I flew to the US on Thursday to renew my IA license and take care of some other odds and ends “back home”. On my arrival in Miami I got fingerprinted and my picture taken by the immigration folks. I noticed they did the same thing to other US residents (greencard holders), so I assume it must be new procedure.

Between US immigration and my Peruvian carné de extranjería I must have been fingerprinted at least a dozen times in the last 10 years or so. During the 4-year ordeal that was my post 9-11 green card application, I once got notified that my “fingerprints had expired”. Isn’t biometric data supposed to be permanent, and if fingerprints somehow expire, what’s the point?

Back to the trip home. As always, my first stop in the US after Miami is beautiful Conway, SC, since I leave my car there with my friend Dennis. Flying to Myrtle Beach is usually expensive, so I rented a car to get to SC. When I made my reservation online I got 2 options for the ridiculously low rate of $10.90: a van or a convertible. I thought I’d get a sneak preview of what my mid-life crisis will be like, and chose the convertible.

That worked out nice until I tried to put my suitcase in the trunk… Then I put the top down and cruised up I-95, next stop: a cheeseburger.

I got my fix of junkfood and had an uneventful drive to SC. After I dropped of the rental car I got lost driving around Myrtle Beach looking for million $ homes with Dennis and one of his equally proud redneck friends, but that’s another whole story. We eventually found the home they were looking for and afterwards went out for dinner to one of the nicest restaurants on the beach (“the Library”), thank goodness I was a guest!