Posts by maxwell

26

Any of you worked for Primerica? My experience at their "seminar."

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

a few weeks ago, a brother called me out of the blue and asked me if i was interested in working for him.

he told me he had his own business and was looking to "expand.

" he told me i "was a special person" with "good qualities" and "capable of going places.

maxwell

I have a family member who worked for them. Maybe he still does. I don't think he ever called it an interview. He just gave me an "invitation" to a meeting. So I went and listened to them talk. I was not aware of pyramids and MLM's at the time, but I had already been a part of businesses that do sales at people's homes and I decided I didn't want to do that anymore. Plus I was busy with school at the time.

I wouldn't call them a pyramid, because I think pyramid denotes an illegal multi-level-marketing (MLM) structure. But they are definitely a MLM. They are legal because they are selling financial products. I went on a sales call with this person and when I watched this person do a presentation, the focus of the presentation to the buyer was on the financial products. There was no mention of getting that person to work under him. A pyramid would have little or nothing to sell and the main focus would be on recruiting a "downline" or someone under that person. However, I am glad that I did not join them. The person who talked with me and the people at the meetings were going on about how most people didn't know how to save and they were there to help the average family get their finances in order in the same way that wealthier people have financial advisors. It was kind of condescending when I think back on it. Well I'm pretty sure most of the information and products they have are easily available to anyone on their own with a little effort and you won't have to pay these sales people's commisions. Further, they try to push a particular type of insurance. I can't remember whether they sale cash-value or term life insurance. But I'm fairly sure they push only one or the other and neither one is always right for every person, although I'm sure term is best for most people. If one wants to save money, they should use something other than a cash-value life insurance policy.

Anyway, now that I think back on that Primerica meeting and meetings for other sales organizations the way they would pump up their sales people with very vague talk about financial success was very pressurized and designed to manipulate the mind to think one way without questioning. Perhaps that is the way it is in many sales and marketing organizations, because one must admit that is basically their aim. To convince a qualified buyer that he needs and wants whatever they are selling whether he needs it not. Most good salespeople will tell you that people buy things based on gut and emotion rather than logic so that's what they work on. "I love this car" "I've got to have that." That's where they are supposed to get you. And they don't get you there by giving you all the information. They give as little information as possible. Find out what makes the buyer tick and give them that and nothing else. But when you add dishonesty and multi-level-marketing it can get to be a bit much. There are MLM's and definitely pyramids that are worse than Primerica.

20

Hypocrite Greenies

by grows1 in

there are many people in the world who consider themselves "green" advocates and "green" friendly.

like john kerry- has 7-8 houses, private jets, @ 6 really big gas guzzling autos, including suv's.

people who talk green but whose lifesytles reveal their true sentiments.

maxwell

Do you live in a modest home of less than 1,000 sq ft if you are single? Less than 3,000 sq ft for a family? I am married and our apartment is less than 1100 square feet.

Do you use less than 1,000 KWH a month for a single person or less than 2,000 for a family? I don't know. Good question. My untilities are included in the rent, but I still turn off lights when they are not in use and have the AC off now since the outside temperature is not warm enough to warrant having it on. If I turned it to auto, it would still cycle on and off even thought the outside temp is around 70. So I turn it off and open windows.

Do you walk where ever you can to save fuel? Yes or bike.

Do you use public transportation if it is available? Yes.

Do you bunch trips together to save fuel? Yes, I might get tired and need another snickers for fuel if I make two bicycle trips to the same area or spend more money on the public transit if I make extra trips there, so I try to make errand runs efficient.

Do you use recycled paper? Sometimes.

How about toilet paper made from recycled material? No, that would be something to look into.

Do you use glass reusable container instead of plastic? No

How about cloth rags instead of paper towels? Yes, but I use paper napkins.

There are a million ways to conserve. How "green" are you? And do you really have a right to complain about someone elses auto using too much gas if you are living a life in other ways that belies your "green" stated beliefs? How much of a green hypocrite are you? I've never called myself green. A lot of the motivation for giving up my car was economic and health related. Ecological concerns were secondary. However, I ecological concerns are a higher priority for me now.

43

WE JUST SAW "DAY AFTER TOMORROW"

by Mary in

jw
friends

well me and a couple of co-workers took the afternoon off and we went and saw the day after tomorrow.

i was greatly disappointed i must say.

if you don't want to know too much about the story, don't read any further.

maxwell

He somehow manages to walk from Pittsburg to New York City in a remarkably short amount of time. Guess he must really be from the planet Krypton and he's disguised as a mild-mannered professor.

While I do agree that many parts of the movie were unbelievable, if I understood it correctly, he walked from somewhere just north of Philadelphia to New York. That would have been a walk of around 100 miles and he supposedly made the walk over a few days. If a person were in shape and could maintain 2.5 mph for 10 hours a day, that's a four day walk. Not quite as unbelievable for just a normal walk for a person who's in shape, but when you add in the fact that there were freezing temperatures, snow and wind, and that they were dragging heavy loads at first and walking snow shoes, then it does still approach miraculous proportions. And the fact that the flash freezing temperature happened to only go down to the point to cause flash freezing but not to the point that it would overcome there efforts to resist it is far-fetched as well.

Yet, I still enjoyed the movie with the normal cheesy struggle between the brilliant scientist and the silly politician who won't believe the scientist and the overly dramatic monologue by the head politician at the end of the movie. I like the special effects of disaster movies. The kids in scholastic decathlon reminded me of participating in academic decathlon in high school and my self-proclaimed nerd status at the time.

Edited to add: Most the NYC scenes were supposedly in Manhattan. Bethel is in Brooklyn. I think they panned from Brooklyn to Manhattan maybe once looking at the southern end of both islands. Isn't Bethel near the Brooklyn Bridge a little further up?

26

Charcoal or Gas Grilling?

by El Kabong in

jw
friends

ok, i'm sitting in my sunroom, i got the grill going right outside cooking up some beautiful spareribs with my special hand-rub spices.

after that, i got 4 beautiful well marbled porterhouse steaks just waiting to be grilled to perfection.

my preference has always been using a charcoal grill.

maxwell

I've never grilled myself. I grew up watching my dad mostly and sometimes my mom grill using charcoal. It does appear that gas is easier, but I don't think easier is always better. I vote charcoal just because that's what I've always had. My dad would soak wood chips in water and throw some on the coals after the flame had gone down and the coals were smoldering at cooking temperature.

18

Fighter planes and strange clouds in sky right now

by Leolaia in

jw
friends

i'm at home and for the past half hour at least three military fighters are up in the sky zooming around.

maybe there's an air show or something but they go damn fast!

they can go from being overhead to beyond the distance by the horizon in half a minute, if that.

maxwell

You're not in Northern Virginia or anywhere near DC are you? They were supposed to be practicing for the WWII Memorial dedication today. The Washington Post said people might see them flying through DC and Virginia.

13

Hybrid Cars anyone/

by Carmel in

jw
friends

last weekend alan alda of mash fame did a documentry on the new hybrid cares by honda and toyota.

ford is coming with on and chrysler is about to launch.

also are new fuel cell hydrogen cars one even with little discs the size of a skeet that contain hydrogen in solid form.

maxwell

I don't own a car, but I do use the services of a car-sharing company occasionally. Basically car-sharing means you rent the car by the hour, and the insurance and gas costs are included in the hourly rate. In DC, most of Flexcars (the car-sharing company here) fleet consists of Honda Civics and a few Elements parked around the city. Some of the Civics are hybrids and I've driven one a few times. I haven't paid attention to gas mileage, because I never have it long enough to worry about that, but it is definitely did not seem as powerful as gasoline-only cars. It could accelerate at a reasonable rate but not at a high rate. However it was adequate for running errands in the city and close-in metropolitan areas. It still sustained highway speeds as well as any other car. What I thought was cool is how it would automatically shut off the gasoline engine at red lights, while keeping the electric motor running (This was in mild weather without the AC running. I have not driven it in hot weather with the AC going.). As soon as you lift your foot from the brake, it starts itself up again and is ready to use the gasoline engine as you accelerate. If I needed to buy a car, I would definitely consider a hybrid. I have no need to accelerate faster than everyone else on the road.

107

Well, ever think about leaving your mate for someone else ???

by run dont walk in

jw
friends

this should be interesting, .

how many of you have thought or have left your mate for someone else, was it worth it, or worth it that you stayed ???.

going through a difficult time right now, we've been together 15 years now, no kids, shes a couple years older then me.

maxwell

I have thought of leaving my mate for someone else and I've thought of leaving for myself. We decided to stay together. If I had left it wouldn't have been for someone else, although I don't buy all the "do it for her and your mutual respect" rhetoric. I would never leave her for someone else because I really doubt that anyone else would be any better. Another person would probably want the same restraints on my movements and actions that my present wife wants. And they might want to waste even more of my time talking about irrelevant feelings or trying to get me to remember unimportant things. And who knows what their level of jealousy would be. I can't answer your last two questions, although I really wonder about the jealousy question as well. I think it is worth it that I stayed because we have shared some valuable time together as a couple and I think she has been more at peace. My wife chose to take more control over how she was feeling that she did before. However, if I ever did leave it would be for myself and I would never get married again. Marriage and the traditional western monogamous life-time partner model really isn't for everyone and is quite overrated. My opinions are probably not mainstream or very popular, but there they are.

79

Which men / lads here cry when listening to music / watching films?

by Celtic in

jw
friends

you know how some of us guys have to put on a bit of an act sometimes, we have to set our faces into our coping scowl, but underneath, we're too well aware of just how soft we are?

well.. what music to the big guys here only, not you wimpy bunch, brings a tear to your eye or which films is it that you need to keep a box of tissues handy by you to wipe away the dampness in your eye?.

for celtic it's a track by dido - white flag and also black eyed peas - where is the love?

maxwell

More movies than music, I'll tear up on. But one musical piece in particular, the soundtrack to Schindler's List. If I'm just sitting back really into the music and thinking of the images and events that go with the music, I'll tear up to that.

9

So, Who has Cicadas??

by Nikita in

i have just started observing them in my neck of the woods.

i'm fascinated with them and love to hear them especailly the sound that i hear further away -like an eery, rolling, humming-type sound through the mountain valleys.

anyone else observing them??

maxwell

I've got them. When they first started appearing, I didn't think I would see any in the city, but they're on trees right outside my 10 story apartment building a slightly busy commuter route into the city. I ride my bicycle to work everyday and my route takes me along a bike trail that is very quiet in some places. That's where I first saw them and there one place where there's quite a few now. I saw them hanging on to railings on a bridge over the Potomac this morning. I've been carrying my digital camera and taking pictures. The camera also has mpeg movie capabilities, so I hope to find a really deserted place where all I hear is the cicadas and make a recording. Then plan to post the pictures and the movie on a website.

45

A call to the childfree/childless....

by Doubtfully Yours in

jw
friends

any particular reason for such decision?

i have health fears, so long ago i decided against having children.

sometimes i feel afraid of growing old alone and lonely, but lately i've realized that having children is no guarantee of any future situation.

maxwell

I have never wanted children and I know I never will. I didn't feel it at 18 and still don't feel it at 27. I've had a complete paradigm change going from being a full-fledged JW to an agnostic now, but my lack of desire for a child has not changed. I'm calling a urologist on Monday. I don't have any desire for any kind of pet either. However, I did want a dog once when I was really young like 5 or 6, so maybe the desire will return one day, but I can't see it right now. Will I feel lonely when I'm older? I don't know, but right now I don't see that as a valid reason to have children. I can't see having someone to take care of me or give me company as a valid reason to bring another human into the world. When I get old and perhaps even unable to live on my own, even if I did have children, I wouldn't want them to have that responsibility. Hopefully, I save enough to have that kind of care paid for, and hopefully, I would have some hobbies and interests, a life of my own.