Monday Morning This and That

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in.  A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.  

Bill Vaughan

Happy Monday morning everyone, a happy one indeed. I can't believe I am finally back. It seemed like forever, and I missed all of you so much.  Yes, I did have the tablet, but maybe it was me, but the darn thing was so hard to use. One little post would take me two days, and after writing it, I'd have to go to my smartphone to upload the photos. Every time I tried to write something, it froze, or crashed, or inverted words.  Frustrating.  Stressful. Not that it doesn't have its good points.  'Hay Day', for example.  I am totally addicted, so addicted that the Facebook games I used to love hold little interest for me now.

I was becoming like the pessimist above, beginning to wonder if I would ever be back.  I'd really believed I would have been back online before this, but none of our monies came through.  I saw no end in sight, and what made it all the worse was this weather.  I'm terrified of falling so for the past few weeks, aside from a day here and there, I've been housebound. I wasn't able to socialize with my peers at the Center, and I could barely socialize with you.  I was really becoming depressed.

So, when my son called and said his friend offered to loan him a used computer and asked if I wanted it, I jumped on it.  But, the day he was supposed to bring it was the day of the storm so again I had to wait, but at least now I had something to look forward to.  Finally, on Friday he brought it to me and hooked it up.  Guess what?  In accord with all my recent luck, it didn't work.  Oh, the computer itself went on smoothly, but the mouse, keyboard, and monitor wouldn't go on.  We tried everything.  I just burst into tears.  I couldn't help it. After all, I'd been so happy only to be let down again. What else could go wrong?  

My hubby and son felt so bad that they took it to the computer repair shop in the neighborhood.  I wasn't willing to pay much because it was a 'loner'. Turned out it had absolutely no memory.  Well, to make a long story short, I was ready to spend the $50 on more memory, with no guarantees as to how long it would hold up as it was an old computer, when we decided instead to buy a computer from the man. I don't understand computer lingo but it is not considered refurbished.  They build the computer themselves.  Everything in it is brand new.  Also included was Norton 360 for a year and a Logitech mouse and keyboard.  I also have a one year guarantee on all parts.  And all this for $350. It works wonderfully.

Now for my son, he is still behind bars. I have a few calls to make this morning and am hoping to get this mess straightened out.  We are blessed that his boss really likes him and is holding his job.  It's something that is beyond understanding.  I've asked myself over and over again how something like this could have happened.  We all make mistakes, but some mistakes are bigger than others and can destroy someone's life. We've all typed in wrong letters or numbers at times, but when we discover out mistakes, we correct them.  The problem in my son's case is, once a mistake is made in the system, one has to jump through hoops to correct it, even though the parties in question admit that a mistake has been made.

Not quite the same, but if anyone here has ever had their identity stolen, you know how hard it is to get it straightened out.  Well, as it turns out, the officer filling out the initial paperwork inverted the last two numbers on the original summons, and when it went into the system, it was immediately stamped "Hold for immigration."  Evidently those inverted numbers belong to a summons that was issued to someone else, someone who is an immigrant who committed a crime. That's the best way I can explain it, because, to be honest, I don't understand it. Why hasn't this mistake been corrected?

I shake my head when I think of something like this happening to an Ame an American citizen in this day and age.   Anyone can look at my son, talk to my son, and realize that he is NOT an immigrant.  I'm flabbergasted.  There is definitely a lawsuit behind this, and I don't say that easily.  I'm not one for frivolous suits. I have fallen in front of someone's house, twisted my ankle on a city sidewalk, etc, but suing someone never came to my mind. But, this poor kid  has already spent about ten days behind bars and for everyday he is illegally detained, they have to pay him...and not chump change either.  

And then there is the emotional effects.  He's locked behind bars with hardened criminals and drug addicts.  He's afraid and on more than one occasion, broke down when talking to me.  He has lost his birth certificate so I sent for it again, but it seems they don't want to look at it or listen to reason.  He was brought before the judge on the 22nd, and we were so sure they were going to let him go that I planned a nice meal for him, but EVEN the judge won't listen.  On the bottom of his paperwork is stamped, "Detain for Immigration Warrant, F Status".  I looked it up and "F Status means that when released they will turn him over to ICE, the immigration services.

We have lawyers working on this, the ACLU has been notified, letters have been sent to various authorities.  Let's hope this is resolved soon. It has been so hard on us, and I feel so bad for this kid, but I don't know what else I can do. I mean, they really can't deport him, can they?  I tell myself that they can't do that, that he was born in New York Hospital, he's a citizen, I'm a citizen, but then, they think he is someone else.  Please keep him in your prayers.

Wow, this is long, but you'll have to forgive me.  It's been a long time, and I've much to say, but I promise to break it into bits.  So, I will leave you now with the following....

It's good to be back.