Resident's Visa

Posted on Tue 12 June 2007 at 11:22

We were so relieved just to get our Visas at the end of the nightmare wait, we didn’t  really read the accompanying letter.  We just got on the plane and headed off.  Well, Melissa’s school phoned up the other day – did we have any other proof of residency other than her passport (which has the visa firmly stuck in)?.  I said I would have a look, knowing full well that somewhere in this house, was the letter of confirmation.  What a surprise when I finally dug it out!  We were meant to keep in touch with immigration and tell them of any change of address – we have moved twice from the original contact address!  Also, after 3 months of working for the company specified on the visa (and before 7 months were up) we were meant to hand in our passports, with payslips, a letter from my work, bank details confirming my pay and a letter asking for the Section 18A conditions to be removed.  We got here in October, it is now June – you do the maths!  Suffice to say, it should have been done long before now.  Thank God for over zealous school secretaries – I don’t know when I would have remembered that needed doing.  I started a thread on the BE site about this and found out I wasn’t the only one.  Things may have changed now but for those heading this way, make sure to read your accompanying letter – it may save you some stress in the long run.  Steve handed our passports and all the other stuff in at the Hamilton Office on Friday.  On Monday, they phoned to say the passports were ready to pick up.  As I was still half asleep following night shift, she said they would courier them out the next day.  I had jumped back into bed on Tuesday and fallen sound asleep once Melissa went to school, so when the doorbell went at 10am, I staggered through, opened the door and then thought to check if my pyjama buttons were tied still!  I completely blagged it, told the courier lassie that I had been working nights (not a complete lie, but it was the Sunday night, not the Monday).  I tried to take the computer pad thingy that you sign on from her and turn it round – she very tactfully pointed out my mistake!  Following another recent haircut, I dread to think what I must have looked like as my hair decides to stand on end as soon as my head hits the pillow!

So, I did a night shift the other night and about to do another 4 this week and other at the end of the week after. I like night shift.  You have a certain amount of autonomy (well, especially as the only nurse on shift!) and things are generally laid back.  I say generally as my very first night shift as a nurse culminated 20 minutes before the end of the shift in having to use C & R (Control and Restrain) on a patient.  And the paperwork went on for ages, what a pisser!  And any shift that doesn’t include having to get up at stupid o’clock in the morning is going to be a winner for me! And the other thing is that it doesn’t matter how much you enjoy work, there are pretty much always petty niggles.  Which is why I think the UK nursing shift pattern is a winner.  You start looking forward to your allocated nights as a means of escaping the normal routine of work.  You get on nights, enjoy it for a short while and then can’t wait to get back on days.  Then, when you get back on days, you are ready to get on with the daily grind.  I admit, I found the actual rostering in the UK stressful as both Steve and I worked  a varied shift pattern but the night shifts themselves I used to get on well with. 

I was just in the kitchen at the gauge is reading 9.9 degrees C outside and it’s 10pm.  This has to be the mildest winter I have ever lived through so far.  I went food shopping today without a jacket!  Sometimes I surprise myself at my own audacity!

I keep meaning to mention the kittens.  Scottie has turned out be very much a one-Man(Melissa) cat.  She pretends to be quite shy and timid but like every cat ever in the history of the world, has only cupboard love for Steve and I.  She thinks if she goes out, then comes back in again even after 5 minutes, that the food bowls will magically have replenished themselves.  It is our duty to feed her she thinks.  I wouldn’t mind, but she disdains us at every other turn so she can whistle as far as I am concerned!  She runs from Steve and I unless she wants feeding but Melissa can turn her upside down, baby her, chase her in fun and she puts up with it.  She is turning into a Kiwi version of my mother’s Tiggy I tell you!  She no longer looks like a kitten.  She has a chubby wee face and seems be to an adult in all respects.

Poppy is such a little Princess.  She is so adorable.  She is the dumbest cat in the world.  If she were human she would be some airhead celebrity who ends up being famous by accident.  We had Scottie neutered but we really want a litter from Poppy before we have her done as I think she would breed the most seriously cute kittens in the world.  She will never be Snarf but she has a personality all of her own and she makes us laugh.  She woke Melissa one night by licking her teeth!  Melissa had brushed her teeth before bed and drifted off pretty quick.  Poppy apparently loves the smell of toothpaste so helped herself  to Melissa’s!

For the first time since we have been here, I have seen a real live Weta.  They look somewhat prehistoric and are basically huge New Zealand grasshoppers.  I am far too lazy, try a Google search and see what you come up with.  Well, this one was on the wall by  the front door and they are about the size (including legs) of my finger.  They look a bit scary, especially if you venture on them unawares but they are harmless.  Melissa took a photo of it but seeing as she didn’t transfer it to the PC, it might as well be in China!  I will see if I can’t get one of the Geeks (Melissa or Steve) to do that for me and then you can see for yourself!  I forgot to mention in the kitty bitty, that both cats are ferocious (!) hunters and quite often turn up with little spiders and bugs on the doorstep.  This would have been a real challenge!  I wouldn't let them out the front door as they couldn't have failed to notice it.  I haven't seen them try to bring it in so I hope it had the sense to run away!