Jamie76

Biometrics appointment is scheduled for 10/16/08

I had considered doing just that at one time, but soon realized that there is no way I could pay my bills back in the USA on what I could make in Vietnam. So, unless you are debt-free and obligation free in the U.S., I don't see how you can swing it in Vietnam.

I have been trying to pay off my debt as much as possible. I figure that it will take me about 1 year to pay off most of my debt if everything goes as planned. Vietnam may be more of a stable economy than here in the U.S. where unemployment is on the rise and the cost of living is going up. It gets me so angry that the U.S. can give these corporations $700 billion while the average citizen struggles each day to pay their bills. All that I ask is to be reunited with my fiancee, its not like I am asking for $700 billion.

Unfortunately the financial crisis is far reaching. Both Europe and Asia are starting to feel it now. I don't think there is going to be a "safe haven" when it comes to this.

If Vietnam is anything like Thailand, all I can say is good luck. If the choice is a local and a foreigner, the local is going to win out. That is unless you have some skill set that is in very high demand (something that very, very few in Vietnam can do).

Same...MSC

Received NOA's for the I-765, I-485, and I-131 today. The notice date for all three is 9/30.

Tried putting our receipt number in the USCIS website and we get an error.

Our check was cashed on 10/01/08. Unfortunately, I can't read the number on the back.

Have you filed AOS yet? You just got one shot(and since last April, many months though), so I am not sure if USCIS ask you for more documents about medical exam. You probably start the first shot again.. Thats what I think

once you get your NOA reciept for the AOS it will have a different number than your k-1 if thats what you mean.

Yes, that is what I meant. Thank you so much for answering my question.

Jamie.....nice to see we both are filing at the same time.

Nagishkaw, nice to see you. Hope all is well with you.

Yes, I think you need to make it complete, and it will be good for you too

Read here http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/Vacine%...PR_20080724.pdf

We sent out our AOS package yesterday.

I've heard the drop in gasoline consumption here is actually making the problem worse. The cost of gas is mostly tied to the price of oil but not entirely. Consumption is going down here because of the price, this in turn is causing refineries to produce less gas than usual. So even as consumption drops, gas stocks continue to dip because refineries are not producing as much because of the drop in consumption, which in turn causes gas prices to increase.

Bunch of #######. I used turbotax and did direct deposit, but since TT uses Santa Barbara Bank and Trust, they send the check instead of doind direct deposit.

Haven't received mine yet. Filed in early Feb., and did direct deposit. Last 2 digits of my SSN are 10. Supposed to get today. What a surprise, not there.

A typical solar panel that yields a mere 50 watt-hour output costs about $500.......That's because they're damn hard to manufacture, and yes, fossil fuels play a large part in manufacturing them. The fuel they consume in operation is "free" (sunlight) but the conversion of sunlight to electricity, and hence efficiency factor is extremely low as opposed to that from fossil fuels.

A typical furnace costs around $1500 retail (a non-recurring cost) and cranks out around 35000 BTU/hour. The recurring costs is the fuel; lets say gas.

The costs to operate the furnace is just pennies/hour compared with the solar panel to get similar BTU's.

A solar panel (50 watt-hour) cranks out a whopping 170 BTU's/hour.... To replace the furnace you're talking about it will cost you around $103, 000.......and the panels don't last forever...they degrade over time and become even less efficient and eventually need replacement.

Some go 5 years, some 10. You pay more for the 10 year...

Pretty good huh <shrug>

I'd like to know where you get your information because it's a load of #######. $103,000? I know of a number of people using solar (off the grid) and they didn't spend $103,000 on solar panels...and yes, they are living quite comfortably.

Wind and solar.. lol

And how are these going to power our cars again.. People bring them up over and over again yet fail to answer how wind or solar will replace petroleum in our vehicles..

The area those two technologies are trying to replace is silly considering we already have an environmentally friendly alternative such as nuclear.

They are making great strides in battery capacity. Solar and wind can also be used to produce hydrogen. Nuclear? Peak nuclear will hit in another 50 years or so. We should put all of our eggs in one basket with nuclear and then be in the same predicament in the not so distant future by not developing solar and wind?

Embrace the mullet. The mullet shall usher in an age of enlightenment and knowledge the likes of that have not been seen before.

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil's discoveries of what may be two of the world's three biggest oil finds in the past 30 years could help end the Western Hemisphere's reliance on Middle East crude, Strategic Forecasting Inc. said.

Saudi Arabia's influence as the biggest oil exporter would wane if the fields are as big as advertised, and China and India would become dominant buyers of Persian Gulf oil, said Peter Zeihan, vice president of analysis at Strategic Forecasting in Austin, Texas.

...

Brazil may be pumping "several million'' barrels of crude daily by 2020, vaulting the nation into the ranks of the world's seven biggest producers, Zeihan said in a telephone interview. The U.S. Navy's presence in the Persian Gulf and adjacent waters would be reduced, leaving the region exposed to more conflict, he said.

...

Brazil's state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA in November said the offshore Tupi field may hold 8 billion barrels of recoverable crude. Among discoveries in the past 30 years, only the 15-billion-barrel Kashagan field in Kazakhstan is larger.

Haroldo Lima, director of the country's oil agency, last week said another subsea field, Carioca, may have 33 billion barrels of oil. That would be the third biggest field in history, behind only the Ghawar field in Saudi Arabia and Burgan in Kuwait.

...

If additional drilling by Petrobras, as Petroleo Brasileiro is known, confirms the Tupi and Carioca estimates, the fields together would contain enough oil to supply every refinery on the U.S. Gulf Coast for 15 years. Petrobras said it needs at least three months to determine how much crude Carioca may hold.

Zeihan said that beyond supply gains from Brazil, it will take a tripling of Canadian oil-sands output and greater fuel efficiency to end Western reliance on Middle East oil.

...

More discoveries will follow in Brazil's offshore basins, most of which have yet to be opened to exploration, Zeihan said. Repsol YPF SA, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Devon Energy Corp. are among the producers scouring Brazil's waters for reserves.

"The finds they've got so far are just the tip of the iceberg,'' Zeihan said. "Brazil is going to change the balance of the global oil markets, and Petrobras will become a geopolitical supermajor.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...id=aBUoYKhu7PWk

They are going to need to find a lot more large fields to help our predicament. Enough to supply every refinery on the Gulf Coast for 15 years? What then? We will be in the same situation as we are now. It will help us bridge the gap to alternatives? We've been saying that for over 30 years. We won't change until we are forced to change.

It's too bad the Bakken Oil find in North Dakota is only around 3.5 billion barrels. Earlier estimates were pegged at 200 to 500 billion barrels. Quite a drop.

Hi everyone...

Just letting you all know my fiancee and I arrived in the US on the 17th. Our POE was San Francisco. I was a bit worried about the amount of time it would take for us to clear immigration and customs but it took us only about 30 minutes total. Very easy. The immigration agent only asked if we were aware that we needed to marry within 90 days of entry.

The only thing that I didn't like about the whole trip was the flight back. We had to leave BKK early because there was a typhoon in the South China Sea we had to fly around. Pretty bumpy. Actually the turbulence was bad all the way through Tokyo until maybe an hour out of San Fran.

Fantastic Jamie76!

You know, your timing is perfect! Minnesota will be beautiful this time of year! Has your fiancee ever been there before? If not, then I'm sure she'll enjoy the mild weather! My wife arrived in April of last year, and the first couple questions she asked me about the USA were, "why are all the trees dead, was there a fire?" Being from Thailand, she'd never witnessed the fall time and the spring time when the leaves come back to the trees. The next thing she asked me was why the sky was so close to the ground (because its cloudy around Detroit all the time, not sunny and 40+C like in Thailand!)

That is the case with my wife, when she moved to Detroit with me this same time last year. Take my advice though, start to stock up on winter clothes for her NOW! She'll need them next winter. My wife, as much as she loved the first two months of snow, really suffered through the last 3 months of winter...!!! Actually, we bought most of her heavy winter sweaters from garage sales! My wife was amazed at the 'excess' of the USA...because she could buy a new sweater at a garage sale for $1......

Peace and Great to hear of your success!

MarkNAAm

Mark...We are now living in the Tucson AZ area. It's been in the upper 80s, low 90s, so not much of a difference from Thailand other than the dryer air. Trying to find an Asian market that caters more to Thais has been a challenge though. We found a small one in Tucson, but I think we are going to venture up to Phoenix to see what is there. I miss the northland, but I don't think she would like it too much. I guess we got over 9 inches of snow in northern Wisconsin last week. I don't miss that.

Hi everyone...

Just letting you all know my fiancee and I arrived in the US on the 17th. Our POE was San Francisco. I was a bit worried about the amount of time it would take for us to clear immigration and customs but it took us only about 30 minutes total. Very easy. The immigration agent only asked if we were aware that we needed to marry within 90 days of entry.

The only thing that I didn't like about the whole trip was the flight back. We had to leave BKK early because there was a typhoon in the South China Sea we had to fly around. Pretty bumpy. Actually the turbulence was bad all the way through Tokyo until maybe an hour out of San Fran.

Hi everyone,

I am off to Thailand in 8.5 hours. Probably the last time I will be posting in a while. Hope everyone's journey goes quickly.

For now we need to start drilling in our own areas for oil, build more nuclear power and develop hydrogen fuel production and delivery network. Also LPG terminals, coal to petrol plants and coal shale to petrol plants. We also need to build more refineries. This is what needs to happen going forward.

ditto

The USA is the Saudi Arabia of coal.

Not really. We are now. Based on today's consumption. They figure we have around 250-300 years of coal reserves based on "todays consumption." Back before the industrial revolution, estimates were closer to 1000 years. Again, based on consumption for that moment in time. The amount of coal we use on a yearly basis is not going to decrease, most likely it will increase. Now, add to that, mining coal to produce liquid fuels. To produce 1 barrel of diesel fuel via the Fischer-Tropsch process takes about 1 ton of coal. http://www.billingsgazette.com/newdex.php?...5-coal-fuel.inc

Can't wait until the end of this week. I'll be in Thailand enjoying some durian

Based on what's written, I find it very difficult to seriously believe this story as it's presented.

Let's review why:

1. With the exception of the brain, there is no "personality" to any organ. They merely function. The liver doesn't sit and chat with the spleen. Your pancreas won't have a fight with your lungs and for the next few days, render the silent treatment. Your organs are chunks of meat, most of which perform necessary life-preserving functions within your body. That's all.

2. The story says that Sonny Graham died via a single gunshot wound to the throat through the use of a shotgun. If you've ever handled a shotgun, you'd know that it would be exceedingly difficult (if not borderline impossible) to commit suicide in this manner. Earlier details claimed that Graham died exactly the same way Cheryl Cottle's first husband, Terry, had as well. What are the chances that one person -- let alone two -- married to the same woman would be able to kill themselves with a shotgun blast to the throat?

Actually, there have been studies on what is called the "2nd brain." The large mass of nerve fibers that are found throughout the torso of humans.

I'm sure there have. I can also tell you that you can find a study on just about anything. Researchers are, by their very nature, a bored group of people and like to come up with strange (and sometimes wacky) ideas to gain grants. These grants then fund their studies, which produce the most important thing -- papers! These papers can then published in journals and the researchers can get their name(s) known throughout their field (sometimes beyond too).

What all boils down to is the little term: "Publish or perish." Anyone in a field that conducts research will tend to live by that idea. Unfortunately, this means there will be tons upon tons of completely worthless studies, all of which generally prove very little (if that much).

These weren't just papers published for the sake of publishing. These were actual accounts. We don't know very much about the nervous system. It wasn't until recently that we found out the human brain can actually produce new neurons to replace those that are lost. It was always believed we were born with a set amount of neurons and that was it.

Based on what's written, I find it very difficult to seriously believe this story as it's presented.

Let's review why:

1. With the exception of the brain, there is no "personality" to any organ. They merely function. The liver doesn't sit and chat with the spleen. Your pancreas won't have a fight with your lungs and for the next few days, render the silent treatment. Your organs are chunks of meat, most of which perform necessary life-preserving functions within your body. That's all.

2. The story says that Sonny Graham died via a single gunshot wound to the throat through the use of a shotgun. If you've ever handled a shotgun, you'd know that it would be exceedingly difficult (if not borderline impossible) to commit suicide in this manner. Earlier details claimed that Graham died exactly the same way Cheryl Cottle's first husband, Terry, had as well. What are the chances that one person -- let alone two -- married to the same woman would be able to kill themselves with a shotgun blast to the throat?

Actually, there have been studies on what is called the "2nd brain." The large mass of nerve fibers that are found throughout the torso of humans.

Cured sausages can have strange effects on people. This just goes to show you...