Last time you heard from me, I'd gone and chopped off all my hair and was looking like a newly released prisoner. I'm letting my hair grow again but on the looks side, I'm afraid there still no clear distinction between a newly released prisoner and I.
I'll just get straight to the point. Since you last heard from me:
1. I turned 25. This makes me mathematically closer to 30 than I am to 20. It also means I cant date a 19 year old without being seen as a sleazy old man. That also means I have the worries and responsibilities of a 25 year old man... I think. I'm just far too busy sorting out and keeping my life on track to have time for this blogging business.
2. I naturalised as a British Citizen. It was about 2 years overdue but i finally got my shit together, with a lot of help from Ef and finally put my application in. Luckily I managed to get my application before they introduced the rip-off fees. (I'd link to it but I need you to get used to this Lazy Blogger mode that I'm in). Planning to apply, applying and getting it approved went smoothly for the most part except when having lost my old Ghanaian passport cam back to haunt me. Someone at the IND (I think they're called BIA now -- that's what all the money they collect goes into: name changes).. well someone at the IND ignored everything I'd already written in my application about not having the old passport and insisted I provide it. It delayedeverything by another couple of weeks but I got everything sorted out and had the ceremony on the 18th of May.
I have a few gripes about all the ways in which they tried to squeeze money out of you when you apply. I understand they cant make a loss with the system but some of the ways they try to get more money off you is just taking the piss. Consider the "Life in the UK" test for instance. Why couldnt they have provided a PDF file for download on the website as they do with everything else regarding the application process. Instead they have to squeeze £10 out of you for the privilegde of proving that you can pass a test that proves nothing whatsoever about your knowlegede about life in the UK. tseeew!
Well being as resourceful as I am. I managed to get hold of a PDF copy of the book but still had dish out the fee to take the test. As a big FU to the man, anyone that needs the life in the UK PDF can just email me and I'll send it to them for free for evaluation purposes only.
On the night before the ceremony , I had to go stay in Tottenham where I'm still officially registered. I didnt want to take a risk being late for this and potentially being hit with another fee to pay at the last minute. My sister was then 7 days overdue for her 4th child (I know. She seems to be permanently pregnant) and was in labour. Akos is notoriously known for having her babies on days of significance.. ok maybe just once. Her 2nd and 3rd share the same birthday... but i was getting excited about her possibly having the baby the next day. Will get to this later.
At the ceremony itself it was really funny seeing all the black people opting to swear to God and the Eastern European-looking crowd who I assume were Muslim chose to swear an oath. Maybe I was reading too much into it but I didnt like that we the oath swearers were given a red card to read from the the God-brigade were given blue cards. Red=Hot=Hell, Blue=Cold=Cool=Heaven. The ceremony itself I think was another pointless excercise in all this as I could easily have been done without. I didnt learn much from it other than knowing what the Mayor of Haringey looks like: Not good, but I suppose she's not elected to look good. :)
I'm in the final stages of applying for the British Passport so I suppose that would be the proper end to all of these nationality and immigration proceedings. Now if you'll excuse me I have a game of croquet to play and a few cuppas, y'get me, mate?
3. As you've probably figured out by now, I am an uncle again. This time courtesy of my sister Akos.
Just in case you'd lost count let me remind you again.
Edmund - 3 Nieces
Harry - 1 Niece, 1 Nephew
Akos - 4 Nieces
As you can see, it would cost a lot of money if I were being a good uncle to all of them.
My sister's last is called Nana Afia Adowaa. The one before her, Nana Pokua is currently here visiting so Adowaa should have some company for a while.
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On other fronts, Ef and I are doing very well. One of the reasons why I blog less, I suppose is because it's much more fun to spend time with her than to be writing entries so you can blame me. Apparently though I cant eat my cake and have it as she's the loudest voice calling for me to resume blogging. We've did Rome together for Easter and that has been a huge catalyst for me to resume blogging. We have all these pictures sitting there that need commentry to go with it. Only problem is that this server support all the pictures I'd like to put on. The plan which already been set in motion is to resume doing something with dotfotos.com. So ja, you should soon see a few changes on this site... a full redesign to get rid of all the crap on the sidebars and to keep the colors to a minimum.
dotfotos.com will have a gallery installation and a photolog of its own and i see myself paying more attention to the photolog.
I'm well overdue for going back to Ghana and plan on doing it with Efuwa this December. It's all been set in motion. Tickets bought, activities planned... it's just a matter of waiting till December.
I still havent met Ef's parents so it should be exciting stuff. I'll try not to pee my pants and hope everything goes well. Keep you eyes peeled people good things will be soon upon us ;-). We're working on Efuwa moving over to the UK hopefully before the end of this year as well as other bigger things but as with all things immigration, it is a minefield to explore.
Finally, I suppose I have to tell y'all that I've moved away from Dagenham and live across the road from where I work. I'll get you pictures from outside my window soonish.. right about when the picture gallery goes properly live. It only takes about 5 minutes to work which means I can sleep much more and can take some proper time out to enjoy my Xbox 360.
With Halo 3 coming an' all... what better time to move than now?
Enough of stealing company time. (One more reason why I will be slow around here)
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