WOW!

I actually had a non-negative experience with the Federal govt today!
I had an appointment to get fingerprinted as part of my citizenship application process, and I came with books, gum etc, figuring I'd be in for the duration... but nope! In and out in about 15 minutes. Hafta say I was quite impressed.
The fingerprint thingy was pretty high-tech - it looks like a supermarket UPC scanner (about as big as a washing machine). They wet your fingertips (just water, she said...), press them over the scanner, and the prints appear on a computer screen... while this was going down, I told the lady "I guess I can see why you guys charge $70 for prints. This machine looks expensive".
I got done, and they handed me a study guide with some sample US history questions. I'll put some up in the next post so you guys can see what I'm up against, and see if y'all can answer them...