biggish data

So, SSA sent me a letter today basically saying that my visa paperwork doesn't show lawful status, so they can't issue me a card. #######? They took five weeks to tell me that?

I hate how SSA is basically making me jump through hoops because they're illiterate and can't read the photocopied stuff that they took when I applied. Driving around with my BC DL has made me super paranoid and I'm worried that the five-o is going to pull me over and yell at me.

Seriously, if my I-94 expires while we're trying to fix this fiasco and they tell me I can't get a SSN because of that, I'm going to throw a major fit in the branch. The world is going to feckin' explode.

Edited by Nini & Bee, 27 November 2007 - 03:03 PM.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-27 15:03:00

QUOTE (liz_legend @ Nov 15 2007, 11:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ya.. I have a sweater of hers that I was hoping to return before I left. I'll mail it to her with a letter (sans apology) when I get around to it.

Torch it in a bonfire.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-15 23:24:00

QUOTE (trailmix @ Nov 15 2007, 05:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is such a 'whatever'. She is so about herself. So now if you want to keep the friendship you have to jump through a bunch of hoops.

No kidding. I don't understand how she feels she deserves "special treatment" above all of Liz's friends.

You know who your friends are, Liz. If she was a true friend, she would've said something to you, not through your friend... clearly if she can't take the time for you, why should you for her?

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-15 17:20:00

Our cat Stella is limping around right now - during her checkup appointment at the vet today (she's diabetic) one of the nurses was rough with her while taking her out of her carrying crate and getting a blood sample from her leg. My mother-in-law is super pissed and so am I.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-14 20:07:00

QUOTE (SonoranSongbird @ Nov 14 2007, 05:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I do too, Nini, and I like that song. I just don't understand the connection between zombies and the Troubles in Northern Ireland. This came up in a thread on another board where there is a lively debate going on over whether zombies can really be scary since they (apparently) move so slowly you can outrun them while sleepwalking.

I think it's a metaphor for the children slowly being sucked into the strife happening in Northern Island. That's my take on it, personally.

*hugs Mary and Emancipation*

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-14 17:25:00

I like the Cranberries, but that's just me

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-14 16:54:00

Yesterday we went to Bee's local State Farm office so that he could add me onto the car insurance. I don't know how to describe the guy who helped us out, but he was a bit of an eejit - afterwards we were shaking our heads wondering why we still go to him. It also didn't occur to us (or the agent!) that I'd changed my name after marriage, so since the agent took most my information off a photocopy of my BC DL, the car insurance is now registered in my maiden name. Aie.

We got a phone call today from Agent Eejit telling us that the monthly insurance payment would be increased by 2/3rds more and that I was now registered as the primary driver of the car because I'm under 25. Bee drives that car about 95% of the time! Say whaaaaat?

Edited by Nini & Bee, 13 November 2007 - 03:32 PM.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-13 15:31:00

Bee and I just got home from dinner, after having the worst waiter ever.

I've never seen Bee give such a low tip - shows how annoyed he must've been.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-10 21:39:00

I built my PC, but I'd give my left arm for a MacBook Pro. My in-laws have three between both of them and their little daughter.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-08 17:59:00

QUOTE (liz_legend @ Nov 8 2007, 10:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I hate packing!!

Is it bad that I haven't really started yet aside from a heap of clothes I have "sorted" on the floor?

I think I started two or three months in advance... sold all the stuff I didn't want to lug across the continent and anything that Bee already had here, got rid of my old clothes, etc. Everything else I left until the very last minute when I realised that I needed to take the time to pack and wrap all my fragiles and ensure it was safe for transporting!

Funny that my computer was the only thing that the UPS guy packed and that was the only thing that got wrecked in the move.

My friend posted a picture on his Flickr site today, showing the falling leaves in Vancouver... damn I am so wretchedly homesick right now.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-08 15:08:00

I'm tired of going to the mall and being stared at like I'm an alien. I've been trying really hard to push it to the back of my mind, because I don't want to get into that self-conscious mindframe and think that everyone is doing it. I'm just lucky it hasn't been worse than looks.

Bee and I went into J.Crew today and we went our separate ways. Everywhere I go the clothes are too big for me so I always look for the midget sizes, hehe. Anyway, some lady was literally gaping at me in the corner with half-crossed eyes... when I walked in another direction she was still staring. I felt like I'd been caught shoplifting!

We don't live in the middle of nowhere, and I've seen other Asian people around so it's not like I'm an anomaly... but jeez if it isn't starting to make me feel like I don't want to leave the house.

Oh, and *hugs* to Amanda. Because I completely understand how you feel, hun.

Edited by Nini & Bee, 07 November 2007 - 03:45 PM.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-07 15:43:00

I'm not sure whether it's only throughout the state, but we've been getting those recorded automated "VOTE 4 MEEEEEEEE!" calls all day at the house, and it's driving me cruckingfazy. Seriously, I don't remember getting this level of political harassment back in Vancouver.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-05 17:05:00

QUOTE (Len_and_Bren @ Nov 3 2007, 01:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Comment: "Uh-oh.... if you have kids, they might have cinnamon skin like yours but red hair like Bren's..... aaaawwww, that would be so 'funny' "
L: "and why exactly would it be funny?"
X: "well.... err.... I was trying to be nice"
L: "... don't." (note to reader: this from woman whose kid looks like the lovechild of Mr. Spock and Steven Tyler)

I'm starting to believe that people DO NOT think before they say something. Jeez, what a dumb thing to say.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-03 20:58:00

QUOTE (Sprailenes @ Nov 2 2007, 02:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My entire family thought the same thing.

It was almost like i was single with them.

"Oh Nevada, we have this man we'd like you to meet"

'Err guys I am in a relationship.'

"Oh you call that a relationship? You guys live in different countries!"

Its hard for people to grasp it, especially older people who don't understand the power of the internet and communications in general today. They just think its a phase. Until we get that VISA and have one foot out the door, then they decide to hit the panic button.

I totally empathize with that kind of situation. Early in our relationship, my family treated Bee like he was a joke - "Oh, your foreign boyfriend! Hahaha." When they heard that I was applying for a visa to move down to the US, that's when they knew it was serious.

My mother would go so far as to tell me about her friends who were sneering at her - "Everyone asks me why you couldn't find anyone in this city to date!" Sadly her own marriage was horrible enough that she couldn't understand the concept of marrying for love.

She got really clingy and everyone said I was "abandoning" the family. It got to the point where I thought that they'd sabotage The Envelope, and I started hiding it under my mattress! Sad I know, but...

Luckily she's gotten a lot better since then. But jeez, my family is a little crazy when I think about it.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-02 14:43:00

Like Len and trailmix, I agree - your son is your son, and no one else should tell you how to raise them. I agree that ADD is one of the most misdiagnosed disorders out there. Personally I'm against the "medicate people until they're stuffed with drugs" route and clash with my own quasi-hypochondriac MiL a lot. I totally know where you're coming from! She is the sweetest woman, but she is the biggest worrywart I've ever met.

Last week Bee's niece, who is almost three, was limping around and they thought she might have minorly sprained her ankle. My sister-in-law and Bee's brother were pretty worried, but they didn't want to put her through the trauma of the ER. Since the niece has seen a lot of the hospital already (she was a micro-preemie), they wanted to wait until after the weekend to see the pediatrician.

When we went to visit the in-laws and take the load off the worrying parents, MiL went wacko. She demanded that they take their daughter to the ER, despite everyone telling her that it would seriously freak the baby out. Then she asked whether the pediatrician had x-rays. She called them every day demanding to know what the status was. I can only imagine how my in-laws felt between worrying over their daughter and being chided by their mother for poor parenting.

Turns out it wasn't the ankle, it's Lyme disease. You can imagine what kind of hullaboo I've been living with since then.

Edited by Nini & Bee, 01 November 2007 - 02:08 PM.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-11-01 14:08:00

QUOTE (misa @ Oct 31 2007, 11:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Man, how frustrating...

I've gotten this before... many many times over my entire life. And yes, I actually did buy that bag too: www.algstore.com

misa, you are my hero. My sentiments exactly.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-10-31 23:53:00

I had insurance on the computer, but the guy stressed that it was only for loss and not damages incurred during transit. If there'd been damage insurance, I'd have paid for it - that thing's my (second) baby.

It's funny though because I've had other people ship their customers through UPS and they've told me they were able to buy damage insurance. Maybe it's different through international shipping?

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-10-22 17:20:00

I just unpacked my desktop computer from the packaging box today after we got our desk, and we discovered that the case is basically hooped.

It's a custom-built computer which I built last year, so the case I bought for it was a heavy steel case which was purported to be one of the quietest cases on the market. (More details if you're really, really interested...) Anyway, the case is mostly intact except for the fact that my front door won't attach anymore because the plastic hinging and all the plastic bits behind the front door have shattered into pieces. There are plastic bits hanging off that I can't take off because they're the power/reset buttons wired to the power supply.

The good thing is that my computer is working. For now. Damn UPS.

Edited by Nini & Bee, 22 October 2007 - 05:12 PM.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-10-22 17:12:00

QUOTE (Sprailenes @ Oct 19 2007, 01:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh and my family has a divorce pool going. Isn't that nice? I have never been married before, and I have been with my fiance for over 4 years.
They're being complete ####### - pardon my language.

The F***?!

Granted, the other day my mother said to me, "Don't change your last name. Don't do it. Just wait until you know he's the right one." Me: "...........um, thanks for the input."

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-10-19 13:52:00

I'm sorry, brad.

It drives me nuts that there are some people who razz at you for giving out wrong information. I acknowledge that I made a mistake. Now stop harassing me about it.

I'm also stuck at home with the flu, and T-minus fifteen hours until the courthouse wedding.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2007-10-18 17:09:00

I prefer black teas with a hint of flavour (like vanilla, peach, blackberry) but for some reason I've never liked earl grey. I think it's because of the bergamot that a lot of tea companies like to infuse it with

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-11-04 22:24:00

A cup for me please!

(We're the only folks that drink hot piping tea in the entire county, I swear...)

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-11-04 18:50:00

QUOTE (thetreble @ Nov 4 2008, 01:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Any who, I know what you are saying about losing your identity. I defined myself as Canadian and British for the most part. I try to buy my tea online and british sweets when I can, but it's not the same as having my mum brew me a cuppa after dinner. Ya know? There is such a big British backing in Canada that no matter where you turn, you usually can find someone of British decent.

I think the worst part about moving away from home was my mother's home-cooked Chinese meals. You know, mini versions of the Wedding Banquet.

I truly miss that so much. I even miss being around my own crazy family because they reflect a culture that I can barely find out here, and that's saying a lot!

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-11-04 13:54:00

QUOTE (MsZ @ Nov 2 2008, 08:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm wondering what all of you expected things to be like.

Hrm. I guess for me, I didn't expect my homesickness to be so severe - in my childhood, I'd lived in Hong Kong for five years - and while I didn't expect things to be the same, I felt at least like I would have a sense of control over my life. Well, as you know, this process doesn't really give that to us

but at least I felt optimistic enough that I could take on all those challenges head-on and not feel daunted.

I've been here in PA for a year now, and it took us almost as long to realize that I was not adjusting well to the move. I didn't have a car and we live in the 'burbs, so I was basically stuck in the house all evening while my husband was at work; he was also missing a great deal of the way things were at our house due to his work schedule, and in huge denial about how hard it was for me to be living with his parents. AOS was giving us a hell of a ride, and I wasn't successful in landing a job that would facilitate us getting out of a difficult living situation. I was at the point where I wanted to pack my bags and go home; nothing was working like I'd expected or hoped it to, and I felt like my independence had been completely stripped from me.

As a visible minority (I'm a first-gen Canadian-born-Chinese) things have been interesting. I'm not saying that my neighbours have never seen an Asian before, but... let's just say I don't blend in around here

Among other things, I get asked a lot about how I like the local Chinese food. Don't get me wrong, no one's being offensive, but I'm not used to people focusing so directly on my ethnicity; back in Vancouver, it wasn't a big deal, but here it's like I'm the local oddity. Then I tell folks that I'm Canadian, and it really makes them blink a little, because they assume from my fluent English that I'm native to the USA.

At least for me, I feel like I've been uprooted from two cultures and I'm starting to lose grip on my dual identities. We've found ways to compensate for that (shopping at the Asian supermarket, going to Chinatown in the city, trips back home to Vancouver) but it's not the same. I wouldn't have expected it to be, either, but it still stings a bit, because I feel like the things that made me, me, were left behind. I am just hoping that with this new job, I get into some semblance of my old routine back home that will make me gain back some of what I feel has been lost.

Ugh, I feel like I hopped on the pity wagon for a long ride too. Sorry about rambling. *hops off*

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-11-04 10:16:00

QUOTE (Carlawarla @ Nov 4 2008, 08:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'd have moved to Antartica to be with the love of my life Gene, and have never regretted my move.

If anyone heard that funny burbling noise in the background, that's the sound of my heart melting.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-11-04 08:25:00

Definitely feel your pain, Gypsy. The last year has been a teeter-totter of homesickness and angry feelings, varying from being angry at myself that I'm not adjusting well here and angry that life isn't the same as it was back home. I'm taking a card from Amanda and saying that it does get easier (or at least, looks easier!) once you get back into a similar routine as you had back home. But I definitely have moments, still do, when I think about the littlest things back home and I start feeling weepy - they're just fewer now than they were before.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-11-01 21:34:00

Kathryn, you should post that quiche recipe! It sounds quite yummy, and I'm always up for trying my hand at quiche making.

Tonight's dinner is homemade beef stew, braised with beer. Num!

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-11-14 21:22:00

Bee and I went to an Italian restaurant tonight for dinner - our calamari appetizer was underwhelming, his entree was good, mine wasn't. Then we headed to the brother-in-law's and played Wii and ate Dibs ice cream for dessert.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-11-09 01:02:00

Tonight I'm making Chinese five-spice beef. Three hours on the stove, and the house smells like a spice rack.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-11-06 22:32:00

Hubby was extremely skeptical of the homemade green bean casserole, but I won him over. I fear there's a subscription in my future...

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-11-04 16:02:00

Thinking chicken (haven't decided how to dress it yet) and homemade green bean casserole. I found a recipe in Cook's Illustrated that I'm dying to try out

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-11-03 18:13:00

Beef stew is on the stove as we speak. Not in a slow cooker (we don't have one of those), just in a huge stockpot with lots of vegetables and red wine. Tomorrow's dinner is couscous soup with veggies

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-10-27 21:43:00

Mmm, that looks about right, but I think I used the high-fat version

I recommend using silken tofu and letting it braise in the mixture with the pork, but that depends on how comfortable you are with cooking tofu. Silken tofu is extremely squishy, for lack of a better description

Once I refine the recipe, I'll be sure to post it though!

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-04-03 10:19:00

Last night I tried my hand at making ma po tofu on rice. It's a very spicy, intense Sichuan pork-and-tofu dish that requires a bit of finesse and a handful of prayers. Unfortunately I didn't have all the authentic ingredients for it, but it was good enough that hubby says he'll endure the hour-long drive to the Asian supermarket for the real deal.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-04-03 09:44:00

I just put up some Japanese-style pickles, so in a few days (or tonight!) I'll be sure to report back.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-03-24 13:25:00

Leftover homemade lasagna from last night. Bee's having a boys' night out with his best friend so I don't have to cook tonight

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-03-19 14:44:00

Tonight is going to be beef pepper burgers and sweet potato fries

Followed by... hrm, ice cream?

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-03-07 21:00:00

I'm cookin' up some chicken breast spiced with merken (a Chilean spice blend) and panfrying mushrooms and brussel sprouts with garlic, sea salt and olive oil. It's the first time I'm trying this out, but I'm thinking it's going to be deee-lish

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-03-06 21:30:00

Tonight is up in the air. I was planning on making thai chicken curry, but forgot to defrost the chicken breasts that are buried in the freezer. They won't thaw on time, so... I sent Bee a text message at work. His response: "restaurant?" Meaning... the local Belgian brewhouse in the neighbourhood. Mmm, cassis lambic.

We're pinching our pennies though, so I might put together a simple pasta and leave it at that.

~Nini~

Female

Canada

2008-02-28 16:38:00