We got married on Saturday, in Vegas, in a chapel on the strip. It was not our first choice, and was more humorous than special. The lady who married us had to have been about 100 years old and looked like they had let her out of the nursing home for the evening! :-)

Neither of us would have chosen Vegas for our wedding, preferring a more romantic, tranquil setting, but as ours is a complex situation, involving a US and a non-US citizen (myself), we just had to do it quickly so we could tie up legal issues, concerning my visa and work permits. I really need to be working sooner rather than later, so we can buy a much needed bigger house... Plus the fact that having to amuse myself all day while Steve is at work, is driving me nuts! I need some mental stimulation damnit!

We had always planned to have another ceremony, with all our family there, later in the year. With this in mind we didn't spend a lot of money, or time planning the Vegas ceremony. The total cost was $250 (including the tip for the 100 year old reverend)! We would never waste a huge amount of money on a wedding (the average in the UK is the equivalent of $25,000 - which is my opinion would be far better off contributing to your down payment on a house, or paying a big chunk off the house you already have) but we will make the one later in the year much more special for us.

The conditions of my visa state that we have to get married withing 3 months of my arrival. The waiting time for the work permit is 3 months AFTER we get married. For example, if we left it right until August (the visa deadline), I could be out of work for 6 months +. This way, I should only be out of work for a little over 3 months, if all goes well with the job hunt. To cut a long story short, the sooner we get married the sooner I can get to work. :-) Plus, we can take our time and plan something more personal and memorable for later in the year, at a a time when my family in Singapore and the UK will be able to make it. It's not an ideal situation, but this is what we have to work with - so you just have to make the best of it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. USCIS (formerly known as the INS) couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery. Case in point, whenever I call their helplines, I find myself correcting their representatives about the most basic of procedures. They have consistently given me info that I KNOW is wrong. Stuff that is at odds with the instructions on the website. They are an apathetic bunch of bastards who just want to get you off the phone, so they can continue picking their noses. They don't know the answer to your questions and would rather feed you a bunch of crap, than spend 10 minutes finding out the information you require. Thank God for;

VisaJourney.com

All the information in there is written by people who have been through the process and is really detailed.

Speaking of immigration fueled mayhem, I just found out that no insurance companies will cover me until I have been in the US for 3 months. This means I'll have to be very careful in that time, as something like a broken bone would have me flying the 11 hours back to the UK (in agony) to have it treated on the free "National Health Service" there, just to avoid the high costs of treating it here without insurance. Wouldn't that be fun?

On a lighter note... I just passed my traffic laws test yesterday and I have a driving lesson on Sunday. Sadly my UK license won't cut it if I am a resident in California. Hopefully I won't need many lessons as I can already drive. I just need to feel comfortable driving on the other side of the street. This is fine for the most part, but it is just not natural for me to do things like turn right on a red (in the UK if there is a red light, you don't go anywhere). Also when you make a left turn in the UK, you would turn into the lane nearest to you. Turning into the lane furthest away just feels wrong to me right now. My Dad drives on the right a lot and says I'll soon get used to it though. :-)

Oh, and I'm still working on the Singapore post. It is going to be quite long and, due to the fact that I have a lot of legal paperwork to do, I need to write it in stages...