<![CDATA[Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate.]]>Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. When I finally handed the woman there my forms, she promptly stamped them and said "you need to take these to Window 2", pointing around the corner. So I walked around the corner...

...where *the same woman* swiveled her chair around and proceeded to check the stamp that she had just applied.

I would have been annoyed if I wasn't in so much awe at discovering the purest form of bureaucracy.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/dd271dc9-035b-4a85-a47c-e2b26f6e2375/some-years-ago-i-needed-to-get-an-visa-for-urgent-travel-to-china-a-process-that-required-me-to-fly-down-to-sf-and-stand-in-a-very-long-line-at-the-chinese-consulate.RSS for NodeSat, 20 Jun 2026 11:17:42 GMTWed, 17 Jun 2026 00:42:59 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 22:29:25 GMT]]>@dan There is a point where it becomes theatre.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://weirder.earth/users/WanderingBeekeeper/statuses/116767808926268646https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://weirder.earth/users/WanderingBeekeeper/statuses/116767808926268646Wed, 17 Jun 2026 22:29:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 21:16:50 GMT]]>@gparker @ricci @dan @kstatz12 not until you put peanut butter on it.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/steve/statuses/116767523516938935https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/steve/statuses/116767523516938935Wed, 17 Jun 2026 21:16:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:41:43 GMT]]>@gparker @dan @kstatz12 @steve not what that attitude, mister

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/ricci/statuses/116767149472739412https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/ricci/statuses/116767149472739412Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:41:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:40:47 GMT]]>@ricci @dan @kstatz12 @steve actually no, mine was printed on a Fruit Roll-Up which all cultured people agree is not a sandwich.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/gparker/statuses/116767145815048252https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/gparker/statuses/116767145815048252Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:40:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:07:54 GMT]]>@ricci @StumpyTheMutt @steve @dan I'm also salty that I missed Buddy Guy as the honorary degree recipient by 1 year

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/kstatz12/statuses/116767016547494554https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/kstatz12/statuses/116767016547494554Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:07:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:05:09 GMT]]>@StumpyTheMutt @kstatz12 @steve @dan "thanks for your money (past and future)"

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/ricci/statuses/116767005726325015https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/ricci/statuses/116767005726325015Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:05:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:01:54 GMT]]>@kstatz12 @ricci @steve @dan Reminds me of when I went to pick up my diploma (I graduated in December, so no fancy ceremonies for me). The first thing I was handed was a miniature laminated black and white diploma with the alumni association printed on the back. It was so disconcerting I had to ask "Is this it?"

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.linux.pizza/users/StumpyTheMutt/statuses/116766992926110270https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.linux.pizza/users/StumpyTheMutt/statuses/116766992926110270Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:01:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:47:15 GMT]]>@dan the most funny story about someone fulfilling multiple roles.

By Dutch comedian Jochem Meyer.

Sorry it's YouTube. Sorry it's Dutch. But just very good in this context... I hope you agree, if not it's just lost in translation πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‰

https://youtu.be/M_AAxRIi8EE?is=10kYfzdR2HVEEHNS

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.nl/ap/users/115530616978195275/statuses/116766935313570415https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.nl/ap/users/115530616978195275/statuses/116766935313570415Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:47:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:27:02 GMT]]>@gparker @dan @kstatz12 @steve you mean earned you a sandwich

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/ricci/statuses/116766855806577900https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/ricci/statuses/116766855806577900Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:27:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:13:31 GMT]]>@ricci @dan @kstatz12 @steve That's the kind of critical thinking that earned me the diploma in the first place.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/gparker/statuses/116766802656042969https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/gparker/statuses/116766802656042969Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:13:31 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:02:59 GMT]]>@dan
She's collecting two salaries, too.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/RealGene/statuses/116766761252706704https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/RealGene/statuses/116766761252706704Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:02:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:41:54 GMT]]>@gparker @dan @kstatz12 @steve Asking the real questions here, Greg

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/ricci/statuses/116766678319346346https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/ricci/statuses/116766678319346346Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:41:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:20:12 GMT]]>@dan @kstatz12 @ricci @steve is a diploma printed on a tortilla a sandwich

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/gparker/statuses/116766593041246398https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/gparker/statuses/116766593041246398Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:20:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:25:09 GMT]]>@dan

All we need is a camera and for you to be Steve Carrell for this to be perfect.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.online/users/f800gecko/statuses/116766376584660998https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.online/users/f800gecko/statuses/116766376584660998Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:25:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:44:50 GMT]]>@ricci @steve @dan @sharon that or cooking biker crank in a sousaphone

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/kstatz12/statuses/116766218057223723https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/kstatz12/statuses/116766218057223723Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:44:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:42:46 GMT]]>@kstatz12 @steve @dan @sharon my kid's middle school band played "killing in the name" at their recital, that probably got the director his patch

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/ricci/statuses/116766209887061894https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/ricci/statuses/116766209887061894Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:42:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:36:09 GMT]]>@dan nearly 30 years ago I visited one of the smaller Caribbean islands… 4 seater plane and they had to shoo goats off the runway before we landed. On arrival, a friendly chap in a smart uniform and hat at passport control inspected our passports and then directed us to customs control. He walked with us to this other desk, stuck on a slightly different hat and asked us if we had anything to declare!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/dedmonst/statuses/116766183882888457https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/dedmonst/statuses/116766183882888457Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:36:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:08:51 GMT]]>@steve @dan @ricci @sharon "trolling service academies for fun and profit: an ivy guide"

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/kstatz12/statuses/116766076503781148https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/kstatz12/statuses/116766076503781148Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:08:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:43:39 GMT]]>@adriano @peter_b @dan similar to my experience immigrating to Portugal. There are all sorts of places where you can get in a dependency loop of 3 or more government entities all of which insist one of the others approve a document before they can do anything. Mostly a function of AIMA (the immigration bureaucracy) being very underfunded for the load placed on it. But also, the PT bureaucracy seems to give a lot of wiggle room for untrained employees to make stuff up or ignore published rules.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/oddhack/statuses/116765977424793750https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/oddhack/statuses/116765977424793750Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:43:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:33:11 GMT]]>@dan @rk isn't that more or less what Papers, Please is about? https://papersplea.se/

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/oddhack/statuses/116765936257849724https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/oddhack/statuses/116765936257849724Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:33:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:24:58 GMT]]>@dan
this is impressive. but. both of your checks were on the same day in the same building. this would be an efficient day of progress on any application, review, or question regarding disability or welfare benefits.

like this is douglas adams and welfare/disability is kafka

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://lgbtqia.space/ap/users/115630021626176198/statuses/116765903954474621https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://lgbtqia.space/ap/users/115630021626176198/statuses/116765903954474621Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:24:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:04:30 GMT]]>@dan sounds like a pink panther movie.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.hams.social/users/N1CLC/statuses/116765823482195390https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.hams.social/users/N1CLC/statuses/116765823482195390Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:04:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:02:36 GMT]]>@kstatz12 @dan @ricci @sharon Other hit episodes include "The Princeton Band visits The Citadel (2008)" and "The Brown Band may or may not still be banned from West Point, it was like 1985 and I don't think it's come up again."

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/steve/statuses/116765816006953486https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/steve/statuses/116765816006953486Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:02:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some years ago, I needed to get an visa for urgent travel to China, a process that required me to fly down to SF and stand in a very long line at the Chinese consulate. on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:58:20 GMT]]>@steve @dan @ricci @sharon as someone who was nearly tricked into being a faculty advisor (for the school quidditch team) that has a strong possibility of ending in chaos

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/kstatz12/statuses/116765799265406988https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://discuss.systems/users/kstatz12/statuses/116765799265406988Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:58:20 GMT