Miranda&James

Reading the FAQ's, it makes it sound as if anyone who bought any diamond jewelry qualifies UNLESS it was bought directly from a DeBeers store. I am confused! James bought my engagement and wedding ring (with diamonds) from Zales a couple years ago and it all cost over $2000 (I have receipts too), so if I qualify for $640 my greedy self wants it (especially if they overpriced it) but from reading the FAQ's I can't tell if I qualify or not!

Earplugs and a good quality eyemask! They will go a long way if you do indeed decide to sleep. A nice little travel pillow is always good as well. I find that I'll bring a ton of things to play with/read/etc on a trip, but end up using hardly any of it because I spend so much time watching the people around me or just generally zoning out. Magazines are good since you don't have to get as involved as a book, and music is great too! If you go look around in walmart or some other similar store, they have tons of travel games that might keep you occupied for a bit.

I have to say, for a multifamily living environment, cats are the only way to go. I've never heard the neighbour's cat yapping while they are away. A barking dog is damn annoying.

I rather have a cat than a dog at least they dont bark.

With the cats, I'm paranoid that we'll get noise complaints from the downstairs neighbors from them running up and down the hallway all the time. I'm not sure whether you can hear the pitter-patter from below.

I have a kitty that definitely has bursts of energy (she is a wild thing!) and had her in an apartment previously, but never got any noise complaints. The lady who lived below me was MORE than willing to let me know if I made any excess noise (funny stories go along with that!) and I am sure if my kitty had ever been a problem when I was away she would have mentioned it. So, if I were you I wouldn't worry too much about the kitty unless said kitty weighs 30 pounds and likes to jump up and down My kitty is a decent size and likes to jump off furniture frequently as well, so I am sure she made some noise, but it was never enough to cause a problem.

I think a lot of people with dogs tend to tune out the barking after a time. I know my good friend brought her dog (along with her loud bark) to our apartment once and seemed oblivious when her dog began barking until we told her she needed to tell the dog to hush. She said she just tunes it out. Our neighbors have had more than enough warning though to stop their dog barking (and it is yapping as I speak) and they seem to not care whatsoever. Unfortunately our animal services won't issue citations, and we do not want to get into anything legal, but it makes me so mad. Dog owners should be responsible for their animal and the noise it causes because it can seriously disrupt the happiness and peace of mind of those living around them. I can't even nap in my house in the day without earplugs (which I don't like to wear for safeties sake - I'd prefer to hear a burglar coming thank you very much) because the dog will be barking.

I agree good Sister! Nothing more annoying than a neighbour's yapping dog.

Unless you plan to train the dog not to bark, don't put a dog in an apartment. We have lived next to neighbors (in an apartment) that had a small dog, and we were constantly having to listen to this dogs yapping. It certainly did not make for a pleasant living environment. We still have that problem with a house, but our options are much more limited as far as noise complaints.

Best comment in this thread. I live in a pet friendly building and I DO enjoy seeing and meeting the pooches in the building, but I gotta say, I've also lived next to small yappy dogs and it's been a nightmare. I know I'll NEVER have that kind of dog. Give me a nice big dog that's NOT hyperactive but when barks, makes a nice big WOOF that people pay attention to...hehehe. I know not ALL small dogs are yappy and not ALL big dogs aren't, but it seems to go that way most often. I believe the weight limit on dogs in our building is 45 pounds. There are some larger ones in my building

Yeah, we have a neighbor that has two small dogs (I know one is a Yorkie, the other is some kind of terrier) and they bark CONSTANTLY! The yorkie is tiny, so his bark isn't that noticeable, but the other dog barks loudly and barks every single second that his little mutt self is outside (I normally love dogs, but this dog I despise). We have talked to the neighbors nicely multiple times, and they've stopped letting him out so much, but act ignorant as to how they can fix the problem. Any knowledgable person knows that you can train a dog, either through a bark collar, other training, or get one of those outdoor things that puts out a noise when the dog barks in order to deter the dog. We would buy one, but it is too expensive and wouldn't work logistically from our yard. Our houses are very close, so the dog is about 5 feet from my head (our bed is by a window) and I can hear him quite clearly through our single paned window and he can hear me when I yell at him to hush. We are renting the house, so we can't really do much as far as making our house more sound proof. Anyways, the bottom line is, anytime you get an animal that makes noise, you need to take the steps to insure you aren't disturbing anyone else!

Unless you plan to train the dog not to bark, don't put a dog in an apartment. We have lived next to neighbors (in an apartment) that had a small dog, and we were constantly having to listen to this dogs yapping. It certainly did not make for a pleasant living environment. We still have that problem with a house, but our options are much more limited as far as noise complaints.

She set the rules, he broke them, so way to go on the actual enforcement of them! The son will appreciate it someday when he has his own children.

I have analysed the chromosomes of 3 famous women's babies.

That is fascinating! Was this as part of an in vitro process? Was it because they wanted to see what potential diseases the baby would have?

I interviewed Buzz Aldrin.

I once sang for Buzz Aldrin, as well as sang with Shania Twain.

As a researcher in the field of false incrimination (and a conservative, if that matters), there are many MANY people who are falsely incarcerated due to false testimony (either purposely false in the case of snitches looking for a deal, or false due to inaccurate memory such as eyewitnesses). If more people really knew the research, they would be absolutely shocked at how unreliable the evidence used in many trials really is. Read John Grisham's "The Innocent Man". It will make you sick.

As much as you love your child, there are times when they need to face the consequences of their actions. If they have broken the law, and this is not a new issue (meaning you've tried many times to stop a bad behavior from your child with little success), the only option you have may be to leave it up to the law. Obviously, all considerations such as what the ramifications of this may be need to be looked at, but it may be the only option in the end.

I worked closely with a woman who I later found to have had borderline personality disorder. I went through hell for 3 years with her behaviour. I can't imagine living with someone like this. The only recourse I had, and this was a plan that I helped develop with a counsellor, was to cut all ties with this person. This is the only thing that helped save MY mental health. This is not possible ususally with a family member. I really empathize with those of you that have had to contend with this in a prior marriage. There are also several good books out there to help people who know someone who is like this...insofar as learning to live with someone close to you with this illness.

Carla

It's heartbreaking, and even more heartbreaking in that so many therapists (at least, according to a clinical psychologist I hold in very high regard) also refuse to treat borderlines due to how they (the patient ) treat them (the counselor) during therapy. There is hope with the dialectical behavior therapy by Linehan but unfortunately it isn't available anywhere near me and just isn't always a practical option. There is hope with lots of family support/meds/therapy but that is hard to get even in the best situations and it takes a lot of time. Heartbreaking really is the best word to describe dealing with the situation...

hey almaty, can you tell the difference between a borderline and a bipolar? ever had a case like that?

Bipolars cycle through their mood phases over long periods of time (weeks and months per phase, be it manic, hypomanic, or depressive, depending on the Bipolar type) and borderlines typically change moods very quickly (days, hours, minutes sometimes in my personal experience!). This is where bipolars most often get misdiagnosed - people don't pay attention to the length of their mood phases. There are diagnostic minimums that are often ignored.

Rush Limbaugh is, in my opinion, a fine example of someone suffering from a Narcissistic personality disorder. Listen to him for a couple days, look up the diagnostics, and you'll see what I mean.

My ex was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. There's lots of good reasons listed up there as to why he's an ex.

Yikes! Most of these describe my ex!

Superficial charm and good "intelligence" (yep)

Absence of delusions and other signs of irrational thinking (absence? Doesn't that mean presence? In that case yep!)

Absence of "nervousness" or psychoneurotic manifestations ( see above, if it means presence then Yep again!)

Unreliability (Does a new job every 6 months count here? If yes, yep!)

Untruthfulness and insincerity (Untruthfulness no but insincerity yes)

Lack of remorse and shame (great big yes!!)

Inadequately motivated antisocial behavior (You have no idea!!)

Poor judgment and failure to learn by experience (Are they talking about my ex specifically? Sounds like it!)

Pathologic egocentricity and incapacity for love (This is giving me flashbacks!)

General poverty in major affective reactions (Oh man! They nailed her!)

Specific loss of insight (Again, yes!)

Unresponsiveness in general interpersonal relations (Especially with me!!)

Fantastic and uninviting behavior with drink and sometimes without (she didn't drink, but she didn't need it to do this)

Suicide rarely carried out (attempted 2x)

Sex life impersonal, trivial, and poorly integrated (What sex life?)

Failure to follow any life plan (Still doing the same thing she did 25 years ago when I met her, does that qualify?)

Add to that infidelity and the need to blame me for every problem in life whether I was involved or not and you have my ex.

It amazes me that I survived 21 years without going nuts myself!

It does mean absence and not presence - most antisocial PD's aren't nervous or scared about the crimes they commit. I don't have my books with me, so I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think antisocial PD has delusions or irrational thinking. I know they aren't common diagnostics, but I don't remember even reading about them as uncommon but potential diagnostics either. Then again, most disorder categories do a poor job of actually fitting everyone into one box since most psychological disorders do not fit cleanly into a category and vary from person to person. People with antisocial PD are scary - they have to also have been diagnosed with a conduct disorder before age 16. I know you just meant your post in partial jest, this reply is just for more information for anyone else who reads them. I'm not a clinical psychologist though! I do have my degree in psych and am currently pursuing my masters in psych and have passed Abnormal psych with flying colors at both a graduate and undergraduate level, so I have some knowledge I have personal experience with personality disorders as well, and know how horribly they can disrupt the lives of those around them....

We got a nice cabin in the Smokey Mountains and it was a great deal - many are less than $100 a night and you get an entire cabin, often a whirlpool bathtub, and sometimes an outdoor hot tub as well It's great if you want to be in beautiful surroundings and be very secluded for awhile, not great if you want to do lots of activities and go out to eat (wasn't much in the town near us). You can always drive to Gatlinburg in the day and do that, but if you are looking for a nice quiet honeymoon where you are holed up in a cabin to do whatever you what ( ) then it is perfect! This is the site for who we used (my parents have used them for years, never had problems) - http://www.townsendcabin.com/index.htm.

Congratulations!! I'm so happy to hear that you guys have made it through the process

One thing to consider though, even if you had a valid I94, does the license expire when the I94 expires as well? When James only had his EAD we thought about him getting his license, but we were told that once it was within 90 days of expiring not to bother because they would not issue one, and the license expired with the EAD (had he gotten his license at the time). These things vary from state to state as others have said, so you may just have to wait for your EAD to get your license.

If you never find it drive to Scottsboro, AL and visit Unclaimed Baggage! It might be there!

I hope you get your bag back, I had mine "misplaced" once also (luckily on the return trip so I actually had clothes at home, although they were full of christmas pressies from England I didn't want to lose! ) and it was such a big pain getting in touch with anyone. They turned up a couple of days later thankfully.

I babysat a cat with heart problems while my boss was away and I still have scars to this day If she didn't need those pills to survive I would have left her food and let her growl at me from behind the couch in peace, but sadly I was forced to drag her out to give her a multitude of pills and vitamins (this cat gets all kinds of #######). I couldn't get her out once, so it took my mom, James, and me (my mom in leather gloves and a long sleeve sweatshirt) to get this one cat out of the closet. This cat was pure evil.....

Oops, if she is the USC then that does make it difference. Go for that medical assistance! You want to be sure you get the right care early in your pregnancy until you can get your own health insurance

Does my friend have to send the Form I-485 along with other forms or just the Form I-864&A only?

Thanks

yeah.. do a complete new one to send all together.

If your friend has already submitted an AOS application a new I-485 document is NOT needed for an RFE regarding the I-864.

A) I don't know if your pregnancy affects the sponsorship. Just a disclaimer, I am only speculating and don't want to get yelled at it for it, so I'm saying that I'm doing it beforehand One would think that if you get the greencard before you have the baby, it wouldn't really matter if it was included on the I-864 as a dependent because the child was not yet born. However, I would wonder if you have the child before AOS is approved if a simple updated I-864 for yourself and your cosponsor would take care of the issue of another dependent child?

B ) I also don't know about the medical assistance, it all depends on what kind of program it is and where the money is coming from as to whether or not it is ok for you to participate. Look on the I-864 or do a little google research on government sponsored programs and what is ok for immigrants to use without worrying about conflicts with the I-864 agreement.

C)James and I did not have health insurance between our marriage and him getting the EAD (May-Oct) and got the greencard just fine. They can't really know whether or not you have it and I don't see it as an issue even related to AOS.

D) I have some scissors, snip snip!

Congrats on the little bundle to be! I absolutely agree with Devilette on asking your boss for that review. You can make it clear to your boss (it should be obvious already) that health insurance and those other things are important to you and that you would like to get that matter resolved as soon as is possible. You gotta take charge, if she told you July then she should stick to it, although sometimes people just get busy and forget what they said which is why it is important for you to take care of your own interests and be sure things stay on track.

They will have the forms needed.

Like Roy_and_Yazi said, treat each application as a separate thing and include all the evidence each one asks for, even if you already put the same thing in with another application. They get processed at different places. Everyone mails theirs to Chicago, and the $1010 fee includes biometrics, aos, ead, and ap

Good luck that things go well on the surgery and that she gets the less invasive option!!