CoffeeMuse

It happens every day 365 days a year as far a I know. Anyone at anytime does ship just about anything into the US and its a nightmare for the ports I'm sure. Obviously as long as the contents fall within legal rules (ie not hazardous etc etc) its legal and happens every day.
I would think the K1 process has nothing what so ever to do with what you ship and when. What matters most is that you are shipping items which are allowed by the US postal service or other agencies. So as long as you follow shipping laws and rules, you should be able to ship anything any time afaik. How does the parcel system know whether the person sending you stuff is immigrating, or just a relative or friend sending stuff - or someone shipping an Ebay item for that matter? If all of this is not the case, I'm all ears.

Most US houses (not apartments) that I have seen usually have in certain parts of the house wiring for 220 plugs. These are not something people generally plug things into other than what they are set up for, which are the Stove/Range in the kitchen, and sometimes cloths dryers have a plug set up for 220 where ever the laundry is set up. These options generally do not help for things like stereo's or hair appliances because of location but in some cases it might be worth looking at running a heavy duty extension cable say, to a stereo or something. More often that not it wouldn't be practical. There may be rare cases where it might be worth having an electrician run a 220 outlet in a US house if certain items are "must have's".
Another factor besides the plug sockets and voltage differnces is the alternating current frequency, which may matter for some electrical things. In the US the house power uses 60hz or 60 cycles per second alternating current, whereas in Europe it's 50 hz or cycles per second. My guess is the UK is the same as Germany for type of power (ie 50 hz). Of course German wall plugs are a different shape than the UK or US from what I've seen.
Be aware that some appliances, especially bathroom appliances like hair dryers, curlers, electric shavers etc, are often sold with the ability to change power settings for travelers. I had an electric shaver which I could flip a switch on it depending on 110 volts in the US or 220 in Germany or other countries. I simply added a plug adaptor so it would fit the wall socket and I was good to go as long as I selected the correct voltage for the country. Hair dryers often have a switch like this but you have to check when you buy them. This feature often doesn't make the hair dryer any more expensive either.
I work on computers in the US and I've noticed for desktop computers, nearly all of them have a switch on the back power supply that can be changed to 220 volts from US 110. Thus, all you need in that case is to remove the power cable that fits US sockets and replace it with one that fits UK sockets and flip the switch. For laptops, you can probably buy a different power plug that goes into it that is made for whatever voltage it will be operated. Monitors have a built in power supply so those would be a different story - and need to have a converter or be switchable.
Of course in many cases it may not be cost effective to ship over larger electrical items from the UK to the US, and many can be replaced at low cost here in the US.

Looks like I'm getting hit the wrong way on both ends. It appears I had to pay the higher of the fees for the I129F and since the AOS fees are going UP, I get to pay the higher of that one too. Gotta love it.

Agree'd. My sister is a federal government bureaucrat (different org) and she knows how they like things done - "give them everything they ask for, organize it neatly and well, put cover sheets on each section to make it easy to find and identify the items etc. Pretend you are submitting a report but hold it together with a binder clip only. You want to make their job easy to read and to pull apart and examine without taking a chain saw to it.

+1
I have to agree with the spirit of the above post. I'm not really sure of what good can come from a complaint topic about your fiancee/spouse topic other than to stir the pot of discontent which may some day lead to the disolution of the relationship. Or is that misery loves company? If people are that miserable with their significant other, they may need to re-evaluate the relationship altogether.