Biometrics--check

Do you have your license?

Yeah.

Do you have the letters?

Yeah.

Cool. Homeland Security, here we come!

We hit the road at 7:30 AM for our biometrics appointment. I was bleary eyed, of course. Not only am I a terrible morning person, but I also worked the night shift last night. I also was plagued with terrible dreams all night that the technicians weren't able to find my fingerprint. And without a fingerprint, we couldn't get our baby. Each time I awoke feeling panicked and broken hearted.

I stumbled to the shower, and The Man, knowing I am not a fan of rising early, quietly slipped a huge mug of coffee on the bathroom counter as I got ready.

We arrived at the downtown office with 15 minutes to spare. We were heading into the building when...

Do you have the letters?

Uh, no. I thought you did.

Well I don't have them.

Crap.

You must have the appointment letter from Homeland Security to get the fingerprints done, but at that moment, ours were lying on our kitchen table. I jumped into my car (we brought two cars because The Man had to head straight to work after the appointment) and made it home lickety split. (I broke some speed limit restrictions, but don't tell.) The Man headed stayed so they wouldn't think he skipped out on his appointment.

The process itself was pretty depressing. Take a buzzer, sit in a giant room with about 20 other people. No clocks. CNN blaring on the 5 TVs they have to keep us entertained. (Evidently CNN thinks the airline security pat downs and stories about Bristol Palin are the ONLY things going on in the world today.) Every once in a while a voice came over an intercom, calling someone into a room. It was disorienting and very impersonal.

Eventually our buzzers buzzed. The fingerprint appointment took about 10 minutes. They pressed our fingers onto a clear glass plate (it's all digital) moving them this way and that. And then were were done.

Fortunately, I DO have fingerprints that show up, so the process continues.

More waiting...