super loser nerd

It’s been 15 years and I still think of this goddamn video every 3/14.

If you’re adopted internationally into the United States, BY adoption LAWS you’re legally a citizen, but you still have to apply for documentation and if it’s not done by the age of 18 you have to pay over $500 and get a judge to reopen your adoption case. 

Even More Fun Fact: No one actually tells adoptive families, this so many find out after they’re 18 when their kid needs to get a passport, wants to apply for financial aid, get certain jobs, vote or some other shit that requires proof of citizenship and now it’s too late because they’re 18 or over. 

AND EVEN MORE FUN FACT! You can sometimes even be deported because you can be considered foreign-born, non-citizens! 

Oh and they won’t accept adoption papers or a birth certificate as proof. 

Many people are finding that even a birth certificate is not valid proof anymore. Texas birth certificates are notorious. So notorious that I have 3 friends who can’t use them to get passports! Don’t think everything is hunky dory. You must nail down your citizenship.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/filling-out-form-n-600-application-certificate-citizenship.html

Also! It takes up to 12 months to get a replacement certificate. If you urgently need your Natz Cert to visit your dying relative in another country, the word you want to use is ‘Expedite’. Not ‘ASAP’. Not ‘rush’. Expedite. Write a letter explaining why you need it expedited, if you do. Otherwise the USCIS data-entry grunts (me!) aren’t allowed to throw it into the expedite line and it gets relegated to the Backlog Crypts. 

Also! You need to get a new Naturalization Certificate if your name and/or gender legally changes, because a lot of places want your proof of citizenship for things like Social Security and student loans and Medicaid/EBT/welfare benefits and drivers’ licenses. 

ALSO ALSO both the N600 ($600) that you use to apply for your Naturalization Certificate in the first place and N565 ($345) that you use to apply for a replacement certificate are eligible for FEE WAIVERS. It’s called an I912. Learn it, love it, use it. 

people who barely speak

I know lilkittay and Merlin personally, and have for years.  You would be hard-pressed to find a more devoted, competent, and educated pet owner than OP.  She used to work for the local Humane Society.  Prior to that, she used to foster litters of kittens in her home until they were old enough to go up for adoption.  This is an owner that knows cats, knows how to care for them, and will rush them to a vet at the first sign of sniffle.  This is the first time I can remember any of her pets requiring expensive surgery–these things can just happen, and through no fault of the owner.

TL;DR incoming:

This is actually NOT the first time I’ve needed expensive surgery for this cat. Two summers ago, I took merlin to the vet for a tumor/lesion in his mouth. They thought it was cancer, but it turned out to be benign. He needed x-rays, antibiotics, sedation, and a tooth extraction. The full cost of all the vet visits then was somewhere around $800. I didn’t ask for help then. We dipped deep into savings and opened up a credit line to pay for his care. Since then, the creditor took my credit line away for “bad credit” and “deliquency on unrelated accounts” (aka my student loans currently sit in a bad bad way).

The roller coaster we went through with Merlin back then was really hard on me. He seemed to weather it pretty well, probably because he’s such a sweetie. I fortunately at the time was on FMLA at my job and was able to take time off. The stress crushed me and it took a few months to get over it all. It took 6 months to pay off the debt and cleaned out my savings, which have never recovered.

I didn’t ask for help then because… well I didn’t think anyone would care, and because I felt that it was my responsibility to handle it myself. This time is different. I can’t financially handle this myself. Merlin really does mean the world to me (although I love my other cats too). He and I have a special bond.

How are you gonna put duct tape over your wife and daughters mouths and pretend like that shit is funny? 

There was a commercial on last night and it was a dad lecturing a teenage boy about how to treat his date to prom (get her home safe, she doesn’t owe you anything just because she agreed to be your date, etc.). Everyone assumed that it was the father of the girl…but it turned out to be the dad of the boy. The general message was “it starts at home”.

Your children need you to set strong example, for both sexes. Show your daughters that their voice matters and to never let a man speak all over her. Show your son that he is not superior to a woman and teach him how to respect them.

The 1% of the late middle ages, gold-clad in so much style that the Puritans had to make it illegal: