Monday, March 27, 2006
Waiting Game
Well it's been a long time since my last Blog posting. I'm not sure why my life has become so uninteresting to write about, probably just the dreariness of waiting for the USICS (formerly the INS) to approve Nian's K3 visa so she can join me here in America. There is some good news on this front, after an initial rejection of our I-130 filing, a resubmission with the correct filing amount has been accepted (so we are on the waiting list). I have also filed the I-129F which is part two of this 3 step process -- 3 steps on Nian and my part, 6 steps on the USICS part (3 notices of action, 3 final confirmations). We have one notice of action. Hopefully things will speed up a little from this point, but Nian is more pessimistic than I.
So since Nian and I are not being reunited here State side quickly, I have bought tickets for another visit to China at the end of April, and if nothing is happening by the June, I'll be going back again in July, and possible again in November if the USICS is still dragging it's feet.
For whatever reason I've been thinking about my father a bit lately; I had mentioned to Nian that my good health, relative lucky job choices, and having finally found a true soul mate made me feel a bit guilty compared to my dad's relative hard life -- crippled with rheumatoid arthritis in his early 50s, loosing his chosen occupation at the same time and being widowed twice don't make for a truly happy life. Ironically my dad always seemed to remain of good cheer, fueled in large part by his born-again Christian faith. I myself am an Agnostic, but I appreciate the comfort my dad's religion gave him in the face of his adversities.
OK, something like 2 weeks has passed since that last paragraph, hopefully our "Notice of Action" will come on our I-129F application today, which should start a likely 4 month waiting period (as best as I can determine from the USCIS website) before the final step in Nian joining me here in America. It the mean time we have decided it would be best to look for a job overseas for a six month period while we await the final USCIS paper work to arrive.
I ran into an old friend from a couple of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" performances I was in a couple of years ago. Kiah had dropped a line on my blog when it looked like I was dealing with Lung Cancer (which turned out to be a false scare). Kiah had been dealing with cervical cancer. Anyway I ran into her and her fiancé (I hope I have that relationship correct) at the Gym and she looked healthy and in good spirits, even planning on still eventually having kids, so I wish her all the best, and apologize for not making a better attempt at answer to her post (I couldn't find an active E-Mail for her, but now believe I have a correct one).
I am leaving off four paragraphs from the post I previously started, they rightly belong in an essay I should put in my DumbSwede Journal at Slashdot.org (and are the main reason this post bogged down and ground to a halt). I am already running way too long as it is. There is more to write about some recent discussion Nian and I have had about religion, but that will have to wait until next time.
I'm sure it this were an Essay for school I would loose at least two grade points for tardiness, so I guess at best I get a D+ for today's posting.
