Argh!

Okay, so I'm totally behind with PGM homework once again (partly because I thought I'd finished the assignment over Easter but some parts of it were wrong, and partly because the assignment after that was hideous and long and I spent several days pursuing completely the wrong direction). And I've only done a small amount of this week's (actually last week's on account of being behind) but I'm not sure how much of it I'll get a chance to do because I am rushing about like a loonie this week, trying to a) do something that is due at the end of the week but will not bear fruit for some months if at all (and you will only learn more if it does *secret squirrel*) b) once again organise passport info (more on this in a minute) and c) do feast organisation stuff before the Midwinter meeting on Friday.

I am seriously considering switching to the 'basic' track in PGM where you don't have to do the programming assignments, but this places more weight on the exam, and the idea of the exam really freaks me out. And I'm totally not procrastinating by writing this post...

Add to this that one of my colleagues is having a major crisis and is roping me in to help which I can't really refuse because I am the only person around with any kind of expertise in the survey which is acting up at the moment (albeit expertise which is now twelve months old).

Also, following on from the Indonesia mess I have now been asked to go to a conference in Canada in June to present two other colleagues work (this sort of thing is done all the time in the ABS - in this case because one of the guys is retiring soon and they don't want to spend any money on him - well not quite - but going to conferences and overseas trips is seen career development, and he is not exactly in need of that). Of course while I'm there I might as well drop in at the Canadian and American statistical agencies, so while June might seem like a much more reasonable run up time it's not really when you factor in passport application time and visa approval time and so on. Getting into the USA is apparently a bit of an ordeal and I shall have to fill out lengthy forms explaining how I am not a terrorist and don't plan on bringing any bombs with me.

So while May is going to be a certain amount of sitting around holding my breath and waiting for forms to be approved (or madly trying to catch up on PGM assignments), June is going to look something like this:
1 June: fly to Canberra and back again
2-3 June: find time for PGM exam
4-5 June: back to Canberra
9ish June: off to Montreal
15ish June: Ottawa
19ish June; Washington
21ish June: heading for home
28ish June: giving a seminar
7th July: Midwinter
9th-11th July: another conference, this one at least in Adelaide and presenting my own work.

*deep breath*

Now you might recall me ranting about having to get a new copy of my marriage certificate before I had to go to Indonesia. So all set for applying for a passport this time you might think. Except I can't find my birth certificate. I have carefully cherished this little scrap of paper (it is the original short extract of my English birth certificate) for thirty *cough* years and now the damn thing has vanished from our important documents folder. There is a small chance that I have for some inexplicable reason, put it in my desk at work. There is a chance my parents have the long extract, but they are away and won't be home until Wednesday night. For the minor sum of 23 pounds I can get a fast-tracked copy from the UK (but they can't fast track the post). *sigh*
How long does it take to get that US visa again?