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mikeymark

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Posts posted by mikeymark

  2. Covid-19 in China

    in The Middle Kingdom - 中国

    Posted

    My wife and I are currently in Changchun, Jilin Provence. We are not leaving to go outside and they shut down the train stations here as a precaution. So fa I am not aware of any people here that have contacted the virus. We are scheduled to return to LAX 2/9 through Beijing airport and hoping that there will be no problems catching our flight. Scary situation. Would appreciate any information from people currently in China.

  5. I-864 Total Income vs Adjusted Gross Income

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted · Edited by mikeymark (see edit history)

    Hello,

     

    I am now filling out form I-864 for my step daughter and I am concerned as to whether my income qualifies. I am retired and receive SS plus I draw monthly from my IRA. This gross total is sufficient to exceed the poverty level but on my Tax Form the Adjusted Gross Income is well below the minimum.

     

    Will USCIS use the larger pre tax total income described above.

     

    Mike

  10. The State Dept. is issuing Visa's again after database glitch.

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted

    "WASHINGTON (A.P.) — The State Department is issuing passports and visas again at overseas diplomatic missions after encountering a significant problem with a computer database earlier this month.



    Spokesman John Kirby says 45,000 visas were finalized Monday, a third of those in China. He says 33 U.S. embassies and consulates are back online and that visa interviews will restart Wednesday.



    The department hopes to get all its facilities back online soon and must work through a backlog of hundreds of thousands of applications.


    The U.S. announced the hardware failure June 12, causing delays around the world for foreigners and some Americans needing travel documents.



    The failure didn't affect domestic passport issuance.


    It was the second major glitch in the consular database in a year."


  14. Visitors Visa

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted

    Question:

    My wife's daughter has visited us here in CA twice now (each time on a new tourist visa). She only stayed less than 2 months each time and returned to China. On her last visit we started the process for an immigration visa which I assume will take many years until a number is available for her.

     

    Since she has had 2 previous B2 tourist visas in the past, do you think she will have a difficult time getting B2 visas while waiting for her immigration to become available?

  17. Chinese laptop in America

    in Stateside

    Posted

    Simple plug adapter to convert round pins to flat ones if it does not have a cord that plugs into our outlets. Other than that no voltage converter needed, all laptop power bricks run on 110 to 240 volts 50/60 hz standard.

    Awesome, thanks for the quick reply!

  19. Sea cucumbers

    in Stateside

    Posted · Edited by mikeymark (see edit history)

    Alright gang, I desperately need me some help. SWMBO has declared that my lowly status in her Queen dome must locate a source of sea cucumbers before her triumphed return from Chairman Maoland.

     

    Sea cucumber? HELP, I shout into this manicured wilderness. I live in a hollar in rural Pennsyltucky. Sea cucumber sounds like a big city food. I may be steerin' the wheel of my rusted out 1952 Studibaker back down to the DC area or at best, to Pittsburgh. And....I need to locate a source of "black chicken" for she who must be obeyed. Do I paint a chicken black, and call it Bob's Yer Uncle, or what?

     

    Sea cucumber

    Black Chicken

     

    Helpth me, I beseachuth thee. I'll gladly pay you the second Tuesday of next week for a sea cucumber and black chicken today.

     

    tsap seui

    Lost in lala land

    No problem...... I did a search on Amazon and there seem to be a few choices. Good luck!

  23. B2 Visa documents for non-relative

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted

    My step daughter's boy friend and possible future fiancee wants to visit us and is applying for his B2 Visa. He has documentation to establish his strong ties to China. I have sent him a brief invitation letter stating that he can stay with my wife and I while in the US.

     

    My questions is, do I need to provide him with my financial documentation and ID information for him to bring to his interview?

  24. Inspector Chen series of mystery novels

    in The Middle Kingdom - 中国

    Posted · Edited by mikeymark (see edit history)

    Mikeymark, Hello. I don't read all that much anymore and I am not up to date on the new digital readers apps like Kindle. I do have an Android tablet. These books might be a good way to pass the time on the airplane to China. I am guessing that I can join Kindle and download the book. Can you tell me if I can share that book between my tablet, and laptop or is it only gets loaded to one device? My tablet is small. a 7 inch Nexus. Will/ can those digital books "read" to me when I am in the car driving to work? I read the first two intro promos on the first two books, Death of a Red Heroine (2000), A Loyal Character Dancer (2002). Looks like the time period (1970's?-1980's?). It would be an interesting time period to read about. Perhaps it will give insight to the those times. Sorry about all those technical reader questions. Haven't used many apps. Thanks Danb

    Hi Dan. Perfect book for the long flight to China. You will need to add the Kindle App to your Android and other devices. After that just purchase the Kindle version of the book on Amazon. Amazon lets you download the book to all your devices and it also syncs your last reading position to the other devices so you can continue where you left off on another device. (The page syncing requires acces to the internet so not possible in flight but the books are on your devices)

     

    I usually read my books on my iPhone with no problem at all and my eyesight is not good. The Kindle app has many adjustments you can make including character size and background color. I'll never buy printed books again. However I do not think the books will read to you.

     

    I got a lot of insight into "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" from reading his books. It was fun on my short trip to Shanghai to see the Bund he writes about in his books. Great reading. Enjoy!

  25. Inspector Chen series of mystery novels

    in The Middle Kingdom - 中国

    Posted · Edited by mikeymark (see edit history)

    I want to recommend an awesome series of detective novels that I have been addicted to since beginning my China adventure. This author, Qui Xialong writes detective stories whose main character is Inspector Chen. Qui Xialong is a university professor here in the United States and these stories take place in Shanghai and contain rich cultural references to China especially as their people adjust into the modern China culture. The Chinese government is now allowing some of his books to be translated into Chinese but they require the removal of areas they feel are to critical. I buy the Amazon Kindle version and read them on my Apple devices. I am not much of a reader but once I start I can't put these books down. I recommend at least reading the first couple books in order of release to get a good feel for the characters mentioned in later novels. The quote below will give you an idea of which are the first books in the series. I think there about 8 books so far and I just started reading his lastest release.

     

    "Qiu Xiaolong was born in Shanghai, China. He is the author of the award-winning Inspector Chen series of mystery novels, Death of a Red Heroine (2000), A Loyal Character Dancer (2002), When Red Is Black (2004), A Case of Two Cities (2006), Red Mandarin Dress (2007), and The Mao Case (2009). He is also the author of two books of poetry translations, Treasury of Chinese Love Poems (2003) and Evoking T'ang (2007), and his own poetry collection, Lines Around China (2003). Qiu's books have sold over a million copies and have been published in twenty languages. He currently lives in St. Louis with his wife and daughter."

     

    I hope you find these book as enjoyable as I do!

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