Dear "Valued" Customer: (Longish)

[Chromatix]

One of the fun parts of living in a foreign country (with an unusual native language) is that you have to spell your own name to them, and your new street address to people back at home.

Finnish has a very handy 1:1 relationship between spellings and sounds, so getting my name spelled right is actually easier than at home - I say it the English way and then as if it were written in Finnish (there's a knack to that), and they usually get it right that way.

Getting my street address done right by English-speakers is much harder. The street name has 14 letters and three consecutive pairs of doubled letters. A Fennophone will know exactly what you mean if you say it correctly - partly because it has a fairly obvious meaning - but an Anglophone will just get confused. So to be certain, I have to break out the phonetic alphabet. Which for such a long name, takes absolutely ages.

Luckily, most people know how to spell Helsinki - even if they have an almost uncontrollable urge to pronounce it Helsinski. It's not Russian!

[gerund]

Names

Dr. Mr. Larson/Larsen, Peterson/Petersen, Stevens/Stephens:

One of those names is mine. I'm not going to tell you which one, but I keep getting the other one on letters, forms, phone directories ETC. It's not because I don't spell it for them (I do), and it's not because they can't see it (it's normally written on a piece of paper right under their nose), it's because they just don't FUCKING care enough to look or listen.

Mostly I just correct it and move on. A few times I have got a case of the irrits, when some wanker got it wrong even after I had corrected them and they have said something like "whatever!"

But the last time it happened (just this week) was the last straw. I was at the medical laboratory where I go once a week, or once a fortnight to get a blood test. You understand, it is a very small collection point and the nurses are the same ones every week. As well, this blood test is vital to my health. If they get it wrong I will most likely die a horrible death - I kid you not.

This week, I'm sitting there waiting for the nurse to jab me and she shoves the tag under my nose and said, "Initial here!" I looked at it. Date of Birth - check. Name - ch... wait on, it's wrong! The other dopey bint at the front desk after 8 years of getting my name right and more years of doing my parents last name correctly, decided that she should spell it the other way.

Great. As I said, it's only my life. Not like it's important or anything. I think I'm over it too, but what will happen is that some other tool brain will get it wrong and they will cop my pent up frustrations from this time.

Arggghhhhh!

[RootedPhoenix]

THAT DOES IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*grabs his Swedish-made poking stick and goes around poking everybody!

*opens eyes wide* Oh really?! *pokes back*

And it's finally not hot here. It's 70-75 F (21-23 C) during the day. *happy dances* (I'm a gigantic wimp about heat.)

[Broomjockey]

Awesome. Now I wonder how long it takes to get it?

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get...sing_1740.html

Says it's about 3 weeks for normal service right now, or 2 weeks for expided service.

[Evil Queen]

For the US you need

A form filled out
My birth certificate (certified)
Valid government issued ID (Like an ID card or drivers license)
Money
and Two pictures for the passport itself.

Awesome. Now I wonder how long it takes to get it?

[Broomjockey]

*googles what all she needs to get a passport*

If you were Canadian, it'd be 2 people who've known you for 5 years, a pair of pictures signed by them, and I think 3 specific forms of ID. For you? No clue. If you start now, you should get it by Christmas. 2010.
ETA: http://travel.state.gov/passport/get...first_830.html
Yep, looks like I wasn't far off time-estimate-wise.

[Evil Queen]

*googles what all she needs to get a passport*

[Broomjockey]

Yes, "Evil Overlord" is my Super Power.

Awesome. Awesome to the max.

I suddenly fear the idea of you ever being allowed into Canada.

[Evil Queen]

Yes, "Evil Overlord" is my Super Power.

Awesome. Awesome to the max.

[Broomjockey]

*ahem*

Evil Queen.

Yeah, but still. You are. It's like a super power.

[Evil Queen]

*ahem*

Evil Queen.

[Broomjockey]

But I just took a shower.....

Do you just like automagically know what buttons to push or something? Seriously. Like... evil.

[Fenrus]

boofrickinhoo... last night we got down to 35 fahrenheit

And it's 41 F (5 C) right now, too!

Woo... *sniffsniff*

[Evil Queen]

I'm not complaining Smiley, I'm saying it's FINALLY getting cool.

[smileyeagle1021]

It's 54 degrees.

boofrickinhoo... last night we got down to 35 fahrenheit