Update on Candle, my life, and future plans

[PJ]

Hi All,

 

Well, I come by time to time, but I really don't post too often. Guess I've been so busy ... at times, I have wondered about the long-run pragmaticism of supporting a board when I am no longer part of the process. Trust me, I am reminded once a month on my credit card bill that it I am still paying for the hosting for this site.

 

However, I do feel a sense of gratitude to everyone who helped me through a difficult time, and I feel a sense of duty to all the friends I have made here and the friends who are still caught up in the delays. Also, I somehow suspect that my destiny is inexorably linked to this site, one way or another.

 

Hmm, update on my life ... my project is going to System test. I am working ridiculous long hours, and I am learning that leading a project means that other people get to go home, and you feel responsible and accountable for *everything*. Hey, if anyone in the IT field is interested in working on interfacing with the mainframe through screen handlers -> XML -> Servlets -> Java -> JScript/HTML, please get in touch.

 

The few hours I have outside work, I have been learning how to read Chinese. It is so much easier to learn Mandarin, I am finding, because pinyin provides a way to romanize the words, and also to input the characters into the computer. So this is allowing me to tie together the spoken words with the written characters. Of course my grammar is borderline incoherent, but I am learning. Hehe.

 

So I am still proceeding with my plans for traveling to China. Still have my target dates, began getting vaccinations. So far I have gotten Hep. B and Tetanus vaccinations. I will get Hep A next week. Unfortunately I won't have time to complete the full schedule for Hep A and Hep B vaccinations, but the doctor said better to start it than to get none at all.

 

Well, that's about all from me. TTYL.

 

P.J.

[Guest R2D2]

Ni whey schaw Putungwah ma? Ni Guangzhounese schaw da hen hao! Zijiang

[tonyuab]

Wow, PJ, I didn't know you are the one paying for hosting this site. It's so great and it makes me feel like home. If possible, you can set up a PayPal account, and we'll donate a small amount in order to keep it running.

[sarah36]

PJ:

Thank you for all you have done for this website. I wish you will deserve your best in future.

 

 

Sarah

[Joseph-1]

Life Love and all the stuff that make up both. I really hope that you find someone who dosent take advantage of you. Its not easy to try after youve been hurt. I know how that is. You dive deep into your work and forget. Its the way men deal with pain.

[Myles]

Aloha from Hawaii,

Thanks for hosting this site. It helped to keep me sane during the long

process. The information was of some help but the fellowship was more

important. You, Owen, Mick and Eric made it an interesting site to visit.

Myles aka Annakuen'GG

[Mick]

I have said it before and I will say it again PJ, you and your dedication to this site are a God-send. Your efforts have helped so many people through these difficult times. I wish the best for you in all your current and future endeavors. Please keep us posted on the China plans.

[Jiefly]

Good luck, PJ! You are really doing pretty good! hee...hee...

[KandY]

PJ,

If you would like, you can have Candle hosted by my company free of charge (same place where Visadelays is hosted).

 

It serves a great purpose, but no reason it should cost you money.

 

Let me know.

[rocksplit]

Yes a big thank you!

Grateful with our best wishes for your plans, life and love.

 

From good comes good.

[Guest R2D2]

PJ,

If you would like, you can have Candle hosted by my company free of charge (same place where Visadelays is hosted).

 

It serves a great purpose, but no reason it should cost you money.

 

Let me know.

Kevin, That sounds like a good idea if the folks that are now here want to keep Candles up and running. I have often said that there should be a fee or contributions made to keep the site up. Maybe it has already served it's purpose. There does not seem to a cohesiveness like there used to be to fight. It is more like the Stepford wives here now.

[TimD]

PJ,

There does not seem to a cohesiveness like there used to be to fight. It is more like the Stepford wives here now.

Maybe the board should evolve into something more that just to fight for our visas to be processed in a timely manner. I've been keeping out of the visa areas and posting in the Customs and language forums. There's a lot to be learned on this board, not just how to protest and issue our concerns, but how to live in a multi cultural relationship. Visas will come sooner or later, and that's when the real fun begins.

 

My point is to not focus on the fight, but focus more on the evolution of this proccess, not just visa delays.

 

Regardless of where the board goes, I'd be willing to toss in a few RMBS once in a while to keep it running.

 

-Tim

[sarah36]

My point is to not focus on the fight, but focus more on the evolution of this proccess, not just visa delays.

 

 

-Tim

That's cool!

[Guest R2D2]

I've tried several times to get PJ to let me kick in and/or pass contributions through my PayPal account. Stubborn fellow that he is..... he refused any financial support.

 

For those who have been around from the early days - Thanksgiving last year - a lot has changed, but there is still a scarey shadow of what was. Back then, everyone was in the same boat. No visas were being issued....PERIOD! There was a high degree of camaraderie because everyone was in the same boat - or would be. We banded together like troops in foxholes and fought the battle to get things moving. And...it worked. A few in December and more in Jan ~ Mar as the visas started flowing.

 

Remember the group letters drafted by Robert and Markim? Markimwaiting is now Markimbliss. AngryTex was going to change his handle, but we wouldn't recognize him if he did! We did the mass emails to Adams to set up a meeting with Mick and Owen. We was one hell of a team. I think the meeting with Adams helped as much as anything we did. Adams resubbed clearances directly to the FBI and bypassed DOS. For those who were in the black hole, Mick and Owen deserve a lot of credit for throwing down a rope. All of these efforts paid off and we did it. Together.

 

Nowadays, there are just a select few being singled out for special treatment in the ON HOLD group, although it is sickening that there are still some of the original black holers in limbo, but fewer each week. I see some recent EMS pickup letters showing up and hope the hole will be filled in for good. For those ON HOLD, every now and then clearances are coming through. It can't last forever.

 

For better or worse, the current population is a different mix at various stages of the process. Like all groups, candle morphs with the times. It reflects the current frequent posters. It is neither better nor worse...just different. And I, for one, am glad that we don't have a common cause like last year.

 

There is still a disparity between the 'old process' and 'new process' folks. I believe that the new process folks will have a swifter time of it. Like me, chinadave, tparrent and a number of others who are stuck in the old process, it will take longer front-to-finish than the newer folks. They say that timing is everything and we were lucky to miss the black hole, but still suffer the year+ wait.

 

I think there is hope that the new process will speed things up on the GZ end. Clearances are getting through NVC in 3 weeks ~ 2 months. The problem now is with every service center (oxymoron) except VSC taking up to six months or more to approve a petition. That is where pressure needs to be applied, IMHO.

 

Geeeeez, am I rambling yet? 

 

Yes, Tim. PJ added the forums for adapting to cultural differences and life after the visa. Owen and Charlotte take care of keeping them going. As I said earlier, candle morphs with its membership. It is, and will remain, the number one choice for US/China couples to get news, info, advice, support and a preview of things to come. Let's just say that PJ is candle's papa and I am candle's uncle - it will be around for a long time. As long as it serves its members.

Only if it serves the purpose for what we created it for - expediting Chinese visas from a government intent on holding up Chinese immigration. I selected you, Don, as a first moderator. You have a level head and can think on your feet instead of your knees. You know, as well as I, that this administration is hell bent on stopping Chinese, Russian, and Cuban visas. Like the Reagan administration, there is a red behind every tree.l In fact, many of the Reagan and former Bush people are in this administration. I can remember being put on an IRS audit yearly for inviting "red" Chinese to my home for Christmas during the Reagan years. I talked to Jerry Brown Jr. , at the time, and he told me that it was common during the Reagan tenure. Unless we unite to fight the unjust laws being inacted then we are nothing more than milktoast.

[owenkrout]

Hmm... Maybe that is why I kept getting audited. I was interviewed by a Secret Service team once many years ago prior to a Nixon visit to our campus and found out at that time that I had a file on me for "associating with a known Communist". Told the agent, "You must mean Dave. He says he's a Communist, but he's really just a nut! He's harmless." Didn't seem to go over well with the agents at the time.

 

Now some of Dave's friends really were kind of scary, but I didn't bring that up in the interview.