Red Tape
Daily Ramble
I love my daughter. And I despise the fact that I’ve never experienced more sickness than parenting her. Trying to keep my immune system up with sleepless nights, work, and household responsibilities is a task I’ve not mastered. But the show must go on, so despite my low-grade fever, I’m ready to rock out today’s Ramble.
It took me all of 5 minutes of living in Portugal to realize everyone was right: the red tape is nightmarish. American bureaucracy is like a McDonald’s drive-through in comparison. It’s so terrible that an entire service industry exists devoted to interfacing between government authorities and private entities, either personal or business. Lawyers, accountants, and human resource services exist to grease the skid between private entities and the government — and often under one roof.
My residency application, driver’s license, marriage certificate, and, currently, citizenship application have all been delightful processes to work through. I’ve learned a simple truth for each process: there is only a vague outline of a process. The process depends on who you speak with at any location and given day. There’s enough latitude put into the regulations to allow a tango to be danced in the grey areas. Wonderful if you’re a Portuguese employee wanting to feel empowered, but terrible if you’re trying to drive legally. But there is a solution if you’re willing to pay for it. And after you’ve pulled out enough hair to make a child’s wig, you most certainly will pay for it! They’re called lawyers.
Let me give you an example. I applied for citizenship in December 2019. It’s a process that takes two years to get a response. Let me repeat: it takes two years to know if you’re approved or not to be a citizen. The Portuguese institution overseeing the process has provided a portal to log in to see the process. It’s a nice feature, except my process has gotten stalled and states that I’ve been notified. I haven’t been notified unless it was a smoke signal from Lisbon that I somehow missed… After emailing them multiple times without a response, I went early one morning to the office to try and speak to someone. The woman at the door had the superb job of telling everyone who approached her, “No, you can’t enter. There are no appointments available for the rest of the year.” She took pity on me and gave me another email address to try. I did. No response. Sigh.
I have a friend also in the process of applying for citizenship. She told me about a lawyer she’s working with that can help. So, sure enough, I called up the lawyer, Felipa, and told her my situation. Felipa assured me she’d inquire about my situation on the 12th when she was next in the office. See, if you’re a lawyer, you’re given the red carpet treatment, told how to resolve things, and easily pass through the gates of Portuguese bureaucratic hell as if they didn’t exist. It’s a miracle on par with turning water into wine. And well worth the money.
Moral of the story: hire a lawyer for anything you need involving the Portuguese government. The “do it yourself” mentality is just going to lead to hair loss.
Rad Things on the Interweb
Bitcoin Price Prediction
Yesterday: $36k - $40k
Today: $36k - $39k
Tomorrow: $36k - $39k
Bitcoin’s price action has been a slow grind down. There’s been little chop as it’s slowly sold off from its recent local high at $42.6k set last Sunday. However, I continue to keep a watchful eye on $36.5k as my line in the sand. A daily close below and I’ll start to shift back to a bearish bias. And vice versa, I’ll continue to remain bullish above. Despite the price drifting back down to $38k, we are still well within the range of a standard pullback after the powerful run, from $29k to $42.6k.
Bitcoin Q & A
Q: What is a seed phrase for a Bitcoin wallet?
A: A seed phrase is a series of words generated by your Bitcoin wallet that give you access to the Bitcoin associated with that wallet.
If you do not have a seed phrase for a Bitcoin wallet, you’re either risking the complete loss of your Bitcoin if the wallet becomes inaccessible or your wallet is using a custodial service to hold your Bitcoin. If you are using a custodial service to hold your Bitcoin, you’re trusting the service providing you access to your Bitcoin.
Thanks for reading,
Kent
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