OBM and NP News!
Anubha sitting in pitch black darkness (as seen from her webcam 
), Deepak Jeswal humming when no one else was speaking on voice chat, Kunal eating up any type of food that was put in front of him, and Captain Manpreet showing up late to the OBM, that too without a mic or webcam! That’s just part of what you missed at the 3rd OBM. 
Thanks to everyone for coming. Neeraj and I loved talking to all of you and hope that you all enjoyed as well. It was nice to see some new faces this time — Mona, Neha, and Tanya. Rashu dear as always came with her sense of humor, and an excuse for her squeaky microphone. 
It was nice to see another couple (Manpreet and Tanya) to join us and share with us a recent experience that they faced. Our Bangalorean Prasad can always be counted. 
Even though he was late due to a previous appointment, he still trudged over to a cyber cafe to be part of the fun.
Thanks to Kunal for creating the wonderful script/form where we stored all of our OBM profiles. It was nice to have all of that information in one place!
News with NP
We are now in our third week since Neeraj has come to the US, and we are enjoying every moment of it. There are many things that we are learning about each other, that we may have not known before :wink:, which by itself is a great experience.
As for the immigration process, we had gone to apply for Neeraj’s Social Security Number (SSN) on Friday. We had gone two weeks back, but the lady had said that she would have to go through the INS manual verification process which would take 45 days to get the SSN. So we decided to wait another week and go back on last Friday. The same lady gave us the same news on Friday, but then after completing the application, she returned with good news that a manual verification was not needed. Neeraj will then receive his SSN in two weeks. Two weeks sounds much much better than 45 days.
With his SSN, he will be able to take the driver’s test and get his driver’s license and be able to open a bank account. Also half of the work will be done for him to be legally authorized to work in the US.
Tomorrow we are going to send off the AOS (Adjustment of Status — Permanent Residency), EAD (Employment Auth), and AP (Advance Parole) docs off to the Chicago Lockbox Facility. Upon receiving his EAD (which hopefully won’t be more than two months), will then make him able to apply for jobs.
Currently he’s preparing for the GMAT exam (which he is wayyy ahead of me, he’s going to prep me on that later ), and also studying to take a Java/J2EE certification. So he has things to keep him busy. I get home around 5.40, I pick him up, and then we head over to my house for dinner/tv/relaxing. Before sitting down to watch Fame Gurukul, we usually go for driving practice for 45 mins-hour. Neeraj is doing really well on his driving and is surely going to pass with flying colors!
Alvida. Jai Mata Di.
September 26th, 2005 at 9:18 pm
missed OBM yet again but head several things about it!! great you guys had fun!
And hey I am sure the two of you are loving this time together…must be amazing to be together so much and learning so many new things together! and Neeraj is practising with you? I wonder what will happen if B practises with me! He drove in India and I kept freaking out and screaming! haha no patience in me….you are patient naaa?
well, good luck with the immigration process and hopefully Neeraj wil get his SSN soon and also get the license part ..oh and good luck with the GMAT and java certification! keep the spirit on! its so good to hear! :) take care
September 26th, 2005 at 9:19 pm
ok know what..i just checked the blog stats and this one is my 99th comment on your blog till date!!! awesome!
September 26th, 2005 at 9:21 pm
and OFCOURSE i wont let the century slip by..so here lieth my hundreth comment on this site! Its been a pleasure the past ninety nine times and am sure it will be the next gazzillion times!!! :hyper::hyper::hyper: thanks so much!!!
September 26th, 2005 at 11:52 pm
Kaush ne bhi century maar di… cool :D
Poonam, yes, I missed the fun.. ‘coz of this stupid IIT internet policies =( plus I got about 30 mins late.. had some important work to do… Anyways, it was nice meeting new people - DJ, Anubha, Neha. Didn’t got a chance to chat with Mona though.. she left before I joined you…
Good to hear that Neeraj is learning driving fast… Did Neeraj drove cars when i was in india?? I’ve heard that jisne india mein car chala li… he/she won’t have a prob in driving anywhere on earth.. Indian drivers are so alert.. they have to take care of traffic coming in all directions :D
ATB to both of you for GMAT… where are you guys planning to apply?
September 27th, 2005 at 1:41 am
I hate it when I’ve to leave the OBM earlier everytime..
If i were @ home, i’d have participated all day long.. no probs.. but here in B’lore thts a problem na. :(
anyway, was nice to be a part of it atleast for sometime.. :)
hmm.. so, NP…. u both r enjoying ur time.. u both have sketched out a nice plan too.. thts really nice to see.
God, so many processes to go thro’ there.. hmm, pretty tough isn’t it.. wish u all success in these.. :)
September 27th, 2005 at 1:43 am
hmm…. Kaush completing her 100th comment.. good.. It made me check my position too… am catching up with all the top commenters..:hyper::hyper: climbing up the ladder very fast..
September 27th, 2005 at 6:23 am
Hiya.. it was great to be there, and espcially after a long tiring day - you guys were on weekend, it was the first day of the week for me.. and it was great having those laughs,.. and meeting you all :) hope to be around much longer the next time around.. heres to Neeraj’s driving, but stay off the main roads, and BOL for exams.. and the paper processes :)
Cheers..{}
September 27th, 2005 at 7:08 am
Poonam,
I am always missing the fun in OBM…am so sick and tired of telling the same excuse…tonnes of work and now working in the weekends too :( But today me planning to send u my photo so that atleast u get to see me ! :)
hope u guys had a great time and next time for sre count me in!
September 27th, 2005 at 11:13 am
I will surely be there at the next OBM
Neeraj! Good Luck for GMAT
September 27th, 2005 at 11:53 pm
hi Poonam…i’ve never participated in these obms…perhaps i shud start soon…it seems to be great fun!
nice itinerary u ppl hv!!:smile:
September 28th, 2005 at 6:39 am
I love to be part of the OBM although it’s only for a while
I am really happy to read about you and Neeraj. Seems like everything is good
*hugs*
September 28th, 2005 at 7:04 am
It seems that you are really busy these days
September 28th, 2005 at 1:49 pm
Missed the third OBM too :( anyways will try my level best to attend the next one though. There should be a poll for deciding the date :). Anyways, its nice to hear you guys had tons of fun . Neeraj and Poonam , bas main to roj hi late aata hoon office se aur jaldi so jaata hoon , but will call today definately :).. thats good Neeraj is learning fast .. hopefully you get SSN soon so that all the things planned by Poonam work out.
September 28th, 2005 at 7:01 pm
OBM was great. I am glad that even though you were late you showed up Manpreet.
As for driving, you have to adapt wherever you go. Neeraj is learning the rules here and adapting to driving here because it is different from India. You have to learn how to drive in the country that you are in, and just like that, you can drive anywhere. It will take time, but it will happen.
Thanks Prasad. The process is long and tideous, but we will get through it.
I am glad that you were able to come to the OBM and hope you had fun!
Thanks for making it over to our site Dreams.
It was great meeting you and hope you had fun in OBM.
Waiting for your photo Indu.
Send it soon! Next time I hope that you will also be able to come. 
Don’t work too hard!
Thanks Ankur.
Hope you can come next time Vidhi.
Thanks for coming Mona dear.
Even you there for a small time, it was great having you there. 
Job ki wajah se aur phir mera laptop Neeraj ke paas hota hai isliya chance nahi milta Manpreet. But i check our site every day.
Good to hear from you Manish.
Hope you will be able to come to the next OBM. We shall vote on the timings. We did it this time as well but you haven’t been visiting the blog often enough. 
Haan call karo warna hum weekend par karenge. 
September 29th, 2005 at 12:29 am
missed the OBM.. :(
neway, its great that u guys are getting time together after such a long time.. JAI MATA DI.. for that.. :)
September 30th, 2005 at 6:39 am
wow am coming to ur site after 5 days ! u kn what ur site was not accessible for 2 days fr here…
obm was fun as always… o Manpreet is sad that he missed chatting to Mona
learning to hv patience is a tough job. am sure u will learn that with time…
somehow i was expecting a lot more ppl… but its always fun to hv a small grp too…
btw np where had u both disappeared that day n shut the lights ? really we all are curious to kn :P
October 5th, 2005 at 1:04 am
OBM was loads of fun…Lol i was sitting in pitch darkness he he, as for you ppl whered u both vanish????:wink: It was fun and yes the glutton Kunal :P( he shall surely kill me after reading this part :D…but i couldnt access your page for soooo long :( but better late than never!!! :D Its good you both are having fun and getting to know each other better.Wish you both a life filled with happiness and success, all the best for your GMAT!!!! Take Care and Keep smiling :)