Residency

Many many laws prevent immigrants from gaining residency in America. Tests, presence, affiliations, records, and who you know are the main determinants to gaining residency in America. Here are some of the laws, and feel free to correct me or annex anything you see.

• Form I-551 (Alien registration card)
• Nonresident spouse 
• can choose to act as residents and claim all worldwide income
• or non-residents each year and not file taxes in US
• Are cleared of the Substantial Presence Test:
• 31 days during the current year, and
• 183 days during the 3-year period that includes the current year and the 2 years immediately before that, counting:
• All the days you were present in the current year, and
• 1/3 of the days you were present in the first year before the current year, and
• 1/6 of the days you were present in the second year before the current year.
• Must be in country 24 hours to be considered 1 day
• Strange, right??

Cars: Headlight and Oil changes

Two days ago my headlight went out. I began to take the entire housing off and my first thought was that the frost was horrible. Second thought was how to remove the housing. The reason was because I have removed a side mirror and back right brake light and replaced them both by removing the entire door frame and the interior trunk paneling, respectively.

• Screw driver, wrench, and confidence that you will not break the door paneling were necessary in installing a "warm" (electronic) mirror. It literally took me a total of 3 minutes, and I went to the border junk yards in Otay to by the parts for $40 each (2 side mirrors and a break light housing). They also taught me how to install and refused to accept any extra money
• Glue doesn't work for more than 2 months and band aids are always unreliable.

Back to the head light. A man nearby told me I could just take the bulb out from the back and I could remove the frost with Turtle wax emery wipes for less than $10.

• No tools needed, again all you need is exceedingly confident elbox grease to remove the wiring connections (female outlet). After that, strip the gasket and the lamp is out.
• Surprisingly, these little bulbs vary by car make, so make sure you by the one that plugs into your specific outlet (connector)

Oil changing:

• Get Jacks
• Get Jacks
• Get Jacks
• I can't underestimate that you must get jacks and pay the money. It sucks but you have to.
• Put cardboard down, have an adjustable wrench, and an oil pan. A hammer also may help.
• Remove the lugnut and make sure the oil pan is positioned to catch the oil and the cap is out of the pan. Wear clothes you don't care getting dirty, because they will.
• Next step is to remove the oil filter. I used a strap wrench and after hours of trying (literally hours), I couldn't budge it. I have since invested in a filter wrench that makes life super easy.
• Replace the oil filter and if you can't initially locate it, it's a cylinder with diameter about 3"

If the filter is too tight and won't budge, take your medicine and go to a lube shop. Not worth your time stressing over something you can't readily accomplish.