ewen

but the free smoothie maker, I received for opening the account, is fecked.

Get a Mastcard or Visa 'secured card' with a credit limit of anywhere between $300 and $1k (do not go for any of those unsecured cards you get offered in the post as they are more likely to damage your credit than help it, apparently, and you don't want to be flagged as 'desperate for credit'). The bank will require a deposit into a savings account equal to your credit limit.

Aim to use around one third of this credit but never more than 50% otherwise the credit scoring system will flag you as 'over extended'. Use the credit for buying groceries etc but never for renting a car or booking a hotel room as these purchases often place a hold on funds in excess of the amount you are charged (e.g. a hold of £500 was put on my UK credit card last month, for insurance purposes, when I rented a car and taken off when I returned it safely). Pay your bill in full and immediately ever month.

Glad to hear Ewen got there alright and is settling down okay. I hope he can let me know what he had to do when he got to the Immigration room at Newark, I mean, did he had to go somewhere different as he was emigrating etc? I would like to know cause I arrive there from Birmingham International on the 18th of May, yep two weeks today.

Oh here's a link for some Walker's crisps

http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatalog/Wal...Selections.html

It's about $4 something.

Alison.

I joined the queue for non-US citizens, as you'd normally do if emigrating or just visiting, and once I got to the booth handed over my passport, the WHITE I-94 form (which I received in Edinburgh and completed on the plane - be aware that they may try to give you the green one, they tried with me but Iwas on the ball) and the unopened brown envelope from the US embassy. The immigration officer opened the brown envelope, was unsure what to do so phoned a colleague and after a short chat between them I was then escorted (all in a friendly manner) to a back room. There I waited, along with a couple of other people, for just a few minutes before being called forward. The officer just asked why I was in the US, I told him "to marry my fiancée and to settle in the US with her". He handed back my stamped passport (I-94 attached) and said "you've got 90 days". I must have been in that back room for less than 5 minutes. In my experience this back room is NOTHING to be scared off - you're in there with other people. Even the first immigration officer (the one at the booth) said to me "nothing to worry about, just a formality" and gave me a "good luck". So don't panic if you're told you have to go to the back room - I had to and our case is as straight-forward as they come.

I am always amazed how "stars" freely move around the world when they have certain convictions against them...do they queue up for their waivers like the rest of us?

I remember hearing Adam Clayton from U2 talking about having to get a special visa to tour the U.S. as he has a drug conviction or something along those lines. They would only allow him to remain in the U.S. for 6 weeks at a time. He also said they (the interviewing officers) were always so rude to him.

No, his visa does not limit him to a stay of 6 weeks (U2's US tour legs are far longer than that), it's that he has to apply 6 weeks in advance of wanting to go to the US.

These days, Adam Clayton no longer keeps a home in New York. A drug bust in the early '90s had begun to cause him increasing grief with the U.S. immigration authorities in the wake of 9/11. "I have to apply for a visa six weeks in advance of travelling and it makes it hard to be spontaneous," he explains. "Even when you do get a visa, when you arrive you get sent to a little back room where they basically humiliate you, then eventually look in your passport, stamp it and let you go. I just wonder if it happens to Paul McCartney?! Maybe not. Maybe being busted with a bag of grass in Japan is a different offence."

[From the July, 2005, issue of MOJO magazine.]

Just thought I'd clear that up, being a U2 fan.

Amen! We are loving the "not having to talk"!

you want a tuna or peanut butter sandwich for lunch?

how cool is it to say that!

yay folks, I'm in the US and I have to thank everyone that helped our journey so far go by so damn smoothly.

when I got to the immigration officer he said "what have you got for me here?" (in a friendly voice, seeing my brown envelope"). I said "this your first of the day?" and he replied "first one ever". He phoned a colleague to discuss briefly what to do with it, did a couple of things on the computer like scan in my passport, told me that I'd have to go into the back room but it was nothing to worry about and then called another colleague over to escort me to the backroom. His colleague came over and said "you know he's wearing a skirt?" and they both laughed and the first guy stood up to see my kilt, laughed, then shook my hand and said "good luck mate". The second guy dropped me off at the back room - telling me on the way that he and the first guy always have a bit of banter with each other about gayness and skirt wearing so seeing me in my kilt continued their joke.

I had to wait about ten minutes in the room (there were three other people being delt with). One of the officers called me up and said "why are you in the US?", I told him to "to marry my fiancée and to settle". He handed back my passport, with the I-94 attached, along with some notes (that I haven't looked at yet) and said "you've got 90 days". As you can maybe tell, he wasn't as cheerful as the first two officers but I didn't care.

So, it was off to collect my six bags (those carts are far too small!), through customs and into the arms of Abby.

http://www.uknova.com

You may find difficulty joining at first as the site has a limit on how many members they take on. However, they release a few hundred members per day so just keep trying throughout the day and you'll find success at some point.

Then download a bit torrent software such as http://bittornado.com/

Downloading torrents is easy. Just install the torrent software. Then look for the television programme you want to watch and download the associated torrent file to your computer and open it in the torrent software. After a while the programme will be downloaded to your computer and you can watch it using your favourite media player.

Chas, so you'd be the meals-on-wheels chap that never was?

aye

[interesting(yawn) Ewen fact #33429]

one of the first ever records I bought was Rush's Closer To The Heart on 7" vinyl.

[/interesting(yawn) Ewen fact #33429]

nice to see you, to see you nice.

green lobster stuff

Since it's St.Patrick's Day next week:

Dublin Lawyer

This dish is delicious and traditional - a happy combination - though its expensive ingredients make it a rare treat rather than an everyday affair. For the best flavor the fish has to be freshly killed just before cooking. Plunge a sharp knife into the cross on the back of the head. Slice in half lengthwise and crack open the claws. Remove all the flesh and cut into large chunks. Keep both halves of the shell for serving.

1 live lobster, about 2 lb

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup Irish whiskey

1/2 cup whipping cream

salt and pepper

(serves two)

Toss the lobster meat in foaming butter over a medium heat for a few minutes until cooked. Take care that the butter does not burn. Add the whiskey and when it has heated up set light to it. Pour in the cream, heat through and season.

Serve in the half shells with plainly boiled fine beans.

Pax sent me this story the other day about furry lobsters:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/03/08...r.ap/index.html

Edwin whats your theory? cant you see we are ordering dinner? you want some lobsers or some tacos?

thats the only choice we talking about right now.

Edwin? LOL

hmm, veggy sausages, if you please.

i'm not fighting

i'm not sensitive.

i'm confident enough in the INTERNET to realize how stupid this is.

But I'm also not the type of person who lets someone make comments directed at me without defending myself.

???

You're bite-back to me was certainly a case of being 'sensitive'.

The thread had moved on but you thought it a need to make a remark regarding something that had already been cleared up, a few pages ago. Your remark was not on the 'choice of words' used but on people judging others on their choices...which wasn't the case if you had taken the time to read what had followed. Nobody is or was judging anyone for their own personal choice.

oh gee, i'm so sorry that my observations upset you. chill out. i was making a comment based on what I read that others had posted. Incidentally, my comments were based on the "choice of words" comments that were made.

Funny that you didn't feel it necessary to comment to the others involved in this discussion.

umm, I'm perfectly chilled but you obviously aren't. I didn't feel it necessary to comment to the others because the air seemed to have been cleared. i.e. the reason why I kindly pointed you to fully read the thread. Anyway, I'll toodle off now because you seem to be hyper-sensitive.

peace

Faith,

I suggest you go back and fully read the thread and you will see that nobody is getting upset or is overly sensitive regarding the reasons why people here have chosen to change or keep their last name. The 'upset' was caused by a choice of words that gave the impression to one or two people, including my fiancée, that if you didn't choose to change your name then you loved your husband less. The air has been cleared of that as the posters apologised for any misunderstandings and the thread had moved on as a result.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I'm taking on Pax's last name as a middle name.

Don't tell Pax but I want to be a Mrs too!

can't say I've ever tried vegemite unless it's exactly the same thing as Marmite:

if so, can't stand the stuff!

For those who are put off trying Haggis, two things:

1) The supermarkets' haggis is usually far inferior and tends to be made with pork rather than sheep, so try and get it from a recommended butcher shop.

2) There's always vegetarian haggis and a lot of Scots themselves eat this instead.

hot tip: sprinkle a little whisky (note the Scottish spelling) on the cooked haggis, especially Glenmorangie. yum.

I was expecting this to be dominated by English people, and I'm pretty much right.

"Get yer haggis! Right here! Chopped heart and lungs! All boiled in a wee sheep's stomach! Tastes as good as it sounds! Good for what ails ya!"

huh?

Why would English people say that? Haggis is from Scotland not England.

:sigh:

Ewen was asked, I think.

...

I wasn't asked which website. I was asked how we met and I answered "we met through an Internet discussion forum on our favourite rock band". The CO asked what band and I said "U2" and that was all. Just thought I'd clear that up for our particular case. Maybe he was a U2 fan himself because that was the last question asked before granting me my visa with a big smile on his face!

Although I did indeed send her a card.

ooops! seems you fell into the trap...

wait, it wasn't a Valentine card...

it was a "remember it's my birthday in 4 days but don't mention my age" card.

I jest, I jest.

ok!

And Happy Birthday in 4 days...!

Thank you! I demand that all attention is focused on my birthday!

wait...

no I don't!

to add to the debate:

I do think that valentine's day is a day built on commercialism and MONEY MAKING. It may have some relevance somewhere, but has been hyped by people to make money.

If you need a special day to tell your SO that you love them...I PERSONALLY think that is sad.

That said, if my husband were here I'd love to celebrate it, but he is romantic all the time. He doesn't need a mandated, publicized day to get me flowers, take me out to eat, etc etc.

I say celebrate it and have fun but take it for what it is....

a money making holday!

Well said.

SOL, I don't see a debate. It only becomes a debate or "serious" when people make comments such as yours.

I hope people have a lovely Valentine's Day. Pax and I will, by having some sushi tonight (albeit 4,500 miles apart) but I don't need Hallmark to remind me to tell her that I love her. Although I did indeed send her a card.

What I don't get is why people get so bothered if other people enjoy the day. What should it matter? If they don't want to do anything....fine....but what's the difference if someone just wants to express that extra little something today? That doesn't by any means translate to not being romantic on any other day of the year. It's not an all or nothing. *shrug*

I did say it was a "personal" viewpoint. You do what you want and enjoy it, I'm sure you will.

I personally think it's the most unromantic day of the year and personally I believe it's a license for a lot of people (note: not everybody) to be unromantic for the remaining 364 days of the year. Why have a day of the year set for us to be romantic? I don't personally get it. "sh*t, it's Valentine's day so I'd better pop into the gas station on the way home and pick up a bunch of flowers" will be ringing through many (note: not all) men's brains tonight when they finish work, probably the usually most romantic of men. Shout at me for that if you want but that's definitely true. These same men that have done, probably on the spur of the moment, far more romantic things throughout the year for their partner but will get it in the neck if they don't make an effort for today. It's nuts. Valentine's day is a complete cop-out and the most pointless holiday of the year for people that are already in relationships. Forget about Valentine's day, is what I say, and reserve the energy for being romantic for other days in the year, of your own decision, and not by what the calender, Hallmark or Interflora have to say. If we can't do that then it proves how such a cop-out Valentine's Day really is...personally.

Happy Valentine's Day to those who don't share that opinion, I hope you have a wonderful day (said without sarcasm).

It might also be because it's my birthday 4 days after!

For me personally Valentine's Day is something for single people - where they wait in anticipation to receive, out-of-the-blue, a card or flowers or such from a secret admirer. I just don't get why couples are forced by society to be romantic on a particular day - it's either everyday or no day at all. Being romantic because your calendar tells you to be is actually quite an UNromantic thing, imo. What bothers me is...you can do all these romantic, out-of-the-blue things throughout the year but God forbid if you don't do anything on Valentine's day [/sarcasm] because all those special little things you may have done prior are suddenly forgotten.

Saying all that, my S.O. likes Valentine's day so I'm not going to rain on the parade. VD matters to her and she matters to me so hopefully I'll try and make the day special for her.

So, Pax...

I YOU!!

Yes, because life is SO terrible and hard in the UK, where the currency is actually worth more than the dollar... So of course he's marrying you just for that green card!!! It's just THAT much better in the US.

Yes well it's all like a Dicken's novel where everyone grows up in a dark orphanage and has to beg for more gruel. Also another popular American misconception is that ALL british people live in London. There is just no other city in England.

Great Britain consists of, in alphabetical order: England AND Scotland AND Wales!

While the 'United Kingdom' consists of Great Britain (see above) and the several northern counties of Ireland known by some as 'Northern Ireland' and by others as 'Ulster'.

So, when you refer to 'British' people, you are refering to more than just the English or England.

Sorry, just something that irks me but no hard feelings.