PJ

I hope so, I really really do. It's funny, even "gut instincts" that suggest a flood of P4s makes me feel better. You'd think that at the rate they've been processing P4s, they're building up a big backlog, sort of like a dam, and eventually all that backlog has to break through. I really think the uncertainty has led to a lot of frustration for me and my fiancee, and that leads to quarrels. We're both trying to be patient with each other, the Cantonese word for it is "yan2", don't know the Mandarin, but it has been a challenge. P.J.

Don, That's a great description. There's that initial elation when there is new news, like receiving NOA2 or clearing NVC, and then as the days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months, the elation dissipates and the waiting game begins anew. I was so excited when Candy received P3, but that was almost 2 months ago. Sure could use an infusion of elation (P4 anyone?! If any kind Consulate employees are out there ...) P.J.

Mike and Tony, Thanks for the responses. That's one less thing I have to worry about. Of course, trying to keep focused on the the work situation (and staying employed) is plenty enough to worry about in and of itself. P.J.

Call in the morning, they open 8:30 EST. Actually I'm on hold right now, not too bad (5 minute estimated wait time). P.J.

Hi All, Well, I haven't really come out and said this, because I've been worried about, well, maintaining face. It's funny, even being born in the U.S. and raised in an environment where there were very few asian people, I have been told I am culturally "very Chinese". My mother thinks my mindset is more in tune with Chinese culture than hers, and she was born in Macau. I just started a new job in I.T. It's really great, good coworkers and interesting technology. Unfortunately, the company is getting hit really hard by an unfavorable climate. A lot of people got laid off, and we've been told that things aren't getting much better anytime soon. My concern is the I-134. I've seen a lot of positions open for 3-6 month contract positions and contract-to-hire (they give you a 6 month "trial period" and if you perform well they offer you a full-time job). I read over the criteria for statement of employer: * Date and Nature of Employment * Salary paid * Whether the position is temporary or permanent Not sure how the consulate would take to a contractor, since I think that would be considered "temporary" employment. However, as far as I am concerned, any job in I.T. is "temporary" these days, and I am thinking that "temporary" employment may be preferred to "unemployed". Has anyone had any experience in this regard? Please let me know, I would be very grateful for any advice or insight. Thanks, P.J.

Darrell, Congratulations from Candy and myself! I've been watching your timeline since you're about a month ahead of us. I'm just hoping and praying that maybe a month from now, I'll have some good news to share as well. P.J.

Wow, it sounds like there's so much good news these days I'm really glad to hear all of it! P.J.

Actually, I believe the I-864is for the immigrant logging 40 quarters of consecutive work, which potentially could be more that 10 years. P.J.

Hahaha that is *hilarious*! Also, just what I think we needed, a good laugh. My fiancee and I have been having a difficult time lately. She asks me when I think we might be able to see each other again and she says she misses me all the time. I wish more than anything I could at least give her a definitive answer. But I feel so powerless in this situation. Umm, did you actually send that to GZ?

Wow, that's pretty cool. Went to take a look at it. Didn't understand any of it, but it sure seems like a great resource for people whose significant others' are living in or going to Washington. Don't the driving laws and manuals differ greatly from state to state? I know when I lived in Oregon, U-turns were a bad, bad thing. Here, everyone U-turns all over the place. Crazy, crazy roads. P.J.

Darrell, Still haven't decided myself either. I'd like to be back for the interview, that's what has me worried. Candy is more worried about traveling by herself to the US than she is about the interview. Whereas I'm 10x more worried about the interview. Carl, What I'm thinking is I'll figure on being out there a little bit after her interview. That way, we can travel together, and if anything happens to go awry, I can take care of it. After the BS they put you through, I've come to realize anything can happen. All, Went on flychina.com site and it seems ... umm ... pricey. Maybe I'm just poor but it was over a grand for the round-trip tickets. Well, I suppose I shouldn't worry too much about this now, and I appreciate everyone's responses. Thanks, P.J.

Hi All, Okay, I sent back our P3 and it was received May 19th, so we have quite some waiting to do. However, being the sort that we are, my fiancee and I are already planning for the future. I figure by the time Candy has her interview, I'll have a week of vacation. The big question is the logistic of getting a plane trip together back to the States, and if it's possible to buy one in a couple of days. I know all about air travel in the U.S. and that if you buy a ticket today for a flight tomorrow, 90% of the time you get reamed. However, I would be hesitant to buy a ticket ahead of time, just in case the consulate would want something that would cause a silly delay (like a video tape, additional security check, etc). How have people done this in the past in terms of flying back together? I know this is quite far down the road (hopefully not too far since GZ has finally started granting interviews again), but it's come up so many times during our talks that I figured I would like to ask people who have done it before. P.J.

I called DOS and asked them if the consulate had received the P3 and entered it in the computer, and they gave me a date. P.J.

Thanks, Clifford! Don, I uploaded the files. Problem is ... the software lets you either specify number of blue thingies per number of posts OR a custom graphic. That means no multiples if you have a custom graphic. So right now we'd be limited to 1 bronze, 1 silver, 1 gold. Until I get a chance to figure out how to make transparent GIFs with 2, 3, 4 ... etc. bronze thingies. Unless Clifford if you'd be willing to lend your graphic skills again *wink, wink*. P.J.

Clifford, That's great, could you email me the graphics? You still have my email address right? Keith, Long time, no talk! How have you been? Candle is also indebted to you, for all your help with getting the word out about the site, back in the day P.J.

Yeah, I think everyone with over a thousand posts would get one. Sadly enough, I don't think that includes me.

Everyone, Thanks for the generous set of responses. I'll go ahead and set up the paypal account and add something on Candle saying how much we have in our community fund. I recall seeing something similar on another community based site, and it seemed like a good idea. Don, yeah it's harder than it seems to just take a graphic and change the color. Not quite sure how to do this, either. I used to know. Anyone with a knowledge of photoshop want to take the blue graphic and make a shiny nice silver and gold one? P.J.

That would be cool and greatly appreciated. I originally donated a bit of money to get the site up and running, and then sometime ago, a few members made donations. I figure that would be the best way, 256 MB should keep us going for some time. I've thought about self-hosting, but the websites I've seen where someone's running it off their computer ... these tend to go down a lot and are very slow. What I like about our hosting service is that the site is available at decent speeds from both US and China. Figured I'll set up a paypal account for Candle and post the amount in our community chest and recurring monthly cost. Getting the extra 256 MB would put us around $19/month recurring, but we wouldn't need to start paying the extra $5/month for a little while. I do agree the RR should be deleted after a certain amount of time. However, it's not the big resource drain ... it is relatively new. Does everyone think this is a good course of action? P.J. PS se_lang ... do you have web space and a mySQL server? Maybe we could point some of the old data there ... not sure how this would work or what it would entail, pointing the majority of the data here and the older data over to where you host. It's a possibility I'd be interested in exploring though.

Hi All, Well, we're finally starting to hit what I consider "yellow warning zone" in terms of disk space. Here's the deal. We have 100 MB avaliable under our hosting plan. We've used up 76 MB from November 25, 2002 until today (May 30, 2004). I am debating on whether to archive the topics highlighted in the FAQ post and delete all topics older than 6 months, or to buy more disk space. Right now, Candle costs about $14/month to host, including the domain name. We're still operating on donations from a few generous members a while back. Went back and checked my spreadsheet and we've still got $90 in our community chest. Buying more disk spaceIt would cost an extra $5/month for an additional 256 MB. If we moved up to this, I am sure that since it takes this long to use up 76 MB this would last us for a long, long time. The only thing is I'm sort of leery about a long-run solution of buying more space whenever we run out. Archiving topics and deleting those past a certain date Seems more sustainable in the long-run. But I would hate for us to lose some great pieces of information. Would like to hear what everyone thinks. I feel like we're all part of a very positive and supportive community, and I don't feel right making decisions in a vaccuum. I feel badly that I never got around to coding a content management / knowledge base, but I have had a lot going on in my personal and professional life. I'll have to share more of it in the RR later. P.J.

My goodness, I still remember those days. Sometimes I can't believe I'm going through the entire process the second time around. Well, I guess everything happens for a reason. I try not to let little things get to me these days, like the lack of interviews coming from GZ. I've seen a lot, and I figure this too, shall pass. P.J.

You will need the I-134 for the interview. My fiancee returned: OF-169 Chinese OF-169 English DS-230 Part I (2 pages) Supplemental Information sheet. P.J.

Candy and I alternate between OneSuite (because they have a log) and Skype (voice over IP, when we feel like saving money). Both are extremely clear. Skype is completely free, and uses the same P2P technology as Kazaa and other popular file-swapping programs. P.J.

Clifford, CONGRATULATIONS!!! After all you and Irina have been through, I'm so GLAD you finally have something solid. Guess you couldn't ask for better timing, right? You were hoping for July, I recall. After all the gov't has put you through, they owe you that much. Really happy you're part of the Candle community, and do keep us posted on how everything goes! P.J.

Hi All, Someone told me that they heard people on 001 were receiving P4s. However, I am unable to confirm this because I cannot read Chinese. Has anyone heard anything? The waiting is driving me nuts. P.J.

Clifford, Honestly, that sounds good. It sounds like progress. At least it shows signs that they're awaiting something, instead of some indefinite "administrative processing". I can't imagine what you've been through, and I do keep hoping and praying there's progress on your case. P.J.