OT: Hello to the New People, Especially Those From the Lone Star State!

[Guest guest]

Hey Anita,

 

Old one here. ;-)

 

> Just wanted to say welcome to all the new people on the list.

 

Yep .. the list has 1,010 members now .. dang near doubled in the last

six months.

 

> I am a Texan by choice here! Live between Conroe and Houston.

 

Know it well .. and you will recall that last summer I almost became a

resident of the Conroe area .. tried to buy a house on Lake Arrowhead

(north of Lake Conroe). A nice place .. 30 years old but nice. Three

bedrooms and wrap around decks .. a vacation home. I could pitch a

penny from the back deck into the lake .. empty lots on both sides and

around 200 yards of water front. Homes in that area are inexpensive as

its a good bit out of town .. not developed .. but that's fine as I have

no intentions of ever working for the other feller again anyway. I was

outbid on that house by a few measly bucks so I'm still looking.

 

The house even came with a bag of marbles. For those who don't know

Texas well .. folks who are not native Texacans have to learn to speak

native Texacan afore they can vote. The way that's done is you gotta

put a buncha marbles in your mouth when you talk .. after you get the

hang of speaking native Texacan you can discard the marbles.

 

That just allows you to vote .. if you wanna be considered by others as

a real Texacan you gotta learn how to cook Armadillo Chili and drink

Lone Star Beer. Lone Star is a real good beer so that don't take much

getting used to .. Armadillo Chili ain't bad neither. But them Texacans

use so much dang chili pepper when they make chili that you can't tell

what else is in it nohow and you better have a cold beer near at hand to

put the fire (far) out.

 

Gonna show my lady friend a wide range of American culture this summer

and I expect she will like Texas cause it has such a varied climate that

she'll feel like she's back home in Russia. ;-)

 

Since a lotta folks on this list are friends as well as customers, and

have asked me off list about the status of my trip to the USA .. here's

where its at. We're scheduled to fly out of Ankara on 14 June. Anna is

still in Russia .. been driving her grandmother to various tests at a

hospital some 100 + miles from the small town she lives in .. but as I

write this she's on a train bound for Moscow and tomorrow morning early

she will show up at the U.S. Consulate.

 

It looks like we'll make the trip as scheduled .. unless the bureaucrats

at the Consulate give her a hassle over the visa .. I gave her a strong

supportive letter to give them .. but knowing foreign service people as

I do .. there is no way to predict their actions.

 

Getting a U.S. entry visa hasn't been easy for folks from some countries

since 9/11 and as far as I know Russians are not on the top of the list

of most favored nations. Prior to 9/11 my Turkish girlfriend was issued

a ten year multiple entry Visa and it took but one day to get it .. but

around a year or so ago the U.S. Consulate here in Turkey refused a visa

requested by a friend for his nephew. The friend was Chief of Police of

Samsun Province .. used to be one of the Deputy Interior Ministers and

is the 5th ranking cop in Turkey .. not a small figure. He wanted his

nephew to visit his son who lives in Florida. He requested the visa on

his official letterhead, sent it to me and I called the folks in the

Consulate to try to smooth the way. They turned the kid down because he

was not employed (he had just graduated high school) so they had no

assurance he would return to Turkey.

 

Anna is not employed now either (she resigned her position in Turkey in

mid-May) but she owns an apartment and an automobile in Russia, her

mother and grandmother live there and she has a business there .. a

beauty shop/solarium. And though it might come as a surprise to some

American bureaucrats .. not everybody wants to live in the USA~!

 

I will know maybe Wednesday .. not later than Thursday .. whether or not

she gets the Visa. We're waiting with hopes high and fingers crossed.

 

(Snipped)

> Now, I found out yesterday morning that I'm invited to do a big show

> over in The Woodlands this weekend,

 

Hope it went well.

 

> so had to go get more lye and make some CPin the mold in the car type.

> Am letting the oils cool now, haha! THEN will make some lotion with the

> Rose Hydrosol that I got last week from Butch!

 

Hope that went well too. ;-)

 

> Thank the girls for the quick shipment on that Butch! LOVE it, and the

> samples!!!

 

Done and done .. I'll pass it along. For those who have recent orders

and might be waiting for exact shipping costs or confirmation of receipt

of payment, etc., from my folks in MD .. there was some delay as we were

not open on Friday .. one of my employees is on vacation and the other

two are sisters .. their mother is critically ill now .. the docs called

the family to the hospital Friday morning .. I have received no info

since then so I don't know the current situation. I've sent posts to

most folks and advised them of this .. but if you sent an order directly

to the ladies in MD I would not have seen it yet.

 

> Like I said, welcome new list members!! This is one great, and

> informative group!

 

That's a big fer'shur. :-p

 

> Anita

> www.aremarkableexperience.com

> Treat Every Day with " A-ReMark-able Experience " !

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com