mwfaith1971

hi everyone,

just wanted to pop in and say happy new year. hope everything goes well for you all. we should find out next week when chanin is going to have the baby. she has to have a c-section cause the boy is growing too big. i'll let you know the outcome.

matt

congratulations lunamel!!

matt

congratulations kath!!! no interview either, you sure beat my time.

matt

not much happening here...just working and watching chanin growing.

she had a doctors appoinment today and apparently everything is going well. not much more to add except it's already too bloody cold and i can't wait till spring!!

matt

hi all,

seeing all this talk of phone cards, i thought i'd put in my 2c. go to this website masterbell and see what cards are available. we use the champion card as it is the cheapest for calling an australian landline that doesn't have a maintainence fee. if you don't mind the fee, one of the other cards is about 13c per minute to australian mobiles. also, most of the cards are rechargable with a credit card, so you don't have to run to the shop to get another one.

hope this helps you guys.

matt

you got your appointment quick kath...i ended up making an appointment because it went past their own time allowed.

good luck.

matt

thanks guys.

kath, mine was MSC as well, so it looks good for you so far.

matt

hi all,

work is good and keeping me busy. chanin is over the morning sickness but gets tired easily so we have to slow down a bit.

kath, it will be interesting to see if they have sped up any since i did mine last year.

attached is 2 of the ultrasound pics from last week...in the second one it looks like connor is waving at us.

take care,

matt

I have a tax question i hope someone can help me with. im doing my tax on line and im not sure how to answer a couple of questions... Am i a resident for tax purposes i was there for 6 months so if i put no then i have to pay way more tax if i put yes i get a return... but i dont have an aussie bank account any more so i cant put it on the tax form just wondering how much checking they might do. im not talking alot of money under $1000 just dont want to get in the ###### any ideas

angela

angela,

is there anyone you can trust to send the cheque to? if so, put down their address as yours, when they get the cheque have them send it to you so you can endorse it to them. send it back to them to bank it and send you the cash.

as far as i know they don't do too much checking. i said i was a resident and i haven't been there since august last year. but i still have a bank account so they did a direct deposit...somewhere around $2000. as far as the ATO is concerned i live at my mothers address.

hope this helps. if you have any other questions just give me a yell.

matt

jodie,

thank you.

as far as i'm aware your alien number should not change. you might get in touch with the useful crowd (haha) at USCIS and see what they have to say about it.

matt

david,

they charge by cubic foot, so it's the size not the weight.

get her to check out OSS. that's who i used and didn't have a problem.

matt

kath,

no worries. afaik you don't have a choice, uscis makes it for you.

also, in regards to your other question check out this page: AOS.

matt

congratulations lorelle!!

matt

kath,

two cheques with everything sent to chicago.

matt

RIP Brocky...the loss of a legend.

matt

It's about time!

In Australia we are taught to respect the wildlife and not interfere with them. Stingrays do not attack. They are very shy creatures that will only defend themselves if put into a place where there is no way out. The same applies to most of Australia's wildlife.

Darwin Award.

i wonder if you died in an unusual way that people would say the same thing. it's pretty heartless at a time like this.

he died doing something he loved which doesn't happen to the majority of people. i thought he was a bit gungho but i still repect him for the message he was trying to convey.

RIP steve.

matt

having had the 4 door version of the GTO back in Australia i am obviously biased towards it.

i had absolutely no problems whatsoever with mine. fit and finish was great, bags of power and mechanically fantastic. in the next month will be taking delivery of an 06 GTO.

matt

ps: in case you may or may not know. the current Pontiac GTO was designed and built in Australia by Holden (used to be a division of GM but now a stand alone company) and is imported into the USA until %th September, 2006.

don't worry about the money...just go and have a good time. sux about the licence but at least stewart will be able to get one in florida.

tomorrow is our first anniversary, so we are going to chanin's parents cabin in PA for the weekend...now i just have to get through 8 hours of work before we leave.

take care all.

matt

kath,

i think you might be right. i had to go to cleveland a few times...once for the EAD bio...once for the AOS bio...once cause i didn't get my EAD in the 90 days...and lastly for the AOS interview. the bio appointment is for the fingerprints and photo for the green card and/or EAD. the other interview should be for the AOS/green card. the job is going well so far...can't wait till i start making waves with security issues!!!

mellie,

glad to hear everything is settling down for you guys and that scott is adjusting well. the drivers licence is easy.

take care.

matt

geez we're all boring, aren't we.

matt

thank you everyone. the name will be conor jerren faith. jerren is a combination of jerry and warren...ours fathers names.

floss,

how do i go about registering him?

matt

just a quick baby update... the amnio results came back and everything is fine (no downs, autism, spina bifida etc) and we are having a boy!!

sorry it's short but i have to get to work.

matt

angela,

i just did mine online and had a cheque sent to my mum's because i still maintain a bank account in australia. if you do then that is the best way to do it. if you don't then you have to have the cheque sent to you (after it gets to your sister's) endorse it to her then send it back to her to bank.

i don't think there is any other way around it. also, when you do your return don't tell them that it's your last one as the tax gets doubled and any return may just disappear. i said that it was not my last return...they don't ask you when your last return may be so if it's in 30 years time you haven't lied.

hope this helps.

matt

as far as i know they do...i would imagine that it is the same as getting married in any other state in the US. you have a marriage certificate and the person marrying you was licensed to do so, so it shouldn't be a problem.

matt

thanks stella.

well, today i have been in the US for a year. time goes quickly cause it doesn't feel like it's been that long.

start the job next monday so i'm off to play golf today.

matt