Silly Man
Volunteer moderator
Awright, here goes ..
Reached the damn line at 10:30 PM. There were 5 people ahead of me. The best time to reach it seems is around 12:00 to 12:30. I had to reach early because I didn't have a ride later on.
So anyway I get there, and hardly anyone in the line speaks english. Especially the first in the line, that dude, who people expect to be a lawyer (cuz everyone's askin' him questions), and the only english he knows is "Yes this line start, back there line end .. stand there". The dude next to me knew some english, and he taught me that "mama sita" doesn't mean wife of shri ram. We saw ONE mama sita all thru the night .. THATS IT. (Man it sucked). And this one even had a little moochie, so she looked a little like papa sita.
Anyway, So here's how it is. They seem to change where the line seems to start everyday. When I went there was no seperate line for 485s, and we started the line at the corner of the building, on the pavement .. not in the building, or even on it's outsides.
Secondly, dude it does get damn cold. I was wearing sking gloves, ski jacket, sweatshirt, and I was still cold. Especially my legs, were freezing. I'd say if add to the above, I had a blanket, I'd be mostly okay. By 3 AM, I figured I was gonna die. I was shivering like a wet dog in atlantic city. It wasn't pleasant. If it rains, u're totally screwed.
Now, I'm a guy who is totally loving east coast snow, and keeps his car automatic climate control at 69 degrees. And I was shivering so hard that my nuts were clacking together to the beat of the infantry's 7th retreat.
Thirdly, it's dark .. I took a book to read - no use.
Fourthly, atleast the general line isn't a mad rush when the door opens. The guards security screen everyone before orderly giving them token #'s. (This is only if your approval notice says Room #1001).
Fifthly, the stamping itself was painless. Right in front is LA Mall, which has a authorized ADIT photo dude there, which is the most common problem. Once you are let into the building, they won't let you back in without standing in the line (or atleast that is what they say). So TAKE THE TOKEN WITH YOU, and show it to the guards that you have a token already, so they'd let you in.
Sixth, Camera Cellphones NOT allowed inside. The cleary said that and were checking for that.
.. here are a few things I learnt ..
a) If you are going there to pick pretty chicks - there's ABSOLUTELY NOBODY.
b) If you are going to flirt with cute guys - he's already gotten his passport stamped today - sorry you missed.
c) DONOT drink any water before you go, and must take a piss. There are no restrooms closeby, and you wouldn't wanna get out of line to try. Whats more, it's harder to hold it when it's cold. By 3 AM, I had to go, by 6 AM I could barely walk, and the guard took another 30 mins to straighten the line before letting us in.
What pissed me off most was that senior citizens, could practically waltz in without standing in the line. Well it would be okay if the citizens were applying for themselves, but they were letting others in and the guards didn't do much about that.
d) Get PLENTY of sleep the day before. The last few moments when you talk to the officer, (crucial), is when you are so drugged with sleep, that you might mess up. It gets tiring .. trust me.
e) Have your papers neatly prepared, and they will fingerprint your right hand index finger (no cuts).
f) The officer himself wasn't that bad. Just that many of them are 1-2 hours late to work.
Thats all I gotta add so far, lemme know if you have any Qs while my stamping experience is still fresh in my head.
Reached the damn line at 10:30 PM. There were 5 people ahead of me. The best time to reach it seems is around 12:00 to 12:30. I had to reach early because I didn't have a ride later on.
So anyway I get there, and hardly anyone in the line speaks english. Especially the first in the line, that dude, who people expect to be a lawyer (cuz everyone's askin' him questions), and the only english he knows is "Yes this line start, back there line end .. stand there". The dude next to me knew some english, and he taught me that "mama sita" doesn't mean wife of shri ram. We saw ONE mama sita all thru the night .. THATS IT. (Man it sucked). And this one even had a little moochie, so she looked a little like papa sita.
Anyway, So here's how it is. They seem to change where the line seems to start everyday. When I went there was no seperate line for 485s, and we started the line at the corner of the building, on the pavement .. not in the building, or even on it's outsides.
Secondly, dude it does get damn cold. I was wearing sking gloves, ski jacket, sweatshirt, and I was still cold. Especially my legs, were freezing. I'd say if add to the above, I had a blanket, I'd be mostly okay. By 3 AM, I figured I was gonna die. I was shivering like a wet dog in atlantic city. It wasn't pleasant. If it rains, u're totally screwed.
Now, I'm a guy who is totally loving east coast snow, and keeps his car automatic climate control at 69 degrees. And I was shivering so hard that my nuts were clacking together to the beat of the infantry's 7th retreat.
Thirdly, it's dark .. I took a book to read - no use.
Fourthly, atleast the general line isn't a mad rush when the door opens. The guards security screen everyone before orderly giving them token #'s. (This is only if your approval notice says Room #1001).
Fifthly, the stamping itself was painless. Right in front is LA Mall, which has a authorized ADIT photo dude there, which is the most common problem. Once you are let into the building, they won't let you back in without standing in the line (or atleast that is what they say). So TAKE THE TOKEN WITH YOU, and show it to the guards that you have a token already, so they'd let you in.
Sixth, Camera Cellphones NOT allowed inside. The cleary said that and were checking for that.
.. here are a few things I learnt ..
a) If you are going there to pick pretty chicks - there's ABSOLUTELY NOBODY.
b) If you are going to flirt with cute guys - he's already gotten his passport stamped today - sorry you missed.
c) DONOT drink any water before you go, and must take a piss. There are no restrooms closeby, and you wouldn't wanna get out of line to try. Whats more, it's harder to hold it when it's cold. By 3 AM, I had to go, by 6 AM I could barely walk, and the guard took another 30 mins to straighten the line before letting us in.
What pissed me off most was that senior citizens, could practically waltz in without standing in the line. Well it would be okay if the citizens were applying for themselves, but they were letting others in and the guards didn't do much about that.
d) Get PLENTY of sleep the day before. The last few moments when you talk to the officer, (crucial), is when you are so drugged with sleep, that you might mess up. It gets tiring .. trust me.
e) Have your papers neatly prepared, and they will fingerprint your right hand index finger (no cuts).
f) The officer himself wasn't that bad. Just that many of them are 1-2 hours late to work.
Thats all I gotta add so far, lemme know if you have any Qs while my stamping experience is still fresh in my head.
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