"....I'm 6 feet from the edge and I'm thinkin, Maybe 6 feet, aint so far now..."

I must say, I am impressed with the Russian Embassy in Canberra. Very impressed. I was expecting delays. I was expected errors to be found in my own documents. I was dreading the worst when they called me the day after my application had been sent to them. "Hello. This is Andrey from the Russian Embassy in Canberra." This is about the time when my heart started to skip beats. What was wrong??? What had I forgotten??

"You forgot to enclose a self addressed envelope. Where did you want us to send your Visa??"
*Heart resumes normal function now*
Mail arrives next day. Here is my passport with a new addition stuck onto one of the pages.
"РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ ВИЗА"
There is a god :) I wondered who he had bribed to push procedures through this fast. Then I remembered. It had cost me some God-awful amount to get it ready in time. But this close, I wasn't taking any chances.

It would appear that there isn't much that can stop me now. :) I know better than to say there is Nothing that can stop me. But between me and you, thats secretly what I am thinking. Sssshhhhhh! :)

So jumping on a plane on Tuesday is now a real possibility. In fact, its not just a possibility. It is in fact going to happen. I've come a long way from the idea, a bare concept. I've found a way to get where I want to go, and stay there, for pretty much as long as I want. A way to support myself while I'm over there. And as far as I am concerned, a better way to do what I want to do does not exist. ANd if it does, its certainly not available to an 'Average Joe' like me.

Everything is pretty much organized too. WHich is really good. I am having a fairly relaxed day today. Well, if you can call working on computers, relaxing. I wouldn't be if it weren't a refreshing change from what I normally do. And plus, the computer has been behaving itself and following all my instructions which does help things. Albeit being incredibly slow.

Maybe by the time I come back from Russia, it will be finished thinking about whether it is going to boot or not.......