Fingerprints and dates . . . duh

We've had the immigration fingerprinting appointment for a month. We knew the government would make the appointment and we had to show up whenever they said. So Doug took half a day off, we rearranged our schedules, rendevous-ed 3 cars into Grandview, and up we drove, almost to the airport, on VETERAN'S DAY! That's where the "duh" comes in. What government facility would be open on Veteran's Day? My first thought was, "Why did they schedule us on Veteran's Day? Didn't they know they would be closed?" My second thought was, "Maybe I got the date wrong." Well, the government gets things wrong, but I'll bet they never get a holiday wrong, so sure enough, it was my mess-up. It's hard to anticipate how you're going to feel when something falls through, but the head-smack that I felt for the rest of the day surprised me. I was horrified. The USCIS Appointment Letter clearly states, (and I quote): IF YOU FAIL TO APPEAR AS SCHEDULED, YOUR APPLICATION WILL BE CONSIDERED ABANDONED. (And it's really in ALL CAPS!) Well, to save you from more whining, the bottom line is that we went at the crack-o-dawn the next morning and got it done. That was hopefully my first and last freak-out. Now we wait for another couple weeks to get our USCIS approval form.