ChasUFarley

The analogy about the staffers napping on pallets brought to mind the pictures of the Heaven's Gate group mass suicide, where the members put cloth over their faces after drinking the KoolAid (or whatever...) eeery! I was on staff less than 10 years ago - back then it seemed like a lot of busy work thrown in with a lot of real work. I was in a fun department, in my opinion, and we had a blast. It was Food Services. I thought it was going to be horrible, but I worked with some great people and would give anything to have that much fun at work today. I wasn't there long, tho, but if I could separate my job from my personal life while I was there it would have been considered a sweet time. The thing I found odd about staff was there was some serious prima donnas there. People who were 'untouchables'. I remember standing next to one of the Singing Ladies one day in a line, and said, "Hi! How are you?" to her. She heard me. I got a blank, cold stare back. No real response. Later I was told she was like that with almost everyone. Certainly not the way she seemed when she was on stage - all smiles, etc. There were others like that, too. People you'd sit next to at a meal and they'd just talk over you, ignore you. Heck, I had met friendlier people in airports than I met on staff at times - and anyone who knows me knows I'm not hard to befriend and am pretty easy going... So, they're busy dusting the tops of refrigerators, putting on fake smiles, and being their own big fish in a mud puddle... Whoop-dee-doo!

So, women... When you blow the budget on new drapes... just get on your knees and ask hubby for forgiveness, and thank him for reproving you and keeping you strong in the household.... Then, ask him to get the step ladder to help you hang the new drapes your hauled home!

Thank you, dmiller, for those links. -------------------------------------------- FreeFromCults - thank you for coming out of lurk mode to post - I can certainly relate your reluctance to post - it took me a while to get the nerve to do it. Congrats on your 10 Years of Freedom! -------------------------------------------- topoftheword - It can be exciting waiting for the next thread - and also to all the different forums that you can visit to post on. That's one thing I really like about GSC, because I'm more than an x member of TWI - and GSC lets me share more about books, movies, other interests.... ------------------------------------------ Someone on another thread posted about how they were so glad to have found GSC and Waydale because no one else anywhere else would have been able to relate to them and their experiences. How true! My husband was in TWI from 81-88, but we met via Waydale in 2000, after I had left. I don't feel that I could have married anyone who didn't agree with me son many issues spiritually, but also someone who could relate to what I had been through and what my experiences were. To anyone else it probably would have seemed like I had just left a church - no big deal. But to those of us who lived it, breathed it, etc., we know that it was much deeper than that - it was closer than your own skin somedays. That's why I think these forums and the way they are managed are so important. Personal attacks aren't tolerated, so there more openess and genuine honesty here than I've seen elsewhere. Who the hell wants to post when they know they're going to be sniped at by some troll? You don't see that here. There is more of a tolerance here for diversity - people have been able to say almost anything (unless it's that you had a good experience in Momentus) and had other people listen and/or respond. The forums have a symbiotic relationship for the lurker and the poster - the poster gets to connect, get things off their chest, etc., while the lurker gets to read, consider, etc., all on his or her own terms. That's the beauty of it all...

Happy Valentine's Day to All Y'All! (And Happy First Birthday to Andreas today!)

It's not uncommon to see Canadian flags around here - no big deal, as long as the person flying it hasn't placed it above an American Flag - otherwise, I'm not offended. As American is a melting pot, I think there's nothing wrong with displaying one's pride in their mother country - my hubby is first generation American, as his parents are from Greece. There's blue and white Greek flags everywhere - but never in disrespect to America.

Since we had another little bundle of tax write-offs in 2005, it should be interesting to see what we get. When hubby wanted to get married I was reluctant only because of tax purposes - sounds awful, I know, but he had no idea what would happen with us being D.I.N.K.s - Double Income, No Kids. I thought he was going to have a heartattack the first time he filed taxes, as our combined income was quite good - we lived like kings back then... Then we bought a house and the next day had a baby (no kidding there) - so we really only had to pay out that one year...

Hallmark's latest slogan: When you care enough to burn the very best!

Thanks for the post - Yes, I remember the thread you started about tips and tricks, which was excellent, but I was thinking about something that consisted more of resources, etc. I guess I was inspired by the most recent edition of PC World, and by the new iMac I have, which I don't have to w-o-r-k as hard for to update update update, fix fix fix, tinker, tinker, tinker with.... Of course Google is now the leader of search engines, but have you ever tried Dogpile? Sometimes I've found that I need different results than what Google would bring up, especially if I'm looking for a really hard-to-find item. For example, I recently bought a vintage bass guitar that has no case. It's huge - the headstock could double as a dinnertable - but finding a case for it has been a booger. Nothing on eBay - I've looked daily. A search with Google gave results, but not what I was looking for exactly. Dogpile worked when nothing else did. Moral of the story: Don't limit yourself to Google. There's still other meta search engines out that that work great.

I love this part of the forum because it's not one where people are out to show how much they know, but to help, share, and teach. Other tech forums I'm on read like alphabet soup with tons of acronyms, tech slang, and so on - this is far from that. That being said.... I thought a thread about what you have found on the net for resources, software, hardware, applications, quick fixes, etc., might be fun. Also, tips on how you keep your PC or Mac running smoothly would be helpful. Here's just a few of my findings: 1. Mozilla Firefox - if you're sick of having problems with popups, spyware, and other issues, and have mostly used Internet Explorer, then you should try Firefox. Content loads faster, and it's very simple to install and use. Firefox has two-thirds less security issues than Explorer. http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ 2. Lavasoft Adaware - "Ad-Aware Personal provides advanced protection from known data-mining, aggressive advertising, Trojans, dialers, malware, browser hijackers, and tracking components. This software is downloadable free of charge." C-Net compared several popular ad-blocking applications and found Adaware to be one of the best - it's about 80% thorough (no ad-blocker is 100% thorough) and the fastest of those tested. It was compared to McAfee, Norton, and others. Since it's also free - well, you can't beat that! http://www.lavasoft.com/ 3. PCFonts.com - I use fonts in my work like a painter would use color. I love fonts - good fonts! All the better if they're free! Here's a good resource, although you do have to do some weeding out of schmutz fonts, but it's worth it: http://www.pcfonts.com/index.php More later.... it's feeding time at the zoo! 3.

No tickey - no laundry. No loggy in - no emoticons!

I had read some junk on the internet years before I left TWI. It made little or no difference in what I thought about the ministry because all the posters, interviews, and writers seemed to have some serious axs to grind. Some of the web sites were not well managed - understatement - so the credibility or integrity of the content of the sites seemed very faulty. In short, they weren't easy to believe or relate to and seemed almost National Enquirer-esque. In 1999 the BOT released a video tape to leadership, which included Household Fellowship Coordinators and assistants. Since I held the lofty position of assistant HFC, I got to view the tape. Of course it had Larry, Mo, and Curly sitting at a conference table talking about recent events, Y2K preparation, etc. Towards the end of the tape Curly (LCM), got intense about how members of the Household used the internet. He was adament about how people shouldn't spend a lot of time on it, how it was so devilish, and how you should use it for school or work and then get off it. Right then, I knew he was hiding something. Something wasn't right - he wanted it to stay covered up - HE KNEW the poop was about to hit the fan - HE KNEW the Allen's Lawsuit was brewing waaaayyyyy back then because Waydale had just gone live on the net. He was being deceptive - what a Godly quality, huh? - about this when he could have come clean to the household then about his behavior and mistakes. But his cranium was too far up his rectum to do it - he preferred to try to cover it like a cat in a litter box! Right then, I knew I had to find out what the hell was going on because it had to be bad and it had to be something that was true. Up until now I hadn't heard leadership say much about the net - no exhortations to stay off it, really. I found Waydale rather quickly and it was a refreshing change from some of the other x-twi websites I had seen before - it was well moderated, well organized, and seemed more "above board" than the other sites I've already mentioned. Finding Waydale, and later Greasespot Cafe, put me in touch with people who had similar experiences, and also people who could really validate some - or most - of the rumors that I'd heard. Some of the people who posted were people that I probably would have never crossed paths with on a regular basis - in or out of TWI - so the forums were a great leveling ground for comparing notes with others. You can't see nametags or titles or geography on the forums! So, that's how I found Wayday/GSC. I could say that leadership told me to do it! LOL! What made you look for a connection on the web? What events led to your being here and staying here today?

There's a group in York Beach, Maine who do it every New Year's Day - it's a major event here. Some do it for a cause - I think United Way - but some do it because they want to :blink: -- NO WAY! CRAZ-ZEEEEEEEEE!

Here in central New Hampshire we only have about 3-4". It's a light snow and whenever plowtrucks go by they cause a whiteout because it's such a fine powder. We really need it here because the ski industry is suffering this year from the lack of snow - we've had much more rain than snow! I love it - no reason to go anywhere.... got a pot of stew simmering, and bread is baking in the bread machine... baby is sleeping, as his big brother is quietly playing alone in his room... cats are a little nutty, but they always act up when there's a storm... hubby is quietly reading and snoozing... ah, the simple life! (This is almost as good as having the whole house to myself!)

Jim - It's a little of both. A dear friend of mine, who has a small, home-based business, was recently contacted by a big shot, on-her-way-to-the-top person, who just registered TWO WORDS that my friend uses in a product that she makes and sells. The products are very similar, BUT the woman who owns the trademark has not released her product yet. Since this could turn ugly, let's pretend the product is homemade wine and my friend's product is labeled "Moose Juice Wine". Well, rich-woman just trademarked the words, "Moose Juice" with the intention of releasing her own line of "Moose Juice Wine". When I say this woman is rich, think of an organic version of a well-known woman who recently got out of jail, and who is known for her clever homemaking ideas - got my drift? This is someone who is close to being a household name. Anyhow, my friend and I have been combing the web, including the trademark registration database, to see what we can do. My friend could certainly rename her product - "Moose Lake Wine" or something, but what caused me to start this thread was the thought of.... "What if Ms. Granola decides she likes that name too and trademarks it?!" It's kind of depressing for the little man when someone can just swoop in, buy words, and give your business a little kick. So, that's how this got started... And since GSC is such a fine crossection of people, I thought maybe someone could give us a little more insight on this... (I checked my business name before buying my URL and all - I didn't want this problem!)

Do you use AOL for your browser or ISP? The new AOL compresses pictures and can cause them to look blurry or to load incorrectly. If you are not having this problem with all pictures - only pictures from the internet - it may be safe to assume it's your browser A few things you can try: 1. Surf the web using Mozilla or Explorer. If you don't have Mozilla, it's the best thing since sliced bread for a browser and it's free. Mozilla has two-thirds less security problems than Explorer - check out www.pcworld.com for more info about the secuity issues. Mozilla's browser is called Firefox - here's the link: www.mozilla.org/firefox/ 2. Check your monitor settings. Go to your Start menu, go to your Control Panel, and go to Add/Remove Hardware. Select the folder for your monitor and open it. If you see any red or yellow alerts, etc., then you may need to reinstall your monitor settings. Depending on the version of Windows you're using, you should be able to walk through it like a wizard, to make the changes. Check your video card settings too, while you're in there. There's other issues, like memory, that can change performance with pics loading (or not). For now, try these things. Based on your first post, it sounds like it's only happening when you're on the net, so I believe it's browser related. Tag us back and let us know how it works or doesn't for you. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get there!

There's also Rhode Island-bonics.... "Jeet?" = Did you eat? "Naw. Jew?" = No. Did you? Trust me... they really talk like this!

Thinking a lot today about why I still post after being out for six years and what I hope to accomplish by it... Yeah, I got quite a life outside of GSC today, BUT this is still a part of it. I hope that my posting gives someone a chance to see that change is possible - that there is life outside of TWI. I hope that maybe someone who knew me from TWI will contact me - and that's happened several times over already. But most of all I hope to be sand in TWI's zipper - to cause them discomfort and loss, by talking about my experiences, as that's what they ended up accomplishing with me and many others. How about you? You're out (or thinking about getting out or you wouldn't be here).... You've moved on (at least, I hope so.) .... You're posting here or about to post here.... What does or what would bring you THE MOST SATISFACTION by posting here and having your posts read?

So... what was it? Were you kicked to the curb? Did you leave due to the POP? Tired of all the harassment? Sick of getting yelled at all the time? What made you decide that enough was enough and you were headed for the door? Tell us about the incident or incidents that brought you to the FRESH AIR you breathe today!! Remember.... the is in the details....

As for times when I remember LCM going on about homos, the first real incident that I remember was at the 1991 ROA where he basically drew a line in the sand about people being "truly delivered" from their former homosexual lifestyle and how they needed to "get honest" with themselves and their leadership if they were not. This stands out to me becuase I had never really thought about TWI's stand before that time on homosexuality - I had only been involved for a couple of years then - and I remember how "quiet" it got in the Big Top that night. I remember being uncomfortable that the subject was even brought it - it was nothing we ever talked about in my home growing up, or in my fellowship or anything else... I was pretty nieve to it all and had to have some of the jokes explained to me.... The heat got turned up in 1993 on the homos - that's when LCM got mean about it. I don't know what the heck happened exactly. For some reason many of the homosexual or "not as straight as the Marlboro Man" were allowed for years and then suddenly got the boot. It was a weird time. We were sponsoring someone in the WC who was from the Washington D.C. area who was m&a'ed on the grounds that he was homo - we had no clue - even though we sent his money to him for another two months before anyone told us he had been 'dismissed'. I'm sure the checks we sent got cashed anyways... I would venture to say that LCM got crossed by someone who was homo somehow. Someone who was in the HQ area at the time should know the skinny on this one - but I would bet it's something along those lines. Calling someone unclean in this manner became quite a tool for getting rid of anyone - for any reason - even if they were straight as bull in a pasture of cows in season. If LCM was angry about something I don't think that he would have stopped to reason in the least about money. After all, most of the major numbers of members were lost BEFORE this purge with the POP and Fog Years. So why is discussion about his wife's preferences allowed? Well, if YOUR life was discussed infront of hundreds of people, as has happened to many posters here, myself included, then it only seems fit that you should be able to discuss someone else's life in a similar manner. Just make sure you're telling the truth.... and the posters I know who have confirmed this about Mrs. M. are telling the truth - I believe them 100%! It's ain't no rumor, hunnie. As someone who is married to a Greek, I can tell you that from what I could see of Loy's southern region being bound tightly in Spandex.... Loy ain't Greek! So his name must be of Canardly origins.... ...cuz.... You Canardly tell there's anything there!

Let's say you have a little mom-n-pop wiget business, and you named your wiget, "Cool Wiget". You've got a little web site, and don't make a lot of money of "Cool Wiget", but some... Well, one day, the Big Bad Lawyer sends you a fax stating that her client owns the trademark "Cool Wiget" and you have to change the name of your wiget. You find that this lawyer's client just now applied for the trademark of "Cool Wiget" and although it won't really be hers for a year, you are still getting bugged by this lawyer to change the name of your wiget NOW! NOW! NOW! By the way, this client is cha-CHING - RICH! (You are far from that!) So, as you're tossing around the idea of a new name for your wiget, it also occurs to you that the owner of the trademark "Cool Wiget" has enough money to buy whatever names you might come up with. You could name you wiget "Hot Wiget" and she'd buy that, too. What can you do? Do you have to buy a trademark to keep a name? How can mom-n-pop stay in business without having to rename their wigets every other month?

1. What time is it: 8:53 pm 2. Name: Krista Ann (Ellis) Argir0p0lis 3. Nickname: Krista (ChasUFarley on GSC) 4. Piercings: seven - ears only 5. Recent Movie you've seen: Star Wars III 6. Eye color: Hazel 7. Place of birth: Maine 8. Favorite food: Coffee 9. Ever been toilet papering? Yes - what else do you do in Maine? 10. Love someone so much it made you cry? Yes. 11. Been in a car accident: Never. 12. Favorite day of the week: Monday, because that's when I have the house all to myself for a couple hours. 13. Favorite restaurants: Any with a kiddie playland 14. Favorite Flower: Lilacs 15. Favorite sport to watch: Red Sox baseball 16. Favorite Drink: Moose Juice (fresh pineapple soaked in top shelf 80 proof vodka for a week.) 17. Favorite ice cream: Almond Joy 18. Disney or Warner Brothers: Disney 19. Favorite fast food restaurant: Any with a playland. 20. What color is your bedroom carpet: white - what was the previous owner thinking?! 21. How many times you failed your driver's test? Passed first time, thank you. 22. Winter, summer, spring or fall: Fall 23. Which store would you choose to Max out your credit card: Tiger Direct 24. What do you like to do when you are most bored: Bored? Are you kidding? SLEEP! 25. Bedtime: Midnight-ish 26. Favorite TV shows: American Idol, Fox News 27. Last person you went to dinner with: Kristopher (sad, huh?) 28. Ford or Chevy: Dodge. Thank you. (and yes, with a Hemi!) 29. What are you listening to right now? Thomas The Tank and Friends Stories (from Kristopher's bedroom.) 30. How many tattoos do you have: Scheduling my first one this spring - can't wait! 31. How many pets do you own: Two hateful cats 32. Which came first the chicken or the chicken egg? As someone who's willing to be wrong, I'll say the chicken.

I've seen something like this - same idea - you know, a lawn mower... But, it was on an Italian guy's BACK! (It was someone at my gym - the guy was so hairy he looked like something that had dropped out of a tree!) (I think he thought I'd be turned on my his sence of humor... and maybe his hair. Wrong to the second power!)

Sudo -- Wanna hear the real kicker to that? The police didn't want to talk to me, only the victim, about the crime, as they felt that since the kids were underage that they would be breaking the privacy act by discussing the crime with me beyond the description of the get-away car. They told me, "There's nothing more to see here. You can go home." Nice, huh? I was the ONLY witness. The victim felt otherwise, as she was so shaken up she couldn't remember what color the car was! For her sake ONLY, I'm glad I was there.... And Sudo... if my boys ever get into that kind of trouble, they better hope they get locked up for 5-10 years, because Mamma will be a-waitin' for them when they get out and will dish out much worse than any judge ever could!! gc -- amazing! You must have been scared to death! Thank God that the kids were caught - I hope the judge slammed the book at them!

Hugs to you, my friend! Hope you come up this way sometime soon! Love, Krista

dmiller - in those days, that was supper! Try it sometime, but over several hours - not one or two, okay? ======= The amazing thing about the billboard is that we could actually get more than two people in this group to agree on something back then! LOL! That alone was a milestone - nevermind the effects it had on the HQ area!