I still see a lot of JW window washers and roofers in my city and usually the word
"KINGDOM" is on the business card.
I have recently been contacted by a Brother I was in prison with back in the late '60s about a reunion on ZOOM. I mention him because his profession beats everybody
else by a wide margin.
He is a computer whiz.
Read his Bio and try not to feel too envious.
Work BIO
Senor-level Software Engineer/Information Technology Consultant specializing in Business Intelligence and Visualization.
Acknowledged as an expert in the FOCUS/WebFOCUS Business Intelligence and application development environments, and solid experience, or a good working knowledge, in many of the Business Intelligence environments and methodologies, currently in use.
Experienced as a Data Architect, Programmer, Systems Developer, Systems Administration, Systems Analyst, Business Analyst, Team Lead (including offshore groups), Project Manager, and trained in the full life cycle of systems development (SDLC).
Skilled in a wide variety of Legacy and Web-based languages, a solid knowledge of API’s, strong UI skills, system interfaces adapters, and frameworks. Extensive mainframe, midrange, and workstation experience, as well as a variety of legacy environments and operating systems. IBM certified as a SQL/DS and DB2 DBA, and other RDBMS environments and DBMS environments.
Strong web-based experience, including a working knowledge of many of the newer web-based environments, and skilled in creating web portals, dashboards, data marts, complex reporting, charts/graphics, mapping, analytics, and statistics.
Experienced in the Transportation, Manufacturing, Medical, Financial, Communications, and Education fields, as well as Federal and State government.
His current employment contract nets him $50k a month.
That's even better than washing windows and emptying trash bins!!
Posts by Terry
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6Mop and Bucket: A JW minister and Three Incidents
by Terry inthree incidents (from my youth).
in 1972 i had a glorious job as a janitor cleaning fort worth's largest newspaper offices at the star-telegram for $1.60 an hour in the wee hours (midnight to 8 am).. (hold your applause till the end, please).. .
yes - i was still a jehovah's witness and yes - we young full-time ministers accepted any part-time employment such as mine to survive until 1975 (when the, um, end of human existence would occur; according to watchtower magazine leaders.).
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Terry
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6
Mop and Bucket: A JW minister and Three Incidents
by Terry inthree incidents (from my youth).
in 1972 i had a glorious job as a janitor cleaning fort worth's largest newspaper offices at the star-telegram for $1.60 an hour in the wee hours (midnight to 8 am).. (hold your applause till the end, please).. .
yes - i was still a jehovah's witness and yes - we young full-time ministers accepted any part-time employment such as mine to survive until 1975 (when the, um, end of human existence would occur; according to watchtower magazine leaders.).
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Terry
THREE INCIDENTS (from my youth)In 1972 I had a glorious job as a janitor cleaning Fort Worth's largest newspaper offices at the Star-Telegram for $1.60 an hour in the wee hours (midnight to 8 am).(Hold your applause till the end, please).Yes - I was still a Jehovah's Witness and yes - we young full-time ministers accepted any part-time employment such as mine to survive until 1975 (when the, um, End of Human Existence would occur; according to Watchtower magazine leaders.)Only three interesting things worth mentioning about that janitor job will I cite for you to convey the flavor of my life at age 25.There were ten of us on that crew. We were all black men of various ages and dispositions who couldn't get a decent job because of our prison records. You take what you can, ya know?The Crew Chief was not black. He was sleepy and named Ed.Ed never took part in the cleaning.His was a supervisory function.He would spot-check and make sure we didn't steal anything expensive. Ed was not very competent in that capacity.Ed mostly slept.Now before I continue...Let me adjust my comment about "all black men". It wasn't my skin that was black - it was my MOOD. Okay?Now back to my story.I mention three incidents at the top. Remember?_____#1The first incident I'm pretty sure I've written about before.There was a huge Wells Fargo safe in the Editor's office in a walk-in closet behind the desk. The door to that closet was kept locked except for this one occasion. It stood ajar revealing the locked safe. It may have been locked - but - it wasn't safe!Remember this story?If not - you really missed out!Briefly, here are the highlights ...When I was in grade school all students had a locker and a combination lock. The unbreakable rule was this: ALL lockers must be kept locked!Well, okay. However...the distance between my last two classes was three flights of stairs! I had very little time to open the locker, switch out the textbook, lock up, and (don't) RUN the crowded stairs to the last class.So what?So I - and most other students - worked the combination right up to about a half-turn toward the last digit. In the frantic mad dash process, we could run over to the lock and give a tiny twist and CLICK! Open!Now - back to my Star-Telegram janitor sees Wells Fargo's safe story...As I was sweeping, dumping ashtrays, emptying trash cans - what did I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE - but - a combination lock and the instantaneous memory of my high school locker!Yes. I simply hypothesized that ...maybe...the editor of the newspaper took the same shortcut. Possibly?You know how it is when you've been around convicted criminals a couple of years? Yeah - your mindset becomes polluted.Cut to the chase...I tried it. I HAD TO. It would annoy and nag me forever had I not tried.I had a 50/50 chance IF the shortcut was to work.I slowly pulled the steel handle as I clicked the tumbler and -by golly - YIPES! The damn impregnable Wells Fargo solid steel, six-inch, thick safe door swung open.And yes - there were stacks of cash just like it is in the movies!Payroll. No checks - just cash. Oh - and there was a bottle of Vodka too.It scared the crap out of me for about a dozen reasons.I didn't wish to go back to prison. No no no.I also didn't want to stand there eyeballing stacks of $$$$$$.I quickly shut the door and spun the tumbler and rubbed my cleaning rag all over the door.That was incident number #1.___________Incident #2One night, Ed the sleepy supervisor pulled me aside and spoke in a whisper."I work another job during the day and I'm so tired - I just need to get some rest or I'll fall down. I need you to keep an eye on Tyrone while I catch my Z's. I don't trust him. Okay - go to it and don't wake me up for ANY reason."Fast-forward a couple of hours and a few minutes after Tyrone had stabbed one of the other crew members.It was nothing malicious. Just guys with knives messing about.Should I wake ED and inform him or not?What would you have done?Personally, I have a hard and fast rule I absorbed from my prison experience. DO NOT SNITCH!Consequently ...Ed slept through the blood, the ambulance, the police part of the evening.The next night, Ed pulled me aside with a peculiar look on his face.What would you guess Ed was going to say to me?Go on ...make your guess.Okay. Time's up. You're wrong - whatever you guessed.Ed said this to me:"Thanks for not waking me up. I'm glad I missed all that shit."Yeah. Amazing.____Incident #3On my last night of work at the Star-Telegram building as a janitorI found the Entertainment Writer, Elston Brooks, dead drunk at his desk. At first, I thought he was just dead. But as I got closer I could smell the "drunk" part of it.Elston Brooks was a larger-than-life personality figure who wrote columns in a witty, off-hand manner and he hob-nobbed with all sorts of celebrities in his capacity as interviewer covering movies, actors, actresses, directors, etc.I should NOT have spoken to him - but - I wasn't absolutely convinced he wasn't dead.I jostled his arm and spoke aloud:"ARE YOU OKAY?"Instantly, Elston sat bolt upright like a Private snapping to "Attention!" when a Sgt. walks into the barracks.I won't ask you to guess what he said to me. Nobody could guess in a million years. Not even a million monkeys typing on typewriters random sentences could produce the words that came out of his mouth.Here for the very first time, I will reveal it."Steve McQueen and I -- in London -- watched a naked woman wrestle a panther in Raymond’s Revue Bar."He then leaned to the side and vomited onto the floor.Noticing the mop and bucket beside me he squeaked, "Clean that up." Then he passed out face first on the desk.Well - I did not "Clean that up."I had had enough. My black mood had topped off.This was what my life had come to. Sopping vomit.I quit.The next day I set out in my blue Ford Maverick on a mission to find my father in Detroit.I needed to find out who he was as a person and discover who I was as his son - and what kind of genetic mismatch had screwed up my life.But that's a completely unrelated story - and I've probably told it a dozen times already.That's all for now.Bye-bye!LikeCommentShare -
23
Just how much of a dramatic FLOP is this NEW LIGHT?
by Terry inhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1xpxxtqvys.
your opinion, please, on the above video.
1. before jesus, humans were judged either by the law (jews and converts) or by natural law (noahide law).
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Terry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1XpxxtQvys
Your opinion, please, on the above video.
1. BEFORE Jesus, humans were judged either by the LAW (Jews and converts) or by natural Law (Noahide Law). Death wiped clean those sins." 2. With the arrival of Jesus, FAITH in Christ's sacrifice was the basis for sin forgiveness. 3. The war of the great day of God Almighty (Armageddon) punishes non-faithful (even reprobate so-called "Christians" by execution on the spot. 4. The heavenly Bride is resurrected to heaven if previously deceased; those alive are translated to heaven instantly. The faithful live through Armageddon as a thousand-year renewal begins. NOW comes the time period of CONTENTION opinion-wise: during the 1000 years. DEATH wiped clean previous sin. Why resurrect already dead people who paid that debt if they just die again in a new judgment? The previous doctrine clarified (?) this by saying "at any point" during the 1,000 years as a gradual renewing to perfection took place - a rebellious sinner would be executed summarily. By this act "it could be seen" as "theirs was a resurrection to death" because of the new sin. Feasibly this would NOT happen because Satan was locked away with his demons until the end of the renewal period. No Tempter to provoke sin, you see. When Satan and his horde are let loose..." for a short time"...in the New Eden (on earth) humanity (now unburdened by Adam's inherited sin, are on their own for a FINAL TEST. ANY who succumb to new temptation is destroyed in Final Judgment forever. The above is how I recall the Doctrinal understanding. (I have been out of the JW's since 1979, so I could be missing something.)
Jesus was making the point (Geoffrey Jackson said) that humans are JUDGED
on their past sins and NOT what they do during the 1000 Year reign (in which nobody does a vile deed). Well, this is where the confusion begins (for me).
Who has a thought on the matter? -
23
TRICKY WORDS and why not to use them
by Terry intricky words .
perfectly good words go unused in writing and speaking.
their meaning isn't clear and the eye is 'tricked' by similarity to other words or sounds.. .
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Terry
I know exactly what you mean about sources of 'first learning' because I'm 74
and so much of what I'm certain of has been hit with a wrecking ball over the many years since then.
Lexicographers have the task of monitoring how English is used day-to-day, year by year in print. As language is modified by speakers and writers it is reflecting actual state-of-the-art usage.
That malleable handling isn't rigid at all and those Lexicographers aren't gatekeepers of the flame. No Sir. They are merely reporters on the ground.
This, of course, bothers me because I'm an old-fashioned Puritan at heart probably
due to tendencies toward Asperger's or -as it has been modified - Autism Spectrum Disorder :)
Global Warming is Climate Change.
And on and on and on. Moving the goalposts is evidence of insidious gaslighting in my book.
I don't ever want to be inducted into Conspiracy Thinking because there is a deep abyss (rather than a rabbit hole) I can get lost in. However, I would prefer language be unchanging. Ain't uh gonna happen. I know. -
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TRICKY WORDS and why not to use them
by Terry intricky words .
perfectly good words go unused in writing and speaking.
their meaning isn't clear and the eye is 'tricked' by similarity to other words or sounds.. .
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Terry
I found this:
shorturl.at/hyDT2 -
23
TRICKY WORDS and why not to use them
by Terry intricky words .
perfectly good words go unused in writing and speaking.
their meaning isn't clear and the eye is 'tricked' by similarity to other words or sounds.. .
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Terry
I think the way we pronounce words and divide the sounds into syllables
gets a bit tricky itself.
If I say "REALTOR" and clap my hands to the 'beat' I get two syllables.
The movement of the tongue from the L to the T may "feel" like a ghost syllable but the rhythm itself is two beats, no? -
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TRICKY WORDS and why not to use them
by Terry intricky words .
perfectly good words go unused in writing and speaking.
their meaning isn't clear and the eye is 'tricked' by similarity to other words or sounds.. .
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Terry
Pedantry is a high-risk proposition since you don't win friends and you
exasperate a lot of people.
Besides, I've lived long enough to know we live in an age where all goal posts are on wheels. Being "right" ain't what it used to be. -
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TRICKY WORDS and why not to use them
by Terry intricky words .
perfectly good words go unused in writing and speaking.
their meaning isn't clear and the eye is 'tricked' by similarity to other words or sounds.. .
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Terry
TRICKY WORDSPerfectly good words go unused in writing and speaking.Their meaning isn't clear and the eye is 'tricked' by similarity to other words OR sounds.1. Spoken words like SUCCOR (sounds like 'sucker' but means"furnishing relief".) It does complicate the matter if you're referring to a blowjob, however.2. Another tricky word is APPOSITE (looks like "opposite") which means "appropriate."You might remark that you love somebody and are met with an "apposite" response.Does that mean the one responding feels hatred or dislike?Nope.So we don't use the word. It's too tricky.3. "Feckless" can be tricky. We aren't quite sure.If we read: "General Flipdiggit was a feckless warrior."What are we to think? Is he "reckless?" Does he have "freckles"?Feckless means "weak" or "irresponsible" or "worthless."That's why you probably don't use the word. (Or do you?)I love vocabulary words but - NOT - if I have to stop and explain them. It makes me sound like I think the listener is stupid.I don't wish to be misunderstood - so - I just avoid tricky words unless I'm simply indulging myself.4. CAVALRY is a tricky word. Churchgoers accidentally pronounce it asCALVARY(the place Jesus was executed.) I hear it all the time in movies and TV shows.5. Another tricky word is "LITERALLY" which only means "exactly as WRITTEN."Most folks really mean something else. What do they intend?They're exaggerating:"I literally died on the spot."If not exaggerating, they mean "actually" but "literally" is wrong.6.Exceterais NOT a word (dammit.)People who use Excetera don't read books or they'd know it is a Latin phrase: et cetera and that phrase means "and other things similar to these." The abbreviation is etc. not exc. Duh.7.Supposablyis NOT a word. Once again, these people don't read or they'd know it is "supposedly". ABLY is not EDLY.8.Preemptoryis NOT a word. The real word has PER not PRE. "Peremptory".Sloppy reading skills or they just don't read. Your guess is as good as mine.9.Realator.Lots of dopes put in the "UH" where it doesn't belong.The real word is REAL-TOR which is 2 syllables and not 3 syllables.10.Expressohas nothing to do with coffee. It is simply wrong.Monty Norman's only hit musical was EXPRESSO BONGO.Norman is a mountebank. (Look it up.)The genuine word is ESPRESSO. However, brothers and sisters, I have a sad announcement. So many idiots used the wrong word for so many years the lexicographers shrugged and gave in. You'll now see the EX in the dictionary. Advice: Treat it as you do your own EX.11. Australia. This may shock you but - it isn't Austria.12.Heighth.No such word. Cut it out this minute! The tricky part is as follows. There is Depth, there is Width, and there is - no no no - not Heighth! It is HEIGHT. Let go of the "h", knucklehead!13. Anyways. Grow up! Toss that final "s". The word is "anyway."14. PRIMER. This one chaps my butt. A tricky word that is mostly used improperly. Here is how you break it down...A. If you are referring to the first coat of paint, it is pronounced as PRY-MURR.B. If you mean any book of basic elements, it rhymes with DIM MURR. (such as him or). Shape up!15.Pernounce.No such word! It is "Pro-nounce" like pronouns.The proper pro-nun-ci-ation has no "purr" which is for cats only.Be a PRO and do not PURR.There are plenty more tricky words but I'm bored with this.If you don't own a physical dictionary by the age of 16, you are a lost soul for the rest of your life.If you don't read books and only learn the English language by listening to peckerwoods - you are likely going to lapse into bad habits of speaking. You may say "AX" instead of "ASK" for instance.You will say "John Druh" for genre instead of "zhon-ruh".I have a dear friend who refers to an art mural as a MEW REE ULL.I dare not correct him. It is rude.When I was much younger I was the terror of my teachers at school; correcting their speech with Torquemada's relentless pursuit of witches and evil in speaking and writing.I'm more laid back now. But those teachers went to their grave thinking I was an asshole.p.s. They were right.
If it weren't for my 8th Grade English teacher, Ms. Green, I'd never have known how awful my grammar was and how profound my southern accent was! I had stood and given an oral book report. Afterward, Mr. Green pointed out all of my egregious mistakes. I was shocked but it sent me on a self-improvement journey that changed the rest of my life. I bought the best dictionary I could afford. I learned 16 new vocabulary words each day and the "proper" pro-nun-ci-ation.
And THAT is when I became a pedantic pain in the ass :) -
6
CLASSICAL music: value ZERO ?? (The Truth That Leads to Eternal LIfe)
by Terry inclassical music: value zero??.
performances are ephemeral.
you hear a live performance - and it's gone.. a recording may preserve that 'in a certain way' but it can't preserve it against other performances of the same thing.
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Terry
When I was a kid, there was RADIO and small black and white TV's.
Music over the radio was MONO and the quality was poor.
Long play records at 78rpms were heavy, bulky, and required large needles that wore out the platter over time.
Now, in 2021 (about to become 2022) we suck perfect audio down in a stream from a "cloud." And the audio quality is superb.
THERE IS TOO MUCH from which to choose and too much going on simultaneously in 12
categories.How much music is released each year?That's approximately 137 million new tracks every year. Fyi: There are around 38 million minutes in the average human life – including sleep – according to United Nations estimates. -
3
There is No Punchline
by Terry in"i am so sorry for the bird".
(the following is true.
it is told the way you might want to tell a joke with a punchline.
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Terry
Did you ever forgive your mom for selling all your books?
I ask myself over and over what I really feel. Or if I am capable of feeling
something for my mom.
I'm merely troubled and confused since I can't understand her psychology.
SHE LOVED ME - but...
Her love and her psychosis were blended. She did the best she could and meant me no harm.
There is a distance between me and FEELING anything and I can't build a bridge.
So?
So, I accept it. It happened. Let's move on.
