Rune 23, Up: Standstill, That Which Impedes, Ice.

The winter of your spiritual life is upon you and you may find yourself entangled in a situation to whose implications you are, in effect, blind. You simply have to be patient and ride it out. This does not come from something that you caused or your habits, this is from conditions that are COMPLETELY out of your control. And there is another face to this Rune ... just as Winter is a time for going within, drawing this Rune can introduce a period of restoration and renewal, possibly all the way down to the deepest level. It will get better.

This is the latest Rune reading that Aaron did for me. Scarily true, dontcha think?

Well, my attorney finally answered this week, stating that she has received my permission to respond to my employer. Seriously, WTF!?! I gave her permission weeks ago. And now its so friggin' close to the deadline! UGH!!! Regardless, there is much back and forth between me, her and HR. Since we obviously can't get a signature from my previous employer to transfer the H1B, our only other recourse is to apply for a new H1B. But there's more shit to hit the fan. Oh yes.

Apparently, there was a mistake in my application that requires me to pay $1500 instead of the quoted $750. Apparently, both my attorney and HR failed to notice that there are more than 25 full-time employees at my job. Great. Just great. HR has also been advised by their attorney to put forth an additional $1000 for Premium processing. This will basically move my application to the front of the line, to be completed in two weeks. Of course, my attorney is advising against it. Her previous experiences suggest that the Premium Processing procedures forces the cases to be reviewed under a microscope, and that that there's a big chance that they'll come back asking for more job-based evidence, thus delaying the process back to the non-premium processing time of 60 days. Actually, my lawyer is confident that despite it being the holiday season, the non-premium H1B applications are still processes under 30 days, and less complicated. Of course, HR insists on the Premium Processing. At this point, it is out of my hands. It really is.

And you know what? I DON"T CARE ANYMORE. As much as it seems reckless, I AM OVER IT. I really am. My employer is putting a lot of time, energy, money and effort into helping me get back into the office legally. I have to side with them, as I want to get back to work as soon as possible as well. MAKE IT WORK. HR did ask me how committed I am, because they don't want to lose me 12 months down the road. I volunteered to sign a commitment contract, which Kim said MIGHT happen a little later. Fine by me, as long as the terms are not ridiculous, like this case.

So it looks like I will be traveling home to collect my visa, which is fine with me. It will be good to see my family and to see home again, even if it is just for a week. Actually, that is kind of ideal, because the short trips are the most memorable ones. There's less chances of getting into arguments, and every moment we have is valued. Of course, I have to keep in mind that international travel eats up a ton of time. I also cannot book a ticket until I receive an approval from the INS here. Then I have to make an appointment for my interview at the US Consular Office in Kuala Lumpur. Insane, isn't it? Two days for the interview, one day to process it. At least that's reasonably fast.

Regardless, I am glad this is going somewhere. It's finally moving and I am feeling better everyday. My celphone bill and power bill will probably kill me, but ... eh!

I am looking forward to Stephanie visiting me next weekend for Christmas. It'll be nice to have some company besides Sable.