Work Permit, Roxy Eats Mossies, Septic Smells...

Last week felt like it was busy, yet I accomplished very little...

My main focus has been on compiling ALLLLL of the documents to apply for my work permit and both of our Permanent Residencies. The list of documents online is only a starting point - and individual results may vary! I am working with a local to help with the work permit, as suggested by the Labour Department.

One item that is giving us a lot of trouble obtaining is a Police Clearance Letter from the US. I paid Intelius for our background checks, but both of our reports were full of errors, inaccuracies, extra addresses....they had a photo of "Nathan" that wasn't Nathan at all, and listed his career as a job that he has never had in IT. There's no way we could use those, so we are asking family back home to visit the police department on our behalf and PRAYING they can get us a letter to FedEx down. This isn't something we could have brought with us, as they want a recent letter - not one that's 1+ year old. And Arizona is a "closed state", meaning they will not supply my background information online.

I've been trying to round up absurd documents for someone in their late 40s to be expected to have - HS diploma (original, or certified copy), certificates for any education or licensure, proof of future SS income, you name it. On a total fluke, we brought Nathan's ASU diploma with us - he didn't have it for 20+ years, his ex-wife held onto it in her odd "Nathan shrine" and fortunately, one of his sons smuggled it out for us!

Pre-COVID, you just paid the $2,000US for Permanent Residency - no hoops to jump through. I'm struggling to grasp why Belize has decided to make it so difficult to apply - they get the $2,000US eventually, why add the extra, discouraging steps? I understand they want to admit upstanding citizens who can financially support themselves, but proving I completed elementary school seems a bit of overkill.

In lighter news, all of the "cardboard gecko hunting training" has paid off for Roxy - mosquitoes have been sneaking in, and I have now seen her eat them out of the air on multiple occasions! She is earning her keep! Naturally, I then panic-googled, "Can cats get heartworm from eating mosquitoes?" and I am pleased to report, the answer is no.

Roxy likes the top of the cat tree - closer to ceiling geckos and mosquitoes

Wednesday morning, we experienced torrential rain - my best guess based on a bucket in the yard was 3-4" in the pre-dawn hours, leading to septic smells in our hall bath. This tends to happen in heavy rains, and a quick google search said this could be a blockage, our tank is full, or a pipe is cracked and water is entering the line and pushing gas upwards. Septic truly is the gift that keeps on giving. (Sarcasm mode)

Our friends referred us to Juan, who came over Friday - he believes we have an uncapped pipe or broken pipe under our home, but needs for the ground to dry up before he sends someone under to investigate. 

...it has rained since his visit, so we'll see when he can access under the house.

Saturday for dinner, we visited Gypsy with our friends Kit and Brian. It was a still, HOT night, but a trendy dinner locale was an excuse for us to dress up a bit! Kit and Brian are Vegan, and Gypsy has multiple items that suit their diet and are willing to modify others, so I highly suggest Gypsy for vegetarians and vegans.

Shrimp Chimmichurri was excellent! And their $8BZ sangria packs a punch!

Most of their plates are "tapas style" so it's easy to try a lot of different dishes, and share with friends!

This week will be more of the same - trying to round up items for the seemingly infinite lists to apply for a work permit and permanent residency...and I think we are going to try a smoothie/juice cleanse, provided I can find enough ingredients to piece together a menu. If you see me out and about, there are two reasons that I will be extra-crabby - heh!