maliciant

The example cases involved people who were not married, and the invasion of privacy was far from the only enforcable crime involved as hacking is also a crime and was involved in the examples I have seen. I think that it's unlikely that the OP is at risk of legal trouble for having read those emails, but should probably have her divorce attorney look into that before using them as a basis for divorce. Privacy laws (and laws in general) tend to vary by state though and privacy laws are a hot ticket item the last decade so you probably don't know what you'd find until you start digging through case law about it.

It's almost time to start studyin up on the removing conditions stuff, it's really more of a referesher course since back in the day when everything we did revolved around this site and we knew all the steps from start to finish and even the oh ####### a nightmare happened (I still read a few of those nightmare threads... but it's been a long time since I found one interesting). Anyway, just a few more months until it's time to start filing removal of conditions stuff.

Glad to get an update from Chris & Mara, too bad the news isn't better.

Yesterday was the official one year wedding anniversary, also the day my wife passed her driving test, and as an added bonus she did her 'RAP' class (it was a requirement the court had because she had rear-ended a guy while practicing driving...). It was a busy anniversary, and today, we'll look at probably the last two houses we'll look at before buying one.

A little random tip related to this, I was told by the tax preparer that if I was sending money to my wife's family that was more than half the total household income (of the family) then I could claim them as dependents... considering the very large difference in economies (at least for the philippines and probably a few other countries), that may not be a hard number to hit. I don't know what kind of burden of proof or information you'd need should you get auditted so do some research etc...

For my one year anniversary my wife get's to attend a course for drivers who have been in accidents (and are basically being let off the hook if they take this course and manage to avoid getting into another accident in the next two years, at least, not an accident that is their own fault I mean), that'll be the 22nd, today, the 18th she is going to take the driving portion of her test and hopefully finally have her license, I'm hoping she passes but I'm a little worried she get tripped up on something like basic vehicle knowledge (turning on the hazards or something). We'll know later today though.

Also, we're shopping around for a house, wasn't really something that had a lot of planning and there are a few pitfalls for people buying a home with someone who hasn't been in the country long... generally the new to the US person has 'unverifiable' income/work history and so you might have to qualify on one income, just need to find the right house. We found one that was pretty ideal but while we were figuring out a few things and trying to sort out some roof/insurance issues (the guy was paid for a new roof and only repaired a portion which makes the house nearly impossible to insure) someone else made an offer, presumably unaware of some of the issues we had uncovered so our only hope was to see if the place really closes... we're looking at another house that has some potential too but it seems very similar in terms of having a roof issue (again most likely it is at a point where it has to be replaced to be insured etc).

I've been plotting to revive it... you know... anniversary and all that coming up, but yeah, this thread sinks into the abyss on a regular basis now, and well, I think a few people are still not done with their journey... a year and a half later

STOP

With all the statistics and arguing about a double standard going on here, how come no one is pointing out that the comment may have simply been about obama's relative lack of experience (ie, interns get coffee for people). Now I'll admit I don't follow news of any kind too closely (unless it's funny that is) so maybe Bill Clinton is in the habit of making racist remarks about black people, but I kind of think more likely most of the regular off topic people are too invested in bashing people of the opposing political party that they are overlooking simple reasoning.

Happy christmas and merry new years and stuff like that, we're not that far from first year marriage anniversaries and all, hopefully everyone is doing well.

There is an old lady that many people in my area have noticed walking around, in all kinds of weather, all the time. I've talked with her and she says she walks 20 miles a day, she can't do it all at once, so she walks 2.5 miles one direction, and then walks back home, so she does that four times a day, she has been doing that since 1973 (or she was diagnosed in 1973, I'm not 100% sure but I'm leaning towards she has been walking like she does now since then). She's probably about 80, and extremely thin. She also said something about she has some kind of special wrap or leg warmer or something that prevents her legs from getting all bumpy/lumpy, I'm not real clear on that part or if it's even a fibromyalgia issue, she may have other health problems that contribute (her eye's for example looked like there was some kind of fluid problem, and she mentioned something about knowing some musicians who were fairly well known and when 9-11 happened they put on some show but they all wore disguises out of fear that muslims would target them or something... anyway, she started that story off with something along the lines of I don't know if you are old enough to remember 9-11... I'm clearly an adult and 9-11 was only about 8 years ago). I don't know what kind of meds she takes etc, might be on a whole mess of medications for all I know.

Anyway, I've heard exercise helps with fibromyalgia though I don't know why. I think I read somewhere that the diagnosis for fibromyalgia is, if they can't find the source of someone's pain, it's fibromyalgia... in other words it's not something that can be definitively diagnosed so it's kind of a way for a doctor to brush people off, without having really determined the real problem. I think it's actually a much rarer disease than would seem by the number of people diagnosed with it, I also wouldn't be surprised if people manage to get prescriptions for pain pills based on such a diagnosis (much like glaucoma).

A good example I wish I thought of earlier and is similar, is most people don't know what they really sound like, but record your voice some time and listen to that... your voice might sound cool while you are talking because you hear it differently than the rest of us... my own voice sounds like kermit the frog when I listen to it played back, that's not how I hear myself though (this is also probably the main reason a lot of people who do bad impressions think they are good at them... it probably does sound right to them, but if they heard themselves recorded and played back, they'd realize it's not right at all).

We don't see ourselves the way we see other people or how they see us, if someone isn't having a hard time getting around on their own then they aren't likely to see themselves as fat. Somewhere between 17 and 26 I put on a lot of weight, probably a huge chunk of it closer to 26 and never thought of myself as fat, though I knew I wasn't very fit (I considered myself above average probably though) and I knew looking in a mirror I wasn't sporting six pack abs... and then I saw a picture of myself that way too much resembled the stay puff marshmellow man, it was a shock because even walking by a mirror or something I never saw myself that way, that one picture made me realize how fat I had become. I dropped 85 lbs and still hadn't achieved the look I thought I'd have after losing about 60 lbs (my original goal that I figured would put me very lean). I was still obese according to BMI, I truly do have a large frame and I am packing more muscle than a typical person, but I would say I was in a healthy body fat range, even if I'd have liked to get lower... sad news is I have to say was because I've regained a big chunk of weight over the last few years, it's not always easy to keep a good habit going, and even as I was regaining the weight I was aware of it but until I hit a point where suddenly my pants aren't very comfortable it didn't seem that big a deal... once again I am reminded that I don't look the way I see myself, and need to keep focused on fitness.

She is currently working in in a production line type job, hanging laundry, it's union work though on the low end pay wise (ie like 8.25 an hour, there are fairly regular evaluation/raises but they don't really add up to much it seems, I am unaware of anyone making more than 8.XX an hour in her position. Of course that ain't all bad and it's a full time position, and the benefits are pretty good, will have medical once she's been there three months, the benefits program is much better in terms of affordability than my own is, I pay $560 a month for the two of us for just medical, after her's kicks in it'll cost $200 a month for medical, dental, and vision for for us, there is a higher co-pay but overall the medical was pretty comparable as far as I could tell, just an example of a larger company being able to get much better rates. There are a few other (some optional) insurance thingies in there, but the three I care about are medical, dental, vision... the other stuff I don't particularly care about (or is fully paid by the company) so no biggy. Before this job she was working at a steak house, the hours sucked for a lot of reasons, the pay sucked, no benefits, only the cooks and servers can make much there, she didn't like the people (I think that's customers as well as co-workers) and the longer she worked there, the less she liked most of them.

She hadn't had a lot of luck finding a job traditionally (sending applications etc), and all things considered, I guess that shouldn't be a surprise, a typical american business is going to look at contacting previous employers and ####### themselves cause they don't know how to make international phone calls or they don't want to spend the money on them. She did ok as far as places that you could walk into and apply at but her english while good, isn't quite there yet and might have caused her to fail at interviews, it's a pretty different atmosphere applying for a job here and all kinds of little things add up to make it more difficult/hard to be confident. She very quickly landed two jobs once she met a few local filipino's (they knew where others were working/knew the people in charge so that got her a foot in the door even before applying). I don't expect it to be hard for her to get another job in the future, that first job is probably the hardest, though if all goes well the next time she's applying for a job it'll be a career type position and she'll have the education to show she's qualified (and of course her english improves the longer she's here).

I think how hard it is to find a job depends mostly on where you are at in the country, what skills you have, etc. I think where I'm at things aren't too bad, I don't think people are likely to get raises right now, but at the same time I think most people who want a job will get one if they really try. I also figure it depends on what country you are from, I don't think australian or british citizens would have much trouble, other than a strange accent they are "one of us", or at least, don't have a langauge barrier to deal with. People who speak english well and spanish fluently probably have a lot of opportunities in some parts of the country if they don't mind working on a phone all day as well.

The article mentions that he had failed to file in a timely manner some immigration paperwork... so naturally I thought of VJ (and of course the craigslist ad for a legal assistant/sexretary made me think of off topic).

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-law...0,5064858.story

My wife doesn't get the friday after thanksgiving off... I'm horrified by this... OK, pretty mild all things considered, but yeah... I'll be on the prowl for some electronics on black friday, if I see a ps3 in the ridiculous price range I might just get one, but really I'm more interested in a computer... I really don't expect to buy anything though (it's questionable if I'll even get to a store... I'm not big on crowds).

Police say Bruce offered several reasons to explain his actions:

The man tried to rob him.

The man grabbed Bruce's crotch and made an overt sexual advance in perfect English.

The man yelled "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for "God is great," the same words some witnesses said the Fort Hood shooting suspect uttered last week.

Without reading anything else that right there condems the marine in my book, I mean sure maybe the cleric actually did all three of those things before getting pummeled with a tire iron, but I seriously doubt it, the guy wanted to pound someone and thought he could get away with it in this case.

Not much to post about, but I do continue to watch this thread.

My company has an AT&T Yellowpages and advertising website, we apparently use them because it gives us some kind of discount on our yellow pages listing which is important to our business, and not based on any other particular merrits (our website does look nice and all though and most likely their design team created it, it's basic and anything someone might view as amatuerish probably came at the bosses specific request... he likes his fonts large and easy to read... and you probably will too when you reach his age).

But on to the important part, I started working on a new project at work and for that project we decided php was the way to go, for those that don't know what php is, it's a scripting langauge that allows a website to do cool things, like run a forum (specifically these forums are php forums), it's a free to use langauge and is provided by almost every single webhosting service out there, if you are paying anything at all for webhosting you probably have the ability to use php scripting... but I figured since AT&T uses a template builder thing (which is overall pretty nice once you get used to it) I'd better ask them if anything special has to be done or if it's supported...

Their answers were along the lines of what is it? I've never heard of that? etc... This is pretty strange for anyone working in any way with website hosting to have no knowledge about it at all, to the point of saying they'd never heard of it before... that's like someone working in wallstreet not knowing that stock tickers exist or a dock worker not knowing what a shark is (ok, maybe that's a bit unfair, I think most everyone in the world regardless of career knows what a shark is). The first guy who said he didn't know php was a billing department guy, so while it's a little surprising it's understandable, but when he transfered me to their website people (the phone number on their webpage was outdated and so I think I got redirected to the wrong lace) and I got a similar response it was kind of jaw dropping. When I explained what php was/what we were going to use it for, the lady on the phone told me AT&T has security and stuff to prevent us from grabbing other customers personal information and yadda yadda yadda... she seemed to be under the impression that I was wanting to run something on their servers to grab their customers information, what I actually said I wanted to do was create an online job application for our business, she got really pissed when I told her uh, she was completely misunderstanding what I had said, she told me "well, that's your opinion". At that point I went from being a little frustrated that so called web people had no idea what I was talking about (but still perfectly calm) to... realizing I could probably boil coffee through rage alone... that's when I told her "Thanks for the help, bye." and hung up, I remained professional (at least relatively, I'm not opposed to a good ####### joke or a bad male chauvinist joke at work for example...) until after I hung up the phone and said a few choice words... and then posted my rant here (the only forum that I do more than lurk at).

I wish I had thought to ask for her name, I mean I wouldn't go so far as to send any kind of formal complaint but at the point where she actually got me mad it would have been worth it to ask for the kind of information I'd need to report her... followed by messing with her in some fashion, perhaps by asking her every question listed on their website faq... while I try to think of something that would annoy her even more... like... after finishing that list, repeating a lot of the questions... or asking another question in a variety of ways... and when all else fails I guess I could just go for "You do it"...

I'm still a little shocked that AT&T doesn't know what PHP is... I almost want to call them up and ask about PHP again, what chance is there I'd find another website support person who doesn't know what PHP is...

Wait? The cops mistake was checking the (lesser) speed limit violation box instead of the one that says HOLY SHT STRAIGHT TO JAIL box that going 22 mph over the limit tends to get? Or the error was writing down 62 instead of 52 (which fits the box)? If you were actually going 62 then you pretty much have to bend over and take it, a small paperwork error won't save you, but if it was the other way yeah, I hope you don't get tagged for being 22 mph over the limit, in most states there is a point where it becomes a felony and all around more serious... and 22 is probably well over it (12 might even be but I don't know).

Fred: Cases get transfered (in theory) on the basis that everything required is clearly there. I suspect in your case because you naturalized (or at least was not born a US Citizen) you probably got put into the needs interview pile. I think they operate on the assumption that everything goes into the CSC pile by default unless they see something of question or something is clearly missing, in your case your story is pretty unique and might even be too close to 'introduced by family' (which might even be the case but hardly matters after having known each other so long and gone to school together etc). It seems like 80% of K-1's go to CSC, at least when they file the AOS in the first year (and as always preferably in the first 3 months), but I'm basing that on a very small number of filers, timelines and behavior at USCIS obviously change all the time, it really could just be a coin toss (and I think some of the time it almost definitely is... a random screening etc).

You gotta get in line Fred... why a hybrid? If it's for economical reasons I'm going to have to suggest you are a sucker to buy into that, the real world use of a hybrid generally doesn't not provide much of a boost in terms of actual gas mileage, and you will definitely be paying extra for the hybrid parts. If you are doing it because you think you'll have an impact on the environment, I suspect that also fails for the same reason (that in real world use they aren't that much more efficient) but at least that's a cause worth supporting.

The Chevy Volt is being boasted as getting 230 mpg... which obviously with a number so large you know they are gaming the way fuel ratings are done at least a little, but if you get anything near that it could be very handy. From what little I've read though it depends on a battery which they think will get you 40 miles without ever having to use the gas engine, and that battery requires you to plug in your car (I think it takes about 8 hours to charge). So if you drive less than 40 miles a day you would not normally need gas and 40 is a lot of miles if you don't live out in the country. What I've read says that it's not likely to actually go 40 miles, on a single charge though and I know that even if you don't have to by as much gas you still pay for the electricity, it's supposedly cheaeper but I don't know what the actual cost is (and if you live in an apartment you may not have an option to plugin anyway).

Didn't realize they made you do an interview, maybe the down side to living in california, but sounds like it went nice and smooth.

My wife and I bought a Chevy Aveo about 2 - 3 weeks ago... Columbus day is rear end a guy while learning to drive day... oops, that driving lesson cost $500 (cosmetic damage tot he car mostly, it's not new anymore). She did manage to pick someone with no license, insurance, apparently not the owner of the car (all things he claimed) plus of course his head hurt... after he walked into the restaurant to call his mother on their phone I think he discovered his neck hurt too (the guy was poor, and I guess trying to get his car paid off, which had no damage btw, it had dealer tags and was a 90 something or nother, so nice and solid and it wasn't hit that hard to begin with). This month is like filing for AOS... in that I'm spending more money than I'm earning, I can't complain too much though cause in general life is going pretty good.

I don't think there is much chance of getting the CR-1 any faster than the fiance visa, I'm under the impression that whatever the hangup with a k-1 is, you'll probably hit it with a CR-1 visa too, but I just heard on the radio yesterday that australia is something like the second best country to live in, and the US... around 13th place... I don't know how reliable that information is but hey, you might end up having a step up on the rest of us when the big australia immigration rush kicks in (you know, from bankrupt america to australia)... I hadn't been into VJ for so long the site forgot to keep me logged in, me and the wife been busy and got a sinus infection, also a car, but she's still working with a learners permit and sadly after having the car for about a week she's only driven it about 20 feet (to park it in a better parking spot). I'm hoping that'll change tonight and she'll get some serious driving practice in now that we're both getting over the infection.

Anyway, did I somehow miss the court required answer from USCIS? Last I knew they had continued the run around, seriously, I can't believe nothing came of that? If they answer now they'll probably just state that they can't approve the petition because it was withdrawn (even though that happened way later).

Trying to identify bugs/insects online is hard... I saw a monsterous insect (I was pretty sure it was an insect when I saw it) that looked like some kind of evil flying spider, and large... when I first saw it (because it moved when I got a little too close for it's comfort) I thought it was a missouri tarantula (non-fuzzy and basically like an extra big version of a typical house spider...) but then closer inspection revealed it wasn't... but was creepy and looked like it had wings... I took pictures... from a safe distance... I mean this crazy giant spider monster thing potentially had wings, or might be able to jump or whatever, it was about the size of a fist...

Someone from my office thought it might be a stink bug of some sort and through that I accidently found what it really was... a wheel bug, turns out that even though it's not a spider, you still wouldn't want one to bite you. I saw it again the next day (I guess they are somewhat territorial or maybe that one just had a nice camping spot) and it didn't look quite as big... maybe it wasn't the same one... here is a pic that gives you some idea of the horrors that creep around missouri...

The one I saw had a shorter body, the image doesn't resemble a spider as much as the one I saw. Even in places where these bugs are common they are apparently not usually seen. The photo's I took of one were pretty blurry, so I found a stock image instead...

You don't have to have an SSN to file AOS, but you SHOULD get it before the I-94 expires (and you need to request it about 2 weeks before then or they may refuse to get you one), if you don't you have to wait until AOS completes to get it. It's easy to get your SSN normally so you should get it, you have a few months with nothing better to do...

Registering at your post office isn't always necessary, for example, I did not, but I think in cases where the USC is marrying someone else and her name will change, then it's important. I imagine most stuff will get there no problem but when it says registered or something on the mail they might be a bit more cautious with it. Since I live in an apartment generally people put their names inside the mailbox on a piece of tape so the mail man can easily see what names of people there are.

Can they tell the judge that it's a matter of national security and basically stonewall him as well? I wouldn't be surprised to find out they can, but hopefully that won't be the case.

HYENA: I think generally most men can only sell there #### (I assume that's a word that rhymes with gas) to uh... other men... I'm not sure what I'd sell mine for but I'm pretty sure no one in their right mind would pay whatever the asking price is...

On the whole debt thing... while I haven't exactly struggled to make ends meet, I have always lived cheaply and had very little debts, but I did have one for around 10,000 which has mostly built up interest for the last year, I finally made the first payment in 260 days last week (which didn't even cover the interest from that time period and obviously this thing has no late fees, or I'd have made some kind of minimum payment etc), if it weren't for the whole getting married thing I most likely would have had that debt paid off several months ago, the biggest expense though is health insurance, by far... but now that my wife has a job (*sigh* two jobs... though she doesn't plan to work both for too long, her goal is about 3 months) money is much less tight... down side is obviously she's not going to have a lot of free time for much of anything including sleep.

http://www.newyorkcriminallawyerblog.com/2...nd_degre_1.html

That article (based in new york) makes it sound like no big deal, it's not even a crime, it's spitting on a sidewalk or playing music too loud kind of offense... that said obviously it won't help the marriage any but I don't think it'll have any impact on immigration itself.

They want your previous years taxes, if you qualify based on that you are fine I think. You need to figure out how to get that AOS going, the sooner it's filed it seems the less hassle, and in your case in particular you probably want to avoid interviews etc (k-1 interviews seem pretty rare when filing happens before the I-94 is over, but if it takes over a year to file AOS then it seems like it happens most of the time). I'd go so far as to say that you probably should go into debt for the AOS fee if it's your only choice, I think it's that important, 3 months of nothing to do, especially if money is tight, is torture for anyone, especially someone who isn't going to have a close set of friends etc, school or work or something is pretty much a necessity.

Good luck with the job hunting, at this point you should probably be looking for just about any steady job you can get.