PauseAndReflect

Hi all,

I’m a pretty reasonable person.

I like following laws and rules. I only ever got like one ticket from when I was 19 in NY for Hollywood stopping a stop sign and cried about it (and it was justified).

However, after filing in November 2024 for my Italian husband (who is an EXPERIENCED ENGINEER WITH A JOB TRANSFER WAITING IN THE US!!!!) and getting turned away literally at the end gate in Naples, Italy on August 25 when we were at our medical exam for the interview, only to learn there in person about this interview pause, I’ve had enough.

I have paid my fees (like all of us), I have a good credit score, I have all the things this government wants and more and yet it’s FUCK YOU,

I’m speechless, devastated, and absolutely beyond angry.

Me (US citizen) and my husband (Italian) started this process in November 2024, and after nearly 2 years waiting got our visa appointment at the Naples consulate scheduled for tomorrow, August 26. We were excited to finally start the next chapter and move on with this process.

We live in Torino up in northern Italy which is pretty far from Naples but they make you come down here anyway, so that was flights, hotels, and time of from work to get down here.

So my husband (and apparently lots of other people in this process) show up to the medical appointment as scheduled this morning, and they find out FROM THE MEDICAL CENTER (!!!)

Like so many people, I was laid off from a long-time job back in March due to my industry being impacted by covid.

And just like tons of people, I’ve spent 8 long months applying to dozens of jobs and promptly getting the “unfortunately, we’ve selected another candidate” rejection email.

Right as I was losing hope, a job listing popped up for a senior position in my industry. I hesitated at first. I have 5 years of experience behind me, but I wasn’t sure that I was really qualified for a senior position. But I figured, welp, I’m getting rejections left and right anyway— might as well apply, right?

Imagine my shock last week when they made me an offer!

Today is my first day. I’m nervo

I tr.YEd google “LARRY” but it wasnt him oh well just wanted to get back in touch after all these years WHO KNOWS??? 🤗 😭thanks -Howard

I’ll try to sum this up the best I can.

I’m an American, married to an Italian, and we live in Italy. We live in an old Italian apartment building where there’s a big patio in the center, and everyone in the building has terraces that face into the patio. Because of this, any smells or smoke or whatnot travel easily upwards and into each other’s apartments. There are only like 5 apartments in the building, so it’s kind of nice and everyone is generally respectful of one another and we try to resolve issues between us.

Today I was sitting at my kitchen table when I noticed that I was getting a crazy headache out of nowhere. I thought it was weird, but ignored it. A few minutes later, I not

The short story is that my husband is a huge factor in keeping me sober. When I can’t or won’t do it for myself, I do it for him. We had a bad fight last night, and I had the opportunity to drink. I drank. I’m now awake at 6am with a raging headache and regret.

I’ll spare you the details, but it was NOT worth it. I hadn’t eaten a thing all day, so you can imagine how sloppy drunk I got. I’m feeling like shit right now, I slept in my makeup, and I thought I lost my credit card (thankfully I did not).

If you have the opportunity to drink: don’t. I feel like an asshole, I almost lost my financial link to the world, and my head is absolutely spinning. I stink of alcohol.

I am an asshol