Posts by Little Drummer Boy

6

Christian Pasciviscm Leads to Eternal Life?

by AK - Jeff in

jw
friends

on another thread a poster suggested that jw's inherently are 'christian' due to restraint in the matter of not killing each other in warfare.. i personally view this as ludricous, as such non-violence cannot of itself mark christians any more than could the absence of chocolate in a hot beverage mark it as coffee without question.

it is a riduculous assumption that leads to false acceptance of 'facts' that are not.. jeff .

Little Drummer Boy

First off, thanks for the Chistmas card Jeff. We appreciate it a lot!

On another thread a poster suggested that Jw's inherently are 'Christian' due to restraint in the matter of not killing each other in warfare.

I don't see dubs as "Christian" because they don't go to war, but I do think the reverse almost has to be true about a "true" Christian, just by definition.

A person first has to -has to - ask what is a Christian? That means many things to many peope. But... At the most very basic level it means "To be Christ like". Whatever else a person believes about being Christian, or about doctrine, that definition has to be at the heart of it. If not, what is the Christian believing in?

I hate to sound cliche (and I really, really despise the phrase I'm typing here), but the phrase "What would Jesus do?", comes to mind.

Assuming the gospels in the NT Bible (any translation/version) is an accurate representation of what happened during Jesus' (supposed) life, then do we ever read of him advocating his followers going to war? I mean in the physical, here and now sense, not in some future spirit war where non-believers are destroyed.

I can think of only one instance where he even asked the disciples if they had weapons on them for use. The witchtower spins it as protection from animals, but even if it was for personal protection, it definetly wasn't in the context of going to war.

So, back to what I said in the beginning, "What would Jesus do?" (shudders)

If Christians are to be "Christ like", can anyone picture him prone on a hiitop, in a sniper position, eye to the scope, crosshairs across the forehead of an "enemy", and then pulling the trigger, blowing the back of the "enemies" head out with the bullet? Would he do that? Really? What is written that he said to do to our "enemies"? "Put a bullet through their head"....No, it was, "Love your enemies" - isn't that right? If you can't picture Jesus doing something, then to follow in his foot steps, a Christian, any Christian, shouldn't either.

I will never defend the witchtower, they don't deserve it, but they did have some things right in their bible teachings.

This ofcourse brings up the whole hornets nest of what do we do about the Hitlers of the world if we can't go to war and still be "true" Christians. Oops, the witchtower explains that as well. Don't be part of the world. Bible says that pretty plain. Damn, guess they got something else right.

I suppose I'm being blunt, but if you want to believe in the Bible, then you can't have your cake and eat it to.

27

MYSPACE ... I just setup an account .. can we be friends?

by What-A-Coincidence in

jw
friends

http://www.myspace.com/_wac_ .

tom is cool but .

what is your myspace link??

Little Drummer Boy

Hi Sherry,

Your URL will work like this http://profile.myspace.com/55044519

BTW everybody, on Myspace I am "God wants me dead" not "Little Drummer Boy", if there was any confusion. I guess I would like to say that the reason I chose to do that is because here on the forum I am trying to be upbeat, learn from everyone, and just relax a little. However, I need a place to let out my darker side and to be able to express some of the more destructive feelings I have because of the borg. On the Myspace account, I plan on doing just that because I don't want to bring that negative energy here.

27

MYSPACE ... I just setup an account .. can we be friends?

by What-A-Coincidence in

jw
friends

http://www.myspace.com/_wac_ .

tom is cool but .

what is your myspace link??

Little Drummer Boy

I also have just set up mine.

Here it is.

I'll be your friend if you want.

http://www.myspace.com/140745220

14

Computer Repair Fraud!!!

by What-A-Coincidence in

jw
friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxqx4hgekgq.

bastards!.

what has been your experience with pc repair?

Little Drummer Boy

I should have watched the video first, because I would have put this in the first post.

Is there computer fraud in the world? Sure. A few of the shops were stupid about it, and one outright tried to rip off the customer - I'm talking about the last guy there. The Best Buy kid was just being stupid, the last guy was trying to defraud the customer.

I do feel that that video was unfair however. The other shops were simply charging their basic repair rates. Just like with a mechanic, a plumber, an electrician, HVAC repair, whatever, there is always a minimum shop rate. None of the hourly repair rates were out of line. And, ofcourse, oh gee golly wiz, as the narrator states all somebody had to do was push the IDE cable back in...the problem is always simple - once you know what it is. All of those shops would have had customer data entry to deal with (to setup the invoice), They would have needed to at the very least get it on the bench and wire it to a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and power to see what is happening (got to confirm that, yes, as the customer says, it isn't starting up). They do have a right to try to make a profit on their businesses. There was one altruistic soul who fixed it for free. He is doing that for the sole purpose of trying to attract future business from the customer. Not a bad strategy in this case, but it shouldn't be something the customer should expect. And remember your Business 101 class here - nothing is ever free - there is no such thing as a free lunch. But you might say, "shouldn't they have just popped open the case and found the problem real quick?" No. That isn't the proper diagnostic procedure. The diagnosing starts by trying to confirm the stated problem of "It just won't start up". Ya can't put the cart before the horse.

In this case, pretty easy...error message clearly shown on the monitor. Pop the case open, and plug the IDE back in. Restart machine and make sure the problem is fixed. All done right? No. Why is the cable unplugged? Techie has to scratch his head for a while and ponder how a computer that was working fine now magically has an IDE cable pulled and neatly tucked out of the way. These things don't just fall off. They have to be pulled off. Maybe it was being pulled because of a routing problem? Hmmmm. That doen't seem to be it (clock is ticking btw). Hmmmm...But wouldn't the customer have told me they were jacking around inside the thing? Oh, right I'm supposed to automatically consider that the customer is being an ass and purposefully screwed up the machine just to make me look bad on a hidden camera so that they can say I charge too much for my services which I have honed over 20 years.

Let me tell you the old story which illustrates the point.

A guy's furnace stops working and he calls the furnace repair man. The repair man spends a couple of minutes, puts in one new screw, and hands the home owner an invoice for $80. Now the guy is mad. "Hey, all you did was put in a screw. I could have done that! How come you gave me a bill for $80?" "Simple", responds the repairman. "70 cents for the screw, and $79.30 for knowing where to put it".

I have paid an enourmous amount of money for my education. I have spent an enourmous amount of time in research and in honing my computer repair skills at every opportunity. I don;t feel at all bad when I charge somebody for work. And I always have a minimum charge. Unless it's my Mom.

So yes, it was sad that a few of those repair places didn't do the right thing. However, with the exception of the guy who did free work, the vidoe basically demonized all of the shops - just for charging their repair rates. One other guy stands out, he talked about jumper settings being set wrong. I could take that a few ways. He might have been just "fluffing" up what he did so that the bill wouldn't seem so harsh - it would have been the same minimum charge either way. Or, he might actually have felt that the hard drive jumper was not set how it should be and changed it. He might have changed it from cable selct to master, because of a personal preference. His charge was still fair either way.

LDB

14

Computer Repair Fraud!!!

by What-A-Coincidence in

jw
friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxqx4hgekgq.

bastards!.

what has been your experience with pc repair?

Little Drummer Boy

Did ya'll know they charge $149 to install a video card... that doesnt include the price of the card!

Is that the in-store or on-site install price?

Sheesh...that's expensive either way.

Consider this...

At least the on-site Geek Squad people have to be A+ certified (although $149 is way too much anyway, I'd only charge $50 for that and I'm A+, Network+, and MCP).

The in store people don't have to be certified at all!

If they're getting $149 for a non-certified in-store install, I'm gonna cry a little.

LDB

14

Computer Repair Fraud!!!

by What-A-Coincidence in

jw
friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxqx4hgekgq.

bastards!.

what has been your experience with pc repair?

Little Drummer Boy

I just want to add that the very best thing you can do to protect your investment in your computer is to always have very current backup of your important data. Make multiple backups and copies, and do that to different kinds of media. I copy my important data to USB flash drive, CD-R (not CD-RW), and a second hard drive. That way I am assured that at least something will work if I need the data back. Technology has advanced greatly since computers were introduced. Most problems now are related to software, whether that is a corrupted operating system, or virus, etc. Current backups save the day in most cases. The second most common problem is a failed hard drive - moving parts always fail faster than stationary ones. The above rule still applies though, since that is where the data is stored.

Also, for those who rely on others to repair their computers, backup up data is the single biggest way to save yourself some cash. I can physically swap out a hard drive in well under five minutes - but if I have to try to retrieve your data first, then you are into some serious charges for time. Sometimes hours of sorting through what you want me to keep - if can retrieve anything at all. Organization of data files and backups are the key. If you have current backups, in the case of a serious software issue (such as a really stubborn virus), I can blow away the contents of the hard drive and start from scratch quickly. If the hard drive is physically failing, by having current backups, I can toss in a new drive and get underway and then just put your data back.

I just want to clarify, that for home users, when I say backup, I really mean copy. Media storage capacity has grown so large anymore that I don't see the point in using a backup process that might fail just to try to save on storage. Depending on your backup method, you might end up with one huge file - which could fail - thereby ruining all the data. That is why I prefer just simply making copies of important data files in a one to one fashion. Businesses might be different ofcourse and not be able to store such huge amounts of data without compression.

My 2 cents worth.

LDB

10

Are Witnesses now partially accepting the internet?

by ellderwho in

i started this thread asking the question because since my parents retired to florida (gods waiting room) ive been getting all kinds of internet witness junk from my mom, ie.

email stories, video clips of pat robertsons' comments about using the name jehovah, andy rooney of 60minutes stories.. also the email header is filled with adresses of im sure all witnesses.

i know my mom doesnt have any worldly friends.

Little Drummer Boy

Isn't it odd though that they can reconcile using the internet for business or other things but ALL negative things about jw's are liars and out to 'get' god's org? They have no problem finding opinions on a product they need for business and believe the anecdotal stories there, just nothing from all you 'apostates'. At any rate, jw's are so very helpful when trying to explain cognitive dissonance.

I just don't see the contradiction you propose. I'm sorry, but your supposition is flawed at the basic level. If I type in "cars" in Google, I don't get back search results that will lead me to apostate ex-jw sites. It just doesn't happen. Never has, never will. I suppose if someone were randomly clicking on every link in existance that they would eventually come across something to do with dubs. I was a dub for 14 years and had the net most of that time. I was told by the society NOT to try to find sites about jws (except the official one), so I didn't. I didn't start looking for anti-jw sites until I was very close to DA'ing. In other words, I did what I was supposed to do as a dub. Then they pissed me of, not by doctrine (which I had accepted), or by research that I had found (remember I wasn't looking for any, so there wasn't any to find from my former perspective), but by their actions. Their actions at the congregational level drove me away. It wasn't the "evil" internet. Ergo, no cognitive dissonance.

Hhmmm, haven't had my morning coffee and I'm grumpy. Does it show?

17

How do you view the Bible?

by Fisherman in

i think that the bible gives hope and comfort.

i also think that the bible is a good book without me saying too much.

but is it a product of god?

Little Drummer Boy

Two books that helped me to have a clearer view on The Bible are: Who Wrote The Bible? Richard Elliott Friedman, and The Bible Unearthed, archaeology's new vision of ancient Israel and the origin of its sacred texts. Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman.
How do I view The Bible? Its a historical book written by many men much of which is hearsay information that has been misquoted and is not inspired of God.
Blueblades

Ditto. Sometimes I wish it was more though. At least the nice parts.

18

My Husband is a Genius!

by exwitless in

jw
friends

ok, i can't help myself.

i have to brag: little drummer boy just finished his college degree in computer administration with a 4.0 gpa!!!

i've lost track on how many letters go on his title after his name now.

Little Drummer Boy

Thanks everybody for the congrats!

exwitless that is really nice thing to say about your husband and partner in life, he is a very lucky man to have you. World would be a better place it everyone in committed relationships was having the same outlook and depth of feeling as you. That just shows how close two of you must be. Hence, able to speak such sweet things.

She is a really awesome wife, and you are right, I am very lucky. She has really been there for me throughout the years. She had to put up with my undiagnosed bi-polar disorder for about ten years of marriage. I'm on meds now, but I still am problematic at times. And then with my school work over the past few years, that left me grouchy and stressed out a lot. And she always, always made time to help me with my studies, like when I would need someone to proof read a paper. I hope karma ain't real 'cause I'm using up all the good now, and there won't be any left for the next life.

Thanks for starting the thread sweety.

81

Fluff - Men: What do you think about women ...

by serendipity in

ok guys, time to weigh in.. what do you think about a woman asking a man out on a date, especially a first date?.

good idea?

bad idea?

Little Drummer Boy

Ok guys, time to weigh in.
What do you think about a woman asking a man out on a date, especially a first date?
Good idea? Bad idea? Why?
One 30 something guy in chat said "Excellent idea"

And I personally have much better results when I simply initiate contact rather than sit back and wait. Often the man is just too shy or imagines you could never be interested in him, even when from the feminine standpoint, all systems are go.

I haven't read any of the other posts, sorry, but I thought I'd give my 2 cents. First off, I'm married (and very happy about it), but if I wasn't, to answer the original question, I think it would be awesome if I was asked out. It would erase any doubt that the woman was interested, and would make me feel really great about myself. If it matters to the discussion, I'm 35. Before I met my wife, I was asked out several times on first dates, and it was always a huge rush. "WOW! That girl wants to go out with me...ME!" Always made me feel really special. As to the second quote I put in up there, I have a younger friend, about 25, and he is painfully shy. He has a lot to offer. He's very intelligent, kind, thoughful, and I suppose a girl would think he's kind of cute. We both work at the same place, but in different departments. Sometimes though, he has to come into our department to do his job. He avoids doing that like the plague if the younger, very attractive part-time receptionist is at the front desk. He just can't bring himself to even be in her presence because of shyness! He would probably have a coronary if she asked him out, but the point is, he is always saying things like how pretty girls wouldn't want to talk to him and so forth. I guess what I'm trying to say is that many guys would really enjoy the feeling that comes from a woman asking him out.