BermyCat

Swag is goody bags- or free stuff.

Ohhh. I had no idea it was called that. Thanks Stacey.

BermyCat, you're mean! LOL

I wasn't that mean to them, even though at one point their customer service was so bad we almost moved to get away from them. They were so sure that price was everyone's number one priority. When every single person at the table said that they would pay more for a provider with great customer service, I saw jaws drop.

I even brought them a competitive offer that I had been sent two weeks ago, that they had no knowledge of.

Free food, free stuff and leftovers for lunch.....yay!

~ Catherine

The ISP for our apartment complex invited a few of us out to a BBQ place to get some feedback. BBQ tastes even better when it's free. Also, there was swag. I love swag. When I'd be sent to represent my company at conferences, I'd take of my name tag and go around pinching everyone else's swag. Competitive intelligence gathering...yeah..that's what I was doing.

~ Catherine

I was feeling good about my guild..... until last night. We had several players leave, and our GM and his gf who were our MT and OT taking an extended break. So a bunch of us decided that we would start at the ground and build up. We would run heroics to gear up some new 80's to start doing 10 man naxx and build up enough to get a nice 25 man group going. Well I was so frustrated last night with our first heroic runs. I got the group with a brand new tank, and a healer who is quite clueless. To be fair, she's very well geared, and one of the nicest people I've ever met. She's just quite clueless about fights that aren't straight forward. We wiped like 10 times on the last boss in AN. COme on ####### is that. Our healer could barely keep herself alive. She kept getting pitched up in the air and getting 8 stacks of poison on herself. I was trying to be nice and find out if she's even using any heal add ons. Indeed she was. I donno. I just feel so embarassed to have wiped on a 5 man. On the plus side, I did 3.2k DPS in a 5 man

Was your healer a paladin? We aren't the most mobile of healers. I know I had a hard time with that fight at first. I wanted to kill anyone that got tossed for making things even worse.

~ Catherine

Birth control is definitely a prescription drug in Canada. No reputable Canadian company is going to send you the pills without verifying your prescription.

~ Catherine

I find it annoying that I have to justify myself and explain I had to leave a perfectly good job to come to the US to be with the one I love. I also find it annoying to have to explain to US citizens (and I am talking about educated ones here) that the UK and Europe is not some 3rd world country that needs to be escaped from.

Try coming from Bermuda. People think that island = underdeveloped. We are an international banking and reinsurance centre. There are no grass huts there! I've also heard "but you speak English so well!" I ususally only get these sorts of reactions when people know I'm Bermudian before the meet me. Normally, they have no idea that I'm not American.

~ Catherine

argh, so yesterday the hubby and I had a little BBQ, just some hamburgers, corn on the cob etc.. when he was done cooking he came inside and said he had heard the neighbors talking.. he said they were complaining about the smoke from the BBQ and wondering how long he was going to be out there etc... my first thought was , if the smoke is bothering you, shut your flippin door...

then I told hubby that we should go and outside and start complaining about their loud music, their arguments , the kids that hang out outside till late in the evening and all their blasted lawn furniture strewn all over the front...

Aren't passive-aggressive people fun?

~ Catherine

We have a new plan for the kitten. We're going to keep him isolated with limited, supervised play time with the other cats. He'll get tested bi-monthly. I'v been emailing vet schools and the consensis is that he's very unlikely to have FIV and would have to bite one of my other cats very deeply to transmit it even if he had it.

He's so sweet, we've decided to try and keep him.

More Kazzak pictures

~ Catherine

Who is all going to this???

I'm gonna try to get Eric to take me!! Seems like fun!

We didn't go after all. I've been too out of sorts today to deal with crowds.

~ Catherine

In terms of friends. Right now I only really have 2 friends that are fiance's of my husbands. I can see myself being friends with both, but I know it will just take some time to develop the friendships. One of them lives in Bermuda right now, so that friendship isn't developing anytime soon. The other is moving around the corner from me in October and her fiance lives there now, so she is going to be around on weekends and such. She's really nice and we get along well. I'm sure we'll never be besties, but we'll probably always hang out since our husbands are childhood friends. I'm sure that when I find a job, I'll meet more people and have a few more friends as usually people in my industry are pretty outgoing and friendly.

I always notice when someone mentions Bermuda. Is she Bermudian or an American working for a mulitinational there?

I'm lucky as far as friends go. I joined an Episcopalian church. The average member of the congragation has the same liberal views as I do. Also, this church has mostly young families. I've made quite a few friends there.

~ Catherine

This is not an angry rant but a sad one.

We took our new little kitten to the vet yesterday and he tested positive for FIV. Most likely, his mom was exposed to it and he just has some antibodies from her. Unfortunately, it is possible that he has the disease and could pass it to my existing cats. We'd have to test him in a few months and probably keep testing him until he's six months old to know for sure. Since we can't really keep him locked in one room for the next four months, we've decided that we can't keep him.

There's no real evidence that FIV shortens an indoor cat's life. They just don't get exposed to enough things to get really sick. However, we're not willing to risk our other cats' health. Kathryn, Phil and I are trying to find him another home. Preferably one were he'll be an only cat.

I'm really sad about this. I've been working with him over the last two days and he's socializing really well and now I've got to give him up.

Here's a picture of him:

Kitten

~ Catherine

I couldn't figure out how to get the picture to show up in the post.

~ Catherine

This is not an angry rant but a sad one.

We took our new little kitten to the vet yesterday and he tested positive for FIV. Most likely, his mom was exposed to it and he just has some antibodies from her. Unfortunately, it is possible that he has the disease and could pass it to my existing cats. We'd have to test him in a few months and probably keep testing him until he's six months old to know for sure. Since we can't really keep him locked in one room for the next four months, we've decided that we can't keep him.

There's no real evidence that FIV shortens an indoor cat's life. They just don't get exposed to enough things to get really sick. However, we're not willing to risk our other cats' health. Kathryn, Phil and I are trying to find him another home. Preferably one were he'll be an only cat.

I'm really sad about this. I've been working with him over the last two days and he's socializing really well and now I've got to give him up.

Here's a picture of him:

Kitten

~ Catherine

I bloody well HATE Cisco's online support contract creation tools!!!! Practically every time I need to use it, I want to find the idiots that designed the thing and slap them.

I would stop doing these quotes for my old workplace in Bermuda but I need the little bit of money I get from it.

~ Catherine

Oh noes!! The Americans now outnumber the Canadians in our apartment! It's Kuno and I verses Phil, Khan, and the stray kitten I brought home from Kathryn's this afternoon.

New kitten dance!!

~ Catherine

I really like Kil'jaeden but Phil doesn't. Maybe if I call him that a lot and give him treats all afternoon, it'll be too late when Phil gets home.

So far the only name he likes from WoW is Kazzak. He's trying to convince me to name him Kahless, but we already have one Star Trek kitty, Khan.

~ Catherine

So. Phil and I are nerds. We fully embrace this. We're getting a new kitten tomorrow and need to start thinking of names. Our existing cats are Kuno (from an anime) and Kahn (if you have to ask, turn in your nerd card). We need a third K name and I'm thinking it might be time for a WoW name. I'm debating Kazzak (as in the Doom Lord) but I'd love some other suggestions.

~ Catherine

Even addons from Curse have had issues with keyloggers unfortunately. If any of you guys can, I recommend getting an authenticator. Its a bit of a pain to have to have it every time you want to play but no one will be able to get into your account even if they know your password, unless they have your authenticator. They even have an addon for the iPhone that does it.

I have always been paranoid about addons so never used them, but I did manage to finally get an authenticator last month so I downloaded Carbonite, and I must admit I do love it, I will probably get some kind of healing addon...undecided on which one yet though.

The two biggies for healing are Healbot and Grid. Healbot is pretty much good to go out of the box.It's click-to-cast so when you mouse click (left/right/alt-left/alt-right/etc mouseclick) the heal linked to the mouse combination is cast on the player.

Grid takes a bit more to set up. You can add Clique to get the click-to-cast functionality.

You really have to play with both to see what you like best.

~ Catherine

I PASSED MY DRIVER"S TEST TODAY!!! I was so excited when I heard I passed, because I failed last week, and the lady at the front desk has treated me rudely both times, so just the fact alone that I won't have to deal with her again has me wanting to do cartwheels

Congratulations! It's a good feeling isn't it?

~ Catherine

Hmmm... I have some flounder fillets and some lime flavoured vodka. I wonder what vodka lime fish will taste like.

~ Catherine

True, its a pain not having the ingredients, fresh produce, herbs, spices that I'm used to. Buying curry, turmeric, lemon grass, pandan leaves, all so basic and so cheap back home... not so much here. But I guess I manage ok. I cant make truly 100% authentic Malay dishes like mum taught me here, but I change things up and make do with whatever I can find. To the untrained tastebuds, they wont know any different i think... taste just like home...

Don't know where you live but have you checked if there are any International Farmers Markets around? I have only been to one but it looked like they had a pretty good selection of spices, vegetables etc. I remember seeing at least lemon grass and curry (and tons of other stuff I have never seen before ) and the prices were pretty reasonable.

Where's the one you've been too? I'm still looking for good places to get spices and produce. I find the grocery stores fairly limited around here.

I cook completely differently than my MIL. She does lots of very traditiional North American food very well. I've always tended to branch out and constantly try new things. I lived with a Chinese family for one semester during university and had a great time learning to cook southern Chinese dishes. I was working on Indian food before I moved to Atlanta but I'm having trouble finding ingredients. We have food from different cultures as often as possible. I'm lucky that my husband loves to try new things.

~ Catherine

I lost my mom three years ago. I remember how lost I felt at first. It does get easier, I promise. You'll never stop missing her but in time it won't hurt as much.

You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

~ Catherine

Edit: I noticed that I'm repeating myself. Oh well, some things are worth saying twice.

You might as well. If you don't need then, fine. If you do, you have them.

We went with two friends to the courthouse and they took a few pictures. Even though we had a formal wedding in Bermuda later, it seemed weird to let the legal wedding happen with no pictures at all. I tend to be sentimental.

~ Catherine

Mine went for manual processing and took 8 weeks.

I was added to Phil's bank account at Wachovia even before I had the K-1. They just take you passport number instead of your SSN. Have them call their help desk if they are confused.

You should also be able to get on your husband's health insurance without SSn, as long as you do it within 30 days (or whatever his policy says) of the wedding. Have the HR person call the insurance compnay if he/she thinks you can't be added.

~ Catherine

Hello fellow VJers!

As I read on the VJ guide, it says that my fiance can ask the border patrol for a 90 day job permit, if they have them available. Does this cost money to receive? We're stressing a bit for him to get a job, as he has the two university degrees and job experience, while I work at a grocery store...

We already have my Mom helping with our affidavit for the I-134, but I can't expect to live with with parents continually, especially as a MARRIED couple. We want him to be able to work ASAP and that means even if the degrees are put aside for the time being.

Thank you for reading my worrisome banter, any help would be wonderful!

(ps, we're getting married VERY soon after his entry to the states... we're waiting for his army service to finish and the visa will already be prepared)

Unfortunately I have heard that with the changes to the wording for EAD, that you cannot get the work authorization stamp anymore. The fastest way is seeing as you are getting married really fast after his arrival is to put your AOS in ASAP afterwards, should take about 3 months to get the work authorization then.

You can prepare all of the AOS paperwork before he even enters the US. Then you can send it in the moment you have your marriage certificate to minimize his time out of work.

~ Catherine

The G325A is only for him.

You should have his Alien # already. It's on the K-1 NOA2. I never filled in my SSN at all. It hadn't srrive when we sent off the AOS application.

~ Catherine

Happy birthday, Kathryn!

I had prefects in school too, Krikit. I went to an Anglican boarding school in Ottawa.

~ Catherine