visaveteran

WRT buying medals and taking them back to the US, just know that if you're caught with authentic medals, especially military medals, they could be confiscated and you could be subject to paying fines or (unlikely) jail time. In any case you'll probably miss your flight. And if it matters to you, you're also participating in pillaging a country's history. I know, lots of other people are doing it and you're a drop in the bucket, but still. The fur hats are cool though. I would wear one if I didn't look so much like a dork in them.

Well, we really pillaged Germany and Japan. Should we loose sleep over our old arch enemy, the USSR?

FSU superstition - If you say something is or is not going to happen, the opposite of what you say is going to then occur because you talked about it. Best I can tell this comes from the "loose lips sink ships" policy of the USSR. Say nothing, see nothing, hear nothing. Mind your business. Etc.

Example - You DO NOT say, "you will pass your interview with no problem." Because by saying that, you just personally insured her downfall. She WILL fail because you talked about it.

I've tried and tried to say, "tonight I will NOT win the lottery." Still waiting for my millions.... (And my wife's still telling me someday we will win.)

I found it interesting that Russians don't have the "never open an umbrella in the house" superstition. But they sure make up for it with a hundred other kooky ones.

I like the old War Department videos. Propaganda with your training!

Ever watch the movie "Dodge Ball?" They do a mock training video from the 1940s that's great.

Queens are old and have to make decisions. Princesses are young and pampered!

Russian gay bar?

My wife supports my gun hobby and my preparing for life without the rule of law...like in Libya and Wisconsin.

I am, like many, rediscovering the wonderful snubnose revolvers of yesteryear. Colt Detective Specials are hot as all get out right now...cause they don't make them anymore. And what a sweet gun. Mechanism like a Swiss watch. Nice trigger (newer ones not so much). Very accurate for a short barreled gun. Decent carry weight 22 oz. and very concealable. And when she comes out no safeties, racking the slide, messing with jams, worrying about mags, etc. Just pull that trigger, baby. I still like the autos but it's refreshing to keep it simple sometimes. And, frankly, every auto I've owned has at times let me down. It didn't like certain ammo, the recoil springs went limp too soon. The magazines were fussy. The gun had to be cleaned often, etc. The snubbies are also good guns for women. No difficult battery of arms. Easy to carry in a purse, low recoil.

The hand assembled guns of past times are really nice. The Colt royal blue is classic bluing even though I went with the less common nickel plate version. The walnut grips are beautiful and rugged. I'm a definite convert. And so are half the gun lovers...the prices in just 6 months has jumped and parts like factory grips and accessories is the same deal.

Get one while you can.

What? A wife who's not submissive and obedient?

I think he's entitled to a refund. It should be in the contract somewhere.

There's no refund or escape from American matrimonial "hell."

Just kidding...well maybe.

Don't bother with that Amber. No one will believe you anyway (well, a few of us will) Gary and I have been telling how we met our wives in person first for years, and some members regularly call us out over it.

Being a bit defensive here, aren't we?

I will own I'm totally, 100%, MOB legit. Head to toe legit. I'm fat, bald, old, (but not rich, darn it) sex-driven, and exploited the internet to find my prize. Outward beauty was very high on my list of wifely priorities. I did not pursue her for her shining intellect or radiant personality, discovered during some chance meeting. Rather, I liked the way she looked in a low cut dress. My wife did not study sub-atomic physics...she studied the accordion. Yes, all I need is to find a monkey and silver cup, and the big bucks will start rolling in.

Be it known...I did not stumble onto my wife at a meeting or bus stop. I hunted her like a wolf hunts a sheep. I was a MOB prehistoric predator operating solely from my lower reptilian brain. An online velociraptor. Shameless in my pursuit of a Russian Barbie Doll.

I'm happy for you man...nice to have two incomes.

My wife got a menial retail job but had to quit when I got sick. Paid all of $8.50 an hour. Funny thing...at that level Russians really work harder and take it more seriously than most of their fellow coworkers. So the bosses loved my wife's work ethic...and actually exploited her because she was willing to actually work at a professional level. Everybody else was hiding out, BSing or doing their nails.

It wasn't much dough but it did help and gave me some financial relief.

Anyway, I wish your wife good luck with the job.

The only gun I've sold due to dissatisfaction was a Ruger SP101 snub-nose. Too heavy, lousy trigger, only 5 rounds, no hammer spur, boring rubber grips...and I just never became "one" with that gun. I made a mistake buying it after reading a positive article in a gun magazine. I guess those reviewers are sometimes just shills for the company. But the SP101 has been around a long time and continues to sell as an option over S&W and other revolver makers. Probably price is a big reason. And the Ruger name has been around a long time and that still carries some weight in the gun world.

Anyway, I got very lucky with the holster I bought for that Ruger; it was the Galco Concealable belt holster. I liked that holster a lot. Well, I just found out that holster is the same one they sell for the gun I just bought--the legendary Colt Detective Special snub-nose. I just saved myself $100 which is what Galco sells it for now. When I bought mine years ago it sold for $69. Anyway, I pulled it out and it's like new. I tried a few times to sell the holster but no takers, so I just packed it away and forgot about it. Now I'm very happy I still have it. It will be a sweet concealment carry rig...holds the gun tight to the body and just feels good to wear it.

I'l be the firs to admit the US has done some super crappy things...in the past and present. Slavery, genocide of North American natives, supported ####### regimes.. Pinochet in Chile, Saudi Arabia, ...the list goes on and on. But ...and I say this in all honesty...Americans for the most part are nice people. We can be dicks, but we are smiling dicks. Russians on the other hand...well lets put it this way...nobody other than ethnic Russians want to be a part of Russia...and for good reason. Most Russians don't even want to live in Russia. That should say something right there.

Estonia offered all the ethnic Russian occupiers a free one way ticket back to Russia...and so far not one of the ethnic Russians living in Estonia has taken the Estonian government up on this offer. Now what's that tell you ?

You're incorrect that no one but ethic Russians want to live in Russia. The people of Azerbaijan have poured into Russia for decades...legally and illegally. Moscow is overrun with them. You could say they're similar to our situation with Mexico. They come to work and often run shops and restaurants or drive taxis...or do low end work. The Russians don't like them but for whatever reasons they tolerate them...probably having to do with money. What's also interesting is they're Muslims coming into Russia, not trying to leave it.

Happy birthday! Belated I'm sure.

Anyway. Sound like some good buys, enjoy!

Thanks AK...my birthday was yesterday, Jan. 26, so not too belated

Enjoyed hearing about your .357 hot round trick!

I fit all the criterion except "rich." Don't tell my wife...I'm still pretending that I'm a rich American.

This post is primarily for the RUB "guns and pie" club.

Well, I've recently added to my gun collection. I have given myself a birthday present (one handgun) and sold a gun I don't like so much in order to buy a second handgun.

I currently find myself enamored with older or vintage handguns...yes, I've gone retro. One little older auto I've heard great things about is the Beretta 950 BS Jetfire in .25 cal. They stopped making them in the early 1990s but the current Beretta Bobcat is similar to it. It has that very unique flip-up barrel and is single-action only so you can carry it cocked and locked. I've been looking and finally found one in great condition for the right price. Bought it online which creates hassles but sometimes the local market just doesn't have what I want. This is the gun I gave myself as a gift.

The second gun I bought (after selling off one I had) is an old Colt Detective Special .38 Special. This is the old police snubnose king dating back to 1927. You'll see it in many cops and mobsters movies and TV shows. Mine is from 1967 and I got one that's nickel plated. And the revolver came with a nice hand-tooled black holster that supposedly a real police detective carried the gun in down in Texas. I think the holster is worth some money by itself. It seems these older revolvers that have been hidden away in drawers and gun safes for decades are making a comeback.

I know people will dismiss the .25 cal round but with the little Beretta, that fits in your pocket, you get 9 rounds...the most from any small pocket auto. So I would carry it and feel I had some firepower. The Colt will also be for conceal carry and you get 6 rounds as opposed to 5 rounds from the its primary snubnose competitor...the S&W Chiefs Special (or model 36).

Russia is a paradox. While it continues to be attacked by Muslim militants, it keeps doing business with Iran and Syria...countries who enable Muslim terrorists and militants. Not just "business" but selling them missile defense arms and helping them build an atomic bomb. If you play with fire, you'll get burnt...sooner or later.

Russia is an easy target as it's security is third rate. I'm always amazed they never check my bags when I enter the country.

And, this is not "madness" but a well thought out strategy to hurt the western world. Madness is the Arizona shooter who lives in never-never land.

At some point we'll wake up and start to see what is really going on...after enough people die or are wounded. This is a war, not a crime. Obama and Eric Holder, are you listening?

Well, here we go again with the USCIS. I submitted an I-130 for my wife's son. The NOA1 date was July 24 I think. The file ended up in California. Then, mysteriously they transferred the file to Texas in early November, supposedly to speed up processing. I'm sure they never touched the file at the CSC so that time was lost. Then in late November I get an email saying the State Dept. has asked the USCIS to review the case. But the kicker is a HUGE number of other filers, especially CR-1 filers, are all in the exact same boat. There's a 300 page thread on this mess in the CR-1 forum. People are going nuts. And no one's getting their NOA2s from Texas.

Apparently after the Texas transfers the "Decision Phase" was jumped over to the "Post Decision Activity" phase and nothing is getting done. Some say it's a gross USCIS error. There are lots of theories but the USCIS owns nothing. My wife's son's file has not been touched since November. We're now close to the 6 month time frame so I guess I'll call the USCIS but a million people have called and everyone get's a different answer. In the meantime, people who filed in September are getting approvals. Its the bureaucracy at its worst. Again, this is not just a few cases, or I'd think this was some kind of AR issue...but we're talking tons of filers.

I hate the USCIS...just such idiots. I went through this sh!t with my wife's filing. I guess Obama hasn't improved things at Homeland Security.

My only concern is my wife's son turns 21 next September and with the snail's pace processing and rumors it takes 6 months to get an interview after NOA2, I'm starting to worry he may clock out before this crappola get's handled.

I was wondering if anyone on this forum is caught up in this latest USCIS soap opera?

The translator-interpreter-English/Russian teacher job availability depends on where you live. In big city areas there's lots of folks offering those services, so you might struggle getting hired and may have to accept less money to do it.

Degrees in English teaching are a dime a dozen in some areas with so many immigrants from all over the globe coming here with university level educations....like from India for instance, And learning Russian is not as hot a language as it used to be for obvious reasons. Then again, you can hope for good fortune with the job hunt. There is no denying that luck plays a big part in landing jobs in all cases...but especially early on for immigrants.

Gary's wife seems to have the magic touch and also lives in a good area for what she can offer job wise. And she sounds like a real go-getter...but I think she's more the exception then the rule. Certainly she shows what can happen in a good scenario and is a good role model for new Russian wives, but these are hard times for everybody. Just look at that 9.4 unemployment rate.

Many Russian women in my area start often in the low end of retail jobs. You'll see them at the malls. Victoria's Secret seems to hire a lot of pretty women, so that's a good place to look. My wife worked at an Army PX in retail for 5 months but quit when I got very sick. She really hated the job and it paid poorly but she worked harder than her mostly immigrant and minority co-workers, so her bosses loved her. I saw the job as a way to build up some work experience and have something US-based on her resume, and then move to something better. But retail or restaurants are always hiring...especially pretty women. Not a glamorous white collar job but it helps pay the bills.

If you're coming here with a big degree from the FSU, it won't mean a lot in the big city, and you'll have to do some time in a college classroom to earn parity with your American competition. This means spending money to make money and putting in the time that can be long.

For my money you can't beat Vonage. I got it for $24.95 a month with free international land line calls, plus calls to mobile phones are .06 per minute which seems reasonable to me in looking at my total monthly bill. Since I ditched my Verizon land line and the different long-distance service I was using, I'm saying a lot of money.

BTW, I now see Vonage offered for only $14.95 a month.

For my first marriage, we went to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. We actually got married there at the Territorial Courthouse. We had to arrange for this ahead of time and it required getting our congressman involved to make sure there were no problems when we got there...and we DID need to bring paperwork and birth certificates...just so you guys who say it's so easy to get married in the US understand, that isn't always the case. The USVI is, after all, part of the USA.

The day of the wedding the island power went out...a frequent event. So there we sit inside the courthouse, without power, sweating and my soon to be bride's flowers are starting to wllt a bit and the windows are painted shut so they can't be opened. The typewriters were electric so the clerks could not do our paperwork and the Judge who was to marry us was busy anyway...scolding some kid who got into a little trouble. This was life "island style."

Anyway, the power finally came back on, the Judge married us and it was right out of a Bogart movie...very atmospheric and exotic. The judge in the USVI is kind like a king...he is very powerful, so we were married by a powerful man, not some nickel and dime justice of the peace. And, of course, he had that great island accent with a booming voice and he was very cool about discussing the seriousness of marriage; and he had a kind of romantic way of handling what was basically a simple courthouse process.

During our honeymoon phase there in the islands, we went over to St. John to Trunk Bay. There is an underwater National Park near there and you can snorkel around and there are underwater markers throughout the park..like to identify a certain kind on coral or other plant life. Very cool. It used to be the only US underwater national park. It may still be.

As an aside, and given we're already way off original topic (flowers) as usual, my ex wife and son just recently got back from 15 days in Turkey. They spent Xmas and new year's over there with 6 days in Istanbul and the rest out touring the rocks and ruins in places I can't spell or pronounce.

They loved Turkey and said the Turkish people were very friendly and helpful. They actually lived with the locals, forgoing hotels for rooms with Turkish folks. I would not have guessed the people would be so kind to Americans. And my ex had almost no problems with aggressive men, but then, her days of being a "hottie" are over although she's still attractive. And she was with my grad student son, so maybe that helped. According to my ex, one thing that has changed is the cost to tour Turkey...not cheap anymore. Prices are up...maybe the weak dollar or the global economy thing. But compared to Russia it's still a bargain I'm sure.

My Russia wife went there some years ago, to the beach area, and every man was after her...even the hotel help! Nevertheless, she still loved her vacation there as well.

For myself, I have zero interest in visiting Turkey. I'd prefer a 4-star hotel in downtown Paris...and I can still meet lots of Turkish people there too!

Didn't we just catch a bunch of Russian spies in our country who had merged very well with our culture, including beautiful young women. They got visas too. Maybe some were an American's girlfriend or fiancee? And didn't we in the last few years break up a large "marriage ring" in Norfolk, VA involving American sailors having bogus marriages to Russian women for money. Bad people keep getting inside. And alien marriage does seem to directly relate to immigration.

Personally, I don't care who marries whom...and soon I guess even Vladimir can come over here and marry William...but, given the tragic events from the past, I do care about what any alien is up to my homeland. Ronald Reagan said it best: Trust, but verify.

I'll have to own my ignorance of Americans marrying aliens in the US. I am obviously uninformed that getting married here is comparable to buying a Big Mac. Walk in, put down your money, and start throwing confetti.

It certainly is not so easy to marry in Russia...or many other countries that require you visit the US Embassy and obtain a certified oath you are free to marry. And there would be a presentation of a birth certificate, divorce papers, a "marriage letter of intention"...all translated and requiring apostile stamps. Oh...and there's that 30 day waiting period once you file for a license. Yes, I know, money fixes all things, at least in the FSU but still...there is some intention to monitor and verify who is in the country and what they're up to...and to have the marriage process move a little slower.

It seems awfully unfair to me that women (men) can lie their way into the US, find the nearest American man (woman) and get married before the tourist or work visa expires. Yes, that is the paradoxical USA...making the straight shooters wait for nearly a year to immigrate while the liars and cheaters take the dishonest short cut. OK, to not seem too cynical, maybe one in twenty visiting aliens actually falls in love and marries as a consequence of this situation before their visa runs out.

And the honest folks sit and wait...and wait...and wait.

The requirements for a marriage license vary from locality to locality. For our marriage, there was a surprisingly small list of required documents to get a marriage license. We needed photo ID, $60 and a desire to get married. I suppose that is a little scary if you think about it, but that's what it was.

King county marriage license

But...you had a fiancee visa. Yes?

I don't know of any other Americans on the forum who've married someone in the US who was a visiting alien. If anyone has experience or knowledge about this, it would be interesting. It sounds too simple to just up and marry an alien without resident status.

I'd like to hear how they got married in Delaware? She would have needed various paperwork to marry here in the states such as proof of single status, birth certificate, any divorce papers if appropriate, etc. Maybe she had what was needed but this is not you're everyday marriage. And what was her status in the USA? Student? Worker? I also wonder if she could have just applied for AOS?

And why didn't they get an apostile then? It takes only a few days and typically costs $5-$10 in fees. Just write the state's Secretary of State and they usually rush those apostile stamps out fast. Now things are much harder to deal with.

Seems like a lot of just not understanding the process or not doing their homework.

OK...if you guys want to keep this horn dog in paradise theme running, the sexiest women I have ever seen were in Latvia in August. First, Riga is a beautiful, non communist looking city with lots of charm and beauty. I would have this routine...catch the bus to the central city in the morning. Go to the Black Cat Cafe for expresso and pastries...and of course the waitresses were gorgeous. Then I'd hit the internet cafe and would arrange a date for the evening. Then I'd go sit in this beautiful park and watch the women parade by. It was a women watching paradise.The stylish and sexy dresses and skirts and ultra tight jeans left little to the imagination. Even older women looked amazing.

Then it would be lunch time and I'd eat at my favorite restaurant called Nostalgia. I loved that place...more beautiful, flirty waitresses and I met some interesting folks there. Lots of Germans and Brits there trying to cash in on the business friendly city. All in all, Latvia was my best pure vacation style trip to a former communist country. BTW, the Latvians really hate Russians and Russians can't even vote.

If you want to talk about a foreign city I could live in, it would be Riga.

I am sure I am not the only one here who has learned a lot more than expected about the countries of the FSU by meeting our fiance(e)s and traveling to those countries. I would be interested to learn what other members found most memorable and unexpected about these places. I thought I knew a lot about the world but I have been quite surprised by more than a few things. For instance, the absurdly aggressive driving in Ukraine, esp Kiev. How beautiful Russian cities can be. How they seem almost embarrassed about the cyrillic alphabet, to have status something must be written in the latin alphabet and usually in English. There are many more, what are your favorites?

These comparisons have been discssused many times on the forum. Some might say too many times. Usually ends up with TOS violations for insulting people, discrimination, etc. It also usually stirs up people on the forum whose wives and fiancees come from different countries. But your free to ask what you want.

OK, now I'm getting some popcorn and wait for the fun to start.