ahem

CONGRATULATIONS ALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey I second that vote!


Have been wondering that myself.

Oh, T-Bone has been affectated in the head for years now (the period during which he has been badly abusing his day-pass from the asylum, and referring to himself in the third person, si man).

"Si" = Spanish for "yes"
"Man = English for "man"

Saying it does not make one a "yes-man," but it is a meaningless intensifier when tacked on to phrases that stand quite well on their own, si man. Perhaps it is T-B.'s rebellion against Canadians adding "eh" to everything. Why not also "bee," "cee," etc.? Come on, now, si man, eh, verily, wot.

Okay...let me be the first to say "well duh." I think what StP (or at least I) meant is, is it an idiomatic expression you picked up? Ecuadorian for "ya know?" perhaps?

I think I will continue to let my SpokesMox speak on my behalf; he's doing such a good job of it


(no comment on the lists though? *sigh* )

(Hiking self to full height) I am NOT an idiom, sir; I am a moron!
No, man; it's self-contrived. (Just wait'll you read my tourist book about Tejas/Mexico border-crossings, the hopefully-final research for which occurs Dec. 21-25 and the writing of which probably won't be finished for several moons thereafterwardly, but you MUST stay tuned for it.) Regarding idiomatic terms, I like this link:

http://www.vivecuador.com/html2/eng/dictionary.htm#f

On last visit, I saw a Puerco and referred to him as a Chapa, and a native in the car with us laughed and asked how I knew "chapa." I used approx. 87% of my Spanish vocabulary to reply, "Soy hecho en Ecuador." (For those of you in Rio Linda, that means "Where is the restroom?")


He is a fine SpokesMox, but not The Prettiest. The lists are definitely The Prettiest, as is their creatoress.

Sorry StP, I'm just now getting to the list. Spending way too much time in Russia today. Well, the Russian forum anyway.

Holy shamoley!! Okay, last week I moved up 22 spots, which gave me 7 more weeks at that rate until approval.

This week I moved up 43 spots. At that rate I'm approved in 3 weeks. That's 44 days earlier than my predicted adjudication date. Just...wow!

As always, thanks for maintaining the list StP. I am stoked! And not just because of the drugs...

oh, it's fine; I don't want to be the little kid who has to be praised every time they do a finger painting
it's just that they take a fair bit of time to do, so when they're completely ignored I feel spurned... I get over it quickly though

I can't speak for anyone else, but it's never ignored by me. I freaking *live* for this list, and I'm only exaggerating a little bit. And now that I'm potentially 3 weeks away from approval, I could just go over and plant a big wet smackeroo on that big beautiful monobrow of yours!

Down, boy. And Prettiest, the feeling is transitory -- much like a "spurn of the moment" occurrence.

T-B. is off-logging until late tonight. All rocks, garbage, and goat-drippings hurled in this direction will be gratefully received thenly, si man.

The list is great! I know it takes time to do. Sorry I didn't say anything a bit earlier, but I got a bit busy here at work

Sorry I haven't been around for a few days......but congrats to both TBoneTX & Jeraly!! That is great news.

I've got to believe things are getting close for us as well.

Thanks again Still for updating the list. I know it takes time, but it's greatly appreciated by so many. Geez....we're June filers and ONLY #32.... Oh well, that is certainly better than the 252 or whathever, when we first started this.

Best wishes to everyone for a happy holiday. I'm remembering that when we started this in June we were planning for Maria to be here for her first Christmas in the U.S. Only my fellow Juners can appreciate this..

It's been 191 days since we filed, 181 since noa1.

We'll continue to be patient.

Hang in there John.

It's possible that TBoneTX's call shook them into action. Have you called lately?

actually, yes:

I called them November 5 and asked that they send me a duplicate of the hard copy noa1 that i never received, which they did and i received on nov 9. I then called and asked them which date i should go by: the website says petition received june 18 but the hard copy says june 11....they said go by the hard copy. From that I got 2 touches.

I then contacted my Congressman for help...we'll see how that works out.

Last week I called again to ask again about the confusion with the dates between the website and the hard copy..the call taker put in a written request. I said i was concerned the file was lost. I received a touch on 12/17 and another on 12/18.

Basically that's where it stands.

I just want this to be over. I'm ready to go on to the next step.

The thing that makes me mad is that there is nothing i can do about all this...i am helpless and dependent on someone else's actions, but many others here have already recognized that. I can't grease the skids or do anything to make it go faster. I have to sit here and wait and try to be patient. This feeling is new to me and I am not enjoying it.

But, Maria and I will get through this. Next Christmas we will be decorating our tree together, and all this will be a distant memory. Knowing this helps me remain in control.

And thanks for asking, Mox. I appreciate your concern. I've benefitted alot from coming to this site and I've made some really great friends; I think I'm a better person. For all of that, I am grateful.

Merry Christmas

[size="4"][/size]StillThePrettiest:
THANK YOU SO MUCH for putting the list together!!!
We moved up 39 in 6 days!!! And are now at 208,so there IS hope for us to be among the first 200 before the years over.Thanks for taking the time and doing them lists for us all.You just made my day!
Nat

The fisrt August Filer got approved by CSC!! Yeah keep going !

Keep going, si man, but first go back to JUNE and up-clear us (I still include myself in this, because "Ah feel yer pain"). From the looks of the VSC forum, the VSC has approved several August filers, too, while fellow Juners suffer.

John, your "circumspection under fire" and your restraint here, despite the eaten-gut feeling with which we're all too familiar, are admirable.

I respectfully yet strongly recommend that you call and get past the call-takers to talk with an actual Immigration Officer. (One of the sets of phone prompts, in one of my previous messages, will automatically achieve this.) Follow my recent suggestions of asking WHERE in the Division your file is -- they can tell -- and ask them to move it to the next workstation. They will certainly put through a request to the "floor" on the basis of your file's delinquency. Then (dodging the holidays off), politely call again once a week to ask the same. I sincerely believe that my change in approach was different enough for these people that it engendered internal messages that were in their own "language" and were meaningful enough to prompt action.

If we are June filers, we are entitled to bug them. It is time -- past time -- and we have every right to be pleasantly and frequently persistent ("the squeaky wheel..." and all that). Here's to us "June-bugs"!

babblesgirl - I obviously would love to see you approved as well!! But I can't name everyone on my sweepstake or it would get a little ridiculous... Besides - the named peeps are the ones on the spreadsheet who have been waiting more than their fair share of the time Oh - and a gratzies to DKM - think I am doing well in the sweepstakes this week



STP - the list is awesome!! Even moreso as we are finally off of it! No disrespect meant of course!! Now to see how I am doing on this week's sweepstakes - I have predicted me, DKM and Chris in recent weeks so I think I am doing a pretty good job!!

Thanks for the advice, T, I'll find your prior post and see if I can work my way through the maze. Hopefully I can get through sometime today.

Thanks again.

Bestt wishes to you.

I was just teasing you about referencing the 'July bunch'.

I am so happy about the July approvals, especially yours since I know how much time is of a premium in your case. However, after remaining so calm since the NOA1 debacle I'm beginning to fret and wonder whether our petition got lumped according to 'NOA1 date' (late September) and not the 'received date' (late July) as hoped.

I'm also really hoping our NOA2 arrives before I return to the UK on the 28th. We keep checking the mail and status online and nothing so far.

Gracias, John. You may have already found the referenced messages; I am at work now, where I have access to the prompts (for cases at the California Disservice Center):

800-375-5283; 1,2,2,4,2,1; your case number; 1,1. There is no need to wait for the recorded voice to explain all the prompt-options; just hit them in order.

If I'm not mistaken, this is the correct route to bypass the screen-callers (most of whom, in my opinion, should die in a corner) and directly reach an Immigration Officer. Let us all know what you learn!

Note: I will be off-line from Dec. 21 until late Dec. 25. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good day (it's nearly noon, at this writing). Those desiring pun-ishment during that time must suffer, unless the good Mox rushes to provide aid, si man.

Hey T, thanks again for the help.

I took your advice and called, using your numbers. You were absolutely right. I talked with a gentleman (he truly is). Basically, he listened to my story and then said "Let me look and see where it is. Ok, I see it is undergoing background check."

For everyone's information he said background checks are also random, that some take longer than others. Mostly, though, he assured me the file is not lost, that it is in a department and he used a term which I forget to imply that my case has been there a long time. By that I assume they are aware how long it has been.

He then went on to suggest that Maria's interview date could come in March.

All in all he was helpful and a nice guy.

Thanks for your advice T and thanks to him I feel a bit more comfortable about all this than I have been feeling.

Merry Christmas and happy new year.

Congrats, TBoneTX, I'm very glad for you! And congrats, Jeraly too

thanks Still for doing the list. I never could figure out how to generate it.

Chris

Always nice to hear when someone has a good customer service experience with USCIS. Glad you got some information, and hopefully your call pushed them into action. Good luck to you!

I'm very happy for you, J. I wish to heaven that the idea of asking "what is the situation" rather than "why is my approval so late" had occurred to me sooner -- a lot less Pepto-Bismol would have been swigged, with fewer gnash-teethings. I hope that you requested, or that the ImmOff sent on his own, an internal e-mail to Background for them to "shake it." Also, I truly hope that our Junebug colleagues on the VSC forums are taking this same advice -- some are freaking worse than we all have been.

So, man, keep checking for Touches, and let us know. Mine was shaken loose from Background and APPROVED probably within 12 hours of my call like yours. Si, man!

Thank you, Sweetheart. You should consider trying what apparently worked for moi and for what made John feel better. I look forward to exulting in your "approved" status!

neither could I; mine is a CML*






*(Completely Manual List)

Congrats to all the new approvals

Let me just say again how much I look forward to this list every week and appreciate the work you put into it. And I'm not just saying that because I think you might have some influence into where I wind up in the list every week. (Come on admit it! Your secret is safe with me!)

what? me? oh, I could NEVER...

12 hours? wow....now THAT would be a nice Christmas present. But to be honest, I'm wondering if "It's in background check dept" is like "it's in the mail"

Anyhow, you got yours and hopefully we'll be as fortunate as you guys.

Thanks again for the info.

Thanks Mox. I've got to believe that we're not too far away from noa2. What about you? How are you feeling about the process?

ok, i just checked the website and we got a touch. I'm certain it was generated from my phone call. We'll see what happens next.

Good luck! Your NOA2 is way overdue. Fingers crossed the next touch is an approval.

Let's hope that lightning strikes twice, si man!

I haven't gotten touches from my last two weekly calls - wonder what that means? Where is it that it can't be touched?

It could depend on to whom you spake -- an ImmigOff, or just the front-line clowns? I didn't get several touches registered, either, around Oct./Nov. It will really help to ask the ImmOff specifically where your file is, and can they please move it to the next station, and please compose an e-mail to the floor people while you're on the line. Then, repeat the process next week, continuing until approval.

So far my only real complaint has been that it took me 6 weeks to get NOA1. Since then I've been waiting to reach the point where I have something else to complain about. My VJ predicted adjudication date is Feb 24, although since processing times have really picked up the pace I expect (hope) it will be more like mid to late January.

Fortunately, even if I run into problems, I know I've got this incredible community of people on VJ to lean on. That gives me a lot of peace of mind.

Oh, really? Just make SURE that your vaccinations are up to date!

Good call.

Thanks, babblesgirl, I think so too. Hopefully it will be soon. I hope yours is progressing smoothly.

It's certainly a great group here. Everyone is supportive. It means alot.

I feel for you. Looking at your timeline puts things in perspective for me. I have been thinking that touches should be about due on my petition since other late july petitions have been approved so I definitely don't understand why a petition with an NOA1 date like yours should not have at least been touched once by now. Like you say, why wouldn't it have been touched by now? In your position I would keep phoning. I wish you the best of luck.

I think we all are going through it.. the waiting stuff.. its only right to be supportive and its always great to hear when someone is making progress on their petition.. it still gives me some hope to think maybe I will be next..

Uh, John, you'd better focus on those vaccinations, too... and run, don't walk.

To prove that I walk walks and not just yak yaks, I am pleased to report that I myself, just today, was inoculated against bilhariziasis, cor triatriatum dexter, and hoof-&-mouth disease. I feel much better, except for somehow having just now contracted mild cases of bilhariziasis, cor triatriatum dexter, and hoof-&-mouth disease. (Curious, if you ax me.) If I feel better anon, I will log on again before catching my flight (that would be a FOURTH medical syndrome); udderwise (a word inspired by the hoof-&-mouth, or at least the hoof part, perhaps from a yak), see y'all back here Christmas night. Si, man.

(When I write to the fiancee like this, she calls me a "loco." For those of you in Rio Linda, this is Spanish for "choo-choo," which must qualify me as being highly trained. Si, man.)