Posts by SnakesInTheTower

23

Moving Day...not for me exactly :)

by SnakesInTheTower in

jw
friends

..i hate moving, haven't done it myself in awhile.....but it is furniture moving day for me.

this is not a serious thread, a tirade thread, a troll thread...its just ....a commentary on real life thread... i like having a real life.. having lived alone in this house for the last 12 years, i have managed to not accumulate a lot of crap.

i have a rule: 1 thing in, 2 things out...keeps clutter to a minimum.

SnakesInTheTower

Well, the house is quiet again...too quiet.... Toni and her son just left for their apartment.... moving day for them is still a couple of weeks off....I picked her son up at school today....I got to play school parent...lol...except for the other night for his orientation, the last time I was in that school building was when it was a junior high (not the elementary school it is now) and I had my HS graduation at the stadium next door....25 years ago....... it was a weird de ja vu..... Toni met us back at my house.... we had dinner and an evening in....her son finally opened up that he thinks the whole thing is too fast....when we asked if he still wants to move in now he does.... we think someone (possibly a family member) has put a bug in his ear with their opinion.... this came out of no where..... and he is getting an attitude that needs professional help...which will happen. By the end of the night he was better... she thinks he will do better once they are here....and a routine is established...

primatedave:

I'll bet that a year ago when you were thinking of moving out because of your bad neighbor, you could have never imagined this.

DAMN...I was just thinking that the other day...it is quiet next door...the fool who owns the house came and cut the grass the other day and glared at me...every time he sees me around town he glares at me......LOL...he can't get anyone in to the house...I got an email from the cops a few weeks ago......they have the neighbor house listed on the NATF (Nuisance Abatement Task Force) list...I think it keeps the guy from renting it out...LOL....

OUTLAW... indeed I am lucky.... I know it...and I don't take it for granted for a second... we have had our ups and downs...a couple of times we thought it might have ended but were able to talk through it.

penny2...it has been a crazy journey of a year.... really the last few years....

W007:

Landrymats are awesome!

and the irony of that is that I would likely have not asked her out if I hadn't seen her away from work...and she wasn't going to attempt to ask me out again...and a week after we went out another customer attempted to ask her out.... that was close.... and the other irony is that I am buying a washer and dryer for the house in the next week or so.... if I had done that earlier....well.... same...

** le sigh ** I have paperwork to do and a late night trip to the office.... I cannot be up until 2 am again tonight....

Snakes (Rich )

31

Is there an honest way to make a living online?

by AK - Jeff in

our area is hit hard by this recession.

unemployment is out the roof - close to 18%.. my wife has been trying to find work for over a year.

she has done so very diligently.

SnakesInTheTower

AK Jeff....

I have done merchandising in stores, mystery shopping (yes, its legit and can pay well), retailer compliance audits and more.

Haven't done any in awhile, but generally you need a computer, internet connection, printer (to print out materials/instructions), digital camera, email account and transportation to the jobs.

I stretched my unemployment quite a bit with it. Turns out I was too honest in my reporting...my 1099 (IC) jobs were not considered "wages" for purposes of income for unemployment benefits....so I could have left that off and gotten more unemployment until I found out differently...however, your state may differ, Illinois did not at the time.

I have a couple of websites if you are interested. PM me (or email me, I think you have my email addy).

Snakes ( Rich)

23

Moving Day...not for me exactly :)

by SnakesInTheTower in

jw
friends

..i hate moving, haven't done it myself in awhile.....but it is furniture moving day for me.

this is not a serious thread, a tirade thread, a troll thread...its just ....a commentary on real life thread... i like having a real life.. having lived alone in this house for the last 12 years, i have managed to not accumulate a lot of crap.

i have a rule: 1 thing in, 2 things out...keeps clutter to a minimum.

SnakesInTheTower

..I hate moving, haven't done it myself in awhile.....but it is furniture moving day for me.

This is not a serious thread, a tirade thread, a troll thread...its just ....a commentary on real life thread... I like having a real life.

Having lived alone in this house for the last 12 years, I have managed to not accumulate a lot of crap. I have a rule: 1 thing in, 2 things out...keeps clutter to a minimum. I also don't move furniture around much, other than to dust and vacuum behind it. So now I am being reminded why certain things are where they are...cords that don't reach other places, bookcases that will only sit properly in certain parts of the room, etc.

Well, now a bunch of stuff is coming in, meaning I best move a lot of stuff out. My fiancee Toni and her 8 year old son are moving in the first week of September; I have to move stuff around to accomodate what little they are bringing here. My rental house is about 800 square feet but laid out very well. I have a nice open living room the width of the front of the house (about 15 x 25 ft), a nice size kitchen, a small bathroom, a small bedroom in back, and my office. The office is going to revert back to a master bedroom and my bedroom will become her son's room.

I kinda feel like I am playing that puzzle I had when I was a kid (see below)... but with a 16th tile in the way So I got rid of some things, including a chair that conveniently broke the other day. Tonight I was moving furniture in the living room around (until midnight), nearly have it done. Next will be getting AT&T here to run additional outlets for another TV and internet connection (though I may use a wireless router for the computers)...and moving my desk and computer to the living room and I have space set aside for her desk and computer. With the office cleared, I can move my queen size sleep number bed into the office (aka master bedroom) and that clears the small bedroom for bringing in her son's bed and stuff....sheesh. See what I mean by the puzzle....

That doesn't include clearing out the storage room to make room for a new washer/dryer (because, ironically, even though I asked her out at the laundromat for the first date, we are really tired of going to the laundromat..lol), and buying a few other things we need to make the home a bit more comfy. Over the years I have gotten by with less, but I want to do better for them.

Though I have been a bachelor this whole time, I take pride in the fact that my house is neat and clean. Her 8 year old who tries mightily during the weekends they stay here to derail my plans; yet the house does and will remain neat and clean. (but talk to me in a few months to see how that is working out for me ...heh heh)

I will say the house needs a woman's touch and I hope my fiancee can do that.

It's been a productive day overall.... and I got bonus points for sending a dozen roses to my fiancee at her job today.......she really, really liked them....and her female co-workers were ooing and awwing over them...the manager had to put them in a cooler during the lunch rush so as to not get them knocked over (yeah, those things are freaking expensive..good move)...by the time I got there about half hour before she was done for the day, a coworker took them back out and put them out on the counter for everyone to enjoy....and I was getting lots of kudos from her coworkers for that...lol.

Tomorrow is a day off work for me so I volunteered to pick up her son from school for the first time tomorrow...kinda weird that.... I went with them to his school the other night to meet his new teacher...I think I am getting sucked into the room parent thing soon...

Nothing much really going on... don't know if anyone will read this mundane commentary on my life or not.......what is extraordinary is that I am allowed the freedom to have such a life now that I have left behind the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses.......and with her moving in, we (and I mean we...she has a wicked sense of humor) are going to have fun when the nosy a$$ JW elders in the area start poking around again...and they will.

Snakes ( Rich)

54

bro. butts from bethel e-mail :

by lancelink in

jw
friends

typical jw email message forwarded to me this afternoon :.

do not tire out!.

bro.

SnakesInTheTower

I don't know which was worse...the email or the vomiting babies video...I nearly puked myself looking at both...couldn't finish either.

Snakes ()

40

Besty Unplugged - My Life Story Part 1

by besty in

my story part 1 where did it all go wrong?.

hi, my name is paul and im an ex-jehovahs witness.

by the end of this sorry tale i hope to be an ex-ex-jehovahs witness.

SnakesInTheTower

besty...

excellent story so far..just read part 2..... great writing.

The life stories on freeminds are getting about 8000 views per month and are one of the most popular parts of the site.

It was just such a link from Freeminds that brought me to JWD a few years ago and I lurked as an elder.... these stories helped chip away at my JW foundation...

Paul, you have set a high bar with the quality of writing in your life story... with the major changes in my life happening, my story is taking awhile to write...I barely have time to log in here and post a bit.

Snakes (Rich )

42

I ran into an ex-JW on vacation. We're everywhere.

by MegaDude in

jw
friends

i took my summer vacation to grand cayman this year, a small island south of cuba.

i love the scuba diving there.

the island is small.

SnakesInTheTower

I loved the Caymans when I was there in November 2007. I did not get to go out with the stingrays because the winds were too bad until the day I left the islands for home...the rest of my family got to go out on the catamaran...they also got to do the turtle release.

Did get to see some great scenery (though there was still a lot of damage from Hurricane Ivan) and drink some nice island beer...Caybeer... and that harddough bread that they sell at the IGA stores there...especially when it is still warm from the bakery....man that stuff was great... heavy bread that you can really enjoy.

I have pics but not as good as yours... I wanna go back...maybe Toni and I will go there for our honeymoon...the family has a timeshare.

Snakes (Rich )

103

My life ... and how JWD came to be - Part 5

by Simon in

my life ... and how jwd came to be - part 1. my life ... and how jwd came to be - part 2. my life ... and how jwd came to be - part 3. my life ... and how jwd came to be - part 4. i swear, i thought it was only a couple of years at most since i wrote part 4 of "my life and how jwd came to be".

i re-read it after someone posted to it and brought it back on active topics and it was kind of prophetic in a way ... well, i had the 5 years part right if nothing else:.

it would be nice to visit the site (or whatever one is around then) in 5 years time to let people know how we're doing and find only a few of the same people still around.

SnakesInTheTower

Thank you for keeping the site running. I found this particular thread (and its links to the 5 year old 4-part story) on Freeminds today.... and Freeminds is how I found this board as a lurking elder a few years ago.

As you said, the JW-doctrine issues no longer interest me. I keep up with some of the latest news only because of my JW mom, otherwise I could care less about what the Watchtower and its namesake organization have to say.

Because of FM and JWD, I had the spine to leave the Borg....and found the love of my life ....as I have posted prior, Toni and I are engaged and will be married in a few months...

It is not a stretch to say....because of you and others on this forum ...I have true freedom, and true love..and for that I will be forever in your debt.

SnakesInTheTower (of the "ex-ex-JW" Sheep Class...aka Rich)

(ps... I have been in contact with Randy at Freeminds....it's time this comes full circle.....time to tell my story soon. I am working on my own exiting JW story and will consolidate some of what I have posted here over the last couple of years...and provide more details.....and my full identity.... it is on my mind but I am writing in bits and spurts...but with Toni and her son moving in next month.... well, it is like herding cats....lol.

22

About time to "Batten Down the Hatches"

by AK - Jeff in

my wife has been out of work now for over a year.

she is tail-ending her unemployment very soon.. our county is experiencing close to the worse rates of unemployment in the country right now [ elkart, indiana - obama's economic poster child ] is just 50 miles away.

our county has a rate nearly equal to theirs.

SnakesInTheTower

AK Jeff.... that sucks that you cannot move. There are a lot more possibilities if you can get out of the area you appear to be located.

I have a job but I actually had a week off for the first time in 4 years and a real light week last week....so I am getting hit too...

I finish my last class and final this evening in about an hour. Presuming I get at least a C in all of the classes, I am done with my AS in business.

That and about $2 gets me a cup of coffee at my fiancee's place of employment (Panera).

The Associates in Science degree is the new high school diploma. You better have it or you are up $hit creek.

A few years ago I could have had a sweet job with the Census Bureau (nice government job) that was FT permanent....not temp.... but I needed a degree.... never mind that I blew everyone else in the room out of the water on the exam.... they failed to ask me before if I had the degree. After, the people doing the hiring were disappointed that they couldn't hire me but their hands were tied..... they told me off the record that the degree requirement had nothing to do with the job itself and everything with being used as a filter to keep the so-called "undesirables" (ie, welfare moms, minorities with GEDs, etc) out of the pool of applicants. They allowed them to test knowing they either wouldn't pass or if they did they wouldnt have the degree...but they could point to the fact that all of these people were applying for and testing but not passing....

Now I have the degree but better stay with my current job...bill collector for a cable TV contractor. People want their cable and people have a hard time keeping up with the bill...so I should have a job for awhile..lol.............My fiancee wants to go back and finish her AAS as a paralegal...but she is holding on to her job too....if for no other reason to get insurance for all of us when we get married in a few months.

hang in there...don;'t know what else to say on your situation...just consider ourself lucky that you are still employed..... soon we all may be working for Walmart......

Snakes ()

61

What the Family Worship Evening Arrangement Really Entails

by cantleave in

jw
friends

as most people here know the combined book study allows an evening for "family worship".. the co visits march - august 2009 is really focussing on this.

if a jdub family head doesn't do a full evening of family worship and uses this time to do recreational activities he is as guilty as isrealite who didn't use the sabbath for worship.

the result, will of course be same as the unfaithful isrealite, death!!!!!!!!!

SnakesInTheTower

Even TV would be more mentally stimulating, don't ya think!

I would rather watch a SpongeBob SquarePants Marathon than have a 4 hour Family Worship session....

...oh wait.... scratch that.....I already do... I have an 8 year old boy that will soon be my step son who likes to have that crap on all the time........ ...

Snakes ()

ps...oh....and death to SpongeBob. Thanks.

30

Family Worship VITAL FOR SURVIVAL - Oct 09 WT Study Edition

by Hopscotch in

inspired by the other thread on the family worship arrangement and by a request for printed information here are scans from the latest wt about this arrangment.

the article starts off by using a favourite wts tactic - fear!.

hopscotch.

SnakesInTheTower

am I the only one creeped out by the whole "Family Worship" thing in initial caps, as if it is a proper noun or something?

These are the first WT articles that I have read nearly in their entirety in the nearly 2 years I have been out....it was like watching a train wreck... you pretty well know what's coming, but I could not take my eyes off it....sheesh...

...and the Writers are still encouraging Bethel service? Does Writing and Personnel not communicate these days? Why encourage this dead end job? Fresh meat to replace the aging fleet that has been put out to pasture? (how is that for mixed metaphors?).

..and parents are not to force their kids to read their little journals out loud...:"allow them a measure of privacy".....why...WT doesn't any other time...what's with that drivel...did they lay off the entire editorial staff? How did that get by the WT Borg censors?...

..and that loser single brother "Tony"?...."...That evening is my special time with Jehovah...For about two hours I study subjects that strengthen my relationship with Jehovah....Having more time for study allows me to linger on the Bible verses I read..." ah hell, I can't go on...who the hell are they kidding? Tony should drop his Family Loser Single Guy Worship Night, get laid and linger on a nice kiss...I highly recommend it.

lol....I found it sad and humorous at the same time.....no way I could ever subject my future 8 year old step son to that crapola.

Snakes ()

edited to add:.... two hours...yeah, when I was a JW loser single guy, I spent waaaay more time than that studying Bible (WT) Chronology....too bad for them I was using secular sources as another set of references.......because of that "Extra" research, the scales started to be removed from my eyes back in 91-92 before the 1995 "Generation" article...too bad it too me another 15 plus years to leave... one can only hope that this extra opportunity gives some more time to do real research.... did anyone else notice that they did not encourage singles or single parents to get together with others for "Family Worship" Night?