Our story...
Oct 22nd 2003, 4:07 pm
#1
In the UK
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Witham, Essex, England
Posts: 510
Our story...
This is the story I posted today in my yahoo groups so some of the references pertain to people in that group.
Carey
Okay...you've all been waiting for my post. I have some time now
that's it's about 10 p.m. on a Wednesday night over a month after the start of this story. Anyway, here goes...I'm not as good a
storyteller as the things (especially that thing2...he sure goes into
great detail!!)
I started out on my part of the journey to New York Jfk from Lansing at 4 a.m. on Saturday, September 13th. I made it a whole 2 hours and slept for about an hour and drove the rest of the way through. Dang that's a long drive....but Pennsylvania is sooooooooo beautiful!! I had a good trip there..made it there with about 3 hours to go before my flight. It was a 9:05 p.m. flight to Heathrow. The flight was good also, I flew with United Airlines this time they're really nice. When I got to the airport on Sunday morning Paul wasn't at the airport...oh I hate Terminal 3 at Heathrow...i've never seen so many people!! Anyway, found out when he finally made it that there was a marathon that day in London and he had a hard time getting a tube to the airport it was so packed. When he did get there we figured out
how to get to our hotel which was the Leisure Inn in
Westminster/Bayswater area. Very cool place for only £30 for the
night...it usually is a £90 room but the internet has good deals. We walked around Queensway Road and window shopped and bought Paul some shoes cuz he had worn his dress shoes and really hurt his feet. We walked through Hyde Park and man that's a huge park. I still haven't seen any of the palaces or any of the really touristy parts of London but i actually can say I've seen some now.
On Monday September 15th we made our walk (which was about 1.6 miles from our hotel) to the doctor's. When we got there about 20 minutes before 8 a.m. there were about 10-15 people out there and we asked how close a cash point (ATM) was cuz we decided to get Paul's money out instead of using my already negative mastercard check card. It took us four different machines before we found one that had the money in it or wasn't out of order....hence causing us to get back tothe Dr.'s office about 10 minutes after 8 a.m. I think. He put all the needed paperwork in the pink folder and turned it back into the
desk and paid his £125. And of course he was the last called since
we were last. I think I'll get him to tell the rest of the Dr.'s
part since I wasn't allowed down there. I did meet a cool American lady who was there with her husband who was applying for his green card even though they were living in london and not really planning on going back to america..but just in case he would have it. She was also applying for her permanent residency or something with the British government at the same time so they would have all the documents for both so they could live in either place and not have to worry. Anyway, back to the Dr.'s...here is Paul for that part.
As Carey was saying, I was the last person down to the Dr.s. We both went down together but the nurse said only the people with
appointments were allowed down there. I sat in the waiting room
until I was called by the nurse into a small room which she took my blood. I was then told to go back into the waiting room until I was called in for my x-rays. Paul a.k.a. X-ray man came out and asked two of us and to go into a cubicle and strip from the waist up. After about a 5-minute wait, my name was called and I was told to stand in front of the X-ray machine. I was asked if I had ever had a chest X-ray before and I replied I don't think so. Paul a.k.a. X-ray man replied "You would have known if you've had an X-ray before because you would have been there." ha ha I was then told to go back into the cubicle and wait. On the way back to the cubicle I asked to see Paul's (xray guy) famous postcard. He told me the story about this being the only postcard he had ever received and it was from someone from the British Expats site. This is when I told him that in the groups that I frequent on the net, that he is the most famous person in London. (hee hee carey typing) I then went back into the cubicle and waited for somebody else to call me for a quick medical exam. I ended up with the lady doctor which pissed most of the blokes off...lol. The doctor put a stethoscope to my chest to listen to me breathe and that's when I told her that the stethoscope was faulty and when she asked why, I told her because it was warm and they're usually cold. (he's such a smart arse) After a couple of
questions, we were told to go back into the waiting room and wait for the x-rays. (he didn't visit the loo while he was there...heard it was re-done anyway). Okay, I got my x-ray and went back up to see my beloved Carey. (he's mushy ain't he?) On the way out we stopped at the receptionist's desk to leave the british expats website address for Paul (x-ray guy) to check out.
Back to Carey....we walked to the Embassy from there and got there within 10 minutes and went to the front and showed the security guard Paul's appointment letter. We got to go straight in...feels good when you see all those people in line. Paul turned in all his paperwork in at the desk (think it was the first desk) and we sat down. The guy at the same desk called us both up and went through all the documents with Paul and they were all there. We sat down again and waited to be called up to the counter for the interview. When we were called up it was the guy from Brooklyn that I had heard about from the expats site. Of course, I asked him if he was from Brooklyn and he kinda looked at me funny and said yeah how did you know that...and i told him about the site and how people tell their accounts of the day. Anyway, he told Paul he had looked over the conviction and said they weren't concerned with it cuz it was all one incident and it wasn't a major issue being that it was a driving conviction. Then he preceded to ask Paul, "where did you meet?" Paul
said on the internet. Who came over to see who first? paul said she came over to meet me in person last july 2002. Have you experienced michigan in the winter? which paul said yes and then i had to pipe in technically it wasn't winter yet.(although it did drop to -30 degrees and was the coldest day in December)..i know i know shut up carey. Then he said I don't really have to ask the next question because she's standing here but it would have been "when was the last time she came over here to visit you?" That was it...he said to come back at 1 p.m. to pick up his visa. He had been approved!! It was the best feeling in the whole world!!! We went off and ate at Burger King and came back before 1 p.m. We only sat there for maybe 5
minutes and they called Paul up and gave him his passport with the Visa stuck inside...it was cool we were the last into the doctor and first out with the visa!! Woohoo!! Also, while we were in the
waiting room we were talking to a guy that Paul had met at the dr.'s office (i think his name is Dave) and we invited him to this group and he's here!! HIYA!! He went through Texas to get his visa and waited a ton of time...like from November 2002 and was there at the same time as us. After we left the embassy we went and called another member of this group, Jason, and met him and had a drink at a bar and talked all about our experiences. He is so way cool!!! Hiya jason!! After meeting with Jason we went back to our hotel and got our bags and set off for the train station to go back to Witham and pack all the stuff Paul would be taking home with him. We spent the night at his house and then the next morning were taken to Heathrow for a flight home. We hadn't got a flight for Paul yet because his visa electron card wasn't accepted by the website I tried to book it on.
So we tried for hours to get him a flight home....we didn't have
enough money
so he couldn't come home with me. Talk about a
painful trip home on that plane. Well, I only had $30 left with me
and that was how much the parking cost...so here I am in New York trying to figure out how I'm going to make it 12 hours home without any money...duh!! Well, I got $20 worth of gas in New York and made it to the middle of Pennsylvania but this 12 hour trip was way longer than that because I couldn't stay awake during the night at all so slept most of it. Anyway, I made it to this little town in Pennsylvania and went to the American Red Cross to find out if they could help with gas and they couldn't but they gave me a number to a community center in a town about 20 miles away and I called them. They gave me another number to a ministry that helps stranded travelers and truck drivers who run out of gas. This cool minister came to the gas station and put $20 in my tank and made me buy some food and paid for it. I'll never forget that man...anyway. I then make it to a town by cedar point in ohio and i'm almost empty again. I ended up calling a friend at work and he wired me $20 more dollars and I made it home. That trip was the scariest trip of my life but i made it....Found out during it that Paul had sold his pc and borrowed
money to make a flight on Thursday to JFK from Heathrow and take a 18 hour bus trip from New York to Ann Arbor where I picked him up. He always wanted to see mountains but because the whole trip was at night he didn't see any of them. OH which reminds me...we were tracking that flight from england to new york because hurricane isbell was hitting the east coast when he was getting into new york. He did see lots of rain but he made it safely....
Carey
Okay...you've all been waiting for my post. I have some time now
that's it's about 10 p.m. on a Wednesday night over a month after the start of this story. Anyway, here goes...I'm not as good a
storyteller as the things (especially that thing2...he sure goes into
great detail!!)
I started out on my part of the journey to New York Jfk from Lansing at 4 a.m. on Saturday, September 13th. I made it a whole 2 hours and slept for about an hour and drove the rest of the way through. Dang that's a long drive....but Pennsylvania is sooooooooo beautiful!! I had a good trip there..made it there with about 3 hours to go before my flight. It was a 9:05 p.m. flight to Heathrow. The flight was good also, I flew with United Airlines this time they're really nice. When I got to the airport on Sunday morning Paul wasn't at the airport...oh I hate Terminal 3 at Heathrow...i've never seen so many people!! Anyway, found out when he finally made it that there was a marathon that day in London and he had a hard time getting a tube to the airport it was so packed. When he did get there we figured out
how to get to our hotel which was the Leisure Inn in
Westminster/Bayswater area. Very cool place for only £30 for the
night...it usually is a £90 room but the internet has good deals. We walked around Queensway Road and window shopped and bought Paul some shoes cuz he had worn his dress shoes and really hurt his feet. We walked through Hyde Park and man that's a huge park. I still haven't seen any of the palaces or any of the really touristy parts of London but i actually can say I've seen some now.
On Monday September 15th we made our walk (which was about 1.6 miles from our hotel) to the doctor's. When we got there about 20 minutes before 8 a.m. there were about 10-15 people out there and we asked how close a cash point (ATM) was cuz we decided to get Paul's money out instead of using my already negative mastercard check card. It took us four different machines before we found one that had the money in it or wasn't out of order....hence causing us to get back tothe Dr.'s office about 10 minutes after 8 a.m. I think. He put all the needed paperwork in the pink folder and turned it back into the
desk and paid his £125. And of course he was the last called since
we were last. I think I'll get him to tell the rest of the Dr.'s
part since I wasn't allowed down there. I did meet a cool American lady who was there with her husband who was applying for his green card even though they were living in london and not really planning on going back to america..but just in case he would have it. She was also applying for her permanent residency or something with the British government at the same time so they would have all the documents for both so they could live in either place and not have to worry. Anyway, back to the Dr.'s...here is Paul for that part.
As Carey was saying, I was the last person down to the Dr.s. We both went down together but the nurse said only the people with
appointments were allowed down there. I sat in the waiting room
until I was called by the nurse into a small room which she took my blood. I was then told to go back into the waiting room until I was called in for my x-rays. Paul a.k.a. X-ray man came out and asked two of us and to go into a cubicle and strip from the waist up. After about a 5-minute wait, my name was called and I was told to stand in front of the X-ray machine. I was asked if I had ever had a chest X-ray before and I replied I don't think so. Paul a.k.a. X-ray man replied "You would have known if you've had an X-ray before because you would have been there." ha ha I was then told to go back into the cubicle and wait. On the way back to the cubicle I asked to see Paul's (xray guy) famous postcard. He told me the story about this being the only postcard he had ever received and it was from someone from the British Expats site. This is when I told him that in the groups that I frequent on the net, that he is the most famous person in London. (hee hee carey typing) I then went back into the cubicle and waited for somebody else to call me for a quick medical exam. I ended up with the lady doctor which pissed most of the blokes off...lol. The doctor put a stethoscope to my chest to listen to me breathe and that's when I told her that the stethoscope was faulty and when she asked why, I told her because it was warm and they're usually cold. (he's such a smart arse) After a couple of
questions, we were told to go back into the waiting room and wait for the x-rays. (he didn't visit the loo while he was there...heard it was re-done anyway). Okay, I got my x-ray and went back up to see my beloved Carey. (he's mushy ain't he?) On the way out we stopped at the receptionist's desk to leave the british expats website address for Paul (x-ray guy) to check out.
Back to Carey....we walked to the Embassy from there and got there within 10 minutes and went to the front and showed the security guard Paul's appointment letter. We got to go straight in...feels good when you see all those people in line. Paul turned in all his paperwork in at the desk (think it was the first desk) and we sat down. The guy at the same desk called us both up and went through all the documents with Paul and they were all there. We sat down again and waited to be called up to the counter for the interview. When we were called up it was the guy from Brooklyn that I had heard about from the expats site. Of course, I asked him if he was from Brooklyn and he kinda looked at me funny and said yeah how did you know that...and i told him about the site and how people tell their accounts of the day. Anyway, he told Paul he had looked over the conviction and said they weren't concerned with it cuz it was all one incident and it wasn't a major issue being that it was a driving conviction. Then he preceded to ask Paul, "where did you meet?" Paul
said on the internet. Who came over to see who first? paul said she came over to meet me in person last july 2002. Have you experienced michigan in the winter? which paul said yes and then i had to pipe in technically it wasn't winter yet.(although it did drop to -30 degrees and was the coldest day in December)..i know i know shut up carey. Then he said I don't really have to ask the next question because she's standing here but it would have been "when was the last time she came over here to visit you?" That was it...he said to come back at 1 p.m. to pick up his visa. He had been approved!! It was the best feeling in the whole world!!! We went off and ate at Burger King and came back before 1 p.m. We only sat there for maybe 5
minutes and they called Paul up and gave him his passport with the Visa stuck inside...it was cool we were the last into the doctor and first out with the visa!! Woohoo!! Also, while we were in the
waiting room we were talking to a guy that Paul had met at the dr.'s office (i think his name is Dave) and we invited him to this group and he's here!! HIYA!! He went through Texas to get his visa and waited a ton of time...like from November 2002 and was there at the same time as us. After we left the embassy we went and called another member of this group, Jason, and met him and had a drink at a bar and talked all about our experiences. He is so way cool!!! Hiya jason!! After meeting with Jason we went back to our hotel and got our bags and set off for the train station to go back to Witham and pack all the stuff Paul would be taking home with him. We spent the night at his house and then the next morning were taken to Heathrow for a flight home. We hadn't got a flight for Paul yet because his visa electron card wasn't accepted by the website I tried to book it on.
So we tried for hours to get him a flight home....we didn't have
enough money
so he couldn't come home with me. Talk about apainful trip home on that plane. Well, I only had $30 left with me
and that was how much the parking cost...so here I am in New York trying to figure out how I'm going to make it 12 hours home without any money...duh!! Well, I got $20 worth of gas in New York and made it to the middle of Pennsylvania but this 12 hour trip was way longer than that because I couldn't stay awake during the night at all so slept most of it. Anyway, I made it to this little town in Pennsylvania and went to the American Red Cross to find out if they could help with gas and they couldn't but they gave me a number to a community center in a town about 20 miles away and I called them. They gave me another number to a ministry that helps stranded travelers and truck drivers who run out of gas. This cool minister came to the gas station and put $20 in my tank and made me buy some food and paid for it. I'll never forget that man...anyway. I then make it to a town by cedar point in ohio and i'm almost empty again. I ended up calling a friend at work and he wired me $20 more dollars and I made it home. That trip was the scariest trip of my life but i made it....Found out during it that Paul had sold his pc and borrowed
money to make a flight on Thursday to JFK from Heathrow and take a 18 hour bus trip from New York to Ann Arbor where I picked him up. He always wanted to see mountains but because the whole trip was at night he didn't see any of them.
OH which reminds me...we were tracking that flight from england to new york because hurricane isbell was hitting the east coast when he was getting into new york. He did see lots of rain but he made it safely....
Oct 22nd 2003, 4:08 pm
#2
In the UK
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Witham, Essex, England
Posts: 510
Part 2 of our story
Well he made it here on Friday September 19th and we got married on September 20th as planned. I bought my outfit the day of my wedding as well as the rings, my kids' clothes and my shoes. (all on a negative checking account which is now closed.) But it was all worth it because our wedding day out in that rosegarden was great. The pastor (my best friend from work), another friend from work, and my kids and my sister and brother-in-law were the only people there but that was just enough for a great day.
Paul has been volunteering at the place I work and also looking for a job. We haven't done AOS yet because we're waiting to have the money for it...probably go in NOvember. We went to the social security office about 4 business days after Paul arrived and he was in the system and we got his social security number ordered that day. He got it about a week or so later. It does have the message on it valid to work only with ins authorization on it. Unfortunately, silly me when i went to apply for the marriage license asked which name i should put for his name instead of just going ahead and using the one on the birth certificate which is the only document of his they saw. I told them about the name he has in his passport so they said that's the name they had to put on the license. So now to change his name back to his birthname we have to do a deed poll to change it. Which is alright since you can do it right online at www.ukdps.co.uk So, we haven't changed our names...although I've started to on utility bills and other things putting our name as
Hollick on things.
Well that's about it for now...hopefully I described it well enough
for you folks.
It's really easier at the interview than you think it will be. Relax
and go with the flow and it'll be over quickly.
Love,
Carey and Paul
Paul has been volunteering at the place I work and also looking for a job. We haven't done AOS yet because we're waiting to have the money for it...probably go in NOvember. We went to the social security office about 4 business days after Paul arrived and he was in the system and we got his social security number ordered that day. He got it about a week or so later. It does have the message on it valid to work only with ins authorization on it. Unfortunately, silly me when i went to apply for the marriage license asked which name i should put for his name instead of just going ahead and using the one on the birth certificate which is the only document of his they saw. I told them about the name he has in his passport so they said that's the name they had to put on the license. So now to change his name back to his birthname we have to do a deed poll to change it. Which is alright since you can do it right online at www.ukdps.co.uk So, we haven't changed our names...although I've started to on utility bills and other things putting our name as
Hollick on things.
Well that's about it for now...hopefully I described it well enough
for you folks.
It's really easier at the interview than you think it will be. Relax
and go with the flow and it'll be over quickly.
Love,
Carey and Paul
Oct 23rd 2003, 3:10 am
#3
In the UK
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Witham, Essex, England
Posts: 510
Londoners...
I hope our story helped a bit. It was a great day....it was even nervewracking at all really except a little the night before.
Carey
Carey
Oct 23rd 2003, 5:14 am
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2003
Location: Oregon/UK
Posts: 266
Re: Part 2 of our story
Originally posted by Careybear
Well he made it here on Friday September 19th and we got married on September 20th as planned. I bought my outfit the day of my wedding as well as the rings, my kids' clothes and my shoes. (all on a negative checking account which is now closed.) But it was all worth it because our wedding day out in that rosegarden was great. The pastor (my best friend from work), another friend from work, and my kids and my sister and brother-in-law were the only people there but that was just enough for a great day.
Paul has been volunteering at the place I work and also looking for a job. We haven't done AOS yet because we're waiting to have the money for it...probably go in NOvember. We went to the social security office about 4 business days after Paul arrived and he was in the system and we got his social security number ordered that day. He got it about a week or so later. It does have the message on it valid to work only with ins authorization on it. Unfortunately, silly me when i went to apply for the marriage license asked which name i should put for his name instead of just going ahead and using the one on the birth certificate which is the only document of his they saw. I told them about the name he has in his passport so they said that's the name they had to put on the license. So now to change his name back to his birthname we have to do a deed poll to change it. Which is alright since you can do it right online at www.ukdps.co.uk So, we haven't changed our names...although I've started to on utility bills and other things putting our name as
Hollick on things.
Well that's about it for now...hopefully I described it well enough
for you folks.
It's really easier at the interview than you think it will be. Relax
and go with the flow and it'll be over quickly.
Love,
Carey and Paul
Well he made it here on Friday September 19th and we got married on September 20th as planned. I bought my outfit the day of my wedding as well as the rings, my kids' clothes and my shoes. (all on a negative checking account which is now closed.) But it was all worth it because our wedding day out in that rosegarden was great. The pastor (my best friend from work), another friend from work, and my kids and my sister and brother-in-law were the only people there but that was just enough for a great day.
Paul has been volunteering at the place I work and also looking for a job. We haven't done AOS yet because we're waiting to have the money for it...probably go in NOvember. We went to the social security office about 4 business days after Paul arrived and he was in the system and we got his social security number ordered that day. He got it about a week or so later. It does have the message on it valid to work only with ins authorization on it. Unfortunately, silly me when i went to apply for the marriage license asked which name i should put for his name instead of just going ahead and using the one on the birth certificate which is the only document of his they saw. I told them about the name he has in his passport so they said that's the name they had to put on the license. So now to change his name back to his birthname we have to do a deed poll to change it. Which is alright since you can do it right online at www.ukdps.co.uk So, we haven't changed our names...although I've started to on utility bills and other things putting our name as
Hollick on things.
Well that's about it for now...hopefully I described it well enough
for you folks.
It's really easier at the interview than you think it will be. Relax
and go with the flow and it'll be over quickly.
Love,
Carey and Paul
Thank you so much Carey and Paul for telling your experiences in London. As I said earlier on a different post, it really helps me to read about others' stories. It makes the wait a little less tough. Congratualtions and good luck to you both.
Oct 25th 2003, 10:41 am
#5
In the UK
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Witham, Essex, England
Posts: 510
Re: Part 2 of our story
Originally posted by Kae
Thank you so much Carey and Paul for telling your experiences in London. As I said earlier on a different post, it really helps me to read about others' stories. It makes the wait a little less tough. Congratualtions and good luck to you both.
Thank you so much Carey and Paul for telling your experiences in London. As I said earlier on a different post, it really helps me to read about others' stories. It makes the wait a little less tough. Congratualtions and good luck to you both.
No problem Kae...it took me forever just to post it because quite frankly i'm just happy that ordeal was over with. The day of the interview was so much fun though.
Carey
Oct 25th 2003, 1:26 pm
#6
Charlie Tuna
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Sacramento, Ca
Posts: 1,387
Re: Our story...
Great story you guys, congrats that all has turned out well, though not jealous of the journey home you had to make. Thank god for the ministry man 
Nov 11th 2003, 5:45 am
#7
In the UK
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Witham, Essex, England
Posts: 510
Re: Our story...
Originally posted by CharlieS
Great story you guys, congrats that all has turned out well, though not jealous of the journey home you had to make. Thank god for the ministry man
Great story you guys, congrats that all has turned out well, though not jealous of the journey home you had to make. Thank god for the ministry man
So true Charlie!!
Carey
Nov 11th 2003, 5:51 am
#8
SUPER CRUNCHY BALCONY COW
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 9,476
Re: Part 2 of our story
Originally posted by Careybear
Well he made it here on Friday September 19th and we got married on September 20th as planned. I bought my outfit the day of my wedding as well as the rings, my kids' clothes and my shoes. (all on a negative checking account which is now closed.) But it was all worth it because our wedding day out in that rosegarden was great. The pastor (my best friend from work), another friend from work, and my kids and my sister and brother-in-law were the only people there but that was just enough for a great day.
Paul has been volunteering at the place I work and also looking for a job. We haven't done AOS yet because we're waiting to have the money for it...probably go in NOvember. We went to the social security office about 4 business days after Paul arrived and he was in the system and we got his social security number ordered that day. He got it about a week or so later. It does have the message on it valid to work only with ins authorization on it. Unfortunately, silly me when i went to apply for the marriage license asked which name i should put for his name instead of just going ahead and using the one on the birth certificate which is the only document of his they saw. I told them about the name he has in his passport so they said that's the name they had to put on the license. So now to change his name back to his birthname we have to do a deed poll to change it. Which is alright since you can do it right online at www.ukdps.co.uk So, we haven't changed our names...although I've started to on utility bills and other things putting our name as
Hollick on things.
Well that's about it for now...hopefully I described it well enough
for you folks.
It's really easier at the interview than you think it will be. Relax
and go with the flow and it'll be over quickly.
Love,
Carey and Paul
Well he made it here on Friday September 19th and we got married on September 20th as planned. I bought my outfit the day of my wedding as well as the rings, my kids' clothes and my shoes. (all on a negative checking account which is now closed.) But it was all worth it because our wedding day out in that rosegarden was great. The pastor (my best friend from work), another friend from work, and my kids and my sister and brother-in-law were the only people there but that was just enough for a great day.
Paul has been volunteering at the place I work and also looking for a job. We haven't done AOS yet because we're waiting to have the money for it...probably go in NOvember. We went to the social security office about 4 business days after Paul arrived and he was in the system and we got his social security number ordered that day. He got it about a week or so later. It does have the message on it valid to work only with ins authorization on it. Unfortunately, silly me when i went to apply for the marriage license asked which name i should put for his name instead of just going ahead and using the one on the birth certificate which is the only document of his they saw. I told them about the name he has in his passport so they said that's the name they had to put on the license. So now to change his name back to his birthname we have to do a deed poll to change it. Which is alright since you can do it right online at www.ukdps.co.uk So, we haven't changed our names...although I've started to on utility bills and other things putting our name as
Hollick on things.
Well that's about it for now...hopefully I described it well enough
for you folks.
It's really easier at the interview than you think it will be. Relax
and go with the flow and it'll be over quickly.
Love,
Carey and Paul
Thanks for sharing your story with us and CONGRATS!!! :PARTY: :PARTY:
