Posts by GrreatTeacher

We learned that one of the biggest electric hogs in the house was the water heater. So, we put it on a timer. We only have it on in the evenings from 5 to 11. That's the time of heaviest water usage with cooking, laundry, showers all happening during that time.

And believe it or not, it keeps the water in the tank hot from 11pm until 5pm the next day. So it's only on for a quarter of the day. It still gives you enough hot water for one load of laundry or a shower without depleting the supply.

If I'm home doing lots of laundry and running the dishwasher at an earlier time, I just manually override it and turn it on.

Also, we set the temperature down at 120°F. It will still give you a hot enough shower, but it's below the threshold for scalding burns. Important when you have small children.

48

My letter of disassociation, what do you think?

by James Jack in

dear brothers, july 27, 2020. in 1919, the president of the watchtower society made a bold prediction, “millions now living will never die”.

that quotation was constantly repeated by the organization till the year 2000 when they realized that everyone in attendance at that assembly, who listened to j.r. rutherford repeat those words, are dead.. that teaching has guided my life.

statements were repeatedly made at assemblies, conventions and in print that there was no career in “this system of things” so you don’t need a job with benefits or retirement, your fulltime job is to “preach the good news”!

GrreatTeacher

Oh, that was just for getting your face known and your name out there. Next time they'll remember you, and be more likely to vote for you.

My husband ran for a small office and did a lot of campaigning during local civic parades. Firemen's parades, homecoming parades , holiday parades. He walked the parade route giving out tchotchkes like pencils with his name on them. (He was running for school board.)

Might be a good way to advertise your business. Put your name and "for town council" on an inexpensive item like a pen, ruler, pointer for electronic screens, a few plastic coffee cups, paper fans etc. And then your personal business ad on the flip side. We also throw candy in parades around here.

23

Saving Money While Stuck At Home

by Simon in

jw
friends

so you're stuck at home, you may be worried about your income, welcome to the world of filling your stuck-in-the-house time with saving some money!.

here in canada, our energy costs are going up because we have a carbon tax.

today, in the middle of the crisis, trudeau is raising it by 50%, probably as some perverse "thank you" to all the truckers delivering vital goods.

GrreatTeacher

It makes me laugh when you guys talk about how wasteful it is buying Starbucks because I totally agree, making your own and putting it in a to go cup makes so much more sense monetarily, but also it reminds me of when I was dating my husband.

We would be out riding around, and he would fill up the tank and go in and buy a soda which I thought was outrageous! Who does that? You bring your own drinks from home. You pack your own lunch for work. What an absolute waste of $2! My God, if you do that everytime you're out and about, you could waste $20 a month! What kind of a monstrous profligate spender are you?

And then, he paid the bonus $1 on top of the fill up to buy a token for the, wait for it.....drive thru car wash!! What in the actual...? Who does that? You wash your car at home use the vacuum there, too! I had only a few times used a public car wash, and it was the do it yourself kind where you put the quarters in and you'd better get finished before the water ran out and there was no dryer!

I had never been in such a thing. Wait! You can stay in the car? It drags the car along the platform? It soaps and washes? And then dries? And spits you out the other end? I was absolutely dumbfounded. And also a little enchanted. I was a very cheap date!

30 years later and we still have very different money styles, but I won on the packing of lunches. We both still pack lunches, drinks and coffee every day for work. If I ever get a Coke from the machine it's because I'm very stressed or overheated and dehydrated, but it's very rare and it still pings my heart to hear those three quarters clink in the machine!

20

Can we stick to topics that we came that we came to this forum in the first place?

by James Jack in

i don’t care about politics, books you are reading, movies and tv programs you’re watching, etc..

GrreatTeacher

James Jack, I salute you, sir.

No one gets out unscathed. No one.

GT

20

Can we stick to topics that we came that we came to this forum in the first place?

by James Jack in

i don’t care about politics, books you are reading, movies and tv programs you’re watching, etc..

GrreatTeacher

James Jack, this post just makes me sad. This is a long, roundabout way to let me know you have no advice to give me about my kitchen remodel.

After being on this site for years, I have watched it change. The many positive threads have diminished and controversial threads have predominated.

I've looked back at my own posts and have frankly not liked what I've seen. I've had a grumpy, "you kids get off my lawn!" tone that doesn't really represent who I am.

In my real life, none of this kind of stuff ever gets talked about. Certainly never religion and politics. I'm known as friendly, funny and easy to get along with. Would people here know that with the recent tone of conversation? Maybe not.

The only way to amend that is to outpost negative comments with positive. I've chosen to do that by posting some personal purchase/finance threads recently, including my recent kitchen remodeling post as well as my recent auto purchase thread. I don't know why talking about the practicalities of buying a car has been appreciated, but asking for advice on remodeling a kitchen has been so controversial.

In my mind, living a successful ex JW life is one of the biggest challenges to be faced. With little exposure to the world, exJWs might not know how to buy a car, buy a house or manage financials. Some people don't know how to leave home, get a job, or rent an apartment. We're all at different places, yet we can all help each other. I'm sure some people here have a half million dollar net worth or more, while others have half a dollar to get through until the end of the month.

I'm not sure whether you're the guy who lived an approved life of JW poverty and think any talk of home ownership is out of the picture and therefore a moot subject, or you own your home, have remodeled it to perfection so as to not overimprove or underimprove, and therefore believe it's a stupid subject because "everybody knows that!"

If you're the latter, that's rather stingy, but if you're the former, I would say there are a lot of people here who know about homebuying and how it's key to building wealth, which, after all, just means security. Living in your primary investment vehicle is usually an excellent financial goal, and there is a lot of crowd wisdom here that many people would be more than willing to share and many would be more than willing to take.

I have often thought about starting a series of posts on practical information for living a good life after the JWs. Maybe topics like: moving out of your parents' house, finding a job, finding an apartment, buying a house, renovating a house, opening a checking/savings account, planning for retirement, investments, etc. Depending on your age leaving the JWs any of those topics might possibly be appropriate.

I, personally, have been out all of my adult life and am interested in my house as a primary investment vehicle, retirement investing, and career planning until retirement. I am thankful that, through the years, I've had lots of people willing to share what they know very unselfishly because they, as well as myself, want everyone to live their best exJW life.

In all kindness and charity,

GT

15

What is your most favorite politically incorrect film

by mickbobcat in

since all the leftist idiots are trying to cancel films they don't like i am buying some dvds of my fav.

pi films.

my favorite top pick is animal house.

GrreatTeacher

White Chicks is freaking hilarious. Definitely recommend, 5 out of 5 stars.

Rumor is that the Wayans brothers were raised JW.

6

Interesting place for a KH. My thoughts

by joe134cd in

yesterday i happened to be driving through a rural town where i made an observation.

first let me describe this town.

it’s almost a shadow of its former self.

GrreatTeacher

Interesting. The Mormons might be better at shifting money from central to individual congregations.

The JWs have pretty much left finances up to individual congregations. If the congregation can't afford to repay a remodel, they won't do it.

When folks are poor and hopeless, these kinds of religions can appeal. I have often seen poor areas fill up with storefront churches unaffiliated with larger denominations. The Ebenezer Tabernacle of the Rising Salvation Circus and similar do brisk business in poor neighborhoods. They'll drag their podiums right out to the street corner and preach to passersby.

If that's the only person who has spoken to you with kindness recently, you might go inside. Especially if you're cold.

20

Watchtower Society's progression of Pirate Black Beard after his resurrection

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

good news from god!.

lesson 6. .

what hope is there for the dead?.

GrreatTeacher

Also, it never shows the bottom half of the ladies so it's an open question whether they will need to wear skirts or not.

Good call. Wouldn't want to stumble anyone.🤯