(no subject)
I don't post here all that often, though it's still a fabulous RSS reader - and I keep up with folks here, by and large.
Lately it's been all Scotland and visa work all the time. I'm taking a vacation from regular work as we drive south to apply for visa things in person (done), catalog the storage unit (done) and ship it all (done). There's also been a lot of electronic visa work (stage 1: done, stage 2: waiting to hear back.) And all of this has far more hours and detail than anybody wants to read about. Suffice it to say that, while the UK government web sites are mostly quite nice, it has some subcontractors whose web sites are of the expected quality. And I've spent a fair bit of frantic "quality time" trying to get them to do what I want before relevant offices close, usually in mid-afternoon.
But at this point, it's all over but the waiting... And most of that is over too. We *should* get a final decision on the visa today if everything goes at the expected schedule. Though there's a small chance we're a corner case and things drag out another few weeks. Still, today is the most likely.
Which means that we may successfully live in Inverness, with permission to remain for five years, starting around September 9th (though not yet leave to remain, which is different.) That's the plan. We'll also be seeing Bangkok for a Ruby conference earlier in September either way.
That's not quite *all* the travel finished up. We're planning on Christmas in Taipei with a friend and her family, and I'll be at one more Ruby conference in November. But we'd be visiting those places from Scotland if all goes well, not just staying perpetually on the road.
Travel has been lovely, but we're tired. We underestimated how hard it would be to just not have a long-term home, especially for the kids. But really, on the adults too.
We're ready to settle in and stay somewhere for awhile.
Lately it's been all Scotland and visa work all the time. I'm taking a vacation from regular work as we drive south to apply for visa things in person (done), catalog the storage unit (done) and ship it all (done). There's also been a lot of electronic visa work (stage 1: done, stage 2: waiting to hear back.) And all of this has far more hours and detail than anybody wants to read about. Suffice it to say that, while the UK government web sites are mostly quite nice, it has some subcontractors whose web sites are of the expected quality. And I've spent a fair bit of frantic "quality time" trying to get them to do what I want before relevant offices close, usually in mid-afternoon.
But at this point, it's all over but the waiting... And most of that is over too. We *should* get a final decision on the visa today if everything goes at the expected schedule. Though there's a small chance we're a corner case and things drag out another few weeks. Still, today is the most likely.
Which means that we may successfully live in Inverness, with permission to remain for five years, starting around September 9th (though not yet leave to remain, which is different.) That's the plan. We'll also be seeing Bangkok for a Ruby conference earlier in September either way.
That's not quite *all* the travel finished up. We're planning on Christmas in Taipei with a friend and her family, and I'll be at one more Ruby conference in November. But we'd be visiting those places from Scotland if all goes well, not just staying perpetually on the road.
Travel has been lovely, but we're tired. We underestimated how hard it would be to just not have a long-term home, especially for the kids. But really, on the adults too.
We're ready to settle in and stay somewhere for awhile.