Rant, but you might not understand

It's hard to rant when you can't go into details. But I'm gonna rant because rant I must.

1) I've been working REALLY hard on a project at work, a very sensitive topic, for which I feel sort of responsible for making sure that communication is key. In fact, I have been so gung ho on making sure that people feel informed and comfortable, that I am probably annoying my boss. So today, when we got an email from some people who should know better that is questioning our information flow and practices, I must say, I got a bit annoyed. Have you READ the stuff I sent you? The stuff I've posted online? Have you attended the meetings we've set? Have you come to ASK me? No? Then how dare you say that we haven't informed you, when you haven't bothered to take advantage of the many avenues of information I have provided for you???? Seriously?

2) I've been needing a glass of wine since 9:30 this morning, pretty much from the point I left the US Embassy. Oh that place is meant to make people angry. They take away your phone, your ipod, your everything, and then sit you in an ugly ass room where the only entertainment is a tv playing a US propaganda video over and over and over. (You know...uplifting music, some America the Beautiful footage, Happy Americans of All Colors Waving Happily, the flag flying Happily in the background, purple mountains being Happily majestic, all that crap.)
Jesus, people at least play some CNN or something! The poor fuckers sitting in that waiting room had this stunned desperate look on their faces, like, "Wow, this sucks, this sucks ASS, I'm bored and about to go nuts, but I can't say anything (can't even TWITTER because they took my phone away!) because they won't let me get a visa to go into their country to see the Happy Americans Waving Happily and the purple mountains majesty". Most of the people there were young Norwegians trying to get study visas. Poor kids. I think while we were there for a half hour, they got to number 3 on the 'take a number' list. They were stuck there for a LOOONG time.

As an American visiting the Embassy:

• you have to have an appointment,
• which you made online,
  
• which entitles you to then go the Embassy
  
• (only between 9-11 on certain days),
• line up outside and wait for security
  
• get searched and
  
• have your phone taken away,
  
• then go in
  
• and watch the Happy Waving American Purple Mountains Majesty video
  
• while occasionally hollering through a thick bullet proof glass window at a bureaucrat who says your passport name doesn't match the stuff you want signed
• and why are you a terrorist and are so unAmerican as to live OUTSIDE America?
  
• (which is crap and you have exactly 23 other forms of ID to prove that you are who you say you are),
• while everyone in the waiting room (which you are in, too) can hear every word you say because you are HOLLERING through 3 inches of window
• and they are all staring at you
• because what the fuck ELSE have they got to look at besides the Happily Waving Americans video?
  
• and then this junior bureaucrat must ask someone Official to Make A Decision,
  
• which they eventually do because you prostrate yourself before the God of America (aka the Embassy Guy)
• and I even had to swear with my right hand up and everything
• which everyone waiting REALLY enjoys watching, hey, look, a swearing American!
  
• and then you get to pay them an EXORBITANT amount of money to do something (notarize) which you can get free at any local local bank back home.
  

So there, my friends, are your tax dollars at work.

3) I thought we'd be getting a refund from Norway for taxes, but just found out we owe. Will we never get a refund????? How much can one household pay in taxes? (Ok, trying to get my Liberal mojo back. Taxes are nice, taxes are your friend.)(yeah, that never works.)

3) I'm supposed to go out tonight and now I have lost all my mojo for it. There's a story behind that, too, which I won't go into.

I should probably just stay home, shouldn't I?