Mister P-Mosh

We're making plans to possibly move our operations to Dallas, but I haven't heard anything official yet. The only thing I know is that a few people are already going up there before the rest of us would be sent just in case. I'm hoping we don't go, but Houston is possibly going to be on the dirty side if this thing keeps sliding closer to us.

Stay safe everyone.

I work with Jesus. He's sitting near me right now, looking at hurricane maps on a computer.

While talking politics at work today, it was revealed that Jefferson Davis was offered the job of being the first president of Texas A&M, which he turned down. For those that don't remember their civil war history, Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederate States of America.

Mr. P-Mosh, I don't think a one yr. old will have any problems, except my house is not baby proof. I would love to meet your family.

Thanks ex10 for the update. Don't worry about the baby proofing stuff. We haven't baby proofed much of our house and prefer to tell her no, smack her hand, give her something else to do, etc. We won't let her tear up your stuff. :)

Rascal,

I'd think that for those of us who left in the mid-80's that we'd hardly recognize a TWI meeting of today. I wonder if they still have those Sing Along The Way books? You know.. one thing that always irked me about those song books was that all it had was the words.... no music notes... unless you KNEW the song you had no idea of the melody. Somehow Dorothy and Rhoda always had the music in front of them when they played the songs at SNS.

They are still around, although when I was in TWI they went from beige/brownish covers to blue and added some really lame, non-musical songs in.

It was explained to me that TWI had copyright issues in publishing anything other than the words. I don't doubt it.. all churches have hymnals in their pews with both words AND music but TWI? They wouldn't pay a dime.. but they charged dearly to take all their classes. Anyone remember what they charged for Dealing with The Adversary?

sudo

It was converted to "Defeating the Adversary" long ago by LCM, and it's a prerequisite for the advanced class.

<----- Is glad she already has all her hurricane supplies.

I think it's gonna be a wild ride this year. We've still got streets closed and houses covered in water here. Some rivers and lakes aren't even expected to crest until this week-end. Most waterways are 100% no wake zones, so boating's out this holiday.

There's gators and snakes everywhere, too!

That's terrible. I hope that Hanna misses you all then. Perhaps it will go further north and give the Carolinas some badly needed rain.

yes... but do they have a complimentary breakfast?

One time I was sent to Tampa, FL for training on some software. My company paid for me to stay in the Embassy Suites, which has an excellent breakfast included with your stay. After the first day of class, I noticed a classmate partaking in the free happy hour at the Embassy Suites, then getting breakfast there the next morning. I went up to him and started a conversation, and discovered that he was staying at the much cheaper hotel next door.

I'm not suggesting doing anything immoral or illegal. It's just that I remembered that when you mentioned the complimentary breakfast.

another one!!!???!!! aren't they supposed to wait a little while between them?

Raf, what's this WAG? I thought we had "cones"...

A "WAG" is "Wild-Arsed Guess", since the cone of uncertainty is really just uncertainty, he renamed it appropriately.

Also, if you think they're supposed to wait between them, the next two areas are already about an equal distance apart in the Atlantic. They are tropical waves, so no development yet, but the one just coming off Africa appears like it could develop quickly.

30 would be better. They would be less likely to join a cult when they get out.

I would think having someone locked up in a shed for 20 to 30 years would result in bigger problems than we all have for being in a cult.

Boy, are there no depths those dammed Dimmycrats won't sink to?

Honestly, now they're using the weather to disrupt the Republican Convention!

I'm so thankful that Rush can keep us apprised of these disturbing details...

Actually, that's precisely the type of thing that we would have believed in TWI. That's why "the adversary" sent these rarely seen weather attacks sometimes called "thunder storms" to the Rock of Ages some summers. You would think that after the Rock of Ages terminated, Ohio never had another thunderstorm. Also, the adversary would make it hot in the summertime to inconvenience us and make us drink more water during the Rock of Ages.

I'm sure kids are allowed (though, of course, ex10 has the final say), as NiKa's were there last year. There just aren't any activities geared for yougsters. How old are they? Maybe I can bring along some comic books.

George

She's a little over a year. More active than an infant, but still not in the "terrible twos" so she can behave ok.

A friendly note on kids:

We love them :) BUT kids will hate this weekend! :)

It's a fairly adult time and there's nothing for them to do. Even ex10's own darlings (especially the darling that still lives at home) are opting to be as far as possible from our fun.

We'll be bringing my daughter because we have no babysitting available, but we won't be there the whole time, just part of the time on Saturday so it should be ok for her if kids are allowed. If they're not allowed let me know.

This from Rush Limbaugh's show today.

RUSH: I must inform you of a weather situation that poses a great threat. There is a hurricane currently making its way toward the southern peninsula of Haiti called Gustav. The National Hurricane Center's track forecast turns this into a category five hurricane by Sunday or Monday, and the many models are fairly close in this hurricane going into the western Gulf, maybe Texas, Mexico. But one model, the model that I know that the National Hurricane Center relies on the most called the GFDL, takes this baby right for New Orleans. Can you say Katrina 2? This hurricane, if that model is correct, will bear down cat five on New Orleans on day one or day two of the Republican convention in St. Paul.

Can I fill in the blanks here for you? The Drive-By Media will point out that the Republicans -- the rich Republicans in their private jets with their diamonds and their limousines -- are in St. Paul debating the continuation of tax cuts for the rich and the elimination of the death tax, and then they will cut to photos of Obama and Michelle laying sandbags in the French Quarter and passing out water bottles. If that model is correct, the media will, en masse, leave St. Paul. There will be no media left to cover the Republican convention. Do you know how many delegates there are in Denver? Roughly 4,000. You know how many credentialed Drive-Bys are there? Twenty thousand, five times the number of delegates. Ha! Of course, it's a long way out, and it's impossible this far out to tell where this thing going to go, but if that model holds steady and turns out to be right, you have been warned.

I hope that wherever it hits, it is sparsely populated and somewhere that can recover ok. As far as the political ramifications, I would hope that, unlike in the wake of Katrina, everyone will join together to help the victims of the hurricane rather than the constant criticism in the media like occurred last time. If it does occur during the Republican convention, I would hope that their first priority would be in doing what is right and if Congress has to be back in session to pass some quick bills to help those people out, they can do so.

I dont know----I was ultra enthused back in the early 60's when i was watching astronauts taking off on the black and white TV----now a friend of mines son is working on the project that is determining if there was water on Mars millions of years ago---Its interesting but is so far removed from my everyday life-(water a million years ago on another planet?) and concerns -except of for the fact that he is working on it.

In one sense anything that helps in understanding the fabric of the universe is very good, incredibly interesting etc.. but

I wonder sometimes if the money and research could be better spent elsewhere or on more pressing and down to earth needs--like ending starvation or eradicating some disease or something

You know, I don't think people are really seeing the true benefits of space exploration. I think that is why RumRunner seems to be a little flustered. We didn't just get Tang and neat-o pens from NASA. You can thank them for things like, oh, I don't know, every single weather satellite that we depend on to know what's going on with the weather...GPS satellites that help you not get lost when you're driving somewhere new, and help the police/firemen/ambulances find the best route to get to where they need to be to save lives. There have been advances in medical research, chemistry, and all sorts of other fields as a result of the work NASA has done. We don't just send them up there because it's cool. They are risking their lives and a lot of hard work is done.

The thing about scientific research is that you never completely know what the result will be. Sure, it may seem useless at first to determine whether or not there was water on Mars in the past. However, we don't know what could result out of that research. Perhaps to conduct that research, they had to create a new technology that can remotely sample soil for certain elements or chemicals. Perhaps the technology that went into building that device could also be used to test for radiation leaks in dumping grounds for nuclear waste, perhaps it could be used to have tiny roving robots go around Iraq and Afghanistan detecting IEDs based on chemicals released into the air, or perhaps it could even be used to develop a "robotic tongue" that can taste and record food quality, and be used to help fast food make consistently tasty products in a way that is even more precise than it is now and saves them millions of dollars a year, resulting in the prices at McDonalds dropping by $0.25 per burger and thousands of new jobs are created to build and maintain those robotic tongues. Who knows?

There is a lot of good that could come out of seemingly useless research. This is why it is important for us to push our knowledge to the extremes. The moment we stop learning, our brain atrophies. The quest for knowledge is part of life, and it improves the conditions of our lives in measurable ways. Space is a part of that, because we are pushing beyond our past limitations and the world is a better place because of it.

It's looking like it may head towards Texas next week. I guess my family better start packing our bags. If it hits the gulf and looks like it's headed towards us, we'll be sent to Dallas by my employer.

I am very opposed to limiting science based on the bible or any religion. To me, it is bigger than any one religion. The quest to learn more about the universe, more about ourselves, and simply because it is a part of human existence. We want to learn, we want to expand, and space is a part of that. If we somehow find the way to survive long enough as a species (we have been around hardly any time in the lifetime of Earth) we would have to face resource depletion, the death of the sun, the collision with the Andromeda galaxy, potential comet and meteor impacts, etc. There are many things that could eventually destroy our planet, and we'll have to go to space and beyond if we have any hope of surviving as a species.

So no, I don't think it's a waste of time.

If you were more than 50 miles away from the coast most likely.

Rule of Thumb: Quality of seafood decreases exponentially the further you get from the ocean

Its best right on the water,

10 miles away still OK,

25 OK but noticable decrease

100 still recognizable as seafood but not by much

150+ still has the same name but unsure as to what it actually is although it seems to be edible

250+ "clams" are probably are erasers or rubber bands

The Chinese have a way around this. If you go eat at an authentic Chinese restaurant that has seafood, they are full of fish tanks that have all the crabs, fish, lobsters, frogs, etc. in tanks that they will pull out and cook immediately.

Hurricane Wilma.....that was my worst vacation EVER!!!!!

When I read this post, I imagined that it was written by Fred Flintstone.

What's the deal with baking clams? Don't you know that cooking seafood ruins it?

I guess a question I have for you P is: do your folks know exactly how you feel about twi? ...or is it someplace you just don't go? which I can certainly understand because they are your folks... the only folks you'll ever have which is something I don't have to worry about.

We never talk about it. It's sort of a "don't ask don't tell" type situation I think. I know they still go, and I have "informants" that would tell me if they ever stopped going to TWI events. I know they have relaxed some from the Martindale days, which is a good thing, but I think that applies to all TWI innies.

Unlike you, the way I left resulted in no claims of me being possessed or anything like that. I simply cut off contact from TWI, minus my parents and some friends who lived in other cities. Some of my friends have also left, and they aren't interested in talking about it or even looking for something like this site. We still talk, but rarely, if ever in some cases, talk about TWI.

my family (both in and out) know exactly where I stand on twi so it's no 'news' to anyone, and maybe it's just dawning on me that perhaps you don't want your folks to feel undo pressure from within by someone in twi coming up to them and saying stuff like "do you know what P is saying?"... is that where you're coming from? if it is, then it makes it a little easier for me to understand (not that it makes any difference) I've just never even had these thoughts...

That is the problem. If I badmouth "the ministry" and someone sitting in HQ with their beady little eyes identifies who I am, they could simply print them out, fax it over to the limb, and the LC could ask my parents why they still associate with me since I badmouth "their" ministry so much. I've seen how evil and manipulative TWI can be first hand. They are adept at twisting words, forcing themselves into people's lives, creating fear, and abusing people mentally and verbally. In particular, things were especially bad in the 90's under LCM's reign. I don't think most of the people on this site, that left before then, really understand how it all was. For example, to take a vacation somewhere, I had to send an email or verbally tell my boss at work. In TWI, I had to submit a vacation request form (over half a page long if I remember correctly), hand that to my HFC, who would hand it over to the LC, who would contact the LC in the state I was going to vacation on, and probably pass it on to the city's leadership in case I needed anything, or more likely to assign a fellowship for me to attend while on vacation if I happened to be on vacation on Wednesday or Sunday.

oh... and P-Mosh... I don't think you have any worries about making friends with people on this site... I consider you a "friend" as I'm sure many do... we don't always agree (mostly cuz you're a young whipper snapper) but I don't take any of that personally... contribute or not at whatever level you feel comfortable regardless of the reason for the level of comfort...

Thanks Tom. I think you're a good guy and appreciate what you have to say. As always, I will contribute as much as I am comfortable with. My idea in posting this was to expand the comfort levels involved, but I can see why others would find problems with it.

If you google L Craig Martindale. There is a link that shows up "L. craig martindale iii - Gegufyzu Journal" It tells you that you are infected and will download a pain in the butt virus. Please avoid it if you are on a PC (Macs are safe)

That sounds preferable to accidentally finding a photo of him in full "Athletes of the Spirit" attire.

For what it's worth, Mr. P., I dig where you're comin' from on this.

Sometimes saying nothing at all seems better than saying it to the wrong person.

Hey! Wanna run down to the truck stop with me?

I hear they're having a big sale on Moon Pies!

Heh, the moon pies would be great if I weren't somewhat on a diet but thanks for the offer. :-)

How about this one? Florida is DOOMED!

I don't really cry, but there are a few songs that make me want to cry I suppose. The first one to come to mind, for some reason, is "Lightning Crashes" by Live. It's not a particularly sad song, but it really brings across the belief in reincarnation and for some reason even though I don't believe in it, I feel like I understand the concept in the way that those that do believe in it do. Something about the mom dying, then her "spirit" being put into a baby just being born and the eyes being the same color as the woman who died seems powerful to think about. I don't know why.

Another is "Across the Universe" by The Beatles. It's not a sad song by any stretch of the imagination, but for some reason I heard it after my wife's miscarriage and it got to me. It's also difficult to explain. You would think something like Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" would have done more, but that song doesn't affect me.

The final one I can think of is Johnny Cash's rendition of "We'll Meet Again", because he was really old when he recorded it, and it may have been on his final CD (I forget which one was his last). That song makes me wish I knew how to play the guitar so I could record that now that I'm fairly young, and give it to my kid(s) when I've passed away so they can remember me in the peak of my health and happier times. Now, I know I'm atheist and don't really believe that I will ever live again, but I know the thought gives comfort to many people, and since my wife is Christian and she will raise our children that way, it would be something helpful for them.

Soldiers I've talked to have re-enlisted not because they support Bush's war, but because they want to stay with their brothers and not leave them behind to die. It's the soldiers' sense of community and brotherhood to each other that makes them want to re-enlist. The majority seem to be opposed to the war and want it over ASAP.

This explains why soldiers donate more money to Obama rather than McCain.

Troops serving abroad have given nearly six times as much money to Obama's presidential campaign as they have to McCain's, the Center for Responsive Politics said.