spectrrr

errg... not in a good mood today. Here I thought I would be on this forum repeatedly throughout this process, bitching about the inefficiencies and sheer lunacy of the US Immigration system.
Nope!
Looks like its not the US system that struck the first blow, its the Venezuela government. President here, in an ongoing chest hair measuring contest with the US, just ordered the US Embassy here to cut its staff from 100 down to 17..... SEVENTEEN!!!!
I've been to the embassy here. it's BIG. It would take 17 people just to man the gates, doors, etc!
I know it's early, but I don't even want to think about the interview appointment now... ...

Hi BryceBaby,
I filed mine without a lawyer, it is most certainly doable. It helps A LOT if you are the type of person with very good attention to small details (I am). But my word of caution is to be careful about setting a date you will send it in (Monday) and sticking to it. Three times I set a date to send it.... and three times, I found things I needed to change while reviewing it "one more time!". Or I found something and thought "should i have really worded it like that? Better check with the VJ community on that one."
Moral of the story, it helps to finish it, give your brain a day or two to rest, then pick it up again with fresh eyes and carefully go over everything again, without the pressure of having to send it in on a specific day.
Relax, you'll be fine. ANY doubts on cover letter wording, how to format things, etc, just post a question here on VJ.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. God Bless

That was my first thought as well.
Men usually live to SOLVE problems. It is very VERY frustrating for us to hear about something if we cannot take an active part in it's solution. If we can't do something about it, we do our very best to forget about it and pretend it doesn't exist. It's how we cope with the stress.
Women on the other hand tend to cope with stressful situations and unsolved problems by talking about them, thinking about them, and focusing on them. It's their natural way of coping with the stress.
With newlyweds, it just takes some time to learn each others boundaries on that. The man has to learn to grit his teeth, bite his tongue, and listen, just to listen, without any hope of a solution every being presented.
And the woman has to learn how much her hubby can listen to before he reaches saturation. It's a learning process.
Personal example: When I'm traveling for a few weeks at a time away from my wife, she needs to hear from me DAILY that I miss her, I'm thinking about her constantly, etc. - that's what she needs, and that's what I give her because I have learned it's what she needs. On the other hand, haha, my reality is, because I miss her and can't wait to see her again, I'm actually NOT thinking about her constantly. I do my best to forget about her during the day unless I actually have time to call her in that moment, since it's a problem i can't solve until my trip ends or i have time for a phone call. I love my wife, and I can't wait to get back to her. It's just the way each of us process the stress differently, and we're always learning more about our spouse

That was my first thought as well.
Men usually live to SOLVE problems. It is very VERY frustrating for us to hear about something if we cannot take an active part in it's solution. If we can't do something about it, we do our very best to forget about it and pretend it doesn't exist. It's how we cope with the stress.
Women on the other hand tend to cope with stressful situations and unsolved problems by talking about them, thinking about them, and focusing on them. It's their natural way of coping with the stress.
With newlyweds, it just takes some time to learn each others boundaries on that. The man has to learn to grit his teeth, bite his tongue, and listen, just to listen, without any hope of a solution every being presented.
And the woman has to learn how much her hubby can listen to before he reaches saturation. It's a learning process.
Personal example: When I'm traveling for a few weeks at a time away from my wife, she needs to hear from me DAILY that I miss her, I'm thinking about her constantly, etc. - that's what she needs, and that's what I give her because I have learned it's what she needs. On the other hand, haha, my reality is, because I miss her and can't wait to see her again, I'm actually NOT thinking about her constantly. I do my best to forget about her during the day unless I actually have time to call her in that moment, since it's a problem i can't solve until my trip ends or i have time for a phone call. I love my wife, and I can't wait to get back to her. It's just the way each of us process the stress differently, and we're always learning more about our spouse

That was my first thought as well.
Men usually live to SOLVE problems. It is very VERY frustrating for us to hear about something if we cannot take an active part in it's solution. If we can't do something about it, we do our very best to forget about it and pretend it doesn't exist. It's how we cope with the stress.
Women on the other hand tend to cope with stressful situations and unsolved problems by talking about them, thinking about them, and focusing on them. It's their natural way of coping with the stress.
With newlyweds, it just takes some time to learn each others boundaries on that. The man has to learn to grit his teeth, bite his tongue, and listen, just to listen, without any hope of a solution every being presented.
And the woman has to learn how much her hubby can listen to before he reaches saturation. It's a learning process.
Personal example: When I'm traveling for a few weeks at a time away from my wife, she needs to hear from me DAILY that I miss her, I'm thinking about her constantly, etc. - that's what she needs, and that's what I give her because I have learned it's what she needs. On the other hand, haha, my reality is, because I miss her and can't wait to see her again, I'm actually NOT thinking about her constantly. I do my best to forget about her during the day unless I actually have time to call her in that moment, since it's a problem i can't solve until my trip ends or i have time for a phone call. I love my wife, and I can't wait to get back to her. It's just the way each of us process the stress differently, and we're always learning more about our spouse

That was my first thought as well.
Men usually live to SOLVE problems. It is very VERY frustrating for us to hear about something if we cannot take an active part in it's solution. If we can't do something about it, we do our very best to forget about it and pretend it doesn't exist. It's how we cope with the stress.
Women on the other hand tend to cope with stressful situations and unsolved problems by talking about them, thinking about them, and focusing on them. It's their natural way of coping with the stress.
With newlyweds, it just takes some time to learn each others boundaries on that. The man has to learn to grit his teeth, bite his tongue, and listen, just to listen, without any hope of a solution every being presented.
And the woman has to learn how much her hubby can listen to before he reaches saturation. It's a learning process.
Personal example: When I'm traveling for a few weeks at a time away from my wife, she needs to hear from me DAILY that I miss her, I'm thinking about her constantly, etc. - that's what she needs, and that's what I give her because I have learned it's what she needs. On the other hand, haha, my reality is, because I miss her and can't wait to see her again, I'm actually NOT thinking about her constantly. I do my best to forget about her during the day unless I actually have time to call her in that moment, since it's a problem i can't solve until my trip ends or i have time for a phone call. I love my wife, and I can't wait to get back to her. It's just the way each of us process the stress differently, and we're always learning more about our spouse

That was my first thought as well.
Men usually live to SOLVE problems. It is very VERY frustrating for us to hear about something if we cannot take an active part in it's solution. If we can't do something about it, we do our very best to forget about it and pretend it doesn't exist. It's how we cope with the stress.
Women on the other hand tend to cope with stressful situations and unsolved problems by talking about them, thinking about them, and focusing on them. It's their natural way of coping with the stress.
With newlyweds, it just takes some time to learn each others boundaries on that. The man has to learn to grit his teeth, bite his tongue, and listen, just to listen, without any hope of a solution every being presented.
And the woman has to learn how much her hubby can listen to before he reaches saturation. It's a learning process.
Personal example: When I'm traveling for a few weeks at a time away from my wife, she needs to hear from me DAILY that I miss her, I'm thinking about her constantly, etc. - that's what she needs, and that's what I give her because I have learned it's what she needs. On the other hand, haha, my reality is, because I miss her and can't wait to see her again, I'm actually NOT thinking about her constantly. I do my best to forget about her during the day unless I actually have time to call her in that moment, since it's a problem i can't solve until my trip ends or i have time for a phone call. I love my wife, and I can't wait to get back to her. It's just the way each of us process the stress differently, and we're always learning more about our spouse

That was my first thought as well.
Men usually live to SOLVE problems. It is very VERY frustrating for us to hear about something if we cannot take an active part in it's solution. If we can't do something about it, we do our very best to forget about it and pretend it doesn't exist. It's how we cope with the stress.
Women on the other hand tend to cope with stressful situations and unsolved problems by talking about them, thinking about them, and focusing on them. It's their natural way of coping with the stress.
With newlyweds, it just takes some time to learn each others boundaries on that. The man has to learn to grit his teeth, bite his tongue, and listen, just to listen, without any hope of a solution every being presented.
And the woman has to learn how much her hubby can listen to before he reaches saturation. It's a learning process.
Personal example: When I'm traveling for a few weeks at a time away from my wife, she needs to hear from me DAILY that I miss her, I'm thinking about her constantly, etc. - that's what she needs, and that's what I give her because I have learned it's what she needs. On the other hand, haha, my reality is, because I miss her and can't wait to see her again, I'm actually NOT thinking about her constantly. I do my best to forget about her during the day unless I actually have time to call her in that moment, since it's a problem i can't solve until my trip ends or i have time for a phone call. I love my wife, and I can't wait to get back to her. It's just the way each of us process the stress differently, and we're always learning more about our spouse

You know, a few months ago I honestly was wishing the same thing. That those who were processing our applications or delaying them would have to feel the same pain they were inflicting on us with their inaction. I've had a long time to think since then (and still no approval for me, yet.) and honestly, I don't want them to have to go through anything like this. I don't wish this on any other person. It's absolutely horrible. I wish that they would act from a position of fairness and empathy. But I can't knowingly wish this pain upon another human being.

I submitted video and twitter questions to the #AskTheWhiteHouse about the current delays of the CR1/IR1.
I also submitted a twitter question to the USCIS_es about the IR1/CR1 delays, and another question about whether they would reinstate the previously FAST approval times of the K3 visa, given the current situation.
Not sure the White house will respond to it, they're more worried about the PR debate regarding millions of immigrants already in the country... but hopefully the USCIS will say something.....

I submitted video and twitter questions to the #AskTheWhiteHouse about the current delays of the CR1/IR1.
I also submitted a twitter question to the USCIS_es about the IR1/CR1 delays, and another question about whether they would reinstate the previously FAST approval times of the K3 visa, given the current situation.
Not sure the White house will respond to it, they're more worried about the PR debate regarding millions of immigrants already in the country... but hopefully the USCIS will say something.....

400,000 and counting .... If I understand it correctly, the approval rate is still a trickle, so new apps (like mine!) are still just adding on to the pile!!
How on earth do these fools plan on catching up!?

Sorry, didn’t have time to finish writing this post until now. I think the length of my first post and this one will tell you why I don’t use twitter... writing in shorthand is, unfortunately, not one of my skills. But here are some of my thoughts about social media, getting people to CARE about our message, and the road ahead we’ll have to navigate in order to affect a change in the process. Apologies for the verbose nature of it.
We truly live in a unique time in history, one which many people have not yet fully adjusted to. In today’s digital world, where nearly everyone has both an opinion about something in the world, and the digital means with which to express that opinion, getting that message heard above the deluge of noise is an increasingly difficult task.
We use terms like “going viral” to describe one of those rare messages that are successful at breaking through the noise. Just about every person with a message, also has dreams of it “going viral” and their problem heard. But it is not such a simple task. There are messages that have, simply by luck, struck just the right chord with people and, almost accidentally, gone viral. This is what most people with a message aspire and hope to have happen to them, HOWEVER the reality is that this is not like trying to win the raffle at your local supermarket. This is more akin to the odds of winning the state lotto.
There is another way that things go viral, and that is one that is purely intentional. A brilliant, carefully crafted marketing campaign, spreading just the right message, exquisitely tuned to strike just the right chord with people who see it, supported by meaningful and accessible engagement activities which people can participate in afterwards. None of this happens by accident, or with only a little organizing. This happens with very careful and coordinated planning, and even then, the internet is littered with well organized and well funded campaigns to take something viral that, despite appearing to be well designed, never made it off the ground and never got noticed.
-------------------------------------------------------------
That is the sandbox we’re playing in if we want to talk national petitions. We need more people to sign and get involved than JUST the people waiting for their CR/IR visas to be processed. Which puts us in the same realm as business and marketing --> define the market, figure out what product we have to sell to the market, and then market it in a way they’ll buy it.
Target market: If we’re talking whitehouse.gov petitions, then we’re talking about getting people involved who are not directly involved or had prior involvement with immigration visas. The fundamental principle of activism is first and foremost, make people CARE. People already involved in the visa process obviously care. But someone who has never applied for a visa before has no idea of the hell that we have to go through just to be with those we love. And note that just telling people about it doesn't automatically mean they'll care. knowledge of the facts doesn't mean caring about them. It has to be a message that strikes a chord in people in a unique way.
Making someone care… that’s the tricky part… I’m not sure how we go about doing that. Immigration is a hot button issue in America today…. LOTS of people care a lot about it… but generally only the part they see as affecting them. Lots of other people hear the word “immigration” or “visa” and have a strong negative association with “illegals crossing the border”. A successful message has to make the issue relevant and relatable to people, WITHOUT getting lumped in with the illegal immigration issue which a lot of people are tired of hearing about, or simply want to “throw them all out and be done with it.” (I’m not starting a political discussion here, just observing the climate in which we have to spread our message). Pushing the family separation issue like we have been seems like a good direction.
All of the above that has to be balanced by the fact that anyone not already involved in the immigration issue has a very short attention span. “tl;dr” is a common internet saying, which means “too long; didn’t read” ..... This post easily qualifies as such. It is way too long. Talking about CR-1 visas and K-3 visas and i-130 forms is a great way to lose people who are uninformed or uninterested in the issue, which is the majority of people. In the end, there’s just a few short steps to getting signatures. Yeah, it’s oversimplified… but frankly, this post is too long already!
Step 1: Get people to read or listen to the message. If it’s a wall of text, most people get bored after 4 sentences and close it. I skip watching youtube videos that are more than 4 minutes unless it REALLLLLLLY interests me. Don’t have time.
Step 2: make the message such that the people who read it understand it enough in that limited exposure to become motivated and care about it.
Step 3: give them something to do with that motivation (sign the petition).
-------------------------------------------------------------
The letter that we have written is very good. VERY GOOD. I like it. It is very detailed and informative, for those that wish to LEARN about the issue. Let me pause here, so no one misinterprets me. I LIKE IT A LOT. It is well written and sums up our plight, as completely and succinctly as is possible for an issue as complicated as ours.
BUT I think we ALSO need a short version. 2-3 very short paragraphs. Something small, marketable. No mention of confusing CR-1/i-130/K3 form numbers. It’s got to be simple, natural language, digestible and understandable by a 10 year old. Anything longer, and it’s “tl;dr” for too many people... people we need signatures from and cannot afford to alienate. People uninformed about immigration should FEEL informed and motivated to help us out with a signature after they read it. The truth is WE know that you can’t learn much about this issue in 3 short paragraphs. But that’s not the point. The goal is not to thoroughly educate everyone, because frankly, most people don’t care enough to spend the time and learn it. The point is to get them motivated enough to lend their signature, so that we can build up a mountain of signatures that cannot be ignored, and get our voice heard! I imagine the formula for the youtube video would be similar to this letter. The letter could in fact be a modified form of the youtube script, or the other way around.
Well, that’s more than enough rambling for one night.
There.... I said.... something! .... I feel better, I feel like I at least tried to contribute!
I have tried to lend my perspective on the issues we face. I don't guarantee I'm 100% correct, in fact, I'm probably not! It's the internet, everyone has the ability to write something, no matter how wrong it is! BUT HOPEFULLY amongst my ramblings, at least something will prove useful in our fight.

Alright.... Let the fun begin.
First off, count my wife and I in for reading for the video. That’s a step in the right direction. To the folks that have started this ball rolling, THANK YOU. Call me a “highly motivated pragmatist”. I am preparing to file the paperwork now to petition for a CR1 for my wife. When I last investigated this process a year ago, the picture was obviously quite different. Needless to say, now I’m a little worried.
Now, I do have to make a few comments about this effort, many of them cautionary in nature. It is my sincere hope that they can be used to improve the effectiveness of the message of this committee, and ultimately, contribute towards achieving the same goal we all share, returning the visa processing times back to a “reasonable” time frame. (Not like “reasonable” is a word that can ever be used to describe our broken system, even on a good day, but I digress!!).
As a quick point of introduction for who I am and what I do, I am nearly 30 years old, a professional photographer, aspiring programmer, and business entrepreneur at heart. Before you get your hopes up, I am NOT a graphic designer. I am fluent in using Photoshop to MODIFY images and content that already exists (improving upon it), but I have very little talent in the realm of creating something new from scratch. Although I could probablly download the Adobe Premier demo and figure out the video editing part without too much trouble, my internet connection here in Venezuela is pretty slow, making transfer of big media files back and forth a difficult task. But I can offer to lend a hand in any way possible with regards to media. Especially if someone else comes up with a rough draft of something, I am pretty good at polishing and refining it from there.
Some people have called me a geek, but honestly, that would be an insult to all the real geeks out there. I’m just somewhere in between. But I do live and breathe on the internet every day. I am not a social media genius, with thousands of twitter followers or youtube subscribers. I prefer to observe and analyze from a distance. But what I am is someone who truly enjoys asking the question “WHY” every time I see a story of success or failure. WHY is this youtube user cashing in the $$$ with millions of subscribers, and another youtuber who I think is far more talented and interesting, languishing with almost no video views? WHY does one social activism message about something relatively stupid get heard, and why do many issues of this day that are even more important go unheard? I believe there is an answer to those questions, and I enjoy the mental exercise of finding it.
That’s it for the introduction.... next post coming in a few minutes with some thoughts and ideas about the road ahead.

Sorry, didn’t have time to finish writing this post until now. I think the length of my first post and this one will tell you why I don’t use twitter... writing in shorthand is, unfortunately, not one of my skills. But here are some of my thoughts about social media, getting people to CARE about our message, and the road ahead we’ll have to navigate in order to affect a change in the process. Apologies for the verbose nature of it.
We truly live in a unique time in history, one which many people have not yet fully adjusted to. In today’s digital world, where nearly everyone has both an opinion about something in the world, and the digital means with which to express that opinion, getting that message heard above the deluge of noise is an increasingly difficult task.
We use terms like “going viral” to describe one of those rare messages that are successful at breaking through the noise. Just about every person with a message, also has dreams of it “going viral” and their problem heard. But it is not such a simple task. There are messages that have, simply by luck, struck just the right chord with people and, almost accidentally, gone viral. This is what most people with a message aspire and hope to have happen to them, HOWEVER the reality is that this is not like trying to win the raffle at your local supermarket. This is more akin to the odds of winning the state lotto.
There is another way that things go viral, and that is one that is purely intentional. A brilliant, carefully crafted marketing campaign, spreading just the right message, exquisitely tuned to strike just the right chord with people who see it, supported by meaningful and accessible engagement activities which people can participate in afterwards. None of this happens by accident, or with only a little organizing. This happens with very careful and coordinated planning, and even then, the internet is littered with well organized and well funded campaigns to take something viral that, despite appearing to be well designed, never made it off the ground and never got noticed.
-------------------------------------------------------------
That is the sandbox we’re playing in if we want to talk national petitions. We need more people to sign and get involved than JUST the people waiting for their CR/IR visas to be processed. Which puts us in the same realm as business and marketing --> define the market, figure out what product we have to sell to the market, and then market it in a way they’ll buy it.
Target market: If we’re talking whitehouse.gov petitions, then we’re talking about getting people involved who are not directly involved or had prior involvement with immigration visas. The fundamental principle of activism is first and foremost, make people CARE. People already involved in the visa process obviously care. But someone who has never applied for a visa before has no idea of the hell that we have to go through just to be with those we love. And note that just telling people about it doesn't automatically mean they'll care. knowledge of the facts doesn't mean caring about them. It has to be a message that strikes a chord in people in a unique way.
Making someone care… that’s the tricky part… I’m not sure how we go about doing that. Immigration is a hot button issue in America today…. LOTS of people care a lot about it… but generally only the part they see as affecting them. Lots of other people hear the word “immigration” or “visa” and have a strong negative association with “illegals crossing the border”. A successful message has to make the issue relevant and relatable to people, WITHOUT getting lumped in with the illegal immigration issue which a lot of people are tired of hearing about, or simply want to “throw them all out and be done with it.” (I’m not starting a political discussion here, just observing the climate in which we have to spread our message). Pushing the family separation issue like we have been seems like a good direction.
All of the above that has to be balanced by the fact that anyone not already involved in the immigration issue has a very short attention span. “tl;dr” is a common internet saying, which means “too long; didn’t read” ..... This post easily qualifies as such. It is way too long. Talking about CR-1 visas and K-3 visas and i-130 forms is a great way to lose people who are uninformed or uninterested in the issue, which is the majority of people. In the end, there’s just a few short steps to getting signatures. Yeah, it’s oversimplified… but frankly, this post is too long already!
Step 1: Get people to read or listen to the message. If it’s a wall of text, most people get bored after 4 sentences and close it. I skip watching youtube videos that are more than 4 minutes unless it REALLLLLLLY interests me. Don’t have time.
Step 2: make the message such that the people who read it understand it enough in that limited exposure to become motivated and care about it.
Step 3: give them something to do with that motivation (sign the petition).
-------------------------------------------------------------
The letter that we have written is very good. VERY GOOD. I like it. It is very detailed and informative, for those that wish to LEARN about the issue. Let me pause here, so no one misinterprets me. I LIKE IT A LOT. It is well written and sums up our plight, as completely and succinctly as is possible for an issue as complicated as ours.
BUT I think we ALSO need a short version. 2-3 very short paragraphs. Something small, marketable. No mention of confusing CR-1/i-130/K3 form numbers. It’s got to be simple, natural language, digestible and understandable by a 10 year old. Anything longer, and it’s “tl;dr” for too many people... people we need signatures from and cannot afford to alienate. People uninformed about immigration should FEEL informed and motivated to help us out with a signature after they read it. The truth is WE know that you can’t learn much about this issue in 3 short paragraphs. But that’s not the point. The goal is not to thoroughly educate everyone, because frankly, most people don’t care enough to spend the time and learn it. The point is to get them motivated enough to lend their signature, so that we can build up a mountain of signatures that cannot be ignored, and get our voice heard! I imagine the formula for the youtube video would be similar to this letter. The letter could in fact be a modified form of the youtube script, or the other way around.
Well, that’s more than enough rambling for one night.
There.... I said.... something! .... I feel better, I feel like I at least tried to contribute!
I have tried to lend my perspective on the issues we face. I don't guarantee I'm 100% correct, in fact, I'm probably not! It's the internet, everyone has the ability to write something, no matter how wrong it is! BUT HOPEFULLY amongst my ramblings, at least something will prove useful in our fight.

Bottled water is usually just tap water from local municipalities bottled and resold to the public for about a 7,000% increase. Many times the bottled water is less safe than tap water because no testing is required when not sold across state lines, unlike public water which is tested daily. That means 70% of bottled water is untested. Plus, it's much worse for the environment. The bottled water industry has done an amazing marketing and lobbying job to sell this product to the public and make lots of $$$. Pretty amazing to think about. What will they sell us next, air?
If you are really concerned about the water, just use an activated carbon filter.
Lastly, regarding the packaging...I've worked as a scientist in the polymer/plastics industry for 15 years... I NEVER buy bottled water. I have reusable stainless steel bottles for travel. Food for thought.
Tapped