Posts by GrreatTeacher

30

My Update

by James Jack in

i just turned 62 and celebrated my first birthday at a local restaurant.

nothing exotic, just draft beer and a burger.

i've been using my spare time to make my community a better place to visit.

GrreatTeacher

Never underestimate the effect a school bus driver can have on kids.

My son's favorite school bus driver was assigned to his cousins' route as well. When he passed away with cancer suddenly, they were devastated! As were all the other kids he had shepherded safely for years. The school counselor had to get involved to help the kids deal with the loss.

He just made their first contact with the school system in the morning happy and exciting and cared about any sadness they might take home after the school day as well. He made the kids feel safe and special.

RIP, Mr. Bonds! You were well loved. You made a difference.

16

Awake is back! India used in every illustration???

by JWTom in

as someone else noted.

why is the new awake a setting in india in every illustration?.

GrreatTeacher

Is India a "fertile field" right now? If so, that might explain it.

7

Article:Religious freedom case over Roy church discipline matter is revived by Utah Supreme Court

by AndersonsInfo in

take my word for it, knowing this case as i do, this is an extraordinary decision.

congratulations go to all those involved on the plaintiff's side.

hopefully, the lower court will do the right thing this time.. barbara.

GrreatTeacher

Thank you. The "excessive entanglement" test needs to die.

I am so sick of the United States allowing the establishment clause to excuse terrible and abusive behavior.

30

My Update

by James Jack in

i just turned 62 and celebrated my first birthday at a local restaurant.

nothing exotic, just draft beer and a burger.

i've been using my spare time to make my community a better place to visit.

GrreatTeacher

Happy birthday, James Jack! Glad you had a nice celebratory dinner. That's generally all I do for myself and it suits me just fine. Sometimes if you tell the waitress, they'll give you a complimentary slice of cake. Sometimes they also sing, but that's really annoying to me.

So awesome to hear that you created that community event. When my son was little, he lived for stuff like that. Getting to poke around a fire truck was the highlight of his little life. Once he got to clamber around in the state police trauma flight helicopter which was heaven for him. Not bad for myself, either! People really appreciate those events. Thank you.

Please don't mire yourself in regret over your employment history. You did the best you could with the information you had at the time. You shouldn't be denigrated for making what you thought was a mature spiritual decision. In some areas the advice to pursue "kingdom interests first" ( in reality it was pursuing poverty) was taken more seriously than in other areas. I believe you when you said you felt that was the truly spiritual way. But, I never knew an elder that was also a pioneer, they all worked fulltime and had families, so it definitely varied.

Also, when people talk about retiring wealthy, please don't think it's just somebody bragging. With some basic financial information, it's not difficult to "get rich slow." You just have to start saving for retirement as soon as you start working.

If you can talk a young person into start saving $250 a month from the beginning of their working life, after 40 years they can have about $375,000. If they work an additional 5 years, it will compound to $500,000! So, going to work at age 20 and retiring at 65 will make you a half millionaire as well as Social Security and Medicare eligible. Note how much that additional 5 years gets you. The longer the investment horizon, the more valuable each additional year. The key is getting started early.

Play around with an online compound interest calculator. There are dozens, just Google it. Change the interest rate, change the number of years and watch how the balance changes. Every teenager should be required to play around on one of these. Hell, every adult should play around on one of these.

I learned this info as a young adult and we started saving $250 a month when we were in our early 20s. We were just starting out, were not making much money and our (nonJW) friends thought we were crazy. That would have been a nice car payment 30 years ago. We just automatically put it away and it was like we didn't even have it. We are on track to have a nice lump sum when we retire and it's never felt difficult for that reason.

I'll stop now. But, I'm really passionate about this subject. The power of compound interest over time is one of the greatest forces in the world. I hope you have a decent financial advisor or at least have been able to learn about it on your own. People generally need to constantly tend to financial planning even through retirement and estate planning.

Take care,

GT

16

Have You Had Any Experiences With “Karen’s”?

by minimus in

jw
friends

have you ever had to deal with these crazy intrusive people flipping out on you?

just curious.

.

GrreatTeacher

Never trust an Apple. You see what happened to Adam and Eve.

20

wt's tale of the two mothers.

by waton in

in retrospect, for lurkerking fence sitters.

, today's( may 30 ) study article.:.

a mother un lovingly, on "apostate" advice, does everything, right and wrong to keep her daughter from becoming a wt slave.

GrreatTeacher

Waton, it might have been a typo, but "lurkerking fence sitter" is such a fabulous name that I'm going to use it as my username on the next forum I join.

So, if you ever see a Lurkerking Fence Sitter on another forum, it will be me. Or maybe it'll be Lurker King Fencesitter.

Now I want to adopt a cat and call him Lurker King Fencesitter. Imagine them calling that name at the vet:

"Fluffy Smith?"

"Cuddles Johnson?"

"Lurker King Fencesitter? "

I can't stop saying it!

14

Do you know of any JW that likes to watch Military Flyover?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

just wondering!

.

GrreatTeacher

I don't know, but this exjw enjoyed the Blue Angels flying over Annapolis last week for the Naval Academy commencement!

Maybe related: all the JWs I've known love the 4th of July fireworks.

32

What do you do for living?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

i am not currently working..

GrreatTeacher

Teaching, though I've been sitting Covid out.

4

Both corners of their mouth

by neat blue dog in

i was just watching dinesh d'souza talking about a chinese newspaper, and he was saying that the chinese communists like to have a form of communication that isn't 'officially' from the government but can transmit what they want people to hear.

instantly reminded me of the gb, how they have agendas and outlines for circuit overseers, schools, even supposedly spontaneous experiences at conventions that are used to push certain ideas.

they do the effective job at the time, but most jws wouldn't be able to track it down in print later.

GrreatTeacher

I've literally heard from a school principal at a school where I once worked that parent contact should only be verbally in person or over the phone because written communication leaves a paper trail.

Like, duh? Any written communication had to be personally approved by her.

Then I worked for another principal who was always asking if we put it in writing so we had a record of our parent contacts!

16

Have You Had Any Experiences With “Karen’s”?

by minimus in

jw
friends

have you ever had to deal with these crazy intrusive people flipping out on you?

just curious.

.

GrreatTeacher

Of all the different types of Karens, the customer service, "let me speak to the manager" types are my favorites simply for how spectacularly ineffective they are. Just like toddlers, screaming won't get you what you want, and neither will flopping down on the floor.

The key is to keep it friendly and smiling, ask continuous questions and, most importantly, never refer to the company as " you" when speaking to an employee. That sets up an "us vs them" scenario that puts the customer at odds with the employee/ business.

I've found it works best when talking to an employee to call the company "them." It puts the employee on your side and sets up a subtle "us vs them" with the company on the outside and the employee and customer on the same side.

Example: "I understand that they want to keep loss at a minimum, but I don't feel comfortable leaving my bag from the other store up front with you. I mean, that leaves you responsible if something happens! I wouldn't want to do that to you! Do you have a stapler, maybe? Could you just staple it shut? Or, I could put the whole thing in my purse? Thank you so much!"

Works much better than: "You think I'm going to steal from you? You say that you love your customers, but you obviously don't. I'm not giving you my damn bag. I want to talk to your manager! And then you will honor this coupon!!"