Tomorrow's a big day for me. I have a Naturalization Initial Interview with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services Division of the Department of Homeland Security. I initially applied on February 9th of last year in a process that was supposed to take 6-8 months, but here I am a year later. In the meantime, I guess I've passed the FBI background check, and had my bio-metrics, i.e., fingerprints and photographs, taken. Tomorrow, I have an interview and civics test. Unless they hold my Canadian accent against me, I don't think I have to do the English proficiency test. The government website is unclear about exactly what happens if everything goes smoothly. It sounds as if I might walk out of there with my US citizenship, but I might have to show up for a separate swearing-in ceremony. I guess I'll find tomorrow. Until then, I'll check and double-check the document checklist and read the fine print on all the notices I have. If I screw up and forget something, or have a flat tire on the way to the interview, I'll have to go to the back of the line.
Coincidentally, I received the Washington State Voters' Guide yesterday in the mail. It looks like my plan to register to vote immediately and participate in the Democratic Caucus on February 9th won't work. If I register online, I have to register 30 days before the vote. If I register in person, there's still a 15 day waiting period. So my first vote might have to wait until the fall. Oh well.
The primaries on Tuesday will be interesting, to say the least. With most of the Republican states having a winner-take-all system, I think McCain will wrap up the nomination even though he's not likely to get more than 50% of the vote in any state. McCain should be thanking his lucky stars for Huckabee. If Huckabee wasn't still in the hunt, Mr. Magic Underpants would have a good chance of beating McCain in a many of the states, and the race would go on to the bitter end. The Democratic side may well go to the bitter end and a brokered convention. Most, if not all, of the states holding Democratic primaries will award the delegates on a proportional basis. Even with Obama surging in a best-case scenario, Hillary will get at least 40% of the delegates, and that will be more than enough to keep her in the race. The reverse is also true. After Super-Duper Tuesday, there are no more big multi-state primary dates, so the delegates will dribble in every week or so until June. What initially looked like a front-loaded primary where the winner would be decided on February 5th now could drag on for months.
And another note from skiing on Friday...I must be losing inches because the snaps at the waistband of my ski pants, that I previously thought must be defective because they kept popping all the time, held for the entire day!
Who am I betting on the win the Superbowl? Until this morning, I wasn't sure who the Patriots were playing, so I guess I really don't care!
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