Australia rethinks immigration ( oh oh )

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Aust-rethinks-immigration-boost-as-global-financia-KA7D8?OpenDocument

Well... it seems that Australia is about to stop immigration due to the global financial crisis. I hope our Visa request was in just in time to be processed before this decision is made.

By the looks of it, it seems like Australia is closing it's borders. Bah...

Prison Break season 4 has started !

One of our favorite series Prison Break has just started season 4 !
I can't wait till the season is out so that we and our friends can enjoy this fantastic series again. I might even have a sneak peak :)

We bought the pooper his own place

This little pooper :


got his present today :



It's an official Pet Porter ! The flying companies require official transport methods and this was ideal. The biggest problem finding this type of thing is that the height , length and width all need to be very specific. The size of this one is perfect for our little doggy, he'll be more than happy travelling. Now we can get him used to his own space while he's flying to Australia. If everything goes well, he should be on his way about a week before we do. This little home will provide him some comfort.

And for 30 Euro's , I reckon it's a bargain !

Washing machine woes

Our washing machine broke down. We bought it in 2004 and it's already broken. I need to correct myself, the washing machine still works it just spills the water on the floor instead of down the drain. Luckily we have 6 year guarantee on it which means that it will be repaired for free. Called the tech guys and they will send someone over tuesday.

No news yet

No news from this side. We're in waiting mode now. Selling the houses is our main focus now. That said, in two days it will be KIM'S BIRTHDAY ! I'll keep it a mystery how old she's getting. She's not too fussed about the whole birthday thing, and neither am I, so we decided to have a nice Bifteki in our favorite restaurant. I actually managed to reproduce a fairly good copy of the Bifteki they make, but Bifteki 2.0 doesn't taste as good as Bifteki 1.0 (yet!). I used too much mint and not enough parsley. I'm sure next time Bif2.0 will be better !

As present for her birthday she opted to combine her birthday and her Xmas gifts and I'll give her a new lens for her Nikon D200. But first we need to go to Australia, no point in buying things over here when we'll move anyway.

The stockmarkets today took a big plunge, and the ASX didn't get spared. This gives us hope that the houseprices in Australia will soon come under pressure. A good old forex crisis with the Australian dollar should give us a double whammy : A higher exchange rate for our Euro's , and lower houseprices once we settle in Australia. If houseprices haven't plunged when we get there we'll keep renting until they do : They have an unmanageable position up in Australia with houseprices : My bet is they're set for 40% nosedive.

Some Art

Since I didn't have much else to do than waiting for the visa and the plasterer here at home I decided to make a little fun with kangaroo art. I think it came out pretty good :)

Renewed driving license !

Today I picked up my new drivers license. My old one was due to expire in 2012 and I decided to renew it. The new one is valid until 2018. It's also in new creditcard format, and there's the english title "Driving License" on it, great for in Australia !

Received mail from the medical centre stating they are waiting for Form 26

It seems we're still on track. The health operations centre has received our form 160 ( the radiology x-thorax ) and is now awaiting our form 26 ( the medical test we did last thursday ).

Australian Government
Department of Immigration and Citizenship

Client ID: xxxxxxxxxxx


Dear Kim

I refer to your medical results received by the Health Operations Centre
(HOC) for your Australian visa application. The HOC requires further
information before we can determine whether you meet the health criteria
for entry to Australia.

You are required to provide:

Medical examination (Form 26) completed by a recognised Panel Doctor.
Pathology report for HIVas you are over 15 years of age.

Please advise the Panel Doctor to forward the report, along with a copy of
this mail, to:

Health Operations Centre
Level 3, 26 Lee Street
Sydney NSW Australia 2000

A list of Panel Doctors recognised by DIAC can be found at this website:
http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/panel-doctors/index.htm

Processing requirements provide a time limit of 28 days (plus 21 days to
allow for postage) for the report to be forwarded to the HOC. If your
health assessment has not been finalised by this time, your case-officer
may proceed to decide your application on the basis of the available
information.

Please contact the HOC immediately by return email if you are unable to
meet the requested timeframe.


Yours sincerely

Vasuki Vadivale
Health Operations Centre
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Fax: +61 (0)2 8666 5900 / 5901
Email: Health.Operations.Centre@immi.gov.au

Everything is done !!

We've done everything !!..

Now, we can only wait.

Final Medical checks done !

Today we did the final checks. Everything's ok , we don't expect any issues.
We glues little notes all over the house "Pee in CUP !!" so we wouldn't forget to bring the pee to the doctor :)

First we were weighed ( ouch ) and our height , bloodpressure was noted down, then we had a short vision test. Then we met the doctor who checked reflexes, ears and eye reaction moving. He also checked kidneys, liver and back. After that, he tested our balance and the 'drunk-test' where you move your finger to your nose. He looked into the eyes with a measuring tool, and after that we were done. We then had to go do a bloodsample test at a clinic close by, which was even quicker ( 15 minutes for both of us, including parking and driving ! ). The blood test will show if we have any diseases ( it also checks for HIV ). The TBC picture we already took 2 weeks ago in Tilburg.

All in all it wasn't as dreaded as we would think it would be. We're fairly confident we're both healthy.

The doctor said that if there were any big issues he would let us know.

135 scanned in documents sent to Adelaide !

Today I emailed all the attachments needed for our application to the immigration service in Adelaide. They have received the attachments and now the waiting game begins. Tomorrow we will have our medical check in Utrecht, which is the last of the documents that the ASPC in Adelaide needs.
Basically, for us the work is now done, and it's now just a matter of waiting for a result. The total amount of files were 135, which amounted to about 40 megabytes of scanned documents. I have divided them up in 25 mails : Took me about 2 hours to send up all the documents and have them ordered and classed accordingly.

Tractor Pulling !

So while I was writing up the virtual barbershop post I heard something that resembles most like Kim after a meal of beans. Apparently, this time I was wrong : It was the sound of tractor pulling about 7 kilometers away from here.

So we decided to move there. It was already late ( about 22:00 ) so we had to be quick. When we arrived we had to pay 3 euro's for parking , but that was most worth it. We were just in time to see some the final tractors : the big boys

The deafening soundwaves go straight to your chest. The vibrations... what an experience. We surely have to go to more of these races in Australia !

Intermezzo : The Virtual Barber Shop

What does a virtual barber shop have to do with migrating to Australia ?
I have no idea, please let me know if you do. However , I wouldn't put this file on our blog if it wasn't interesting. I won't give anything away, just listen to this MP3, it's an amazing effect.

Get some nice headphones. Don't play this mp3 on your speakers, it will ruin the effect. Once you have your headphones on, start the mp3 and close your eyes.
If you don't open them until the mp3 finished playing, you'll get the best effect.

Go to the virtual barbershop

Both Kim and me tried it and we were amazed by this new technology. In our hearts we're both techno-junkies.

Enjoy !

Driver license woes

So today I had the genius idea to replace my old paper driver license with a new plastic one : Apparently the plastic ones are totally hacker-proof, so I needed to have one. ( they also cost 45 euro's ). The main reason I want to replace it is because I'm not sure that Australia will recognize my paper driver license. I already had trouble with it in USA, so I didn't want to take any risks. On top of this, it will be valid for another 10 years ( my paper one expires in 3 years ).

So , a few good reasons to get the new one. After all the trouble I had at the council of Helmond before, I wanted to be well prepared. The grocery list was simple : Passport + Passport photo + old driver license. Easy enough.

So I came in Helmond, the lovely lady asked if I had all the groceries with me, and I proudly said "yes ofcourse I do".
She asked if she could see my passport photo. I gave it to her, after which she took a millimeter measurement tool, and said "no.. this photo isn't the right format". I asked her how it could possibly not be the right format since I used THEIR passport photo machine ( which is INSIDE the council building ), after which she said "no you didn't, and that machine is broken now, so you'll have to go in town".
I'm sure I heard "conveniently broken" instead of just "broken" but ok. I didn't want to make a mess so I went into town to the local photo shop and got myself 4 shiny photo's. ( I look a bit angry on them... that will look good on my drivers license... it's always good to be able to commemorate how I was feeling in The Netherlands. In case I get homesick, I'll just pop out my drivers license and everything will be sorted in 1 second.

Anyway , got back , had to wait 45 minutes ( I was about to change their big new shiny policy sign that said "we try to help you within 15 minutes. If you have to wait longer than 30 minutes, the coffee is free" into "we try to help you within 115 minutes". Would have been more accurate.

Anyway, I got the receipt, and I'm 45 euro's lighter : But next friday I can pick up my new driver's license. 1 less worry.

Paint it black ( or... rather white, in our case )

We've started painting our house white. Inside first, if it doesn't sell we might consider the outside too. And man is it different ! We should have painted the rooms earlier , but I guess we got used to the dark wooden ceilings and walls.
The hall is already painted, 4 layers done, but it's very white. Funny how the rooms look bigger when they are white. We're now painting the living room area which used to be part of the hall before. Painting it white will 'pull' it to the main livingroom, and after the first layer, things already look so much better.

So, for the next few days ( weeks ?... ) we'll be painting. Keeps the mind off the visa wait too.

More 'For Sale' signs on the house

We put some additional 'For Sale' signs on the house. I thought the 2 signs that were there didn't adequately show the house was for sale. So we called the real estate agent and we got 2 more signs. I put them up and now everyone can see from all the different roads that our house is for sale.

I might do the same with our other house. At the moment there are 2 signs up, but it never hurts to put one more sign up I guess. We have had quite a lot of viewers. Even some really interested people, but they weren't able to secure a mortgage. Bummer, but we still have loads of time to sell them. If we can't sell them before December, we will remove them from sale and put them up for rent.

X-rays done ! Form 160 is hereby 'completed'

Today we went to Tilburg. A complex called the GGD which is specialized in Tuberculosis prevention. Since it's holidays here in The Netherlands now, we didn't have a lot of traffic. When we arrived there, we were immediately and adequately helped by people who were also perfectionists. They had had too many problems with Australian Visa x-rays and forms that they knew exactly what to do. They checked the forms 4 times, we checked the forms 2 times , and then we went into the Xray room. Didn't take long to take the xrays, about 5 minutes for both of us. Real nice people and very helpful. They will send the information to the DIAC in Australia in Adelaide for us too. In 2 weeks we will go to Utrecht for our next medical test ( and our final big task before the long wait !

Character checks

Apparently, Kim needs 2 more character checks for the Visa. Every 12 months for the last 10 years, needs a character check. Since she lived in UK , South Africa and The Netherlands, she will need 3 character checks.

It's high on my to-do list, knowing that these checks could potentially take a long time, especially coming from South Africa.

Acknowledgement letter is in !

Our acknowledgement letter is in. This means that our Visa application has been received. 20 Juli is the official date. I got the all important numbers that I needed for the medical checks this thursday and thursday in 2 weeks from now.
So, we're still on course and things are still looking positive. Now we need to wait 6 to 12 months for our official result. In the meantime, only the medicals remain to be done.

Mysteries of modern times : My mobile telephone prepaid amount has disappeared !...

Yes. I was sure I had 34 Euro's on my mobile telephone when I left for south of France to meet my parents and generally enjoy a few days off the visa stresses.

Now... when I came back and wanted to listen to my voicemail, I got the message "Your account balance is not high enough, please upgrade your prepaid credit"

Hmm... strange ? I am sure I haven't used my phone in France, I just brought it along in case we had car troubles. So why was my credit gone ?

After long investigation, I found out why : When other people called me and spoke into my voicemail, this costs ME money ! Yes, in fact, it costs me as much as if I was calling The Netherlands from France, plus some extra's because of the prepaid. I got 3 nonsense voicemails, and those messages cost me 34 Euro's !

I have turned off my voicemail for good.

Medicals ordered !

Next thursday , we'll go to Tilburg to have a lung photo taken, this is mainly to check for TBC. And 2 weeks later, we will get our complete medical check in Utrecht at one of the panel doctors. This ofcourse, does come at a meager price of 600 euro's.

Our visa is still not filed

After sending about 8 mails to DIAC ( the government agency responsible for immigration services ) I have gotten the answer. Apparently, our digital application was too big for the system to be processed normally, and thus it hung in the system database. I asked them if they could fix it, and they said the only solution was to convert it to a paper application. Needless to say that we agreed as long as they provided all the paperwork. In short : We still have not filed our Visa now.

Still no acknowledgement mail

Well,

We've been offline for a bit. Doing some reno's on the house as we want it sold asap. Painting everything white, removing old lamps and putting up new ones really makes a difference. Lex takes care of the inside, and Kim manages the outside of the house. A perfect team !

While we were offline, we haven't heard anything from the Visa department. I have thus emailed them to ask why it's taking so long to get the acknowledgement. Apparently, something was wrong with my Visa application and it's somehow 'stuck' in the system. I'll send them another mail today asking if it can be resolved. I still cannot upload documents and I still cannot get the EH forms needed for the medicals.

Lex

We applied for our visa today !

Our house is up for sale !

Today the real estate agent dropped by. I already had put the house on ebay, just to get an initial idea of the price I could ask. Now the house is officially being sold by the Real Estate agent. Very strange to get 'For Sale' signs up soon !

A trip to the Council of Helmond again

Today I went to the Council in Helmond . As usual, I was confronted with inadequate and rude council workers who didn't know what they were doing but acted like they did. If you would ask me which people I have trouble accepting, you'd find that close to the top are the 'fake intelligent' people : The kind of person who continuously sets up a facade and hides behind bureaucratic regulation in order to try and 'outsmart' you, or in my case, tries and get rid of you. They live the saying "If you can't bedazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit". And the Council in Helmond is indeed full of bullshit. Here are my experiences of today ( it's written in dutch, I might translate it when I make time for it ) :

Ik ben echt kwaad op ze, en heb ook een officiele klacht ingediend over hun incompetente tegenwerkende gedrag. Ik werd vandaag behandeld als een hond in Helmond Stadswinkel. Uitleg : Ik kwam voor twee zaken : APOSTILLE gekut + VOG inleveren.

Eerst de VOG : Ik kwam aan en kwam meteen in de drukte terecht, minstens 30 man. Ik kreeg een C nummer, maar daar had ik al snel spijt van, de een na de andere A en J nummers werden afgehandeld, maar geen C. Na 20 minuten 1 C'tje, en dan weer 20 minuten wachten. Dus ik ging klagen bij de balie over waarom mensen die al 40 minuten binnen zaten te wachten zo lang moesten wachten terwijl mensen die NET binnenkwamen met een A of J nummer meteen werden geholpen ?? Ik vroeg of er een nieuwe subsidie-regeling was ofzo, dat zou het wel verklaren.
Geen reactie : Gewoon wachten moet je. Dus ik terug, en 30 minuten later EINDELIJK mijn nummer. Ik werd al ziek van dat gekrijs van al die koters, dus ik was toen al in een slechte bui ( dankzij de stadswinkel Helmond dus ). Kwam aan, zat een of andere trut achter de balie waar ik al eens ruzie mee heb gehad over een apostille ( lees "Over de Apostille" hieronder ) dus ik had al zoiets van oh nee niet weer die bitch die overal moeilijk over doet. Dus ik denk ik begin makkelijk, ik handig eerst de VOG aanvraag over, alvorens ik over de Apostille begin.
Ze bekijkt de VOG aanvraag en zegt dat hij niet compleet is.... Dus ik vraag haar "hoezo niet compleet ? Wat mist er dan ?"
"Ja, je moet kunnen bewijzen dat dit voor een visum aanvraag is" zegt ze onbenullig. Ik antwoord dat ik dat toch aangevinkt heb op de aanvraag, en dat ik persoonlijk tegen haar zeg dat het voor een Visum aanvraag is, en dat ik het document naar de Australische Ambassade in nederland gestuurd heb om het hun te laten invullen. "De stempel en de handtekening van de ambassade bewijzen dat toch ?".
"Nee.. je moet bewijzen dat dit voor een visum is. Ik ga nu de volgende persoon afhandelen", zegt ze.
"Echt niet !" zeg ik, "Jij gaat voor mij die VOG aanvraag insturen omdat hij helemaal klopt, en ik WEET dat het klopt omdat ik het onderzocht heb."
Ik vraag haar "Als er zogenaamd een document bij moet, welk document is dat dan ? Print het even uit dan vul ik het in"
Gepikeert zegt ze "Ik print niets voor jou uit, jij gaat dat maar mooi thuis doen, en dan kom je MET dat document EN dit VOG formulier terug en DAN zal ik het voor je afhandelen". Dus ik zeg dat ik het er niet mee eens ben en dat ik het boekje wil zien waar zij deze stomme regel vandaan haalt, waarop ze antwoord ( zoals ze al eerder heeft gedaan met de Apostille ) "Ik ben het zat, ik stuur je door naar balie 10 !" en ze pakt de papieren op en dumpt mijn papierhoop bij een collega neer van balie 10.
Die heer komt met hetzelfde verhaal "Ja meneer ik ga u niet helpen, u weet dat u een document van de ambassade nodig heeft om te bewijzen dat dit voor een visum aanvraag is". Ik vroeg weer "Ja maar WELK document, hoezo document, waar kan ik dat formulier downloaden ?" Waarop hij zegt "Ja dat mag u zelf uitzoeken". En bedankt. Dus ik vraag "Maar waar haal JIJ die regel dan vandaan ? Ik zeg dat er geen regel is, jij zegt van wel maar je wilt niet zeggen welke ?!" Dus hij loopt naar achteren en komt aan met een klein info boekje met de toepasselijke titel "De Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag" en zegt "Hier, daar staat het in, ik ga nu iemand anders helpen" Dus ik zeg "Nee nee, ik heb nog iets waar ik voor kom, namelijk de Apostille" En geef hem de Apostille documenten terwijl ik het boekje doorneem.

In het boekje vind ik de volgende zin :
Ik citeer : "Voor het aanvragen van een VOG in verband met emigratie, een visum of werkvergunning gelden speciale regels. Aanvragers lukt het niet altijd om een, door de buitenlandse vertegenwoordiging, ingevuld en ondertekend aanvraagformulier aan te leveren. De aanvrager dient in dat geval het aanvraagformulier zelf in te vullen en in aanvulling op het aanvraagformulier een officieel document van de ambassade, het consulaat of de buitenlandse organisatie/instelling aan te leveren. Dit document dient op naam gesteld te zijn en bevestigt het doel van de aanvraag".

Dus ik vraag de baliemedewerker "Wat was je cijfer op de middelbare school voor het vak nederlands ?", waarop zijn gezicht rood aantrekt en schreeuwt "Als we zo gaan beginnen dan help ik u niet meer !! Ga maar naar Balie 16 !! ... Ik had trouwens een 7 !". Ik zeg dat hij incapabel is en dat hij zijn werk niet goed doet en dat ik ( de belastingbetaler ) hem betaal om mij te dienen, niet andersom. Ik zeg dat als hij even die passage leest dat ie dan wel inziet dat ik gelijk heb, maar tevergeefs hij pakt mijn spullen op en verwijst me door naar balie 16.
Ik wacht 15 minuten op iemand van 'balie 16' die maar niet komt, dus ik ga terug naar die gast van balie 10 om te zeggen dat terwijl ik toch niets te doen heb en mijn tijd verdoe bij balie 16 dat ik net zo goed een klachtenformulier kan invullen, dus of hij even wil zeggen waar ik moet zijn om een officiele klacht in te dienen tegen hem en die vrouw van balie 7 die ook al zo onbehulpzaam was, waarop hij wijst naar de ingang en zegt "daar.. "

Dus ik vul mijn klacht in terwijl ik wacht, en dan moet ik nog 25 minuten wachten tot die medewerkster van balie 16 EINDELIJK d'r koffie eens op heeft en zich naar beneden begeeft. Ik zeg tegen haar dat ik toch echt wel gelijk heb, en dat ze mijn VOG in behandeling moet nemen. Ze zegt "Dat kan ik niet doen.. maar ik kan wel de CoVOG bellen voor u als u dit wilt ?". "Graag", zeg ik, "Ik weet namelijk dat ik gelijk heb en dat die twee niet weten waar ze het over hebben, dus bel ze maar op en vraag maar wat de regelgeving is".
Ze belt, moet 10 minuten aan de telefoon wachten , en dan komt het hoor "Ja.. hallo, met blabla van de stadswinkel Helmond, ik heb hier een meneer tegenover mij zitten die een VOG wil aanvragen maar geen begeleidende brief bij zich heeft, kan dit zomaar ?".
Aan de andere kant hoor ik iemand zeggen "Door wie is hij ingevuld ?" waarop Mevrouw 16 zegt "De ambassade, en er staat een stempel onder, en ook een handtekening van de ambassade". "Dan is het geen probleem hoor, stuur maar zo op", is het antwoord.
Mevrouw 16, die niet doorheeft dat ik het gesprek kon volgen, hangt op en zegt "Het is een uitzonderlijke situatie, maar ik zal het eens bespreken met mijn collega's" waarop ze wegloopt en 40 (!!!!) minuten weg blijft ! Ik kan het bijna niet geloven als ze toch echt niet doorgespoeld is door de plee en terugkomt met de papieren : "Balie 8 zal uw aanvraag behandelen". U mag blij zijn dat we u helpen want hier ( ze wijst de geciteerde passage aan uit het boekje ) staat toch echt dat er een brief nodig is van de ambassade, maar voor u maken we een uitzondering.
Ik kon het toch niet laten en zei heel hard zodat de hele stadswinkel kon meegenieten : "Mevrouw, als u die passage nog eens leest en BEGRIJPT dan ziet u dat dat NIET het geval is en dat IK gelijk had en dat deze stadswinkel toch wel HEEL erg incompetent is en dat ik blij ben dat ik een klacht heb ingediend. Dat had ik veel eerder moeten doen namelijk. Ik snap wel dat u niet graag uw ongelijk toegeeft, maar ik heb duidelijk gelijk." waarop ik naar balie 8 ga en mijn VOG zonder enig probleem ingevuld wordt en opgestuurd.

Over de Apostille :
Mijn tweede verzoek was de Apostille. Nu , ik kwam aan bij de stadswinkel en bij de entree krijg je een nummertje ( een C nummer in mijn geval , traagste nummer ooit ). Ik zei dat ik kwam voor VOG en Apostille. "Apostille ??" vroeg de receptioniste ? "Ja.. Apostille, ik had er ook nog nooit van gehoord hoor voordat ik hier in Helmond kwam wonen, maar blijkbaar kun je tegenwoordig niet meer zonder en wordt je niet geholpen tenzij je een Apostille hebt". Ze zegt "nouja, hier is je nummer, veel succes er mee"
Het verhaal is als volgt. Mijn vriendin is gescheiden in Engeland. En ze is geboren in Swaziland ( ze is een blanke zuid-afrikaanse die gevlucht is uit zuid afrika wegens gevaar ). Afijn, de stadswinkel heeft haar ooit verkeerd ingeschreven ( verkeerde letters, omdat ze daar ook al niet kunnen typen ) waarop wij allebei zeiden "Hey.. er staat daar een typfout, kun je dat even aanpassen ?". "Oeps, te laat", zei de baliemedewerker, "het is nu al verwerkt, u moet over 2 weken gewoon terugkomen met uw paspoort om het te laten aanpassen omdat ik niet precies weet hoe dit systeem werkt"
zucht... dus wij 2 weken later terug, met paspoort. "Kunt u het aanpassen ?". Waarop die baliemedewerkster ( de bitch van verhaal 1 ) zegt "Ho.. heb je geboortebewijs , trouwakte en scheidingsakte niet bij ?".. "Nee..." , zeggen we. "Dan kan ik u niet helpen, sorry"
Dus wij terug naar huis, alle papieren meegenomen , terug bij DEZELFDE BITCH! "Ah... u heeft het bij.".... "hhmm ja. Wist u dat dit document helemaal niet geldig is ??". Wij waren niet verrast wij waren stomverbaasd. Ik zeg "Hoezo niet geldig ? Het is een ORIGINELE geboorteakte !'
"Jaaaa", zegt ze, "maar je hebt er geen Apostille op zitten ! En dat betekent dat ik u niet verder kan helpen". Ik vraag verbaast "Een watte ?"
"Apostille !". Aha.. dus we hadden een apostille nodig. "En waar kunnen we die krijgen ?". "Ja dat staat op het internet, moet u maar even thuis opzoeken en dan als u alles heeft komt u maar terug". Dus ik was al beetje pissig ik zeg "Nee we gaan dat zeker niet doen. Ik blijf hier tot JULLIE fout is opgelost en JULLIE de CORRECTE naam hebben ingevuld. We hebben hier toch het ORIGINELE paspoort en het ORIGINELE geboorteakte en ORIGINELE scheidingspapieren ". Zegt ze "Uw toon staat me niet aan , ga maar naar balie 16 ( jahoor... de 'wacht balie' ). Dus wij naar balie 16. Mijn bloed begon na 20 minuten al te borrelen omdat ze toch echt met haar echte naam moet ingeschreven zijn, en nu kon dit niet in verband met een fout van hun kant, en de oplossing moest WEER van onze kant komen. Wij kwamen met de oplossing ( de papieren ) en WEER was het te moeilijk voor ze. Dus na 20 minuten komt de koffiedrinkster naar beneden "Ja.. ik heb het verhaal gehoord, en ik zal eens kijken". Dus wij hopen dat het allemaal toch goed komt zegt ze "Nee, mijn collega heeft gelijk, ik heb echt een apostille nodig". Ik zeg "Dat zal best , het maakt me niets uit wat u denkt nodig te hebben , u gaat die naam veranderen in de computer, omdat ik hier namelijk niet wegga voordat dat gedaan is".
"Ik haal mijn collega er even bij", is het antwoord. Collega komt, neuzelt even in de papieren, en zegt "Tsja... geen apostille, ik kan u niet helpen"
Ik kon me gewoon niet meer inhouden. Dus ik sla hard op de tafel en schreeuw zo hard ik kan "JIJ GAAT DIT NU IN DE COMPUTER AANPASSEN !!!! HIER HEB JE HET PASPOORT , KIJK DAN NAAR DIE NAAM !!! STAAT DUIDELIJK HAAR NAAM, OF WIL JE ZEGGEN DAT DIT PASPOORT OOK VAN APOSTILLE MOET WORDEN VOORZIEN ??" De vrouwelijke medewerkster zegt vluchtig tegen die man "Doe nou maar wat ie zegt !..."
Die man probeert iets te zeggen "Ik m..." waarop ik hem interrompeer en zeg "NEE!".
Hij probeert weer "U moet..." ik interrompeer weer en zeg weer "NEE! U moet !". En zo gaat het zo'n 4 keer op en neer, elke keer dat hij een zin begint zeg ik "Nee!" en het pakt echt kinderachtig uit. ( Het hele gebeuren deed me denken aan Dr Evil en zijn zoon in die film van Austin Powers ).
Uiteindelijk eindigt het met van mijn kant uit "Nee Nee Nee Nee Nee Nee Nee Nee Nee" zodat hij er echt niets meer tussen kan krijgen. Zegt ie "Dan houden we ermee op en ga ik u niet verder helpen" ( het lijkt erop dat ze dit dus altijd als excuus gebruiken ) en ik zeg "Dat maakt me niets uit, ik blijf hier tot IEMAND die gegevens heeft aangepast". Afijn, om een lang verhaal ( iets ) korter te maken, uiteindelijk stemt ie toe mits ik de Apostilles alsnog 'binnenkort' kom laten zien.

Dus, vandaag was ik er weer, MET apostilles ! Ik wilde ze dus even afgeven , terwijl ik mijn VOG ook inleverde. Zegt die baliemedewerkster "Nee deze Apostille is ook niet goed, hij moet door het land gemaakt worden waar het document is afgegeven". Dus ik zeg "Ik ga er niet meer over beginnen, ik heb mijn plicht gedaan, ik ga ECHT niet een originele geboorte akte naar Swaziland sturen, dan zien we het nooit meer terug. En dat alleen omdat er hier een stelletje ZEIKERDS zitten die niets anders doen dan mensen lastig vallen over kleine regeltjes die niet eens kloppen in plaats van de mensen te HELPEN, wat uiteindelijk jullie BAAN is".

Nou.. dat was het, mijn mening over Helmondse stadswinkel, een stelletje onbekwame, incapabele ZEIKERDS. Oh wat ben ik blij dat ik hier uit nederland weg ga zeg.

U bent gewaarschuwd

ACS : Status changed to "With Assessor"

Today I logged in on the ACS Status website and to my great surprise I saw that our status has changed from "In Process" to "With Assessor". This means that they have now finished assessing us and the results letter will be in our snailmailbox any day now ! Great news , provided that we have been positively assessed. If we have MODL, I will take Kim out for dinner at our favorite Greek restaurant ! *fingers crossed*

IELTS test today !

It's there : My first 'real' exam since my motorbike license ! And to make things worse, we have to go all the way to Amsterdam to sit the test. That's 2 hours drive from here ! The test is scheduled to begin at 09:15, and examinees are expected to arrive at 08:45 to sign for their presence. So Kim and me agreed we should leave at 06:30, which means we would have to stand up at 06:00. After our last night's problems with the public waste deposit place on top of our physical exercise that day, we were absolutely knackered. At 22:00 we decided to go to bed early so we would have a chance to pass the exam the next day.

At 06:30 we set course for Amsterdam. Although we have a GPS device, 'we' ( the royal 'we' , and in this case really meaning 'Kim' ) decided not to use the GPS device but use a smallish map of Amsterdam which quite accurately pointed out the location of the IELTS exam centre. Unfortunately, it didn't show on the map where we were, and once in Amsterdam we were quickly lost. It ended with the usual "give me that map" ( at which moment Kim promptly produced a second map ) which ofcourse I couldn't read because I was driving. So 'we' ( the Royal 'we' , in this case that would be myself ) decided to park the car in the first parking garage we saw, which was only about 20 minutes walking distance from the IELTS place : Lucky us ! We arrived at 08:45 exactly, so all things considered we did pretty well.

The test starts with a listening test. It was easy enough and we both expect to have good results. After this test we did the reading test which was actually quite challenging on the Academic level we did the test at. The test doesn't focus simply on the meaning of the individual words, rather it focuses on your ability to understand complex grammatics and relations and reasoning. Although you get a whole hour to finish the reading test, we both finished with only minutes to spare, if that much. After the reading test follows the writing test, which again focuses on your ability to understand and interpret a thesis or graph, and from that interpretation write a summary or a thesis yourself. This is the academic level we did, because we thought we might need it to study someday : Apparently the 'normal' level is a lot easier. The last and final test was the speaking test, which came down to speaking with an english linguist for about 15 minutes. I had the bad luck to get a 'picky' woman, who would ask the the most difficult questions, like "What do you do when friends come over to your house ?". If I were to be completely honest, we don't get that many friends over to our house, and the last people who have been 'visiting' us were viewers who were potentially interested in buying our house !

All in all, it was a full days worth of exams, we were done around 14:00 , after which we took the liberty to visit the red light district in Amsterdam. It was a bit disappointing : You get the sex shops where you can see the newest SM fashions ofcourse, which is entertaining to say the least. ( things like "The Swing" or "Tarzan" there have a whole different meaning than what you remember from your childhood ! ).

Conclusion : We both think we passed the Academic level IELTS exam.
But the results which will be snailmailed in 10 days will give us a definitive result. I wonder who wins the bet !

Trash day with a twist

Today, it's trash day. That means we get rid of all the crap that we won't take with us and all the trash we have been saving up. We have hired a Toyota van at a local rental company , which costs us only 49 euro's for a whole day. At 10:00 we drove to the rental company to pick up the van, and at 11:00 we started stuffing the van with branches and bags of cut grass / weeds and other flora. Now usually this would be like a living hell for me since I have hayfever, but today we're "lucky" and it rains. So , in between showers we pick up the wet plants full of spiders and other nasties and slowly fill up the van. At 12:30 the van is full and that means we're right on time since the public dump place opens at 13:00 ( I guess they sleep in every morning ). The drive isn't very long, at most 15 minutes, but the spiders falling from the ceiling of the van make it an interesting ride. Once at the dump, we pay our 5 euro entrance fee and dump our stuff.
Then it's back to pickup the next batch of plants and rubbish. At 14:30 we've got ourselves another full van, and off we go , another 5 euro's entrance fee and some heavy bags of plaster and rubbish later, we set off for our last trip. At 16:45 we're done, and the dump place closes at 17:00 already. Since we have to deliver the rental van cleaned up and all fueled up at 17:45, we must hurry to make the 17:00 deadline.
So we race in the van as quickly as we can to the dump , and luckily we manage to arrive exactly at 17:00. But the gates are already closed ! The 4 bodybuilders are drinking tea inside their little house on the public dump site, waving at us , or should I say, waving us away. So I send in Kim to sweetly and kindly ask them to open the gates because we have a rental van and really can't do anything else than to get rid of the trash at the dump site. After a few seconds, Kim comes back, shaking her head. So , I unbuckle and go in myself. I ask them why the gate is already closed because it's only 17:00 and they should have been open till 17:00. They reply with "sorry we're closed, perhaps you can ask the other dump place if you can dump it there ?". This comment ofcourse was complete rubbish, because they would be closed at 17:00 also, it was a trick to get rid of us so they could enjoy their early friday afternoon. I said "Well, I don't have a choice do I ? What do you want me to do ? Dump it in front of your gate ?". Their reply was little more than "sure... ". I then told them that I would dump it right there if they wouldn't open the door, and I got a more serious reply back "No you won't". I then realized that this discussion would get nowhere and that the longer they stalled, the more I would be pushed into the losing corner.
I walked back to the van, opened the doors and started to unload the rubbish on their front step. I don't think these 4 bulky guys expected this , 1 of them came walking out ( but stayed at a safe distance from me ) and said "You can't do that !". I answered "Yes I can !"

Then another guy shouted "You'll get in trouble for this..!", to which my reply was "Sure , call the police if you want, I'm unloading now". This same guy then proceeded to show us that he was on the telephone ( probably with the police or his boss ). 5 minutes later, our van was empty and we drove off in a hurry, making sure we'd be gone anyone arrived. Whoever would arrive would mean trouble for us, and we had our IELTS exams the next day to worry about !

We cleaned the van at home but didn't have time to fill the van up. At exactly 18:45 we delivered the van at the rental place, and at 18:50 we were gone. In my rear-view mirror I saw the policecar drive onto the rental place, just as we drove around the corner, so I told Kim "Well we're probably going to hear something from that... amazing that they don't have anything better to do on a friday night, like catching robbers or real criminals !".Once home, my mobile phone rang : "This is the police. Is this Mr Lex ?" I answered "Yes". The officer at the other side of the line proceeded "We will need to speak to you at the police station". I knew exactly why , so I replied "ah yes, about the dump site problem"
I was requested to come to the police station asap and explain why I had "littered the streets of a public dump site". I explained the story and the police officer understood my reasons.
Overall result : We got a fine of 150 euro's for 'littering'. Sigh...

Scamp & Tizz : Rabies Serology results in !

Scamp & Tizz rabies serology test results are back today ! And we have good news for them :
They can COME WITH US ! The results were outstanding for both Tizz as well as Scamp.

Here's the e-mail from our veterinarian :
========================
Hello,

We have received the results of the rabies screening of Scamp and Tizz. Both results are good: titre >=9.7 IU/ml. Do you want to pick up the results at our practice or do you want us to send them by post?

Kind regards,

========================

I picked them up already. On to the next pets step !

ACS : Status changed to "In Process"

Our ACS status changed today, which can only mean 1 thing : We have a CO ! Her name is Sally Zarka, and is one of the 6 CO's working at the ACS. This is good news since it can take up to 12 weeks before the application is processed. Let's hope it doesn't take 12 weeks ! At least we have done whatever we could for now in regard of the ACS application : Now it's a waiting game.

ACS : Application forms received !

The ACS has received my application letter ! I was getting worried they, or the dutch posting system, lost my precious cargo, but this news confirms that the ACS has the letter and will ( hopefully soon ) assign a CO ( slang for Case Officer ) to my assessment. *fingers crossed*

Scamp & Tizz : Bloodsamples

When we close the cat-flap, that's it : Tizz ( the Puss , with capital P ) knows. He knows that this seemingly small step for Pusskind, will be a huge leap for Puss : All the way to the veterinarian ! So we try and disguise the actions. Today, we used Scamps water drinking bowl : We placed it in front of the catflap, but the Puss is not easily fooled. Although he was never going to get his paws wet, he certainly wouldn't make it easy for us either ! So the hunt started. Since we know all of his 'boudoirs', it wasn't really hard to find him. But that's where the struggle starts. The Puss, in all his cleverness, has found a new way to trick us today. The tactics are simple : Struggle for as long as you can , use all 4 paws and push hard with the legs against the sides of the box door. This way the Puss pushes the box forwards and this requires one hand to hold back the box from scuttling off. And this is where Puss uses plan B. He will now seemingly enter the box, "giving up", and when you try and close the lid with 1 hand, he races out of the box, usually all the way upstairs ofcourse !

So, with a little help from Kim, we wormed him in the box and closed the lid before he could do his houdini.

Scamp likes the vet. He gets cookies from the vet !

ACS Assessment forms sent !

Well, today felt like we're really getting things moving ! I have now sent the ACS skills assessment forms up today. It's officially on it's way to the ACS in Australia.
There is still loads to do, but at least the first step is taken, and this means that our migration has now officially started. It's a strange feeling. A feeling of being 'out of control'. That being said, it feels good to have things finally rolling after all these months of preparation. Judging from how the ACS assesses us, we'll see how good 'we' ( the royal we, really meaning 'me' ) have done our homework.
It's time to keep your *fingers crossed*

Scamp & Tizz : Rabies vaccination

We brought Scamp and Tizz to the veterinary today for the rabies vaccination.
They will need to be vaccinated against rabies at least 1 month before blood samples can be taken. The earlier we get the Mini-Poop ( Scamp ) and the Micro-Poop ( Tizz ) ready for migration, the less they will have to sit in quarantine once we arrive in Australia. So , this is an important step for them ( although, they don't really agree with me right now )

Getting all the paperwork together for the ACS skills assessment

During my research of the info recovered from DIAC website, it seems that the first step in the Visa application is getting the ACS to assess our skills. Depending on our skills, we could get 50 or 60 points, and possibly even MODL, which in laymans terms means "The quick list". I peeked on the MODL list and my job position is on there ! So we decided that we would use my MODL skills to get the visa. That way, we could possibly get it faster ( although noone can tell for sure it really helps in getting the visa faster ).
The first step will be to get everything that is not english translated into english. This has to be done officially by an official, accredited translator. I found a great website : www.snelvertaler.nl which promises to be fast, efficient and cheap.
Well, I'm always up for those virtues, so I have tried them out. To my utter surprise, I have gotten both my french diploma and my dutch diploma all translated with apostille for 120 euro's and within a week. This is indeed fast, cheap and good. I would definately use them again if I had anything to be translated again ( but it doesn't look like I will need anything translated soon ).
I also copied all my english MCSE and MCDBA diploma's and exams, plus passport copies and birth certificates and a lot more required documents. All in all, it amounted to a STAGGERING 100 pages ! Since I needed some documents 4 times, it was clear that this would cost HOURS to legalize at a civil notary. After some calls I found a guy who would copy them , but he charged 260 Euro's for the whole pack of paper. Well, it's for a good cause.

Anyway, I seem to have all the paperwork together. I'll send it up as soon as I'm sure all the paperwork is included !

Made the IELTS exam reservation ! And a little bet too !

Today I set us up for the IELTS exam. At first we thought we wouldn't need it, but after scrutinizing the website of the DIAC it's clear that we will need to sit the IELTS test. From the IELTS website, it appears that The Netherlands have two centres where they host the exams : One is located in Amsterdam, and the other one is located in Utrecht. The Utrecht one is booked until 21 July, so we'll go with Amsterdam, who can book us for 5 July 2008 , a whopping 3 months from now ! It's good that we book it now, it will minimize the delays of our visa application later on. Kim and me have also made a bet. Both of us being too cocky for our own good, we got ourselves in deep this time : a 2 hours massage ( with extra's ) for the winner ! I honestly can see myself losing this bet, since English is my second language, as opposed to english being Kim's first language. That being said, I'll probably come up with one trick or another to maximize my chances.

Edit : I have indeed found a way to make my chances better. It seems that there's an IELTS.pack available for download, which contains practice tests and tips and tricks for the IELTS test ! I definately will need to quietly download and use this information to my benefit !

We made the decision to go to Australia

We decided to go to Australia today. Well, that's not entirely correct. We have been in the process of deciding for weeks already, but I have now personally made up my mind and have started doing research on what is needed for our migration to Australia. We agreed that I would spend more time preparing our migration to Australia and less time working. In August 2008 I will officially be unemployed because my employer Solectron has been acquired by Flextronics. Flextronics doesn't need the old Solectron people, so we're laid off. Basically, I now have time to spend all my time preparing our future lives in Australia instead of worrying about why we ( read : my employers ) don't buy new servers or replace breaking network infrastructure, or why the toilet paper's quality has gone from 'soft' to 'sandpaper'.
We have already done the points test and we have 140 points ! That's 20 points more than is needed for a Skilled Independant Migration Visa, which is the visa we really want.

Australia : Here we come !