I have this whole disatation I’ve been working on about the evils of the “bell curve” as a performance measure for technical people. It’s mostly about constraint relief. Today, one of the biggest constraints in my life has been lifted. I received the following in the mail from the US Government Dept. of Homeland Security.

The key part says “This is to notify you that your application for permanent residence has been approved. It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to permanent resident status in the United States.” – It’s been a long time coming, longer than I’ve known most of my friends in Austin, and it’s the second time it’s been granted, the first time being 1986.

Special thanks go to my sponsor, Dell and my boss Gerry. Also to my references who had to undertake numerous letter writing efforts on my behalf as I switched jobs between IBM and Dell. Thanks to Adrian, Mike, Stephen, Simon, Nigel and Jim.