the form and costs $110. I think I'll hold off on that. Anyway, if I understand the instructions on the form correctly, I won't lose my greencard if I'm away longer than a year. The only thing that happens is that I will have to wait another 7 years before I can apply for "naturalization" (becoming a US citizen). I've been eligible since about 1995 or so and I still haven't taken that leap of faith. What's another 7 years? The only thing you get in return is the ability to vote and that isn't all that useful as was made abundantly clear in 2000. (I'll refrain from the political debate). Again, I digress.

All we have left to do is finish packing and make one final trip to the storage room. Tomorrow night we are going to Markum Inn for dinner. It's a perfect slice of Americana... a country family restaurant in the middle of Oregon farmlands. Steaks, burgers, and cheap beer. Really good food. Their famous burger is the "Jumbo-burger" and let me tell ya, it is HUGE. First time I ordered it, I thought "Yeah, right... we'll see how big it is". I had to cut it in four pieces to be able to eat it and even then I could only do 3/4ths of it. Mind you, I should have stopped at 1/2, especially since we ordered a dessert that made you want to end it all, right there! Markum Mud... a banana-split-sized "boat" with a gooey, warm brownie, three of four scoops of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. Not exotic, but unbelievably good. After that dinner, I was painfully stuffed. So, to say farewell to the United States properly, we're going to stuff ourselves with a fattening dinner and top it off with a sweet dessert. Then we're going to go home and go to sleep!

--RP--