griz326

Great news!

No sooner than I posted this...than Lao Po walks in with 2 bogus looking envelopes ... that had the green cards in them... ...I've just been so busy that I couldn't report back... Thanks for the well wishes...

We got the congratulations letter yesterday. Our AOS 2 was approved without an interview! B)

Based on your comment, natopronto, it makes me wonder if there ever really was a "race" to the moon. Maybe we just presumed the Soviets wanted to go to the cheese...

We bought a car over the weekend... 1996 Subaru Imprezza Outback, automatic, 165000 miles. It's in OK shape with a clean CarFax. The check engine light and the ABS brake lights are on, but engine runs nicely and the brakes work just fine...so I bought it. It is a good Montana car. While I'd like the ABS braking system to work, if it is a major fault, then the regular brakes will be just fine. However, the girls changed their minds and now want me to buy the other car. 2001 Saturn, automatic, and everything else manual with 106000 miles. It's a better looking car, but I didn't like the sound of the engine. The car dealer says we can close the deal on either one if I call him by tomorrow. Any thoughts?

Good heavens, I don't need government. Shut 'em down for good! All they do is take my hard earned money. Can anyone here fix Lao Po and daughter up with a counterfeit green card? OH...without government it won't matter! Well.....in my dreams............................................

Wonderful news! You've been around here much longer than me and my wife has been her almost 3 years now. GAWD! I would have lost my patience and gone completely postal faced with what you endured. The very best to you and the 'lil rabbit.

A couple of buddies have encouraged me to buy a "crash car" based on the logic that one or both of the girls will have significant (hopefully not physically significant to them) accidents as they learn to drive. I'm almost convinced. Now I'm noodling! Which car gives the most bang for the buck after 125k miles? Hyundai and Suzuki keep coming up.........................

Well...in trying to get the ducks in a row...I discovered that the vehicle cannot be imported into the USA I wanted the diesel. Now I'm looking for another vehicle...and new vs used if the outrageous used pricing stays the same.

...ain't for me Tsap ol' buddy...it's for the girls. I was thinking of a Hello Kitty for them Has anyone driven any of these buggers? I'm hoping to drive the car this week, but don't know if that's going to happen yet.

I'm about ready to buy a car for the girls. What's been really frustrating is that the asking price for used vehicles with 12k miles/year/use are almost as high as the sticker price for the same car new. I've actually found 3 year old vehicles for MORE than new ones. Fancy trim packages on old models have ZERO value to me; I'm buying miles - nothing more. Okay, so I stumble on a guy with lots of toys who is cleaning out his shop to make room for more toys. He has a 2006 Smart fortwo Pulse with the diesel engine; it has 14k miles on it. He's asking $8k for car. A similar model that I found at a Canadian dealership was going for $9.8k with 50k miles on it. Long story short, the Smart is supposed to be very safe, the diesel gets 60mpg, and by design it will keep the girls from driving too fast and close to home while they learn to drive on their own. There are devotees of these cars, but I haven't found many detractors. Does my reasoning hold water or should I keep looking? Here are the Smart cars for St. Patrick's Day.

Picking up on david_dawei's point... I was a radio, television and print journalist for more than 20 years. The work poisons the soul of decent human beings; that's why I quit. "Those things you dwell upon the most will surely come upon you" and journalists dwell on the negative by design. Moving on..... During the Carter administration, I was in Japan. Before we made port, the old time seaman were telling the new guys how the Japanese girls would be hanging all over us USC's - even the fat and ugly ones! Once in port we learned the adaptability of the female of the species. Back then Japan was kicking USA ass, so the beautiful girls were on the arms of the now wealthy Japanese men. America was no longer the land of gumdrops and lollipops for them. In this current economy, China still thrives while the USA is mired in the muck of bad habits. I sincerely doubt that this is lost on the women in China considering marriage to a USC. China has a great deal more to offer today than it had just 10 years ago. Quite honestly, aside from my annual hunting trips and packin' heat, I could probably move to and be happy in China. ...if I could acquire a taste for Chinese hooch... Unless the USA wises up (and this is not an Obama bash), this country will soon become a washed up, has been nation on the trash heap of history. That's our fault...not the politician's fault because collectively, we never shouldered our responsibilities as citizens.

May I suggest using lu¨®h¨¤n gu¨¯, Á_h¹û, ÂÞºº¹û as a sweetener in Chinese cooking. My wife uses it frequently. Being from Guangxi, she has many sources for it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siraitia_grosvenorii I do not like the powdered versions of it from outfits like Swansons at all! It seems to me that the Atkins diet is often recommended for diabetics. I am on Atkins now and really miss Xiaoyuan's cooking, but the amount weight Chinese food can put on a desk jockey is enormous. It was quite difficult to explain my cooking for myself did not "lose your face" -- but with the daughter's help she finally understood.

The best to all of you rabbits! ...and everyone else too. I'm really enjoying the New Year television programming. There was one program that struck me as a Chinese variation of Jackie Gleason and the HoneyMooners The kids have been really cute too. The one magic act I saw was far below what I consider the usual Chinese standard of performing excellence. As a former professional magician, I didn't expect him to fool me, but he performed one trip so poorly that he tipped it. ...but everything else has been lots of fun!

Really? That would be perfect! The Embassy did not tell her about that. Does your wife know the link?

I wonder if the US government is as watchful of the pennies as China? ...no I don't really wonder about that... Since she's only been back in the USA since May, I was a little surprised that she's already be asked to prove she is alive to prevent her retirement from being cut off. Not really a big deal...I'll just take a picture of her with a copy of the New York Times and send it to them. ...actually, they want a few notarized documents for now, but every 4 years she must present herself to the embassy or a consulate office. ...I'd bet we pay pensions to dogs in the USA.

I've lost 16 pounds at this point and it has provided a substantial reduction in the pain; I feel certain before this experience my current 24/7 pain level would have made me miserable, but after where I was, this is great. My original goal was 40 pounds, but my current thinking is to lose as much weight as I can because it means less stress on my neck and spine. Maybe I can get back down to my merchant seaman weight of 160 I also tried an inversion table last night and didn't particularly like it, but there'll be a few more tries at it before I write it off. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

I'm a week in on my diet - Atkins - and have lost 8 pounds of the 34 pounds my wife put on me with her glorious Chinese cooking. In filling out the i751s, I learned that my wife is a certified Chinese chef with her little red book and everything! Holding my previous weight was hopeless! My daughter helped me to explain just how serious my back problem is to Lao Po...and that she must not be offended because I now cook for myself. (This was a real dance, because the wife is correct that if I ate less of what she prepared I would lose weight. But knowing the impossibility of that task for me, I stuck to my guns and won.) For exercise, I am using a Wii Fit Plus. I don't know it's true exercise value, but it's certainly better than sitting on my fat 455! When the winter breaks, I'll start walking my usual path of 2 miles each morning. I might be more interested in acupuncture if we had true pros doing it, but I'm not interested in the local pot head who took a 3 day course sticking little needles in me. ...and I don't know if my insurance covers it. At this point, I've seen 5 different docs about this and am more comfortable with my own assessment of the situation than any of the docs. When I lose 20 pounds, I think I'll know if my plan diet/light exercise plan is appropriate for the situation. My weight loss target is 40 pounds plus another 25 if I can (which would put me at <180). That's a lot of weight, but it should ease the burden on my spine. As for keeping off weight, the last time I went on a major diet, I kept the weight off 10 years...and then I married this great gal who is a licensed Chinese chef. B)

I will, but there's only enough of a store now for face saving, not for marketing

...Did the chiropractor thing, but 4 months gave no indication that I was accomplishing anything more than spending money. Honestly, I don't see how acupuncture could provide any benefit given that my skeletal structure has collapsed on a number of nerves. Surgery is the only alternative that strikes me as logical --- other than --- losing weight and exercising (walking mostly) to achieve improved fitness. Quite honestly, I don't know how anyone could live "a number of years" with this level of pain and have any quality of life. ...my medical charts describe me as stoic with regards to pain.

A pinched nerve has caused pain & numbness for me every day since the end of May. Oxycodone just softens the pain a tag. Long story short, I did okay in the early part of this, but I've become a real grump in the past 3 months both at work and at home. Apparently, I broke/fractured my back multiple places 40+ years ago (I never knew it) and finally the nerves are being pinched by the compression areas. The spine specialist says that at this point, I am inoperable. Frankly, if the pain stays like this, I don't know how much longer I really want to live...and I am otherwise strong as an ox. This has got to be tough on my wife & daughter, but they're holding up so far...although pain and a great love life are not happy bedfellows. I think I'll run for the US Senate so I have a place to direct my grumpy, curmudgeonly, miserable self. Getting on my bad side these days is a terrible idea

We closed Panda Cabin in Eureka yesterday for the last time. ...and I got the Panda Cabin eBay store open just in time to help her save face. So we are following in the footsteps of Gale and Catherine who do many art festivals. We're going to do the Internet and the festivals. While the store cost a BUNDLE $$$ to open and run, it was really helpful for Xiaoyuan.

Yup! The more English my wife learns the more difficult it is to talk with her. It's kinda like: "Okay, I can work the hand saw; now pass me that chainsaw!" Have you guys experienced this? My wife is a talker and she is dying to be able to talk with her husband about EVERYTHING! Just this morning we both opened our eyes at 5:20am and she said, "Husband, I want to talk a little with you..."

I am certain a joint affidavit is allowable, but decided to error on the side of caution. We are submitting 8 affidavits from 4 couples who attended our wedding and have remained friends with us. Just be certain to collect the information about them required for the affidavit.

As a merchant seaman I had two rules: Trust my instincts about my environment Never get stupid drunk