Well I see from the last post that much has happened since I last wrote here. First the good news is that after 18 months of paperwork, getting stuck with needles and handing over wads of cash to the Dept. Of State I am now a Legal Resident Alien of the USA. I arrived on these shore on September 3rd 2011 clutching a brown envelope and a newly minted Visa and after getting fingerprinted (again) I was waved through at Houston and finally washed up in Arenal at around 5:30pm. A couple of weeks later I received my Green Card and in late December, after a bit of a tussle with changing over Agents, I finally achieved my dream of paying US tax again. Nice feeling that I am back contributing.

Last event was the 2011 Arabian Nights at which I was Nastycrat and supported the feast team. Had a lot of fun (apart from two clogged toilets) and met some really interesting people. Looking forward to this years GATALOP.

I thought it was, once again, time to put quill to vellum and make known the doings of recent times. Especially as those events have led to the piece of very cheering news I am about to impart.

Be it known throughout the Shire that I will be arriving for an extended stay, of some months, around the evening of October 19th and hope to attend both Gatlop – where I will cheer on our brave lads – and Twelfth Night where I will discharge the pleasant duties of the outgoing regent. If I can slip in the odd night of carousing then so much the better.

Fortune has, at last, begun to favor me and I am now gainfully employed by the good people of Reuters supporting their Real Time Exchange systems in Hazelwood, MO. Now I know what your thinking. Must be one heck of a commute each morning. Thanks to the inventions of the modern mundane world I can discharge my duties from the comfort of my own home in the UK. More importantly I can do the same thing from just about anywhere on the planet where I can get hold of a fair sized Internet connection, meaning that I am able to spend time with my favorite people while still getting paid. How cool is that.

Also because I am working for an British company I can neatly side-step those pesky little immigration rules and get away with earning money while I am here. So drinks all round and much spending of coin will ensue for the time I am here. I am sorely tempted to partake of your rather splendid 2nd Amendment and purchase for myself a good stout piece of yew and get into archery so I’ll have something to talk about around the fire.

It has certainly been a busy few months and I have been a little too caught up with my mundane life to come and keep account of my adventures.

Also 'Went to work. Hassled. Lunch. Hassled. Came Home' makes for a pretty spartan narrative.

However, now, I have more interesting news to relate.

The first part is that, once again, I am returning to the US. My first stop will be again to the fair shores of Long Island, NY but this time I am also going to spend a few weeks in Hazelwood - a suburb of St. Louis. MO - which will be interesting. Hopefully George and Dick will get the message that, no matter what barriers they and the Dept. Of Homeland Security dream up, I will continue to be a pest till the decide to let me come pay taxes in the US.

We'll have to wait and see what happens with that. The omens are good as I always do best when working for a foreign company and Reuters Americas is technically a foreign owned company. Especially now that they intend to merge with Thompson (who are Canadian). The only sticking point is that all the work visas have been stolen for this year so - and anyone working for the INS please look away now - I am going to be sneaking in under the RADAR, yet again.

The best news though is that on a bright Saturday afternoon under the spreading boughs of an Ancient English Oak I pledged my troth to the fair Lianna and she accepted.

I've kept it off the lists as I didn't want to pre-empt any announcements she wished to make in personal but I felt that those here at the Keep were due special consideration. No date has been set at the moment but plans are afoot and we neither intend to let the vagaries of world politics keep us apart for more time than is neccessary.

I will find time to keep friends and compatriots abreast of the news as it happens. Also keeping a record of my next adventures in the US will keep me out of the bars

Well I am finally back in the USA - though not in Arenal. I managed to wrangle myself a job up in New York, working for Reuters and I am hoping that this time I manage to hang on and make myself a permanent fixture.

Pity they don't have any offices down in Arenal - I asked - but at least I am almost now in the same time zone.

Will keep you all posted.

The parents had some relations over for lunch today so I spent most of the afternoon in my room watching Kingdom Of Heaven and finishing off my lastest read - Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen - while Mo Bhean was out attending archery practice.

I could have gone down the local again but I didn't seem to get around to it and I expected Mo Bhean back by 10:00pm, my time. Looks like she might have gone to spend time with her dad on the way back so I might have a little longer to wait. No matter I can work on my persona some more or flip through the copy of Scientific American I bought for the journey home. Never got to read it on the plan as On-demand video is very seductive.

Not a lot happened today except I went and got my haircut. Also I had lunch out with the parents and fitted in a couple of pints in the local hostelery while Mo Bhean was out attending a local exhibition of school art (seems there was only Hawaiian Punch and cookies there).

Also spent some time looking for work but, so far, nothing has made itself available. I live in hope.

Didn't think I'd get to make an entry today. The morning started off with my Pc going kaplooie and refusing to boot. Then refusing to start at all - apart from the fan which seemed disinclined to stop even when the Pc was switched off. Possession crossed my mind as it had mysteriously turned itself on and off several times in the early hours of the morning.

My father - bless his heart - tried manfully to fix the problem with the aid of a screw driver and much swearing. In the end I convinced him to go to the local PC franchise (PC World - think Best Buy without the choice or the style) and see if they could advise me on what was the problem. There support staff were quite happy to run a diagnostic on the Pc if we were willing to part with about $110.00, which we decided we were not. Especially as we had an ace up our sleeve. Another Pc in the wings.

When I returned from New York, back in 2002, I had brought with me the PC Ihad bought for myself and it was still wrapped and packed in one of the cupboards. Father and I thought it'd be a simple matter to reload the operating system and install the Internet software. Little did we know that physics would conspire against us as every time we tried to plug it in it just blew the fuses in the plugs - we assumed - and sat there looking sulky.

Finally we went through the fun and games to get my Laptop loaded up with the neccessary software to attach it to the Internet and allow me to chat with my lady ob AIM.

Have spent the rest of the evening setting up my laptop to allow my father to access his mail and keep him away from my files. Fortunately I can set up new accounts on the Laptop (Windows XP is fun) and for the moment I have taken off the password protection on my startup so my father won't bug me every time he wants to read his email.

Didn't do much today. Still Jetlagged a little so I slept in till 8:00am (Shire Time) which was when I usually surfaced when I wasn't helping M'lady Leanne at her school. Then I was up with the Lark at 5:30am and out the door by 07:00am. Not so easy when the weather is cold and the clouds hang low and grey in the sky.

I did manage to make myself of some use today and helped my father sort out a problem with the side door of the garage. Because of the recent rains it had swelled so was sticking very badly. I helped take the thing off, plane and sand it and then re-hang it. Not a major job but it gave me the feeling of being useful. I suppose that tomorrow I should start looking for a job here in England. At the very least I need something to bring me enough gold to buy passage back to Arenal.

I would love to be able to make it to Gulf Wars but with the state of the job market and my parent's impending move south I guess that it'll be some time before I can meet up with everyone again. At least I live in an age where I can keep in touch via Email and this place lets me put down my thoughts.

I am now sitting here killing time till M'lady gets back from report card night and comes online. Hopefully tonight we shall will win the lottery and money will be a moot point. LoL. I don't think people like us are born to win the lottery. I guess god thinks all that money would spoil us. It would by a lot of ammo for our boys though.

Back in the land of my fathers after a reasonable - if long - journey from Arenal to England (via Charlotte, NC). The flight was reasonable and I managed to get a row to myself so I could stretch out and enjoy the food and movies (US Airways has On Demand movies so you can get them when you want them. There food is also better than most.)

Arrived back to drizzle and cold weather and to find that my parents had packed all my stuff into a number of boxes in preparation for moving.

Spent the early part of today alternately looking for things I needed and trying get my fathers Pc back online. The sound card seems to have packed in and he gets an error code 10 when trying to start the sound service.

In the end I gave up and spent the day snoozing and getting my body back to English time. Tomorrow I plan to take my problem to the local Pc World have them mull it over.

The only bugger being that M'lady Leanne and I have lost the ability to voice chat so we have been practicing our typing skills.

More tales of adventure tomorrow but, for now, I am off to the embrace of Morpheus.

YIS

Stiofan

Last entry for a little while as I am heading off to airport to fly back to Insulae Draconis and need to pack my Laptop away for travel.

Going to miss Arenal and all the fun people but have high hopes that I will be returning one day, soon.

Y'all keep safe and I'll see you around the firepit

My last day in the Shire before I have to head back to the dull mundane world of Insulae Draconis.

Lots of fond goodbyes and some great - as always - conversation. I will miss everyone more than they know and will count the days till I return.

Too many people - for too many kindnesses - to mention and all have made me feel welcome.

Lord Bastion wrote something special in my book which I will turn to in the darkest of times.

Know all that wherever I am my eyes will seek out the fires of Arenal.