hi i am bangerboy, from stevenage -hertfordshire

yes i am on disability in fact they said in 2010 you haven't worked in 20 years ???hahaha-so we are retiring you on your 60th birthday -i am now 67 this next week august 21st --

i just chatted for an hour to another nice man also called --keith . he gave me a --gee-up to now go into battle --my ruby had a realy old phone before but from yesterday my new 4g present arrived she would have got it today but needed to put into it free windows 10??she used to go to internet cafe in dasmarinas-cavite but then type chat an hour on yahoo messenger --now she can sit with our son and phone video message on --skype & viber --and i be in tears saying good morning to my son and at night goodnight haha and --mahal kita maganda ka ? thank you both for your message

You will find a lot of help on here to get your loved ones to the UK! Just ask!!!!

thank you i am very grateful i just left you a message

I just replied bangerboy. But getting late now, so I will say goodnight.

Heh Buddy it might be a good idea to get your missus to join here since she will have a fair bit to do if this process is to work

The process is long and difficult but my mahal and I are now waiting to hear from the Embassy after a LOT of help from people here.

Keep cheerful - it can be done.

If you look on the bright side, bangerboy, people these days have instantaneous ways of communicating with their loved ones overseas.
Not just voice but video communications these days
Before that it was letters that took weeks to arrive in the Phils, for example.

I remember not so long ago when email arrived. What a boon that was.

Very true.

When I started the relationship with my Filipina ex back in 1990, ...letters or phone only. 4 weeks turnaround on letters. £1 a minute on the phone (with very poor line quality). £5 minimum call charge too. That was a fair amount of dosh then. No mobiles or Internet of course. lol

Good news was....only £40 for the settlement visa, and no tests. Just an interview, plus some sort of proper job and accomo.

Yeah I was always reminding @BlueberryCheeseCake how lucky we were to have the internet. When I go over there at the end of this week we will have completed four years long distance and we've both had enough. Just letters and phone calls is tough. I often remind myself though that people in world war 2 had it much worse and coped fine.. Its amazing how tough and resilient love can be as long as there is hope there.

Quite out of topic but I'm curious BangerBoy about your nickname.. Banger as in cars, sausages or neither?

Well yes...my mother and us kids were quite accustomed to not seeing my dad for months on end too (and we didn't have any kind of phone). He was in the Royal Navy for 30 years, starting in 1939, so separation from loved ones just a way of life, as it is of course for millions of hard-working Filipino OFWs.

I'm in tears while reading this message. it's difficult being away from family.