My biometrics were taken back in early April, about a month ago now, and it was a relatively painless process. I filled out a form and waited for a little while then had someone roll my fingertips over a scanner a few dozen times, I assume to get perfect prints, then take my photo and let me go. I took the subway and commuter train back from Boston to get home from the appointment. I only got slightly lost - went one stop too many and had to back-track - but hubby picked me up at the station and now I feel like I could take the train again. I was pretty hesitant about it at first and so concerned that I would get lost but it's pretty well marked and there were station staff around for when I did get lost.
As I said, it's been about a month since the biometrics appointment and I received my Combo card in the mail yesterday. For those of you not going through the US immigration process; a Combo card is a combined Advanced Parole and Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) which basically means that I am now allowed to travel outside of the US without abandoning my Adjustment of Status (immigration) application and I am legally allowed to work for pay in the US. The combo card is valid for 1 year but I should have my green card by that time so I'm not concerned about that. Besides, I can renew it if my case is still in processing after a year.
So now the problem of getting a job. I want to work in IT. I know I'll have to start low on the ladder, as I only have a diploma and zero paid IT experience, but I'm not even sure I can get on that ladder here without 2-3 years IT experience and local references. I can't work food service because of my sensitive skin which causes excruciating eczema and contact dermatitis on my hands if they get wet too much (even wearing gloves my hands sweat) or come into contact with allergens such as cleaning liquids and essential oils (like orange oil which is in a lot of cleaners). I also can't really work retail because I can't stand for long periods without experiencing back and foot pain. If I'm cooking at home for more than an hour I get pain so I doubt an employer would put up with that. That leaves low-level desk jobs like data entry, call centre operator and receptionist. I really want to run a mile from those jobs but work is work, right?
The other thing to consider work jobs is the commute time. Living in Wellington city it wasn't really possible to have more an a 1 hour commute because I never lived that far away from the CBD even by bus. Now it's 2 or more hours one way from here to the closest major city - Boston - depending on the traffic. The closest job openings that I am finding are 20 miles away and I'm not even sure they're on the train route. I can't drive a car, I never learnt and don't have a license for it here or in NZ, and I doubt hubby would be up to driving that far and back twice per day and especially not if I have a morning start. But these are all puzzle pieces that will come together if I just keep trying to make them fit, I guess!
Wish me luck, guys.
Showing posts with label IT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IT. Show all posts
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
October Snow and Coming Home
It snowed in October here. Which is strange because it doesn't normally snow until sometime in December.
The trees were still all covered in their orange, red and brown leaves so the extra burden of two evenings of snow caused more than a few of them to snap off some substantial branches. In fact, power was out for much of the small city of Franklin and many of the stores were closed for a day or so because of it. It's amazing how slowly snow melts. There were still huge ploughed piles of snow at the shopping centre more than a week afterwards - it looked like a mountain of dirty white rubbish by then.
It was also my birthday, in October, and fiance sneaked out "for a drive" and came back with a pair of African violets. It was very sweet. I didn't suspect a thing, either, which goes to show how perceptive I am. Fiance had his birthday in November and I baked him Pumpkin Apple Spice bread and, eventually, Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding - Edmond's cookbook recipes. I also upgraded his PC with a new 650 watt power supply (previously 350 watt) to power the new graphics card which I then installed so that he could play Skyrim when it came out a few days later. It does look impressive, though I haven't had a chance to play it myself yet, and he's been enjoying it.
The latest news in my quest for permanent residency is that I will be heading home on Sunday to New Zealand so that I can complete the steps of the process there that I didn't manage to before we had to leave. We're taking two direct flights so it will be less time in the air and in airports. We've also elected to leave a day early to stay over night in Los Angeles in a hotel so we can be well rested for the long trip from LA to Auckland. Still not sure where we'll be staying or how long we'll be staying but it will take at least 3 weeks for me to get an appointment at the US Consulate in Auckland, once I have had the required medical examination, so I suspect it will be at least a month.
As much as it will be nice to be back in NZ; it will also be quite a hassle. I'm still not sure where we'll be staying and we'll have to fly between Wellington and Auckland to deal with the consulate. It's not a long flight, though, only about 1 hour each way. At least it will be Spring there now so I won't have to deal with being too hot one day and too cold the next like it has been here for the past month. I will also be able to have real Marmite again. I was so excited the other week when I found Marmite in the grocery store. When I tried it, though, I found it wasn't the familiar, black, thick, smooth paste that I recalled. Instead it was a thin, brown, syrupy texture and it didn't taste as it should have. I wonder if this is the British recipe or one especially formulated to irritate ex-pats since I can't imagine any Americans to give it so much as a second glance.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention: fiance and I bought our wedding rings. They were a little discounted but we ended up getting platinum 3mm bands in the classic rounded plain bands with engraving on the inside of the bands. We're pretty happy with them bit fiance suspects that his one is a little too large for him so we might need to get it adjusted, quickly, before we go back to NZ.
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| Autumn Snowman by Be |
It was also my birthday, in October, and fiance sneaked out "for a drive" and came back with a pair of African violets. It was very sweet. I didn't suspect a thing, either, which goes to show how perceptive I am. Fiance had his birthday in November and I baked him Pumpkin Apple Spice bread and, eventually, Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding - Edmond's cookbook recipes. I also upgraded his PC with a new 650 watt power supply (previously 350 watt) to power the new graphics card which I then installed so that he could play Skyrim when it came out a few days later. It does look impressive, though I haven't had a chance to play it myself yet, and he's been enjoying it.
The latest news in my quest for permanent residency is that I will be heading home on Sunday to New Zealand so that I can complete the steps of the process there that I didn't manage to before we had to leave. We're taking two direct flights so it will be less time in the air and in airports. We've also elected to leave a day early to stay over night in Los Angeles in a hotel so we can be well rested for the long trip from LA to Auckland. Still not sure where we'll be staying or how long we'll be staying but it will take at least 3 weeks for me to get an appointment at the US Consulate in Auckland, once I have had the required medical examination, so I suspect it will be at least a month.
As much as it will be nice to be back in NZ; it will also be quite a hassle. I'm still not sure where we'll be staying and we'll have to fly between Wellington and Auckland to deal with the consulate. It's not a long flight, though, only about 1 hour each way. At least it will be Spring there now so I won't have to deal with being too hot one day and too cold the next like it has been here for the past month. I will also be able to have real Marmite again. I was so excited the other week when I found Marmite in the grocery store. When I tried it, though, I found it wasn't the familiar, black, thick, smooth paste that I recalled. Instead it was a thin, brown, syrupy texture and it didn't taste as it should have. I wonder if this is the British recipe or one especially formulated to irritate ex-pats since I can't imagine any Americans to give it so much as a second glance.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention: fiance and I bought our wedding rings. They were a little discounted but we ended up getting platinum 3mm bands in the classic rounded plain bands with engraving on the inside of the bands. We're pretty happy with them bit fiance suspects that his one is a little too large for him so we might need to get it adjusted, quickly, before we go back to NZ.
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