This morning's ride was a brisk affair. We had 11 show up...wow, we looked like a real biker-type group! Overall, the speeds were fairly moderate and everyone had to get used to riding in a larger group in the dark...well, mostly dark anyway. The route has been temporarily changed due to some road construction going on along the Shreveport-Barksdale Highway's frontage road. The interesting part is that the riders from the Shreveport side of the river are actually riding about 1/2 mile less than they did before. Coming over from the Bossier side, I'm putting in 1.5 miles more than I did before! Odd but true. I don't know how long that's going to last but I have the potential to put in 115 extra miles total if I ride all five mornings of the week...I doubt that's going to happen. I like to sleep in every once in a while.
Jonnene and I spent Sunday night in Jackson, Mississippi so she could do her bio-metrics processing at the immigration office in the federal building there (after Oklahoma City, I get a strange feeling going into ANY federal building but that passes) in the downtown section. That part of town is the scene of the old Tour LeFleur criteirums which used to be held there and where I would pop a lung when I did the races. The streets are in horrible shape...no way I'd do a race there now. Anyway, we probably spent around $200 on this trip in the hotel, gas, and food (not counting time) for about 10 minutes of time on this bio-metric thing consisting of Jonnene being fingerprinted and photographed. None of this will hurry the processing of her work permit but it's one of those things that has to be done to secure it. We will still have a trip to New Orleans coming up eventually for the immigration interview and probably one or two other things.
It's amazing that people wanting to be LEGAL immigrants have to go through all these hassles. Jonnene should be allowed to work (and pay taxes) while going through these other procedures...at least I believe that. Illegal immigrants...and I hesitate calling them immigrants...have it much easier. There are groups, as well as some in the government, more than willing to help them and coddle them. I could easily do a rant on the subject but not today. While I was waiting for J to get documented, there were three Hispanics in the waiting room but they were doing things the right way, filling out the forms and asking questions. I had absolutely no problem with that. If you come into the USA the right way, then I welcome you with open arms. Yeah, the right way is a major hassle but it's the only system we've got right now. Hopefully, those in Congress will someday have the guts to revamp the immigration/citizenship system into something that works efficiently and is fair to all. Honestly, it's not really that hard.
There's a busy weekend coming up. The Rocky Mount stage race is nearly upon us and I'll be everywhere, volunteering, driving follow vehicles, seeing a bunch of old racer buddies. I'm not in shape for this race yet but that won't stop me from helping out and enjoying the festivities. Nathan and Shannon will be here with their ComDepot/FCS team and it'll be great to see them. I still have to plan out a few events I'm putting on later this year and I need to get on the stick!
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