Posts by done4good

56

WHERE WERE YOU 7 YEARS AGO?

by Mary in

guess i'll be the first one to do an (inevitable) thread about 9-11. hard to believe it's been 7 years already.

i was at work when one of my co-workers came up and told me that a plane had hit the world trade center.

i thought it was awful, but i figured it was a small single engine plane that maybe lost its way in the fog.

done4good

I was at my job on Montague street in Brooklyn. It was a client who told me that planes hit the trade center. I thought she was lying. The radios came on in the office and one of my co-workers said he was going up to the Promenade to see what was going on. I followed him outside and saw a black sky. Couldn't still believe it. We walked 1 block to the right, I believe that was either Henry or Remsen street, then turned up on Pineapple st. As soon as the tower came into my sight, it started to collapse. I stood frozen in the middle of street. A car that was behind me also stopped. People gathered on the Promenade were screaming. I went back to my office and gathered my things and left. When I went back outside, someone stuck a handmade sign on the side of a public payphone "Please donate blood. People are dying."

Soledad,

I couldn't help but notice you mentioned Montague St., Brooklyn in your post. I have a corporate apartment there that I'm actually typing this very post from at the moment. I'm here in NYC working on the City's 911 emergency call center project.

Today was a very somber day for the NYPD and FDNY personnel here.

j

56

WHERE WERE YOU 7 YEARS AGO?

by Mary in

guess i'll be the first one to do an (inevitable) thread about 9-11. hard to believe it's been 7 years already.

i was at work when one of my co-workers came up and told me that a plane had hit the world trade center.

i thought it was awful, but i figured it was a small single engine plane that maybe lost its way in the fog.

done4good

I was getting off a plane in Houston.

An announcement was made to the effect that "all connecting flights have been cancelled, as all US airports are closed due to the 'incident' in NY". I travel extensively for work, and all I could remember thinking at that moment was, "This never happend before", what the hell is going on??? Having family in the NY area, I was very concerned some nuke went off or something like that.

I had a voicemail on my cell, (I was able to get through once), from a friend of mine who knew I was travelling that day, attempting to check on my whereabouts, saying something about a plane being flown into one of the towers. Everyone had this dazed and confused look on their face when I came out of the jetway. I looked at the TV screens about the same time the Pentagon was hit.

I then proceeded to the rental car counter, and got on the rental shuttle. That radio was on in the bus, (I was the only one on it). I asked the lady driving to turn it up so I could hear the news. This was just as the South Tower was collapsing.

It felt like stepping off into another world. I Couldn't work that day, ended up driving to some parking lot somewhere and making a lot of phone calls to people I knew back home. I asked my dub ex-wife at the time what was said at the BS that evening, and she proceeded to tell me how they just simply said something about "world events, last days, blah, blah...typical cold jw response. It was never the same for me in the jw religion again.

9/11 is a big reason I am no longer a jw.

j

18

Former J.W. Now atheist?

by Aculama in

just curious.... did the disallusionment of j.w.

experience make you hate god or disbelieve everything about god?

could it be god's grace that kept you from or freed you from their hold on you?

done4good

Agnostic by one measure, atheist by another, (contrary to what many say I do believe symantics and definition play a part here).

I tried to continue belief in a higher power after leaving jws, I'll even admit to vacilating somewhat on this. At the end of the day, there just is no evidence for such a being. Learning to think critically eventually allowed me to see this. Although I wanted to believe, I could no longer. Eventually, I became at peace with this.

Now I'm a bit more like undercover...apatheist. Really don't care to argue the point anymore.

j

132

What Is Your Present Status In The Organization?

by minimus in

jw
friends

are you disfellowshipped?

disassociated?

a fader?

done4good

Stopped cold in December 2005, (no real "fade", per se), after a moment of clarity in July of the same year. D/A'd in 2007, just to make it clear where I stood.

j

15

My Story: Part 9 Journeys End

by truthseeker in

part 1: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/163998/1.ashx.

part 2: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/164136/1.ashx.

part 3: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/164163/1.ashx.

done4good

Just read all of your story! I'm very happy things are going well for you, truthseeker.

As you know, I know your USA congregation well, as I attended there several years ago. My doubts became much more of a problem for me, as I saw how the pioneer group in that congregation was little more than a status symbol. They were mostly friendly, yes. But, I saw right through their real reasons for signing up. This was the cause of much strain on my marriage, (ex), at the time. My ex tried pioneering for a year there also, but it was painfully clear to me that she was doing this because it was "the thing to do". It was all downhill for my time in the WTS, and my marriage to my ex from that point onward, (Althouth it would take another 10 years for me to leave myself...)

Best of wishes and keep in touch!

done4good

40

I Live For Today - No Longer Fear the Future- After Exiting the Witnesses

by flipper in

jw
friends

as some know here - i was born in the witnesses .

raised in it and stayed in for 44 long years !

i don't believe in armageddon.

done4good

Life has never been better, Flip!

I can't believe I stayed in until I was 32...(I really knew better).

j

19

Financial planning now that the world isn't ending?

by JimmyPage in

jw
friends

well since the world was always going to come to an end i never really studied much finance.

anyone have any good advice on getting started?

any good books that help?

done4good

Btw: Gary is dead right about Dave Ramsey.

19

Financial planning now that the world isn't ending?

by JimmyPage in

jw
friends

well since the world was always going to come to an end i never really studied much finance.

anyone have any good advice on getting started?

any good books that help?

done4good

Maximize your 401(k). If you can swing it, you are able to contribute $15,500 annually into it. It's pre-tax dollars, so it doesn't really hurt the paycheck too much.

Diversify the investments within it. Try to put about 20% into 5 different equities based mutual funds each. Some large cap, some mid cap, some foreign, and perhaps some in small cap. Most should weigh on the large cap side, though.

Open a Roth IRA, (above and beyond the max in your 401), if your combined family income is less than $150,000. If it is above that, then put the additional money directly into mutual funds.

Don't sweat short-term market slowdowns. They are necessary, and allow you to buy shares more cheaply. It will pay off later.

Typically, if your under 50, the above advice works well. If you are above 50, you will want to diversify a bit more conservatively, (larger amount in bond-based funds.

j

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