WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR S.O?

[Huong and Phung 0]

It's so nice to hear about those who already have ur SO here in the States and what they're going to do together. We are wishing to be together but it didn't come true. We're spending xmas apart but I will be there with my wife soon. I can't believe we are doing the Rebuttal. They're going to hear more from us. hahahaha HOPE FOR 2ND ROUND GUYS!

[Dai. 7]

I don't know how rebuttals work but I wish you good luck on it and I hope she gets to the US soon. I don't see why they are letting you guys stay separated for so long. Good Luck man.

[SuperDuper! 230]

I'm hoping to wake up Christmas morning with Phuong and her kids here in the US.

We are really pulling for you, Jim. If anyone can shake a visa from the HCMC tree, it is you. It sounds like you are very confident and predict one in the WIN column. My girl goes soon for her interview around the same time. Good Luck!

[thongd4me 69]

It's so nice to hear about those who already have ur SO here in the States and what they're going to do together. We are wishing to be together but it didn't come true. We're spending xmas apart but I will be there with my wife soon. I can't believe we are doing the Rebuttal. They're going to hear more from us. hahahaha HOPE FOR 2ND ROUND GUYS!

Best of luck with the rebuttal; I'm hoping both yours & mine can get here before the new year.

Edited November 30, 2009 by thongd4me

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I'm hoping to wake up Christmas morning with Phuong and her kids here in the US.

We are really pulling for you, Jim. If anyone can shake a visa from the HCMC tree, it is you. It sounds like you are very confident and predict one in the WIN column. My girl goes soon for her interview around the same time. Good Luck!

Thanks for the kind words.

Instead of confident, I'd say I was optimistic but realistic. I'm sort of obsessive about being educated before taking on a major challenge, and this has been no exception. But, learning about the process and idiosyncrasies of the consulate can only help you avoid making stupid mistakes. It won't change the realities of your case, and we know that our case has some red flags, as do most. We think we've done our best to address those red flags, but it seems impossible to predict how much is enough with the consulate in HCM. In the end, even the best poker player has to play the cards he's dealt. We hope that learning how to play the game will help us, but we're prepared to deal with the very real possibility that we'll be leaving HCM with a blue slip. It would be another bump in the road, but we'll get there eventually. C'est la vie!

Right now, I'm not that stressed about the interview. We'll have a busy week in HCM, but we'll get everything done. I'm more stressed about the amount of work I still have to finish before I leave next week. My boss has given me a difficult task to finish, and I don't have much time left to finish it. I'm still trying finish preparing three bedrooms for new occupants. One is more or less complete. One is still missing a couple of essential furnishings, but the bigger problem is that my daughter is occupying the room she'll be sharing with her new step-sister, and she's messing it up faster than I can get it cleaned. The bedroom Phuong and I will share has a wall that currently consists of 2x4 framing and a pocket door - hoping there will be drywall on it by the end of the day. The biggest disaster was revealed yesterday when I hired someone to attempt to clean the carpet in the living room. After a bout with Oxy Clean and a carpet machine, it's obvious the carpet is beyond hope. No time or money left in the budget to get it replaced. Oh, the budget - perhaps the biggest source of stress. I'm counting on revenues from my sideline business to fund this trip. I've got promises for orders, but still have three customers I'm counting on receiving payment from in the next few days. If they don't come through, I'll be forced to dip into reserves which I'll be needing in another month.

I can't imagine the day of the interview being any more stressful than the coming week.

[Dau Que 6]

I've been living in the South for years and years and I've seen snow only once, more like a brief blurry. My wife, on the other hand, gotta see a full day of snow on Friday December 04th. From now on, I no longer have to convince her to book trips to the Northern States to see snow, LOL. She's got enough of the miserable cold in the winter months.

Now we'll be waiting for next Valentine's day, coincidentally also Lunar New Year, Canh Dan. Hopefully the weather will improve significantly, compared to right now terribly very wet due to El Nino, so we can start planting some fruit trees and flower beds for the Spring of next year.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I'm hoping to wake up Christmas morning with Phuong and her kids here in the US.

Looks like this one is going to come true. We're flying back to HCM the morning of the 22nd and picking up the passports and visas that afternoon. We fly to the US on the 23rd. This gives is ONE jet lagged day for Christmas shopping!

Watching them pack boxes yesterday was loads of fun. They don't just tape boxes closed - they completely laminate every inch of them with a thick layer of packing tape! I call them "va li Viet Nam", or "Vietnam suitcases".

[ScottThuy 140]

with string handles tied around the outside?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

with string handles tied around the outside?

No string handles. Just lots of tape, and some 8x11 address labels (also fully laminated). One "box" was made by cutting multiple chunks from large sheets of 2" styrofoam to form the walls of the box. Once the sides of the box had been loosely attached together, they proceeded to laminate the whole damn thing. It's big, but feels very rugged. It survived the trip from Hue this morning without the baggage handlers managing to destroy it, so I'm optimistic it will survive the trip to the US. I hope so - it contains gifts from the Su Thuc - Buddhist idols and other various trappings for the new "altar" in my home in the US. It would suck if any of that stuff got damaged.

Next year we're looking at bringing a hand carved altar back to the US. We'll buy it complete in Da Nang, disassemble it, and ship it to the US. It will cost about $1000, but that's only about 1/5 what it would cost to buy a finished imported one in San Jose.

I brought my dragon guitar with me to get it repaired. The neck warped about a month after I got it back to the US. I dropped it off when I got here, and I'm picking it up (with a new neck) this afternoon. After that, we're going to the consulate to pick up the passports!