"If you can't decide in a day you can't decide." from the film, "Munich"

I watched that movie again recently. I love that quote. It'll make a good teaching quote someday. So it's Saturday morning and raining. I cleaned half of the house this morning... haven't made it to the dishes or my bedroom yet. The cats are chasing each other through the newly-clean living room. They're always happy to have clean floor to run on. It's funny. When I clear the floor they both come out and roll on the ground and stretch out and run after each other. It's hilarious. I built a new shelf for my house out of the wood that I originally used for the base on my studio model. It used to be a 3'x6' sheet of 1/2" particle board and now it's an 8"x"18"x72" shelf in my house. It looks cool but particle board, it turns out, stinks in a small space. It doesn't help that there's no air circulation in my apartment. I'm going to go to school and try to make a screen door for my front door so I can keep it open and not let the cats out. It's usually not too bad in the halls... I just might be able to get some air going through this place, yet. I think $10 worth of materials and a few hours might make this place alot nicer. It would be funny to have a screen door on a basement door, too. My front door opens into a 3'-wide hallway with a 7' ceiling and stares at my neighbor's door across the hall. I'm told that Kramer did something like this on Seinfeld.

As for the job situation, well thing's aren't looking great. Last week I went to Canadian Immigration to turn in the paperwork on my work visa. I got there early and so was the 3rd person to the window... mind you, it's early in the morning so there's no stress or tension in the air... fresh start, you know? So I walked to the window and there was a scowling old lady staring back at me from behind an inch of bulletproof glass. I told her that I had been talking with immigration on the phone and was told to bring this piece of paper with this and this documentation to apply for a work permit. I was really nice about it. Why wouldn't I be? I want this lady to help me. So, she looked back at me like I was stupid and she was insulted that I was standing in front of her. Wow, was I shocked. She spit out, "Oh, no no no... You are not getting a work permit." Huh? I found myself instantly wondering if I had taken a wrong turn and crossed back over the border somehow. I honestly haven't seen anyone act like this since I was in the States... it just doesn't happen here. So I was so taken aback that I couldn't quite reply at first. She told me in a very rude, tart voice that I wasn't allowed to work and wasn't going to get a destitute student exception with the paperwork that I had (which she hadn't even looked at yet). I instantly started trying to diffuse the situation, telling her I might be wrong and that I had been speaking with this person and that and if my packet wasn't complete could she look at it and tell me what I needed, etc... She took my paperwork and flipped through it like it was 5:15 on a Wednesday and I was the last person in line. She typed my number in the computer reluctantly and seemingly intent on puncturing her keyboard. As my info scrolled onto the screen she sat there staring, shaking her head side-to-side and saying "No...no, no...no, no, no, no... You are not getting a work visa," and then proceeded to lecture me! I'm supposed to come into this country with so much money (which I did) and my family is responsible for supporting me and why can't my parents give me money... I told her, "Ma'am, I'm 28 years old and haven't lived with my parents in 10 years." She continued barking at me and I kept trying to ask her what I should do, where I should go, who should I talk to, etc... she didn't answer a single question. At one point I had to stop her from yelling (almost literally) by saying, "Easy, ma'am... no one's upset on this side of the glass, I just need your help is all." I think I may have killed her dog and forgotten about it.

So I went to the International Student Advisory at school to ask for help and found out that the program I've been banking on this whole time was only initiated in Ontario two Thursdays ago. They're not sure why the people on the phone would tell me otherwise, but they think Ontario may be the last province to enact the legislation. Oops. So I have to give paperwork to the school (done) and wait a week or two, then get that paperwork back and send it halfway across the country with a $150 cheque and wait another 4-6 weeks. I'm trying to ask around and find work under the table but that's harder to find than anyone thinks or says. Mom offered to let me stay in Cali with her for the summer and that's sounding better and better. I don't know what I'm going to do but I have to figure it out quickly. If I can make what I have stretch until I get the permit, I can get any minimum wage job and support myself... that's likely what's going to happen. Then again, there was one firm who said they would be hiring in a few weeks... they didn't say they would hire me, particularly, but I did get to bump into one of the associates and he seemed happy to see me. He's either a good actor or I may get a call from them. It's all up in the air and dependant on other people right now. I'll keep you updated.

Other than that, I've just been trying to keep myself occupied and on a schedule. I've had enough to do lately to occupy at least half of my days... the other half I spend inventing things to do and half-heartedly working on my 8000 word paper. If this all works out, it will be nice. I'll say that I had a month off doing absolutely nothing but wasting time, I had enough time to write a paper (that hopefully gets published), and the visa and job offer co-incided perfectly. I hope to write that within a month. I took my weekly gallery trip this past week and took a sketchbook. Here's what I did for a couple of hours Thurday evening.




...aaaand that's about it for the week. Life goes on. I'm really going to enjoy thinking about all of this someday. Talk to you soon...