"I'm almost fluent" word of the day 8.31

Today's word word of the day...


coup d'état  

Technically it means "state blow"or overthrow of the government.

Not to be confused with restoring honor or anything. But here in Canada, this is what Paul felt like doing Sunday night, or technically Monday morning at 1 am when Canadian Customs would not let Paul into the country with Louis for fear that Louis was being abducted. He was pulled aside, baggage checked and they had to call me at home to verify that Paul could bring Louis to Canada....where we LIVE.

So after confirming this information and being asked a few more questions on the phone I suggested to the Customs agent that perhaps she take a closer look at the passports and she could see that they have traveled TOGETHER a half a dozen times across the border. The irony? He was not asked any of these questions while traveling back to the US when technically we are currently Canadian residents. He was trying to go home -- to Canada!

After the agent had confirmed that Louis was not being kidnapped, I asked "So, what exactly should we do to avoid this mess in the future? Let me guess...do I need to go to one location and fill out paperwork, pay a fee, then go to another location to get a stamp, then come back to customs and give you the paperwork?" See, all too often we have to do a lot of that, I think it's called job creation. I digress...

She says "No a simple word document from your computer will be fine. You just have to sign it."

I say, "and get it notarized or have a witness I assume?"

"No, that's not necessary," she says.

That's comforting.