Ecuadorian Visa Games Begin

A bright start to the morning - a phone call from a visa lawyer in Quito, Ecuador.

And let the visa games begin . . .

Getting visas in Ecuador has been shifting over the last year or so, presenting some challenges for those of us who are looking at somewhat long-term presence in the country without establishing permanent residency. It used to be that you could simply renew your 90 day tourist visa rather indefinitely, a part of the famous (infamous?) visa run culture I was introduced to when I was living in Asia.

Basically, every couple of months you just needed to pop out of the country for a second and you'd get hit with a brand new batch of visa time. In China, people would run to Hong Kong for a weekend of open access Internet and superior English language bookstores. Drop the passport at the office on Friday when you get in, pick it up Monday morning when you head out, shopped, rested, and ready for more China time.

In Ecuador, the pop in and pop out option has been curtailed. No more re-juicing your tourist visa. The 90 day tourist visa now means 90 days in a calendar year, not 90 days whenever you get a new entry. Which means if I want to be in Ecuador the rest of the year, I need another kind of visa.

And so we are in the process. I'm not interested in the $25,000 investor class visa, and I'm not in the mood to pursue a property purchase. There is a work visa prospect out there on the horizon, but these things take time and evidently a collegiate diploma certified by the State Department as authentic which I've no idea how to even begin to pursue since I was under the impression that the State Department did actual things, like protect the country, versus authenticating degrees.

Also, the lawyer helpfully pointed out that you are supposed to only get a work visa in the field to match your degree. Right, because career change never happens and everyone is doing EXACTLY what they planned to do when they left college. Not entirely sure how that will work out for me, with my combination of HR, Psychology, and Spanish degrees and a career as a freelancer. Job title brainstorming seems imminent :-)

In the meantime, we are working on some kind of limited three month visa which can then be converted into any other kind of visa later. Much later, when we've figured this all out. I'll keep you updated!

Alaska . . . With No Camera, Naturally

Well, I have finally come back from Alaska, with nothing photo-wise to show for myself.

And here I thought I was being so clever!

I'd been to my cousin's wedding and showed up with a camera without a battery charger. Thus, I made sure that I had a battery charger when I went to Alaska.

The camera I left in the car. In my parent's garage. Because, you know, it was happy there.

I was not so happy to be without it, although I did have a great time on the trip. If you want to know what Alaska looks like, call me. I'll be happy to tell you what I saw, even if I'll never be able to show you.

In other news . . . 9 days to Ecuador Part II . . . packing nightmare commences in 3 . . 2 . . oh wait, it's already here!

The Texas Ten Conference Logo

I'll confess, I "borrowed" this from my friend AK, who posted it up where I could grab it.

I did have a good laugh at this. Funnier to me is how totally okay I am with Nebraska giving the Big 12 Conference the peace out in favor of the Big 10 . . . which now has 12 teams while the Big 12 only has 10. I try not to focus on that ridiculousness; it makes my head hurt.

Part of the peace with the new arrangement is that I am quite happy to drive to Big 10 game sites. In fact, I think some of the commuting might actually be shorter, ensuring that Nebraska fans will have more opportunities than ever to take our show on the road. Admittedly, there won't be able more 80 degree games in December in Texas, but you know, we're actually pretty used to lousy weather up here. We're going to be fine.

Also a bonus? I know good places to go for game watching in some of our new conference cities. Joe Sensors in Minneapolis has a fond place in my heart, thanks in no small part to the fierce contingent of Nebraska fans that regularly went there. They have a band, pumping out the team songs and generally contributing to the fun Go Big Red atmosphere. Admittedly, you do need to get there at least an hour before game time to get a decent seat, but the food is okay, so no worries there. Like it really kills you to endure extra sports with the Minnesotans on game day, don'tcha know?

Anyway . . . who's excited for the new season ahead? Me, me, me . . . and it's only June ;-)

Two Flavors Of Awesome: Zombie and Chocolate

It has been a very busy, busy couple of weeks of traveling. It's like I've adopted a new theme song based on the number of miles I've tacked on the car:

The worst part about that song? Half the places he names in that song are places I've been or are going just in the last three months. And that includes Alaska.

So it's not exactly a surprise that I'm getting a little travel weary over here. Fortunately, in all this running around, I've discovered several slices of awesome out there in the world. Some of them will get their own listings and just forgive me if they are out of order. Two, however, I feel the need to mention here.

First, the flavor that eats you: Zombie.

I was gifted with an audiobook of World War Z, which is about a zombie plague that threatens world existence. Just stop laughing now, because it's so good it's unbelievable. Told in a series of interviews by different character voices (including Mark Hamill aka Luke Skywalker and Alan Alda from M*A*S*H) the audiobook describes the near end of the world thanks to an outbreak of zombies.

While not a hysterically funny book, it is subtly amusing and very thought provoking. You can even play "Would I have survived?" with the risk calculator on the official website. I'm only at 43%.

World War Z was written by Max Brooks (son of Mel Brooks) and the movie version is supposed to be out in 2012. Fun trivia? The guy who bought the rights to this, thinking it would be a good movie, is Brad Pitt. But whatever about him, right? You need something good to listen to or read this summer, I'm pegging you with World War Z, and if you see me I give you permission to borrow my copy of the audiobook.

Next, the flavor you eat: Pretzel M&Ms

I showed up in North Carolina and was presented with a bit of chocolate salty crunchy deliciousness the likes of which I had never seen before.

I don't even know if you can buy these in Nebraska. But so help me, I will find out. Writers need chocolate to function . . . or at least this one does, and the better the chocolate, the better I work. The bag of these that I sampled is sadly empty, so this post will close with a small plea: Somebody find me more of these!

$50 Sunglasses: The Dangers of Promotional Writing

I got back from my most recent out-of-state adventure and was excited because my sunglasses have arrived.

Sunglasses that I don't really need, but I do. I do. I sold them to myself, after all.

They're Italian. Vintage. And they promise to be much better for my eyes than the $5 drugstore sunglasses I've been using for the last couple of years. Although now I will have to actually care where they are and watch out to ensure I don't sit on them!

I'm not supposed to have them at all, naturally. They break one of the cardinal rules of promotional writing, which is to love the products . . . but don't buy them!

If I bought one of everything I wrote about, I would have a house full of beautiful things and absolutely no money in the bank. Hence, the no-buy rule for my promotional work. It keeps my bank account insulated from trips to Spanish beachfront hotels, my bathroom free of Chi Nano curling irons, my sister's house devoid of Frontline Flea treatments, and my parents' yard uncluttered by solar alarm systems . . . just to mention a few of the things from the last month.

And yet this sales cynic sold herself on Italian sunglasses. Sigh. Will I never learn? It's one of the dangers of promotional writing - you are so busy convincing the target market that you can definitely end up convincing yourself.

The sunglasses will also come in handy for the next stage of summer roaming at hand. It's been hard to keep up with the blog and any other hobbies as I've been running between weddings and graduations and trying to work all the while. The next big jaunt is a drive from Nebraska to Washington DC for a cousin's wedding, and then I will be roaming on to North Carolina to visit dear friends and my storage unit. It will be hot, the sun will be out, and I will *need* those sunglasses, dear reader, really *need* them.

Definitely *need* . . . right . . . oh well. I do love my job, even if I do oversell to myself at the end of the day. Have a good laugh at my expense, and watch out for your own impulsive buys!

I'm As Old As Pac Man

Apparently, I'm not the only one turning 30 this year. It seems that the popular arcade game, Pac Man, is also 30 this year.

Google did not make a game for my birthday.

However, they did make a game for the Pac Man birthday out of the Google logo that appears above their search box on the main Google.com page.


Hit "Insert Coin" or just double click on the banner and you can use your arrow keys to play. If you hit "Insert Coin" twice, or keep clicking on the icon, you can get Mrs. Pac Man for two players, and play with a friend. Note that the second player has to use W-A-S-D as their arrow keys.

I made it through 8 levels on the first try. It's kind of fun. Very addicting, just like the real thing. I stink at the game, just like the real thing, too. Apparently 8 - 10 levels is about my limit.

It apparently has 256 levels. Dear Lord, who has that kind of free time?

Google is leaving the game up for the weekend, so why not play? Do note that in the bottom left corner of the play box there is a sound icon - the game has original style arcade siren sound, and it can get a little annoying by the third level.

Career Pick Me Ups: Client Love

Working outside of an office setting and being your own boss, it is sometimes hard to get that "way to go" love you get from co-workers in a real job when you finish a piece of work. After all, freelancing you work for yourself, and I've found that nobody gives a tougher performance review than I do. Unless I've absolutely knocked it out of the park in my own mind, there's no A+ rating from my internal boss voice.

In the midst of the continual grinding mental 360 review that I am always giving my work, it is FABULOUS to hear the positive voice of a client. My mailbox this morning contained the kind of client feedback I love to see:

"Once again another great job! I am very pleased to be working with you!"

Not that long, not that detailed, but you know what? Acknowledgment and a little praise go a long, long way in this business. This particular piece of feedback is also precious to me this morning because this is a new client I've picked up, and I always get extra nervous working with new clients. I'm also tired from having promised to complete too many projects before this weekend {what is this sleep you speak of?}, and the mental pick me up is very appreciated right now.

In the spirit of spreading the love, if you work with any freelancers . . . or for that matter, if you have anyone around you that you haven't yet thanked for a favor or praised for a job well done, make today the day you share. If it means half as much to them as it does to me, you'll completely make their morning.