I confess!!

[TonyL]

Before Jackie drops me in it, I have a confession.
When we landed in Newark last week, our passports were not stamped.
As it's our responsibility to comply with entry, we checked our I 94 status online.
It appeared we were only landed for 3 months so I sent an extremely polite email to the CBP office at Newark airport asking if we could be granted the 6 months. A few minutes ago I checked our current I94 to see if our request had been granted only to find the same date: 11/08/23
Then the penny dropped, over here, you put the month first😫😫
I guess I'm going to call their office tomorrow, apologize for my stupidity and take a large slice of humble pie.
Jackie and Steve said I'd made two mistakes, first getting the date wrong and the second was to tell them.
Tomorrow I've got to confess to our hosts, Boat addict (Linda and Mike)
I think he's going to have some mileage out of this😆😆
Anyway, confession is supposed to be good for the soul.

 

[djw2112]

Well at least you didnt do like me, and yell at the hotel clerk that they forgot your morning wakeup call and you were going to be late for work and a career deciding meeting. Only to have the clerk tell you that it was 8PM not 8AM and the light comming through the window was the spotlight on the side of the building (i woke up and thought it was daylight) lol In the actual morning i gave the clerk a really nice tip while i swallow that humble pie...

 

[Tom]

Before Jackie drops me in it, I have a confession.
When we landed in Newark last week, our passports were not stamped.
As it's our responsibility to comply with entry, we checked our I 94 status online.
It appeared we were only landed for 3 months so I sent an extremely polite email to the CBP office at Newark airport asking if we could be granted the 6 months. A few minutes ago I checked our current I94 to see if our request had been granted only to find the same date: 11/08/23
Then the penny dropped, over here, you put the month first😫😫
I guess I'm going to call their office tomorrow, apologize for my stupidity and take a large slice of humble pie.
Jackie and Steve said I'd made two mistakes, first getting the date wrong and the second was to tell them.
Tomorrow I've got to confess to our hosts, Boat addict (Linda and Mike)
I think he's going to have some mileage out of this😆😆
Anyway, confession is supposed to be good for the soul.

Don't forget we also drive on the right side of the road

 

[JudyJB]

I also have a confession about leaving the UK. I went there for 6 weeks in 2018, and when I went through customs going in, I got my passport stamped by a real person who questioned me in depth about what i was doing in the UK and if I was planning on working there. They even swabbed my bag for drugs. When I left, I had to fill out a detailed form listing every item I bought, which I assume included chewing gum and mints.

So, when I went back this past May-June, I arrived at Heathrow, followed the signs, and stuck my passport into something that took a photo of it. I kept following the line expecting to go through the "are you sure you are really a tourist" questioning, but the line ended at the train to go to London. I kept turning around to see if anyone was following me for skipping a line somewhere.

Then, when i left the UK at the end of June this trip, also through Heathrow, I was dragging my suitcase, laptop carrier, and tried to follow the signs to make sure i was going the right way. The hallways divided into a "Do you have anything to declare" hallway and another unmarked hallway. I was not sure I had anything to declare, so i took the second hallway. It spit me out into the big shopping area of the airport! No one had even looked at my passport, but I think I did stick it into one of those machines again, but there were no human beings around at all.

So, how many UK laws did I break and should I turn myself in???

 

[Pedro Dog]

I went there for 6 weeks in 2018,

Pre Brexit

So, when I went back this past May-June,

After Brexit

So maybe getting out of the EU, made the process a lot simpler?

 

[Ex-Calif]

I also have a confession about leaving the UK. I went there for 6 weeks in 2018, and when I went through customs going in, I got my passport stamped by a real person who questioned me in depth about what i was doing in the UK and if I was planning on working there. They even swabbed my bag for drugs. When I left, I had to fill out a detailed form listing every item I bought, which I assume included chewing gum and mints.

So, when I went back this past May-June, I arrived at Heathrow, followed the signs, and stuck my passport into something that took a photo of it. I kept following the line expecting to go through the "are you sure you are really a tourist" questioning, but the line ended at the train to go to London. I kept turning around to see if anyone was following me for skipping a line somewhere.

Then, when i left the UK at the end of June this trip, also through Heathrow, I was dragging my suitcase, laptop carrier, and tried to follow the signs to make sure i was going the right way. The hallways divided into a "Do you have anything to declare" hallway and another unmarked hallway. I was not sure I had anything to declare, so i took the second hallway. It spit me out into the big shopping area of the airport! No one had even looked at my passport, but I think I did stick it into one of those machines again, but there were no human beings around at all.

So, how many UK laws did I break and should I turn myself in???

Having real people screen every person arriving and departing is extremely manpower intense and expensive.

Auto readers of passports and the "honor" system are more relied on. You can bet your bippy that there were a ton of cameras on you as you went through the system. Brits love their CCTV.

Also, check in luggage is routinely 100% sniffed and x-rayed and often opened. Hand luggage is searched at security.

Also, with the electronic world we live in finding overstayers is probably not that difficult if they cared to go after them.

 

[Tom]

Don't forget we also drive on the right side of the road

Just teasing of course. Some of my errors going in the other direction:

RVing in Europe - A Blog

Greetings to all I have posted on other boards and I will post here the URL for our travel blog concerning our 6 months touring in Europe and Asia Minor in our Winnebago View named Papillon. www.papillontravels.net We invite all to travel with us thru the Old Country. Be advised that the...

www.rvforum.net

 

[Tulecreeper]

11/08/23
Then the penny dropped, over here, you put the month first😫😫

Not always, sometimes you will see 08Nov23 or some other formula, and in the military it is common to see 231108, with the year first then the month and day with no separators. When we separate the numbers we use a slash, 11/08/23 or 11/08/2023, or occasionally a dash. 11-08-23. We don't use a period, 08.11.23, which the first time I saw that in Scotland I thought it was some kind of decimal code.

 

[TonyL]

The confusion in my defense is the actual numbers. Both could be days or months.
That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it 😂

 

[UTTransplant]

There is a reason I always write dates like 20 May 2023. I worked with so many European, Australian, and US customers (including civilian and military of each!) I couldn’t keep my head straight any other way. No numeric abbreviations for me unless a form actually requires them in which case they usually specify whether year or day is first.

 

[jackiemac]

Sigh, I was going to do a post about dates but too late 🤣🤣

 

[Old_Crow]

We don't use a period, 08.11.23, which the first time I saw that in Scotland I thought it was some kind of decimal code.

Actually I think that's the onset of the digital age. I often see the date done with periods and I'm starting to see phone numbers written with periods also.

 

[Ex-Calif]

 

[Tulecreeper]

View attachment 164588

A fun little fact about me? I spent 25+ years in the Navy. There are facts about me that would make a lumberjack blush.

 

[JudyJB]

How about making this a new thread??

 

[jackiemac]

A fun little fact about me? I spent 25+ years in the Navy. There are facts about me that would make a lumberjack blush.

Try us 🤣

 

[Tulecreeper]

Try us 🤣

No lass, tis not the venue.

 

[jackiemac]

W

No lass, tis not the venue.

We're not all shy retiring violets. I don't want you getting banned though. 🤣

 

[Tulecreeper]

W

We're not all shy retiring violets. I don't want you getting banned though. 🤣

Ah, aren't ya kind.