...except AWESOME!!!!!

I'm about to start packing in earnest for my trip to the US, which starts tomorrow. My plan is to try and make an update here as frequently as I can - daily, if possible. Much like my SA trip, if you remember that, I plan to do a photodiary. Stay tuned!

Wish me a safe flight. I'll be 18 hours on the plane. :)

Well, I leave for the US in about a month, and I've been lining up interviews for while I'm there.

First up, I'll be speaking with Neil Saavedra, who is the host of a nationally syndicated radio show called "The Jesus Christ Show", in which he answers caller questions in the persona of the Saviour himself. That will be taking place in the early afternoon of the 7th.

I've also been put in touch with the JREF's Media Director, Bart, who has said that he can probably organise me some time with pretty much anyone I want. My wish list currently consists of: Randi, Phil Plait, Hal Bidlack, Tim Farley, D.J. Grothe, George Hrab, Joe Nickell, Steve Novella, Rebecca Watson, Adam Savage... and a few others.

This is going to be way cool. No, it's going to be way cool!

My trip to the USA is shaping up pretty well. Here's my itinerary so far:

4th: Fly out of Australia, arrive 1 hour later in Los Angeles due to timezone shifting. Get picked up at airport and go to 4th of July dinner at Hcmom's place in Chino.
5th: Tour LA with History_Gal, taking in La Brea Tarpits, Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard and all those places that only exist in songs and movies.
6th: Currently unbooked
7th: Currently unbooked
8th: Drive out to the Grand Canyon. Stay the night somewhere in Arizona.
9th: Barringer Crater. Drive back to Las Vegas in time for the TAM Bowling Tournament.
10th: TAM
11th: TAM, including Talent Show and Skepchick Party
12th: TAM, including Penn & Teller
13th: Fly back to Australia
14th: Arrive back in Australia due to timezone shifting in reverse.
Rest of the week off work to recover.

So I'm filling out a Travel Authorization Application online for my trip to the US later this year.

Among the things I need to fill out are the following questions:

A) Do you have a communicable disease; physical or mental disorder; or are you a drug abuser or addict?

Yes! I am a drug abuser. Can I come in now?

B) Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude or a violation related to a controlled substance; or have been arrested or convicted for two or more offenses for which the aggregate sentence to confinement was five years or more; or have been a controlled substance trafficker; or are you seeking entry to engage in criminal or immoral activities?

Yes! I am seeking to enter the U.S. in order to engage in criminal or immoral activities! Can I come in now?

C) Have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage; or in terrorist activities; or genocide; or between 1933 and 1945 were you involved , in any way, in persecutions associated with Nazi Germany or its allies?

Yes! I have personally wiped out entire Amazonian tribes through my testing of biological and chemical weapons developed in Nazi death camps! Can I come in now?

Note: This post is a joke, indended for humourous purposes. I have answered on the actual application honestly.

This is the event I'm going to in July this year.

This is the event I'm going to in Las Vegas this year.

The Amaz!ng Meeting.

It's looking like being a great event. Adam Savage (Mythbuster) will be there, Phil Plait, Joe Nickell, George Hrab, and Emily Rosa, who a few years ago (age nine) debunked Therapeutic Touch by demonstrating that practicioners could not detect the purported Human Energy Field, and at age eleven had her research paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That'll be interesting.

And apparently there's going to be a talent show. No, I'm not going to take my guitar, but maybe I can borrow someone else's.

Okay. So you know I'm planning to go to the US in July for The Amaz!ng Meeting. I'm in the process of applying for a visa (tourist visa B2), since I don't have a machine-readable passport and are thus ineligible for the Visa Waiver Program.

The visa itself will cost me US$131. Fine, cool. I can deal with that. But it costs me AU$14 for access to the website that allows me to apply!

I need to schedule an interview at the US Embassy, and I need to bring documentation with me that show:

• Purpose of trip to the U.S.
• Convincing documents to show sufficient funds to cover all expenses in the U.S. or how those expenses will be met by another.
• Proof of intention to leave the U.S. after temporary stay, such as evidence of employment, education, property ownership, family ties and other connections to a residence overseas.

Whuh-tuh-fuh? What sort of documents are they talking about here? Do I need a letter from UnrepentantSinner saying that he's rooming with me in Vegas? A letter from HCMom inviting me to stay? And perhaps I should bring my son to the interview to demonstrate family ties?

A couple of pages later, the site requires "US contact information" (name, phone, work phone and mobile phone - all mandatory, although I can enter "NONE"). I assume this means the details of a person in the US that I am in contact with.

Fortunately, this is the first page in the application process that has a "save and finish later" button. That's a nice touch, since I wasn't given any warning that I'd require this.

You guys sure don't make it easy, do you?