It is a too long story for here. I have had an interesting life. Several people have urged me to write a book about it. In particular, one lady friend urged me more then once. She was known as an excellent editor. I promised her to write it, if she would agree to edit my first draft. She promised. But then she died from Lou Gehrig disease. (She had to starve herself to death because of the prohibition against assisted suicide.) The working title is "Memories of an Immigrant". There is not nearly enough work behind it, though.

Short version. In late spring of 1966, I asked the love of my life, on a visit to where she was in college, if she would marry me. She said: "Yes". On returning home I found a message to call a friend in US. I did. He told me that GE was offering me a job in their best applied research lab (not their R&D Center) in Schenectady. We wanted to come on a boat as a honey moon trip. The consulate would not give my fiancée a visa without a marriage certificate. We anticipated the wedding and eventually, passing in the early morning by the statue of liberty, we arrived on "Raffaello" in New York harbor on Jan. 12, 1967. The friend came with his wife and U-Haul trailer and took us to his home for that first night. Next day I was on GE payroll and reimbursed for all my expenses associated with moving. With that check in hand, I went and opened the checking account that I still have. Bank ownership and size changed, but the account number survived.

You could not immigrate better than we did.

the cost for appliances is significantly higher than in the States. For air conditioning, it is unusual to have a whole house system. They have something called a mini-split that they put into individual rooms. Much more efficient.

The big ones ate the little ones, if they could catch 'em.

Thanks for reminding of that Mule. Now I can listen, when he is in news, to the Poop and laugh at the mental pictures.

I had to learn a lot about mold issues myself. The incident cost the university a million dollars and me personally. My close by lab space got traded for far away lab space.

I just ordered Flyboys;;; Thanks! . movies with real horsepower like
Star Wars are incredibly rare!!! -- j
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I can certainly appreciate AC. I didn't have any until we moved to the States. Now we're in the process of moving my dad from Canada to Texas and I KNOW Mr. Negative-30degreesC-isn't-that-cold will need and cherish it.

Yikes. That must have been expensive for your school. I'm one of those allergic to a specific type of black mold--nausea, bloody nose, trouble breathing within a short time. Part of my husband's business handles mold remediation, so luckily I have an expert to always take care of things around here. It seems lots of people don't realize how much damage it can cause, both to structures and to a person's health. Glad no one was hurt in the long term. If you or anyone else has any questions about mold in the future, please pm and I'll get the answer.

I appreciate that e

Although I have no A/C in my car or apartment hehe

Nor would Vegas be big without gambling and the mob actually. Miami was built up a LOT by cocaine smuggling too.

I can really understand why the Mexicans have the siesta. US appliances carried a huge tax there until NAFTA.

Without Hoover Dam there wouldn't be a big city there. Or in Phoenix, either.

Even if they go on expensive vacations at taxpayer cost, it'll be cheaper than letting them stay in session.

Yes, they should be part-time so we can live full-time.

If A/C had existed in their day, I would hope they would have had the sense to ban it from the capital. Or equivalently, require Congress to stay a part-time entity (which it pretty much was anyway, at least up to the Civil War).

Seeking power predates intelligence. All animals big enough to see do it if they can.

Maybe the Pope should ban A/C from the Holy City. Let's see how much he feels like talking then.

The Pope is undereducated and has bought into the UN crap. Since he already likes socialism, it is not much of a leap. He seems clueless to the Gaia worship agenda. My husband is a senior tax analyst for Emerson Copeland, of the scroll compressor fame. If the Pope and UN get their way, a company that employs thousands, and keeps many other businesses active will be sidelined, resulting in massive unemployment. The UN does not want A/C, nor commercial food refrigeration.
I grew up in New Mexico, A.C was standard, and has been in my life since. Our daughter has severe allergies, and has to be in A/C, as open windows quickly end her up in the doctors office for medication. People with COPD are what, expendable to the Pope? What about heart conditions, or asthma, or a host of other issues? Romania went that direction, now look at their lack of A./C, refrigerators and even sporadic electricity.

wow. tell us the story of your immigration sometime :)

there you go, being creative with your physical as well as mental wandering!!! -- j
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In Beograd, Yugoslavia, on August 1, 1935