leejcandle

I don't see a CFM rating. I solved the problem by buying as GE miro-hood with a 300 CFM rating. There is a vent shop at Bellaire @ Ranchester. It is the same plaza that has the Welcome Market. We shop there all the time. It is around the 9200-9400 block of Bellaire. Stats, I'll give that place a try. I've been planning this trip for weeks. We'll have time to roam around and find anything else we haven't seen in Austin. By the way; do you know the location of the newer, larger Chinese shopping mall in that area? I've been to the older Hong Kong City mall. Thanks.

Our kitchen came with a weak (in my opinion) Rangeaire 30" model, with a 6 inch updraft to the outside. So I'm looking to find a direct replacement. The models I've seen so far would fit the bill; but I want try one in the store before we buy. Thanks for the links. I'll check'm out.

This is a better product page than the other I showed. http://www.sakurausa.com/prodU2F.htm http://www.sakurausa.com/images/prodU21.jpg

Has anyone seen, maybe purchased, a vent hood like the one shown here? http://www.168master.com/product_images/pdMS9030.jpg http://www.168master.com/product.php?ProductID=1 Julia offers to cook on the deck. But the heat will get uncomfortable soon here in Central Texas. I've seen these on the web, but I want to buy it in person, so I can judge the quality. I'm willing to drive to Houston. We're going there this weekend to shop around in the Chinatown area around Bellaire boulevard.

I scanned all pages of mine and had each page notarized. Cheap insurance. Since many pages are empty, there's no unique information on the pages, I followed advice I read here and first created sheets with the passport number, incrementing page numbers, and the obligatory "This is a true copy...bla..bla". Then I put those sheets back in the printer, printed the scanned pages on them.

I used Pimseluer is too basic, even at level 3. I've used Rosetta Stone for both Mandarin and Japanese with pretty good results. I bought a copy for Julia. Rosetta Stone is quite structured, and it's very good for pronunciation drills. Julia has already improved in her use of plurals after only maybe a week and a half. Where I've gotten surprising help is from the "250 Essential Chinese Characters for Everyday Use" series. I have the books and the flash cards. I was thinking I'm going to learn more characters. But they include good example sentences, which is unexpectedly introducing me to more vocabulary. The problem with that series is I don't think it's good for beginners; or at least you need a dictionary along with the books and flash cards. I've started writing and translating a few example sentences for Julia from our everday goings-on. We've had a couple of misunderstandings simply because she overused or misused a particular phrase. For the benefit of your Chinese or Vietnamese SO's, my Asian friends from China or Vietnam tell me their greatest language aid was watching TV; lots of it.

I've installed several Chinese apps on my computer. (XP Professional with SP2). There are a couple I bought in Nanning, some I bought from websites dealing in Chinese software. I've never had virus from these installations; but I've been careful. I had already set mine up with Chinese fonts. I had done this for Japanese before. (This comes with Windows XP; you just have to enable them from the Control Panel.) For a couple of programs, it's necessary to have the Windows International preferences setup with Chinese as the default for "non-unicode" programs. Otherwise, mine has English-US as the locale. My only problem is sometimes I'm installing a non-Chinese program, that's been developed for multiple languages. The installer sometimes mistakes my machine for Chinese, and gives me Chinese installation dialogs. I've only had one program that just won't work with my setup; Delorme StreetAtlas 2005; the multi-languages setup of my computer confuses some basic function, so that app just won't work.

Just to chime in about NJStar, as opposed to simply Microsoft Pinyin IME. NJStar has a dictionary (goes both ways - English <> Chinese), as well as a radical input table. There are also other input methods besides Pinyin. So for the base price after the trial, you get a lot of bang for your buck. Look at the trial to see the whole set of features.

It seems there's too much misinformation at these local Social Security offices. Julia and I were fortunate. At our local office (Georgetown, TX) we waited in line with her passport/visa and birth certificate. I had taken along a memo about K1 work authorization, just in case. The lady looked at her passport and visa very carefully, asked only a couple of questions, but worked very dilligently to enter the information into the computer. The SS card came in the mail a couple of weeks later with some sort of "USCIS approval" for work stamped on it. But the original application experience was relatively painless. We'll see what happens when we go back for the name change.

Just look at the www.rense.com web page, and the books and articles they're pushing. Draw your own opinions.

One thing I found to be an advantage from making a video tape that I hadn't anticipated; how we as a couple interact: For example: My niece looked at the tape after I returned from China, and said that we were obviously in love with each other, because of our facial expressions, body language, and overall interaction. Those things are not as obvious with static pictures. My fiancee wasn't specifically asked for a tape with her blue slip, but they saw it when she went back. The had simply said they wanted her more evidence of our relationship; and to update her notarial single certificate. In fact the tape could have helped us, if they needed proof of our sincerity. The objective evidence is that we were speaking Mandarin with each other. The more subjective evidence that we are a sincere couple could also be seen on the tape.

The consulate didn't specifically ask for a tape, but they viewed the one we had made on my previous trip, when Julia returned to the consulate to correct her blue slip. It certainly can't hurt to have one prepared. But we made ours specifically because Julia's English is still rudimentary. On our tape, I asked her some questions I had written down before hand, as prompts for a conversation in Mandarin.

I can tell you now from direct experience: AVOID Medex. Julia arrived on February 7th, I signed up with Medex on the 8th for 3 weeks. The policy was to be effective on the 9th. Julia woke up the morning of the 9th in considerable pain; she had developed an infection overnight. I took her to a clinic that same morning; she was in so much pain I wanted immediate examination and treatment. My family doctor's office wouldn't see her, but referred me to a place called "Urgent Care", which dealt with the problem. She recovered a couple of days later with antibiotics. But Medex is refusing my claim; accusing me of signing her up for insurance with a pre-existing condition (which their website says they don't cover). I explained to them that she only just arrived. They claim that she could have had the infection before she came to the US, which I know is not true because she was in no discomfort and made no mention of a problem. Fortunately, I didn't take her to an emergency room: I'm sure the bill would have been much higher than the $230 or so I paid for the examination and prescriptions. But Medex will stiff you if your girl gets sick soon after she arrives.

Congratulations, and best wishes.

Thanks for the advice. I know those times will come. I just hope I'm prepared.

I checked out the Medex Assist web site, and read their policy. I went ahead and signed up with them. They sent a copy of the policy and an ID card. Thanks for the recommendation. Of course I hope they're not needed, but I'll have some piece of mind until we're officially hitched.

We did another round of shopping today; the local Walmart, another Asian market, then H.E.B. Interestingly, the proprietor at the Asian market told her to go to H.E.B. for a particular item she wanted. We stopped at H.E.B. last before coming home; she actually said she liked the place; lots of fresh vegetables, well presented meats and sea foods. She wasn't outwardly annoyed, but asked some questions at the Asian market. I think the warnings I and others gave her about the lack of selection and prices have to have paid off at least some. I remarked in another thread; she already had in mind what things should cost. But I'm betting she's not allowing for per/pound prices versus per/kg...jin(?). (During my first visit to her in Nanning, after seeing some of her routine; I warned her that her daily routine, especially regarding shopping for groceries, would be very different. I reminded her several times during the last year. Being a mature person, I think she had prepared herself. But then, it make take some time for reality to set in; I'm sure she'll have some down days; missing the family; missing fresh seafood.) But for the moment, she's not making a big fuss. For the time being (except for being sleepy in the afternoon; jet lag) she seems quite happy to be here.

I didn't wait long enough...I called her twice (after the plane should have landed). The first time, the call went to voice mail. The second time, she had turned the phone on; the plane had landed, and she was waiting to get off. After that, I just told myself to sit tight for an hour. I assumed it would take a while to process all those folks through customs and immigration. (There we lots of anxious relatives waiting for loved ones to come out...I had plenty of company. I killed a lot of time talking to a Chinese woman who was waiting for her mother and law.)

Adding her to my company policy after marriage is trivial; I can do it online. A friend tried to get me to do it before we get married; they don't ask for documentation. But I'd rather use a temporary policy, above board; so there are no gotchas if it's truly needed. (I could imagine my company's provider refusing coverage if they find we weren't actually married.) I did find one possible provider: http://www.egsbrokerage.com/health-international.htm The quote isn't that expensive. But I'd like to hear from someone who's actually used them, if possible.

Trigg, You old devil you...I don't tell everybody everything. B)

Is something like that available? I checked the Blue Cross Blue Shield (of Texas) web site. They only have temporary insurance for permanent residents (green card for immigrants).

Understood. But the problem with that was she was already comparing things to their expense in dollars while in Nanning. So she already seemed to have a point of referrence to what the same items would have cost in dollars at home. She swears she's not buying clothes for 3 years . She was already convinced that clothes in America are too expensive; and she's having her sister(s) send everything. (We discussed clothes prices online several times.) She's going to have to work some things out for herself on the cooking ingredients she likes. I'm betting they're not available at the local HEB or Alberton's, so I'll take her there to see what she can get at those places; because they're much more convenient than the Asian grocers in the Austin/Round Rock area.

The first thing we did after driving away from the airport was go to a local Asian supermarket for some groceries. She kept pointing at certain items and asking if I had them at home. I could only protest my innocence (or ignorance; "You're looking at me? ...I don't cook!") It was interesting hearing her complain about items being too expensive, as well as not being as good as in China. This evening, we'll visit the local chain grocery store, I'm hoping she'll accept getting vegetables, meat, etc. there. But she'll need the Asian places for the oils, sauces, and spices she cooks with. We're very happy, needless to say. B) (The place has already taken on a new aroma, from some cooking ingredients she brought in her luggage.) On edit: I just recalled; on the airplane heading back here, she told me they looked at our video tape (with positive effect) when she went back to the consulate. Apparently they wanted at more than just the updated unmarried certificate; though there was no specific mention of needing more relationship evidence. I reacted to her blue slip as if they did, and emailed the consulate (my lawyer faxed a letter as well), telling them we communicate in Chinese. The video tape (made in September on my last visit) had to be convincing evidence, as well as the emails and chat logs she had with her. The backup email from me and the lawyer might have helped; at least in that my response was immediate, followed soon by the lawyers response, then quickly by her return visit. I'm going to talk to her more about the initial interview and return visit. I don't think I have the whole story. My best wishes and support for those still waiting; hang in there!

I guess that ends that. I had asked about this at LAX (because of a similar question here at CFL) upon one of my returns back in Aug. or Sept. and I was APPARENTLY MISINFORMED- forget if I asked Imm. or a Customs officer. His response was like "Just here". I'll end it here guys; She's home. There's apparently misinformation handed out (right there in LAX) about international flights being only at Bradley. While I was waiting, I heard people say they had been told to go to Bradley for international arrivals; then told there to come back to Terminal 5 for China Southern. I arrived both ways; Bradley when I arrived on Cathay, Terminal 5 when I arrived on China Southern. After I talked to security and went downstairs, the layout reminded me of what I did in September, including re-checking my luggage (but from a backward point of view; since I was one of the arrivals. Maybe that's why I couldn't remember.) Domestic arrivals come down and escalator and into baggage claim. The international door from customs is under the escalators (sort of). (Delta seemed to only have a shuttle between Terminal 5 and Terminal 6 for it's own connections (map I saw on the wall). I don't recall seeing any other terminal shuttles. But I suppose that's because I wasn't in the secure area.) Apparently, immigration and customs went without a hitch. She rolled a cart out (her wearing a very big grin ) with two large overstuffed luggage pieces, and more carry-on stuff than she should have been allowed. We walked it over to Terminal 4, and re-checked it for DFW-Austin after getting our boarding passes. Now begins the next part of our adventure. B) P.S.: I've already been gigged about some of the stuff we see in the "clean" thread; there were some non-compliances in her first inspection of the kitchen. And apparently the socks need to be separate in the dirty clothes basket...I thought I was keeping the place fairly tidy...I fear my training period is about to begin.

At LAX, Is there a secure shuttle between terminals? (I know there isn't from the Bradley Terminal; I took that walk last March.) DFW definitely has such a thing; very convenient for making connections. China Southern (Delta code share) arrives at Terminal 5. I'll arrive, and we'll depart together; through Terminal 4. I simply don't remember if I used a shuttle, or walked, on my September trip. I arrived on the same scheduled flight, same terminal. (I've travelled through DFW many times; I'm familiar with their shuttle.) The idea is that since I'm arriving on Terminal 4 this afternoon, I don't have to leave the secure area if there's a shuttle to Terminal 5; then I can wait for her inside Terminal 5, and we go together back to Terminal 4 for the departure back to DFW. I'm going to check the LAX web site again, but I could understand their not putting that particular facility on the maps.