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Ephesia

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Posts posted by Ephesia

    What the most ridiculous thing to happen at your work?

    in Off Topic

    Posted

    This sales guy who joined the company 5 months ago downloaded and played sound clips from Steve Martin movies at FULL volume one afternoon. He did this just 2 months into the job. Because we work in an open office, that naturally annoyed a lot of us. I yelled at him, and then told on him to the IT Director, who told me to keep an eye out for repeat occurrences because that's grounds for termination.

    :dance:

    Wedding Cakes

    in Off Topic

    Posted

    It just occurred to me that we actually don't have a full picture of our cake. LOL. I found a picture of us behind the cake, and a picture of the cake topper that we bought online, though.

    confusion on when to file

    in Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Ephesia

    From the first page of the I-751 Petition To Remove Conditions On Residence form:

    "If you are filing this petition jointly with your spouse, you must file it during the 90 days immediately before the second anniversary of the date you were accorded conditional resident status. This is the date your conditional residence expires."

    http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-751instr.pdf

    Filing in November

    in Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion

    Posted

    Hiya Jim,

    We're sending ours in on Nov 11. I've gathered all the stuff together and prepared the cover letter. The entire packet is sitting on my desk atm. Just waiting for that date to roll in. :dance:

    I had some anxiety over our application too (mostly over the amount of stuff), but once I started collecting the documents and making copies, it got easier. This was also easier to assemble than our AOS packet. Nothing like setting up joint accounts, applying for SSN, learner's permit, AND getting stuff together for AOS all in the same month a little over two years ago. :lol:

    Ex-Pats and Other New Friends

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    I moved from Singapore to Indianapolis, so I had already been mentally prepared that I wouldn't meet many, if any, fellow Singaporeans here.

    I am very close to a core group of hubby's friends. We all watch NFL games at each other's homes every weekend. Our dogs are also each other's play mates.

    A couple of girls at work are also my good friends. I jokingly told my husband that I finally have friends that weren't his friends first. :lol:

    I actually miss my family a lot more than my friends back home. Not a day goes by that I don't daydream of how awesome it'd be if they could move here.

    Pet Peeves

    in Off Topic

    Posted · Edited by Ephesia

    1. Phrases at my work place like:

    i) "Moving forward, ..." (you obviously have to move forward because you can't return to the past)

    ii) "Theoretically speaking ..." (if it ain't gonna work, it ain't gonna work, theoretical or not)

    iii) "Are you busy?" (umm no, I'm just re-decorating my cube with paper statements because it's all the rage now)

    iv) "The reality of it is ..." (right)

    2. People who drive with their music blasted super loudly through really bad speakers.

    3. Narrow-mindedness.

    4. Hypocrisy.

    You or your spouse's fiirst job in the US

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    So you committed without benefits for your first 8 months, my wife can also do this since she's covered by my insurance. It is imperative that the new immigrant be added to the spouse's insurance policy/plan so she/he can have the flexibility of career choices.

    I'm glad to know you're part of an organization (of people & system) that you actually enjoy working with. Isn't it extra nice to be working for a company that has a good set of initiatives that also mirrors your own goals in life in general? That way you can live in a manner that's consistent with your values, and earn a great income at the same time.

    So thanks & congrats with that wonderful experience, my wife and I are happy to read about it.

    I was not on my husband's insurance when I started working. Because of his health problems at that time, we decided not to 'muddy the waters' where his insurance was concerned. I chose to buy my own short-term insurance from Anthem through the temp agency that gave me the job assignment. We're still not on each other's health insurance at this point in time because of the hike in premiums we'd have to fork out. We are on our own individual insurance plans with the companies we work for coz it's cheaper to do so. He's the beneficiary of my life insurance policy, though. :P

    Thank you for the kind words on my job. It IS very nice to work for a company that actually values the work I do. It's great to wake up every morning to go to a job that is positive. Granted, the environment here is not perfect (we could do with a smarter and less gossipy sales team), and sometimes there is a lot of pressure because my job is time-sensitive. But I have very little to complain about. I still wonder some days if this bubble is gonna burst. lol.

    You or your spouse's fiirst job in the US

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    Data Administrator. Started as a temp and got hired 8 mths later. Manager pulled me aside two months ago to tell me she's really happy with how I have been working and pulling my weight around here. I am on track for a promotion and raise during our performance evaluation at the end of the year.

    I NEVER thought I'd enjoy a career in numbers, but here I am thoroughly convinced I am in the right place. And for the first time in my life, I actually care about the success of the company I am working for. :thumbs:

    Need Help - Used Cars!

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    I drive a 2001 Kia Rio. Love it. Bought it last year for $1,000 from my mother-in-law's colleague's daughter, who had to sell the car because she had put money down for a new car at the credit union and needed to get rid of the Kia fast. What makes the deal even sweeter is there was only 53k miles on it when I took over.

    It's a good, reliable car. I have not had any problems with it. Mine's an automatic and gets approximately 31 mpg. Because I only drive it to and from work (and to church some Sundays), I only need to fill her up once a week.

    My original plan was to drive my Kia for a couple of years and then trade it in for a brand new Honda Fit sport model (my dream car). But my little Kia has been doing so awesome that I told my husband a month ago that I think I want to drive her till she can't go any more. It doesn't bother me that she doesn't have power windows or automatic locks. She does what she needs to do. Besides, I like not having a car payment. :lol:

    And her BRIGHT green color doesn't exactly hurt either. :P

    How do i apply for credit now im here ?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    Capital One gave me my very first credit card with a limit of $200 in January last year. Annual fee: $39.00.

    Three months later, they upped my limit to $500. I charged very small purchases to the card and cleared the balance every month. The balance on that card has been zero for awhile now.

    In Sep, WAMU (Washington Mutual) sent me a credit card offer. I took it. Credit limit: $1,500. Annual fee: $0.00.

    Three months ago, WAMU upped the credit limit to $4,000. But I have not charged anything to this card since the Black Friday sale last year. LOL.

    I am also an authorized user on my husband's Best Buy Reward Zone credit card.

    Greedy couple cashes in after their wedding shower?

    in Off Topic

    Posted

    Preach it, sista! :thumbs:

    NY Italians give money, too. I've gone to several weddings in FL where I've given cash & our mutual friends were all 'eww that's so tacky'

    I'm all 'you got her a blender, I gave her $300...figure out the tacky one, hon'

    Meanwhile, I will say that I find the notion of a registry tacky to begin with. No one has to buy/give you anything...but to be all 'choose from this list' is rude. Well wait, what I find rude is including the registry info WITH the invite. Balls to that!

    the Wedding Planner Thread

    in Off Topic

    Posted

    Lisa dear,

    Hopefully, these tips will help you. Brandon and I practiced them when we planned our own wedding in 6 weeks after I got my visa. lol. Time was such a huge crunch but we did it, and our wedding was a blast. :)

    1. Know what you want, so other people cannot change your minds even if they try to. :lol:

    2. Delegate very specific tasks to the people who are going to help you and David on your big day. There was never any doubt in our wedding who was doing what. No room for random finger-pointing here. Hehe.

    3. Don't change your wedding budget as time passes.

    Some things we did that made our wedding feel very special:

    1. Our photographer was a good friend who was close to graduating from photography school. We paid for her air ticket, accommodation, and gas. She took our photos for free. She made several 8x11 prints and mailed the CDs or all the originals to us - for free. The pictures were so well taken Walgreens and CVS refused to print our pictures because they were convinced we were trying to infringe someone's copyrights (even though we gave them a letter our friend had written that essentially said she was releasing all copyrights to us). His dad ended up buying an awesome HP photo printer and printed EVERYTHING out for us. :lol:

    We're now making plans with this same friend to take our portraits outdoors in the fall. Woo hoo!

    2. I made the wedding souvenirs - ordered paper bags and candy from bulk websites, and used traditional Asian items that I brought from home. Love bulk websites!

    3. Sister-in-law made all the wedding invites. And she composed a very beautiful poem that encapsulated our long distance relationship in the invitation.

    4. I ordered silk flowers online. Two years on, my bouquet still looks great!

    Keep me posted on your wedding plans! I am so happy for you and David! :)(L)

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