Posts by Jourles

41

Going to Walt Disney World - Any suggestions?

by kwintestal in

we're bringing our 9 and 7 year old kids to disney over the x-mas break this year.

it's actually going to be their gifts and they don't know we're going.

just wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what to see or do there or what to avoid.. something else we just found out, since they cancelled the space shuttle launch the other day, they may be doing it on jan. 2, i'm excited about possilbly going to see it!

Jourles

I was just there back in May and did all of the parks. The cost of bottled water was quite reasonable, surprisingly. It was only $2. We thought it would be near $4 a bottle. I do have to say, almost any restaurant you visit within the parks are quite exceptional for "amusement park" food. I would suggest Epcot for most of your eating out. Pick a country and have at it. We went to the German buffet twice over the week. I forget the name of it right now, but for ~$21, I was shocked at the quality of the meal/buffet. Oh, and it only cost $10 for a liter of beer(I'm used to paying roughly $5 locally for just a pint!). The main Moroccan restaurant was also quite good(not a buffet). There's only a handful of buffets in all of the parks combined.

The House of Terror is at MGM and is definitely worth waiting for. Always make use of the Fast Passes whenever possible. I believe just about every ride incorporates it and is worth not waiting in a huge line. Just go up to the Fastpass booth, insert your entry ticket, and it will print out a fastpass which will tell you to come back in an hour or so. There are two lines -- one for regular walkups, and the fastpass line. If the timeframe on your fastpass ticket is right now, just walk in that line and you'll almost end up right at the front of the line where you get on. USE THIS BENEFIT ALL DAY LONG. Definitely use it for 'Soaring' at Epcot. This was consistently the longest line of all the parks we went to. In May it wasn't terribly busy. Soaring was always around 60-75 minutes long. Not sure during the holiday period you'll be there - might be much worse.

Anything else you want to know, just ask.

27

Latest e-mail: A JW "insider's" spin on Bethel expansion

by sir82 in

jw
friends

for your viewing pleasure.

how would you reply?.

sent: sunday, december 02, 2007 9:19 amsubject: fw: now public!

Jourles

So let me get this straight -- are the downloadable mags only going to be available in audio? Or will they also provide them as a printable document? (i.e. pdf)

29

Gifts that scream cheap or are just plain irritating!!!

by free2beme in

jw
friends

as the holiday season approaches, we often hear the term "bad gifts" or "useless gifts" being thrown around in stories of christmas past.

i was sitting and thinking of different gift ideas and stories i heard in my life, that truly stink or are just plain irritating.

if the thought counted, then these gifts are thoughtless.

Jourles

Both cheap and irritating?

alt

62

Who's crazy NOW! Here is Proof of the NAU "Video Candian Congress"

by skyking in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br31mdp8-ug.

the video is short but it proves that bush is a lier, period.

some of you can remember i was damned for posting information about this.

Jourles

Just look at the bright side! If "Freedom of Religion" goes *poof*, each "religion" out there may have to meet certain standards to stay tax-exempt(truly charitable, etc). And we all know what position that would put the WTS in. They only survive because they are tax exempt. So do other churches, but I can think of many who actually help the needy and the poor.

This is just one aspect I would look forward to once this NAU merger happens. Otherwise, it's crap for everyone - especially for Americans.

49

When DA'd of DF'd ones give advice to DA...

by changeling in

jw
friends

especially if they are the militant, bitter type...are they wanting you to undergo the hardships they've been through?.

are they secretly jealous of those who have faded and have kept their family together?.

does misery want company?.

Jourles

Wrong. By forcing someone out of your life you are siezing control from them, asserting your authority, and hurling their impotence into their teeth. I have yet to see anyone feel a sense of control after being ejected from my home or from my life. It has always been quite the opposite.

FF, what I meant by my post was that when you DA yourself, they expect you to follow their rules on how you go about doing it. A signed statement to the effect I believe. Otherwise, getting a blood transfusion or joining the military counts as well(without a written statement). Whereas by forcing them to df you, just don't show up for the jc meeting, let them df you in abstentia. Have nothing to do with their little Pay Attention book and the guidelines found within.

I don't think it really matters though at this point in time. Almost 3 years ago, the oral statement from the platform became the same regardless if someone da'd themselves or was df'd. But the behind the scenes rituals are the same.

I just see it as playing by their rules if they ask you for a letter if you say you're DA'ing yourself. I say screw 'em - make them do all the dirty work.

49

When DA'd of DF'd ones give advice to DA...

by changeling in

jw
friends

especially if they are the militant, bitter type...are they wanting you to undergo the hardships they've been through?.

are they secretly jealous of those who have faded and have kept their family together?.

does misery want company?.

Jourles

I'll never think of anyone as a coward for not leaving. Everyone has different circumstances and reasons for not walking away.

From my perspective, and if/when it comes down to it, I would never want to go on the WTS's terms. I tossed around the idea of DA'ing, but by doing that you are giving that one last piece of control over to the WTS. Screw it, I say make them force you out. Make them take the initiative to be rid of you. By DA'ing, you're playing by their rules.

Again, my opinion above has no bearing on how I view people who DA themselves. EVERYONE who is considered an exjw by the broadest definition is an equal in my book. And I would be even more proud to call them a friend over any of the friends I had who are still jw's.

24

Made contact with an old jw(now exjw) boss of mine

by Jourles in

i come on tonight to see i had one new pm.

come to find out, it is from evidently who has been signed up on the board for over a year but has never posted.

this guy used to be an old boss of mine from way back when - i'd say around 12 years ago or so.

Jourles

It's great when JW friends make contact and tell you that they are also out. Fantastic.

Several more to go and I'll be really happy.

24

Made contact with an old jw(now exjw) boss of mine

by Jourles in

i come on tonight to see i had one new pm.

come to find out, it is from evidently who has been signed up on the board for over a year but has never posted.

this guy used to be an old boss of mine from way back when - i'd say around 12 years ago or so.

Jourles

I come on tonight to see I had one new pm. Come to find out, it is from Evidently who has been signed up on the board for over a year but has never posted. This guy used to be an old boss of mine from way back when - I'd say around 12 years ago or so. He wasn't involved in hiring me, but we both managed to end up working in the same location in Frisco, CO and went to the same congregation at the Silverthorne hall. He and his family moved away before I did and we eventually lost touch. So it was a huge surprise to see a message from him tonight. And the best thing about it, he's an "ex-witless" too.(his term)

So Evidently, you'd better get your ass on here and start posting. Don't make me come down there and TP your office and the inside of your car.

C'mon folks, give him some encouragement.

43

HDR photography anyone? (pics inside)

by Jourles in

jw
friends

does anyone employ hdr(high dynamic range) photography in their bag of tricks?

in a nutshell, you take several photos of the same scene but at different exposures - from dark to very light(your aperture needs to remain exactly the same).

you then merge them together.

Jourles

Leo,

Don't forget(if your camera allows you) to keep the ISO and aperture the same, use a tripod, and set your white balance relative to 0.0. As long as these few items are set correctly, you should have some good shots to work with.

Oh, and turn off any camera or lense vibration reduction and set your focus to manual so your camera doesn't accidentally hunt in autofocus mode between shots.

43

HDR photography anyone? (pics inside)

by Jourles in

jw
friends

does anyone employ hdr(high dynamic range) photography in their bag of tricks?

in a nutshell, you take several photos of the same scene but at different exposures - from dark to very light(your aperture needs to remain exactly the same).

you then merge them together.

Jourles

did you have to do a lot of nuanced tweaking in that example, or did it mostly fall out of the merge function?

I used 3 shots for this one. -1.3, 0, +1.7. I've tried Photoshop CS3's hdr merge feature, but it tends to seriously jack up the alignment(you would think a $600 program could get this right). PS has done this with 4 different sets of images I've tried - so I know it's not the photos themselves. I'm sticking with Corel's PSP Photo X2. The only post-processing I did was brighten, sharpen, and crop. I zeroed out the Clarify which tends to give the photos that surreal look. Using Clarify on this image blured/faded the concrete seams on the smokestacks. It would have been easily noticeable.