TheHighWay

It's TONIGHT !!!

It's TONIGHT !!!

It's TONIGHT !!!

It's TONIGHT !!!

It's TONIGHT !!!

What? Me, excited? ... Nah...

DizzyDog... I'm sure you mean well, but take another glance at the name of this forum: The Greasespot Cafe... it's NOT about putting a Christian glaze on everything and being positive about everything(although there are many here who find the strength to get over their twi experiences through a refreshed relationship with God).

This place is about comiserating with others about our experiences: good, bad and ugly. About opening the wounds so the puss can seep out and the healing can truly begin. It's that puss that often gets discussed here. (sorry to be so graphic but that's just how I feel about it) It is about purposely LOOKING (closely, in fact) at the things we hid from ourselves for too long. So if this self-examination process makes you uncomfortable, I'm very sorry. But it is a NEEDED process for most of us to truly recover.

And it is a process. Some can come here and say, "Are you STILL here?" But I have thought I'm all better and still found myself getting "jumped" by a thought or a situation that puts me right back in the crapper, even if for only a moment. Who the heck else is gonna understand that experience the way the people on this forum do?

So... I'm glad you are here. And I'm glad if you've found what works for you. But please don't preach to the rest of us. You will find no quicker way to a deaf ear from ex-twigites than a preachy attitude.

quote:

mostly the worst days "out" have been better than the best days "in"

Absolutely!!! Congratulations!!!

NK Native... haven't seen you post in a long time. Hope all is well with you.

I need to say something here, though, too... to look at this from the other side of things... you cannot dismiss the attitude-training the non-corps was getting either.

We ran into several situations where people had already made up their minds about corps before they ever met us. They either thought we were elitists, or they thought we should be held to a higher standard than themselves.

Granted, this was probably leftovers from some previous junky corps person. But still, I actually had someone point out an honest mistake I'd made and say, "I couldn't believe you'd do that. You're corps!!!" As if corps people weren't human, too.

I've been quietly trying a variation of the cabbage-soup diet because I've had friends who've done well on it... I cannot follow it strictly because of other nutritional issues, and because for me, as soon as I say "can't" I freak and eat everything in sight.

So, I've been doing my protein shake for breakfast, drinking water and unsweet tea --almost no sodas (which for me is a big deal since I was drinking 2 a day)-- eating the soup for lunch, snacking on fruits or veggies if I got hungry through the afternoon, eating a lite supper (like a piece of chicken, or a salad) and then popcorn and water, or more fruits/veggies if I got the munchies before bedtime. This has kept me full enough not to crave the heavy carbs too bad, and its been varied enough to keep me from running away screaming.

I was anticipating a lot of gas from the soup, but it has actually been minimal. (whew)

I don't know if its the lack of sodas or the soup or both, but I've lost 6 pounds in the past 10 days and my "can't-breathe" pants fit normally again.

I'm not thrilled about not eating my favorite junky foods, but I am thrilled about the quick results. So, I'm determined to keep it up. (I really do need to lose 40 pounds and keep them off!!)

I have been too busy this week to start much in the way of exercise but I do have a stationary bike and a rowing machine and I enjoy them both, so hopefully next week I can start back on them. (regular exercise and I have been total strangers for a long, long time)

Thank you, everyone, for the ideas and encouragement. Even if you didn't know I was starting something, I knew you were all here.

Hope everyone else is doing well on their plan!!

Cowgirl... they are just starting the evaluation procedures now... they won't know until they empty the fuel tank and take a close look at the sensor how long a launch delay they are looking at... they said they would make a public announcement "sometime" after 4:30pm today.

Thanks for the meteor shower info... I love to go look at them but for the past two years, it has always been cloudy or rainy here... DARN!! Here's hoping this year will be better.

Belle-- I agree... safety first and foremost!!

Cowgirl... did you hear? They just scrubbed this launch.

A sensor involving the fuel-usage isn't working properly, so they are scrubbing for today.

I'm with you, Dan... generally speaking, I resent exorbitant "handling" fees that get included with the shipping costs, and I try to avoid those sellers.

I'm watching live feed from NASA over my computer... go to http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html and scroll down to click on your preferred viewing medium... RealPlayer or MediaPlayer.

Just a bit of trivia here... someone I went to high school with is one of several NASA test directors (I think that's his title). Anyway, he oversees a flight from start to finish, and this just happens to be his flight... his name is Jeff Spaulding, and you may see him doing press releases.

I've learned to enjoy Christmas again... here's how: I get most of my shopping done ahead of time just because it's more cost and stress effective. Then, right around the actual DAY, I can go out in the "weather" and the "crowds" without any pressure. I can spend a day browsing the stores and watching the Mall-Santa doing his thing, and eating roasted nuts, and being stuck in sloppy traffic and remembering that this is what made it fun when I was a kid.

Mind you, I grew up in the midwest. There was always lots of snow, and my folks would take us kids out shopping a few days before Christmas to help us buy gifts for other family members. Obviously, they had already done all of "Santa's" shopping without us.

If you could describe the moves for Chinese Jump Rope, I would really appreciate it. Short of buying a book I haven't been able to find them anywhere. (not even online!)

It's such a complicated question... so many of us were college-age, or just out of college when we went into corps training... we already thought we knew a lot, and the training made us think we knew even more, but many, many of us had never lived much life, really.

Add to that, if you were trained after 1985, the focus shifted from reaching outward and helping people wherever they were at in life, and "growing them up to the level of the Word". It shifted to purging the household, and perfecting the flesh, and expecting a high standard of OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD right off the bat.

Many of us did things we shouldn't have done, because it was what we were trained and ordered to do by someone who WE BELIEVED was the man of god for our day and time.

If you were a natural-born @**H***, you took to all of this quite easily and probably rose right up the ranks of leadership. (I can name several from my corps who are on the current leaders list.)

If you were a decent person to start with, you pushed your questions to the back of your mind (held them in abeyance) and waited for understanding... over time, either the questions got to be so many, you couldn't shove them to the back of your mind anymore, so you left,

OR, you gradually stopped asking questions because you knew they wouldn't be answered and eventually forget you ever had any questions at all. In my opinion, those are the folks that are still "in" and just trying to get by. It's a habit they don't know how to break.

In my experience it is the lucky few who had enough maturity and self-confidence to stand up to the leadership right from the start and avoid doing things if they didn't agree with them. Some of them managed to stay in twi for years, but they didn't cave or bend. And several of those folks are here on this forum. (But still, I believe they were all trained prior to 1985, when defiance of any kind got you booted from the training program.)

BQ...

I ended up divorcing shortly after I left twi. He wanted to keep the marriage going but I found out it was just to talk me back "into fellowship".

Our marriage was never a good one. The only thing that held us together over the years was the pressure from twi not to break our commitment. Once I no longer respected them or their message, there was just nothing left to hold us together.

Although he would never admit it, it's obvious to anyone looking my ex is happier now than he was with me. We were simply a bad match-up for each other.

After that, it took about two solid years to "decompress"... unravelling about 25 years of my life (20 in twi, and 5 prior to that) to figure out why I did the things I did and made the choices I made, etc. So, any time I can help someone else through that post-twi process, I am more than happy to do it.

I found more:

DATE: March 10, 2005 11:36:54 CST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Office of Public Affairs

U.S. Coast Guard

Press Release Date: March 10, 2005

Contact: PA3 Stacey Pardini

(504) 589-6287

COAST GUARD FOUNDATION HONORS RESCUERS

NEW ORLEANS - Coast Guard rescue crews from Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala., and Air Station New Orleans are scheduled to receive the Coast Guard Foundation's Guardian of the Heartland Award at an annual dinner here Friday.

This year the Coast Guard Foundation selected two rescue air crews who located and saved a man who spent more than 21 hours in the water after his vessel sank in the Gulfport, Miss., Ship Channel on April 9, 2004.

Aviation Training Center Mobile award recipients are a Falcon rescue jet crew comprised of: Lt. Matt Laughlin; Lt. Dan Lanigan; Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Dupre, an aviation electrical technician; Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathaniel Godsey, an aviation maintenance technician; and Petty Officer 3rd Class David Keppler, an aviation maintenance technician who spotted the man.

Air Station New Orleans award recipients are a helicopter crew comprised of: Cmdr. Scott Kitchen; Lt. Steve McCullough; Petty Officer 2nd Class Amanda Slavinski, an aviation maintenance technician; and Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Rice, an aviation survival technician.

The two crews are being recognized for the rescue of Jeff Wallace and his two sons, James and Clinton. The Wallaces headed out to Cat Island, Miss., in their 28-foot boat on a fishing trip about 12 p.m. April 8, 2004. Just 30 minutes into their trip the Wallaces were hit with waves that capsized their boat. The three men drifted to a channel marker and held on. James and Clinton climbed the beacon and tried to flag down passing boats. Then, after about two hours of being smashed against the barnacle-covered piling and repeatedly submerged by the waves and strong current, Wallace decided to let go and try and swim for help. At 7:46 p.m., James and Clinton managed to get the attention of a passing Gulfport Ship Channel pilot who picked them up. The pilot boat then notified the Coast Guard, which immediately launched a search for the missing father. Crews searched throughout the night, and at about 9:15 a.m., Keppler spotted Jeff in the Cat Island Channel.

The Coast Guard rescue jet crew relayed Wallace's location to the rescue helicopter crew who immediately maneuvered into a position to pick him up. Rice entered the water and assisted the exhausted survivor into the basket. Slavinski then hoisted Wallace into the safety of the aircraft. Wallace was then transported to awaiting EMS.

Each year, the Coast Guard Foundation recognizes an individual active duty Coast Guardsman or a group of Coast Guardsmen from the Eighth Coast Guard District who has performed an outstanding and dynamic act during the calendar year.

###

http://www.d8publicaffairs.com/external/in...ocumentID=64296

Perhaps this recent award is what caught Dateline's attention?

Apparently the event happened last year:

Office of Public Affairs

U.S. Coast Guard

Press Release

Date: April 9, 2004

Contact: PA3 Nick Cangemi

(504) 589-6287

(504) 319-2229

*UPDATE*

U.S. COAST GUARD RESCUES MAN MISSING IN GULFPORT SHIP CHANNEL

NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a man today who attempted to swim to safety after his boat sank Thursday in the Gulfport, Miss., Ship Channel approximately three miles northwest of Ship Island.

Rescued was Jeff Wallace, 45, of Pass Christian, Miss.

A Falcon rescue jet crew from U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala., spotted Wallace in the Cat Island channel. A helicopter rescue crew from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans rescued Wallace and transported him to a waiting ambulance at the Gulfport airport.

Wallace and his two sons, Clinton, 15, and James, 14, also of Pass Christian, entered the water of the Gulfport Ship Channel after their 28-foot boat sank.

Assisting in the search were personnel from: U.S. Coast Guard Station Gulfport; U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile; U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans; U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Pompano, homeported in Gulfport; Mississippi Department of Marine Resources; Harrison County Sheriff's office; and the National Park Service.

The cause of the accident is under investigation by U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Mobile personnel.

###

http://www.d8publicaffairs.com/external/in...w&pressid=36073

I've been using eBay to buy and sell almost since its inception. I loved it in the beginning because it was like a big flea market or yard sale. It was fun because you had to personally email people to make your transactions, etc. But there was also less security and you had to rely more on people's good graces if there was a problem.

Now, eBay is so large and so commercial... I like the speed of some transactions, but I do miss the personal contact side of things. And as a seller, I'm glad most of my old stuff is gone, because items that once seemed "rare" and could bring a decent profit are now "a dime a dozen".

I agree with Trefor... check their record for anything suspicious. If you see the same complaints in several feedbacks, etc. Stay away.

BluzieQ... welcome, welcome!! Your posts are wonderful.

In answer to your dialog about your parents, and would they be better off if they finally saw what you see about TWI and got clear of it? My answer is this: No one will see the truth until they are ready. They had a reason for joining in the first place, and have spent years bending the truth to their own beliefs. This is where they are comfortable. Only when they begin to get uncomfortable with this position will the truth have a chance of creeping in between the cracks.

I state this from experience on both sides of the fence. In the 80s, during the "passing of the patriarch" mess, I had a dear, life-long friend leave twi and do her darnedest to get me to leave with her. We had many debates and discussions but finally, when she couldn't leave the subject alone and respect my decision to stay, I broke off the friendship. We didn't communicate for 8 years. Clearly, her die-hard anti-twi position did nothing to move me.

A few years ago, when I'd finally had enough of the manipulation, the lies, and the subjugation of twi and was ready to quit, my husband was not. Again, there were many debates and discussions over it, but no matter what facts, what truths, what irrefutable evidence I presented to him, his response was that none of that meant we should leave twi. Period. I finally realized that he was still where I was 8 years previous. He was not going to see what was right in front of his face. Not yet. Maybe not ever. And I knew that if I pushed him too hard, it would close any door there might ever be to get through to him. Just like I had closed the door on my friend. (By the way, she and I made up when I finally left twi.)

So, I say the same about your parents. Do your best to overlook their way-think. Keep your conversations positive. Focus on what is going right in your life, and theirs. Choose your battles carefully. When you can make an important point about twi-rationales in a way they may actually consider, even if only for a moment, go for it.

But don't expect them to change just because you show them what you've found out. That only works if they are already questioning or frustrated. It doesn't sound like your dad is anywhere near that frame of mind.

Love them the best you can, (and use this forum to vent)... if your folks ever start questioning twi, it will be a lot easier for them to eat the "crow" they will have to swallow if you haven't been shoving it in their faces all this time. And if they never do change, your own attitude of patience and kindness will make your times with them the best it can be.

Hope this helps.

Belle... glad to hear your parents are okay. Hope all you Floridians and coastal folks will be okay, too.

HW

Cindy... interesting you mention rubrics... our campus of higher learning is currently involved in it's 10-year federal accreditation process and everyone seems stunned that they no longer want facts and figures... they want to know how you are letting you students know how they can succeed, and how you are assessing that success... rubrics, assessment, learning-outcomes. Definately the waves of the future.

The funny thing to me, coming from a hands-on, performance-based field of learning, that kind of classroom structure is second nature and I'm having to deal with faculty who don't understand why grades aren't enough.

Grades are an average assessment of a student's learning of the whole subject matter. Rubrics let a student know exactly what specific skills are required, step-by-step, and how they must demonstrate them, and what the results will be if they don't demonstrate them. ... Definately a much better system of education in my (not-so-humble) opinion. It certainly helps you pinpoint where a student is having trouble and help them do better.

CW... good for you!! You have to ask, if it starts with deception, where is it gonna end?

I was desperate for work last year and TWICE started jobs only to find out that the hours "weren't quite" what I'd been told, neither was the pay, the benefits, the duties, the chain of command... and both bosses actually had the nerve to act like I was the bad guy when I left!! I guess "most" folks hate to go thru the process all over again, or are so desperate they would put up with the bait and switch, hoping it would get better.

No, sorry. Not me. Not ever again. And, yes, the questions CERTAINLY come up in your mind: am I an idiot? I can't afford to walk away from this job!! (or friendship, or fill-in-the-blank)

But that's my definition of zero-tolerance. I have ZERO tolerance for people stepping on me and being hypocritical and thinking they can get away with it. And while on the surface I may sometimes pay a high price, my peace of heart and peace of mind are far more valuable to me. And the bills still manage to get paid somehow.

Queen has at least one other song where they use Islamic text, in fact the title is "Mustapha"...

Abrahim

Abrahim

Abrahim

Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah,

Will pray for you.

Hey!!

Mustapha,

Mustapha,

Mustapha,

Abrahim.

Mustapha,

Mustapha,

Mustapha,

Abrahim.

Mustapha Abrahim.

Al-lah - lah - lah - will pray for you.

Mustapha Abrahim.

Al-lah - lah - lah - will pray for you.

Mustapha.

Hey - Mustapha

Mustapha Abrahim.

Mustapha Abrahim.

Al-la-ee, al-la-ee, al-la-ee,

Al-la-ee, al-la-ee, al-la-ee,

Mustapha,

Mustapha (to end)

I have no idea what it means, but its a kick-@ss song and I like it.

Thanks, TF... I never would have remembered such a non-way name... lol.

I will second what Krysilis said about consistency, and about building your reputation in the beginning.

The best teacher I ever met said, "Don't smile at them until Christmas." Of course that's a bit exaggerated, but the principle is true: Kids are on their best behavior at the beginning of a school year and especially with a teacher they don't know. If you are really personable and very nice right off the bat, sad to say but they won't take you seriously. If they think you are tough, you can always surprise them by being nice. If they think you are a creampuff, and you try to be tough, they will laugh behind your back. (Trust me, I hear my son and his friends talking about their teachers when they think I'm not listening!!)

Anyway... good luck!! And THANKS for taking on the most important job anyone can do: being an example and an educator for our kids.

Oh my gosh, Allan, I don't know if you are kidding or not but I think a reunion there would be a HOOT!! Wonder what they charge?