YAY Nilly is on her way to being on her way!!

Yeah to Nilly coming!

I thought I'd share that I used to be the person on the other side of the window interviewing the people (in Brazil). It's funny to hear someone's perception of being on the other side of the bullet-proof glass. Working on the inside was almost as unpleasant as being interviewed, I think. Our lines used to go around the building, inside and out. Hours of telling people they didn't qualify, not enough ties to their country, etc.

They are supposed to tell you at the window whether they approve your visa or not, but FWIW, I can't imagine they won't approve Nilly's visa.

The Canadian consulate in Detroit doesn't tell you right away. It's not three days, not for Jamaicans, but they do take your passport away, and you have to come back and get it.

Travel is hard.

I've gotten in heated discussions with some people that embody the Rude American stereotype, and I wondered if the ease of gaining access to foreign countries made them feel more like they hadn't even left, so why bother dress modestly or take their shoes off before going into a place of worship? But sometimes, having sweated blood to get within borders, you could very well feel owed.

So it's probably just a Rude thing.

I think most Americans feel they are entitled to go anywhere they want. I think it's part good - growing up with freedom - and part sense of entitlement.

Brazil requires Americans to have a visa. About once a month, when I worked there, we'd get a call from some outraged American stuck at immigration demanding that we force the Brazilian government to let them in. The whole idea of "their country, their rules" seemed pretty lost on most of them.

Ooh! I've been to an SF DMV! It was near, um... somewhere. Hec took me there during my great How Do I Get Home Without a Driver's License adventure (which encompassed three calls to the airline -- netting three different answers, one of them correct, but no way of knowing in advance which one -- two police stations -- two answers again -- and one trip to the DMV -- which told me, correctly, that they couldn't do anything for me and the nice police officer had lied to me).

Um, I remember a lot of people. That's all.

How do you fly without a drivers license? I was almost in that boat last time I was in California and didn't get an answer before my ID turned up.

You go through the Heavy Duty Security process.

Or, it probably depends on how suspicious you look. In my case, they put "Extra Security Check" on my boarding pass, made me wait while they sent my baggage through the Extra Special Security scanner, and had to do an extra check of me before the plane (actually, had to hold the plane while we waited for a female TSA person to show up and pat me down).

On the other hand, for whatever reason they were checking licenses at boarding and not at the metal detectors at that airport on that day. It seems to vary by airport (at least).

They let me fly last Thanksgiving with an old student ID - with a bright orange sticker on it announcing that it expired in 1992.

License stolen at ten o'clock the night before a seven am flight - not fun. But an interesting window on our new "high security" regime. The other amusing discovery - if they took your nail clippers away at security so that you couldn't, you know, hijack the plane? Not to worry, you can buy a new pair at the gift shop inside the security area at LaGuardia.

I had no other ID, having lost my license in the Grand Canyon in the course of my trip. I actually got it mailed back to me, over a year later, by way of the DNR and the DMV.

Just a quick reminder -- if you haven't already voted in Round 1 of next year's F2F, voting ends tomorrow at 5. (I'll count everything postmarked before 5:00 pm board time.)

Results may be delayed a bit but should be posted NLT 10:00 EDT (7:00 board time, and other times in other time zones).