Absurd

[daboyz 36]

You wanna see absurd.... I got this email today.

*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: EAC0813652286

Application Type: I129F , PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Your Case Status: Post Decision Activity

On September 5, 2008, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

For approved applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include USCIS sending notification of the approved application/petition to the National Visa Center or the Department of State. For denied applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include the processing of an appeal and/or motions to reopen or reconsider and revocations.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results

listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current

processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

*Current processing times can be found on the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov under Check Processing Times.

*** Please do not respond to this e-mail message.

Sincerely,

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

[The_Dude 1,142]

I think the moderating over the last two weeks is a perfect example of a point that I have been trying to make for quite some time. The enforcement of the TOS is arbitrary from mod to mod and day to day. I have seen better enforcement of racist tinged posts. But if you thought the post that you deleted in this thread was a personal attack, then that is an extremely capricious interpretation.

[bakofoil 27]

I remember when I started my own 'Visajourney' my NOA1 never looked like arriving. My petition, along with thousands of others, was caught up in a semi-truck outside CSC for an indeterminate length of time. Some of you 'n00bs' have received your NOA2's in less time than it took for my cheque to be cashed never mind receipt of the NOA1. Many of us in that particular thread sat and waited patiently for news from each other that there was movement at CSC finally. There was NO ONE to call because our petitions hadn't even been received.

I'm not telling you this because I think you should be sympathetic, or that waaaah! my petition took longer to approve than yours. I'm telling you because I got reminded that things would be ok, that there was little I could do about it, but that it would work out in the end. I was told this in a way more abrasive way, by some very famously abrasive VJ 'legacy members', than you guys are currently experiencing. And you know what? They were right. It was ok and thank goodness they stepped in to assure us that we wouldn't be forgotten, however detached from our experience they may have seemed to be.

I skim through the UK forums now and again and feel a little perspective might be in order sometimes. For the past year or so there has been an atmosphere of panic and immediacy and a lot of ME! ME! ME! One thing I noted about the invisibilised thread started by Dodi is that it was politely suggested to the OP that calling DOS fairly frequently for her own purposes may impact adversely on others who have more urgent need for that line. Particularly people in AP/AR. The response from the OP to this suggestion was fairly abrasive in itself and I, and countless others probably, lost sympathy for her argument at that point.

Please stop by and read the AP thread one of these days when you feel the urge to obsess over your own petition. It's very sobering and humbling and it will kill an awful lot of time. And that's just London, probably one of the easiest consulates to obtain a visa through.

[^_^ 5,021]

For the past year or so there has been an atmosphere of panic and immediacy and a lot of ME! ME! ME!

Welcome to Gen Y

[bakofoil 27]

Welcome to Gen Y

You've always been my most favourite abrasive Legacy Member.

[^_^ 5,021]

That was not all that abrasive

[bakofoil 27]

That was not all that abrasive

Yeah, you're losing your touch.

[^_^ 5,021]

Yeah, you're losing your touch.

I'm beginning kinder and gentler in my old age.

[The_Dude 1,142]

You've always been my most favourite abrasive Legacy Member.

neophyte, welcome to generation X.

[TBoneTX 45,291]

Without offense or denigration to various senior members of the UK forum, all of whom I like and respect in multiple ways: bravo to Kathryn, Jill, and Darnell for points made in this thread.

[Brad and Vika 129]

OK everybody. I removed some more posts with personal attacks, and this thread has slid WAY off into the name calling, not-very-constructive zone. Any more attacks, profane comments, or the like and I will shut it down. Play nice.

Thanks

Edited August 15, 2010 by Brad and Vika

[Fandango 1,439]

I haven't read all of this thread, as I am on a heat-break from moving, heh. Nor did I see the thread that was invisibilized. But Dodi. I have to say this: when I went off on Melissa the other week, you not only said you agreed with me, you added something in your post which Charles construed as a 'personal attack' against Melissa, and your post wound up being invis'd too.

I'm not here to speculate on the whys and wherefores of what happened in your thread, as I wasn't there...but if you are crusading for a 'kinder, gentler' VJ, perhaps you shouldn't be making comments which are seen by the mods to be 'personal attacks' either.

Just a suggestion :shrug:

[Dodi 69]

Yes, Bunny, I agreed with you about Melissa. Still do. And if you'll look back at the entire thread as it was posted there, it was a blatant attempt to elicit attention by someone who had been pulling the same stunt repeatedly. And, what I had said at the time was that if someone regularly posted on a public blog about their SO, ripping them apart for all the world to see, complaining and belittling them and their mother in such a public manner, and when she wasn't railing on them, was flaunting how much money they had and were giving her, buying her houses, etc., then you'd have to stop and ask yourself why their SO was marrying them in the first place. I certainly wouldn't put up with that if I were him.

However, after later reading some of Julian's snarky comments in other threads (if it really IS Julian, and not just Melissa posting in a secondary account) I'd say they're made for each other.

I didn't see my response in the Melissa thread as a personal attack, simply an observation, however, they could have been taken as such, and that's fine. They're gone, and that's fine. I'm not sweating it.

This, however, is not the same as a smackdown for asking a QUESTION, a simple question related to my immigration paperwork. That is what the thread was about on Friday (or was it Thursday? my days are running together at the moment). The context is completely different, and that's what I'm talking about. Some threads are started for an antagonistic and/or attention-seeking result. That's what happens in those threads. Mine was started in a purely inquisitive manner, looking for someone who had RECENTLY (in the last few weeks) received an interview date to respond. That's all I wanted. The answers I was getting weren't what I was asking for, because they were pointing me to outdated timelines, nothing recent. I wasn't looking for someone to blow sunshine up my a$$, just an answer that was relevant to the question I was asking.

Edited August 15, 2010 by Dodi

[Beeps 3]

I skim through the UK forums now and again and feel a little perspective might be in order sometimes. For the past year or so there has been an atmosphere of panic and immediacy and a lot of ME! ME! ME! One thing I noted about the invisibilised thread started by Dodi is that it was politely suggested to the OP that calling DOS fairly frequently for her own purposes may impact adversely on others who have more urgent need for that line. Particularly people in AP/AR. The response from the OP to this suggestion was fairly abrasive in itself and I, and countless others probably, lost sympathy for her argument at that point.

I have tried to stay out of these threads, because it does very little good trying to convince people who think they are right, but as I am Dodi's other half, and I have had to endure the rhetoric, so I am now wading in.

First off, please note her name. Just because you aren't familiar with it, doesn't mean you should disrespect her by altering it. Getting a name right takes no effort at all, so lets not pretend we didn't see it correctly. After all, if you can miss someone's name, perhaps there is a lot more you missed in their post.

Secondly, as an Englishman, I know how tempting it is to do nothing when things are wrong. We don't enjoy complaining, and we put up with bad service because of it. If the embassies are so backlogged that they can't answer a phone without the whole system being impacted adversely, then they need more staff. If anything we should be calling them more often to show them how inadequately staffed they are. We have no choice but to go through their system. It's not like we can go to a different embassy if we get bad service. So it is absolutely correct that we demand the best service at all times. And God knows, the amount the whole thing costs, you'd think they could afford to have a memebr of staff permanently answering enquiries like these.

Do not be so naive as to think changes cannot and should not be made. If something is wrong, then fix it. Don't complain that it's always been like this and it will never change. I am really not bothered what has happened in the past. I am only interested in how things are now. As VisaJourney gets more and more attention, visitors and members it has no choice but to change. And that should mean some method to bar or at least withdraw individual comments that are derogatory, hurtful, unnecessary or off subject. And frequent offenders should have their status removed.

In my past vocation I have had direct contact with bullying in all it's forms, including the recent rise of internet bullying. Anonymous, and incidious, this form of gang bullying can be seen everywhere from Facebook to sadly VisaJourney. Most bully's don't have a clue their behaviour is hurtful, most bully's feel that their victim is weak, or lacking in something, which is why the victim gets picked on in the first place. Most bully's believe this is their place, and others have no right being there, especially if they are new. Most bully's think nothing will ever change. And most bully's think it's all just a joke, and people should lighten up.

This site has had its fair share of bullying, and it doesn't take very much research to see who they are.

It serves no common good to bully on this site. The people after information are worried and nervous. Many of them have spent years trying to be together with their partners, and they need support and help. If you cannot say what you want in a way that is respectful then you should keep it to yourself. Always.

I hope that the moderating team look very carefully into the powers they have to stamp out these clique of bullying. I really would like to see a system that allows people to rewrite posts that get legitamate complaints, so that threads are protected, and readers can add without fear of being told they are to receive "smack-downs" or any other ridiculous and childish bullying technique.

As a resource, VisaJourney is invaluable, but the behaviour of individuals can and should be monitored and changed. And if you believe you don't want to be a member of that kind of forum, then go start your own, where you can enjoy as much bullying as you like. VisaJourney is for everyone, not for the precious priviledged few.

Beeps... Get it right please

[The_Dude 1,142]

Thanks for the wall o' text. Some people it seems are far too melodramatic.