Posts by SnakesInTheTower

I just want to get some real life dates under my belt so I can get to that point. I have some complaints about E-Harmony, but that's a whole other thread.

that is essentially why I went on eHarmony...I feel bad in a way..the gals were my guinea pigs....always hoping for something to click but not counting on it..didnt want to set myself up for failure. I was on eHarmony for 13 months... the two women I went on in person dates with were both single moms..we went to places like Panera (called something else here), and another restraunt in a mall..went looking at x-mas stuff.....but no spark, but we enjoyed our dates. I think all of the gals I emailed or phone called were single moms except for one...and she and I remained online/phone friends for awhile but I knew we were not compatible. She eventually ended that friendship.

Those dates helped me to get over that first date problem, having been raised a JW...the initial dates gave me some idea what to expect, not make some mistakes again. On the eharmony dates, I never kissed either of the two on the first or second date (there were no third dates)...the chemistry was just not there.

Conversely, when I went on the first date where I asked someone out without the assistance of eHarmony, a date with my now fiancee, the chemistry was (and is still) there but I wasnt sure about how much/if, etc kiss was appropriate...at the end of our date as I was dropping her at apartment....she answered that for me immediately. She gave me a long, deep, and passionate kiss...took my breath away....

as for what where we went on that first date...I took her to a local diner for breakfast (brunch) where we shared a meal...omelets...which is still her favorite and I make them at home for us on Sunday mornings......then across the river to a historic river town for coffee at two different places...(my original romantic plan was to go to a winery, but turns out we are both coffee addicts, so plans can be changed as you go) a walk along the river (on the Katy Trail), more coffee and people watching, lots of talking..... the chemistry was there...but at anytime, had it not been, I could have ended it diplomatically..... I had an agenda....list of possiblethings to do...but only revealed them as we went along.... the more comfortable we got, the more time we wanted to spend together.....

We went to the same places a few months later, in a different order, when I proposed to her on a bench (yes on one knee), under a tree, in view of the river, along the Katy Trail, at nearly the same place as she first took my hand on our first date . The diner and the historic town are still our favorite places to go on a daytime date. We only recently, after over 5 months, went on a night time dinner date (for her birthday)....

..My first couple of dates with women from eharmony went OK...but I guess my first "real" date (non eHarmony) went well....she and her 8YO son now live with me we are planning a January wedding. NEJ....I hope you enjoy your first date, no matter how it goes. Allow yourself flexibility in the dates....what you might have planned might not be something she likes..... spontaniety is great alongside some planned aspects of the date.

I am no expert...just damned lucky to find the love of my life (but understanding exactly how you feel.) Good luck.

Snakes (Rich )

54

Landlord steals security deposit

by besty in

jw
friends

has anybody got any success stories about recovering this sort of debt?.

does anyone know of any companies that would buy the debt?.

i have already contacted an attorney so am familiar with the legal/court route - i'm interested in alternatives..

SnakesInTheTower

besty:

sell the debt

you could...someone will buy just about anything . It is possible to get the money if the money is there to get. If the debt is not substantial then it is not typically worth pursuing by an agency. Usually, collection agencies will take minimum 20% but that can reach 50% or more. You can tack on interest, legal costs, collection costs and penalties as allowed by law. If you sell the debt, expect only pennies on the dollar, especially since this is a single instance and not in a batch of hundreds or thousands of bad debt accounts.

And as someone said...judgement is one thing, recovery is another. Depending on the amount of the deposit, it may not be worth pursuing past small claims without an attorney. And if you dont think you will actually recover the money, why bother getting the judgment?

I currently work as a bill collector now and have in the past. I have gone up against a major real estate developer (and collected $8,000 in debt for my old employer that was a small businessman.... the debt was over 2 years old and he had given up on it. I collected the money anyway. I just was a bigger pain in their ass than he was. I threatened legal action..had no idea what at the time (though I did find out I had a strong case)....

In any case, good luck with the collections....

Snakes (Rich )

33

Simony ...

by snowbird in

... is the practice of buying ecclesiastical privileges.. it is named after the magician, simon of samaria, who supposedly converted to christianity after philip's preaching tour.. acts 8:14 -17when the apostles in jerusalem received the report that samaria had accepted god's message, they sent peter and john down to pray for them to receive the holy spirit.

up to this point they had only been baptized in the name of the master jesus; the holy spirit hadn't yet fallen on them.

then the apostles laid their hands on them and they did receive the holy spirit.

SnakesInTheTower

snowbird:

I'm trying to eat healthy. Did you HAVE to put that right in my face?

i try to eat healthier than that...and toni is trying to lose the last few pounds too....(though she looks great now..anything else is bonus)..

we have been eating a lot of subway with the move and all...chinese when we are lazy... now that it has calmed down a bit around here I am cooking more again... last night i made my chicken marsala w/mushrooms, onions, pepper all sauteeing in a chicken broth and marsala wine......had that over steamed basmatii rice and steamed corn..

snakes (Rich )

46

the futility of 1-ply vs 2-ply toilet paper (debate)

by SnakesInTheTower in

jw
friends

over on my literature burning thread, someone jokingly suggested that when the big a comes i am going to regret not saving that paper for toilet paper..... this made me think of recent discussions my fiancee and i have had on this subject.. when we first started dating about 4 months ago, i would come to their apartment for coffee or dinner...after awhile i started spending the night.

one thing i noticed was the toilet paper.

lousy one-ply.

SnakesInTheTower

wow...20 days since I posted a topic and 8 since I posted a reply...... must be real life taking over...lol

dinah:

So are you and the 8YO gonna do homework together? Or did you finish school?

he wont do his homeowork in a timely manner... he spends more time delaying than doing it. On the rare times it is up to me, it is done before the internet, TV or nintendoDS is turned on.

and yes,... I finished school...got my AS in August... and my student loan, that has been on deferrment since 2006, went off yesterday...they auto-deducted $64 out of my checking account ... good thing I had it to give....

Snakes (Rich )

35

Besty Unplugged - My Life Story Part VII

by besty in

<< part vi.

part vii not the end or the beginning.

as mentioned previously i was starting to travel more frequently to the us on business, specifically los angeles.

SnakesInTheTower

Paul..

I have been dragging my feet on this for sometime. Though I have posted bits and pieces of my story here over the last two years, you have inspired me to finally write, in its entiretly, my experience leaving the cult. I have corresponded with Randy regarding my story and hope to post it here and at FreeMinds soon. (It was a link from FM to JWD that started me on my way out of the cult.)

To no one's surprise, my story will not be not short. I am writing Part 7 now... looks to be anywhere from 8 to 10 parts. I am finishing the hardest part now...the last two years....the exiting part. With moving my fiancee and her son into my (now our) house wrapping up this weekend, I hope to be able to get this done soon.

You have set the bar high on writing, I have enjoyed reading yours immensely.

From the midwest of the US....

Snakes (Rich )

12

Do you play the lottery?

by asilentone in

jw
friends

if you do, would you let me choose the numbers for you, if we win, we can split the money.

deal?

.

SnakesInTheTower

I used to call lotteries taxes on fools.... and I still do. Now, post-JW, I buy four $1 tickets a week. $1 twice a week for Powerball and $1 twice a week for MegaMillions (both of the US multi-state games, I live on the border of both states with both games). I have only won once since playing... $7...woot woot.

My fiancee won $10,000 a couple of months ago...oh wait...she had to split that with 19 coworkers...make that about $300 after taxes...

Snakes (Rich )

27

Do you have many friends since leaving the bOrg?

by AK - Jeff in

jw
friends

i don't have many in my physical sphere.

but the ones i have are good ones.

of course we share no 'history', since i never had a 'worldly' friend until i left at 48.. in my cyberworld [and some would argue the credence of that] i have found many fine souls with which to commiserate, share, grow.

SnakesInTheTower

bookmark for later

Snakes (Rich )

43

Elder Disfellowshipped Last Night

by wifeofjw in

so my jw husband tells me last night a elder was disfelloshipped.

totally unexpected by the cong.

well, my hubby was really upset by it.

SnakesInTheTower

billy:

Did you ask if anyone else was disfellowshipped the same night? Perhaps a pioneer sister?

To avoid connecting dot A with dot B, even though everyone will figure it out, procedurally we were told at MTS not to make the announcements on the same night if the two offenders were involved in the same incident/with each other. Allow a week between announcements. An oft ignored rule. Difficult to do when a bunch of teens is involved in something...of course in that case, everyone already knows.

yep...give it time...and not much... wagging tongues, elder confidentiality be damned, word will get out.

Snakes (Rich )

39

So you're out - first thing you did was.....

by wantstoleave in

jw
friends

did you 'break the rules' full force?

did you go celebrate a birthday?

buy xmas decorations?

SnakesInTheTower

I think the first big thing (other than being here of course) was registering to vote and voting this last national election.

Snakes (Rich )