PJ

All, Argh, sorry, couldn't figure out how to explain how to "inline" a smiley because, of course, if I type that code in then it will display the smiley not the code. Therein lies the great and annoying paradox of any scripting language ... PHP, HTML, etc. At any rate, if you wish to see the code needed to inline a smiley, please go to the full menu of smileys "Clickable Smileys -> Show All" and see the exact text on the left column ... this is what you would type to get that smiley. Thanks, P.J.

Hi All, Well, I've been having a bad weekend . Still recovering from a knockout flu and horrible headaches. Sooo, to cheer myself up, I figured I would add some new smileys to the board. Went out to some free smiley sites and downloaded some new additions. See the box of 15 Clickable smileys? If you click on the "Show All" link in that box, you can find these new additions. Also, as with current smileys, you can inline them by typing :smiley-name: - Exclamation point (smiley-name=excl) - Blush (smiley-name=blush) - Angelic (smiley-name=angel) - Green bouncing blob (smiley-name=greenblob) - Red bouncing blob (smiley-name=redblob) Also, please feel free to suggest new smileys. If you come across a smiley that would be a nice addition (has to be from royalty-free graphics sites, please include the address of the site as well), or if you create a smiley, please send it to me or post a response, and I will add it to the Clickable Smilies and give you credit in the Information/tutorials for using this site forum when I compile a document on smilies. Thanks, P.J.

enight, Perhaps I am being overly cautious, but I told my fiancee not to try to bring any software, video games, media, movies, etc. since I wanted to be 100% sure she doesn't encounter any difficulties with her relocation. Actually, I told her not to bring any faan baan (Cantonese for "pirated") software or movies, but after thinking a bit harder, I figured it would be easier to ask her not to bring any altogether since it's difficult to tell what is pirated and what is not. I did, however, tell her to bring some winter clothes, because we've been getting strangely random cold weather here in Tampa. One week it will get down to 5 degrees Celsius in the evenings, the next week it will be 24 degrees Celsius at night. (I've taught myself how to think in terms of Celsius with weather). P.J.

hehe hot foods. What kind of "hot"? Habanero-pepper type "hot" or wasabi type "hot"? Personally I enjoy both types of hot and have been known to eat a habanero pepper raw. P.J.

Which part of Texas are you from? The reason I am curious is because I did my undergraduate studies in Houston. Fun city, lot of culture. A bit more humid than I would like during the summer, though. P.J.

When I was a kid, I had a really bad cold and was completely congested. My grandmother poured a vial of powder on a spoon and fed it to me. She told me it was powdered monkey brain she bought from her last trip to China and it was very expensive. Maybe it's the placebo effect, but it instantly cleared up my system. Now I was only a kid then, so I don't remember any details, but has anyone else heard of this sort of medicine?? P.J.

Hi All, I really do hope and pray that the DOS and CA are able to keep their computers up and running. As someone who has worked in Information Technology for many years, I cannot think of any business or organization that does not have the occasional outage and system failure. It's just much more noticeable to us in this circumstance because so many of us are pinning our hopes on being able to learn information our loved ones. Thanks, P.J.

Uhhh no Jim, but you can post your credit card numbers under a special top-secret forum I will set up called "Attention site administrator ..." ... just kidding ...

Scorpions? I wish I would have had the nerve to try some of those during my trip to Beijing. I remember a rather aggressive street vendor leaping out in my face, yelling something in Mandarin and waiving a hand of scorpions-on-a-stick. Had to tell my fiancee to tell the guy I didn't want any scorpion, but in retrospect it would definitely have been interesting to try.

Personally, there is nothing I like more than roast Peking duck. mmmmm ....

Hi All, In the past, I have removed personal information from various posts that included the poster's email address and case numbers. Please do not post your social security number, Guangzhou case number, or other data that would be considered sensitive. I am making this request not for my benefit or the benefit of the forums, but for your own protection. As far as email addresses go (much less sensitive data), if you wish to post it please do so in the secured Contact List forum. As many of you know, there are "spambots" that traverse public discussion forums in search of email addresses to add to mailing lists. They can access public forums such as the General Visa Delay Discussion. They cannot, however, traverse forums viewable only by members, which is why we established the secured Contact List forum. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks, P.J.

Hi Jennifer, Thanks for sending the information about the get-together to my fiancee. We appreciate it. Haven't asked her if she'll be able to go or not but at least she has the information! Thanks, P.J.

What time? I'd like to tape it. P.J.

Joseph, A number of people have confirmed by calling Consular Affairs, that 5,000 security clearances were sent to the Consulate in Guangzhou. Thanks, P.J.

Hi All, I have a question for those who have found out that their significant others' name check has been cleared. What number are y'all calling for information? I have been calling the Dept of State general line at 202-663-1225. Do they have the latest information? Also, is it possible to determine when your namecheck was started? My fiancee sent back her packet on August 1st and had her interview in November. Thanks, P.J.

All, At Victoria's request, I have accepted responsibility of maintaining the press kit. Given the progress in the security background check and visas actually being issued, I am not sure if we should still focus our energies in completing it or not. However, Victoria put a lot of effort into it, and I have transferred the contents into the Our Voices forum and deleted the Press Kit Workshop forum. I know I speak for all of us, both those who have received their visa and those like myself who are still waiting, when I say that I am very grateful to Victoria for all of her help, devotion, and support throughout this process. Thanks, P.J.

I believe we had 77 signators. Thanks, P.J.

Hi All, Kevin has written a cool photo album application on visadelays.com for us to upload pictures of our families and significant others. Please take a look when you have a chance. Thanks for providing this for us! We are taking a shared approach to displaying pictures ... as mentioned earlier, the visadelays site will be able to display the photos hosted on Candle for those who gave permission for their pictures to be displayed in the 'photo album' and vice versa. Thanks, P.J.

To all, Thank you very much for your contributions, and a special thanks to Robert and Victoria for all of their hard work! I am unpinning the topic now that the letter has been sent out. Thanks! P.J.

No problem, and happy browsing! I like your Garfield avatar, by the way. Oh, everyone ... I copied the contents about forum navigation into the read only Information/tutorials for using this site where it belongs. Thanks, P.J.

A big batch would have been nice but actually I'd be happier if they've actually worked out an efficient system for the security namechecks, and they are returned as a steady and consistent stream. Hopefully just another part of the process, and not the limiting factor. Just my thoughts. Thanks, P.J.

Okay, for those that already have discovered this, I apologize for telling you what you already know. However, I just wanted to make sure that everyone is aware of the following: 1. When you are viewing the summary of topics in a forum, 15 per page, you can simply go to the right-most "Last Action" column and click on the "Last Post By:" link (NOT the person's name), and it will take you to the latest post of that topic. This is useful when you have been following a thread, and you see a new post but do not wish to page through all the responses you have already seen. 2. When a topic has a new post that your have not viewed (tracked by when you are logged in and view a post), there is a blue "V" symbol to the left of the topic title. Once you view it and then go back to the summary of topics page, the "V" should be gone (unless you are using the browser's BACK button, in which case it will still be there because you are viewing a cached page). I've found that these simple tools make navigating the many useful responses on Candle much easier and more enjoyable! Thanks, P.J.

Robert, Thanks for the info. In that case, this topic will stay pinned until first thing tomorrow morning! We want people to see it and sign. Hopefully, we can get 100 this time! Thanks, P.J.

Has this letter been sent yet? If not, when is it scheduled to be sent? I would like to keep this topic pinned until the letter is sent to encourage everyone to contact Victoria and sign the letter. Thanks, P.J.

Victoria, Could you please send an email asking all original signers if they would like to sign this letter as well? It is always my hope that we can get as many signers as possible, and I believe that people who signed it the first time would be the best "target group" in marketing jargon to sign another. Thanks, P.J.