Jim

"We don't use people, we use things and we love people"

No problems, but it's been annoying that the loan has changed companies about 3 times since we got it.

I knew he wasn't possessed. And I would hope that most of the people there knew that he wasn't possessed. That was part of the insanity of the whole thing. David had a great time at the class. It suited him better than Lead and he made the mistake of being truthful about it. And then, in an instant, the wrath of VPW strikes him like a bolt of lightning.

An attitude of gratitude... (e.g. give us more money)

Not even in Vietnam-era boot camp in the Army. There was harassment and intimidation, but nothing like the soul-scathing abuse I saw that evening. Think about it. The worst thing they can tell you in boot camp is that you're stupid, uncoordinated, fat, lazy, sloppy, etc. VPW, the man of God for our time, told this guy, in front of about 100 of his peers, that he was posessed. I still shake my head in disbelief.

Minds are like parachutes - they work better when they are open.

My priceless corps moment is a little different, because I was not corps and it is not funny. When I was on staff at HQ, Joe C. informed me that I'd be running video during the tues night corps meeting. I objected, reminding him that I wasn't corps (I'd gotten that smart already). He said it was all cleared with the leadership and I would do it. Well anyway, things were going just fine, VPW was leading the meeting and soon after it started, he asked a guy to stand and give a report on a class he had attended. The class was run by non-twi people and it was about tracking. Tracking as in following animal tracks. The guy gave a very nice talk on what he had learned. He liked the class a lot and was highly favorable of it. Then he made the mistake of saying it was more valuable to him than Lead. VPW went ballistic. He ripped into the guy for a good 5 minutes. Said he had a prideful spirit, said he didn't deserve to be corps, etc, etc... I think VPW ended it by ordering the guy out of the BRC and out of the corps. I had never heard such an attack on another person in my whole life. Not at home, not in school, not in the Army, not in the workplace. At that moment, I realized that I was in a cult run by a sick man. It was a couple of years before I got out, but nonetheless that moment was a crystalizing point in time.

Everybody's welcome at The Way.

Sometimes 5 minutes of speaking in tongues can be as restful as 8 hours of sleep.

Normally, I can't stand the "screw your buddy" reality shows, but I'd pay to see Loy as a contestant.

Is there any way to take a topic and turn it into a flat text file and zip it? I might be willing to host them for you.

HCW, Thanks for the kind words. The longer I thought about this subject, the more clear it became that my path might not be an option for some men. If you worked in an advertising related field, which seems likely given your talents, nearly all jobs require a "work on it until it's done" attitude. I've been lucky most of the time. I was able to pick and choose jobs that were not bleeding edge-work you until you drop types. I've also defied all odds by building a successful business while only working 40-45 hours a week I give my wife/business partner much of credit for that. And finally, the success of our kids, and for that matter ourselves, also speaks highly of our parents.

I hear what you're saying, but it does not have to be that way. I'm a self-taught computer engineer. Hardware and software. I'm pretty good at what I do. That said, I avoided silicon valley jobs like the plague. I've always worked 40 hours a week, with flexable hours to accomodate my wife and daughter. I turned down $90k/year jobs to have time for my family. I commuted on a motorcycle and worked close to home so I could get home early. When my daughter was 8, I started my own business. My wife worked 8 hours a day as a technician and a software tester, I stayed at home, developed a product and picked up my daughter from school. I also made time to help coach and referee her soccer team. It happens that raising a child came a little easier to me than to my wife so we went with the flow. We also made a conscience decision to only have one child. Why? Because we were getting old, 35+ and we knew our limitations as parents. Things were hard and there wasn't a lot of money for a few years. Not being in TWI helped as we were able to buy a cheap house and accumulate equity. Now, the daughter is 18 and has moved out. She's made me very proud, graduating 4.0 and being student director of the auditioned girl's chorus in high school. So I have no cause to complain about the system or culture. Sometimes I am a little sad, not having raised a son, but I hire a lot of 18-20 year old males and it's fun to work with and teach them. I heard what you said, HCW and I understand. Nonetheless, I made a committment to actively raise my girl and I think I did a pretty good job. From your earlier posts, you must have done a pretty good job raising your kids as well.

Cowgirl, MIDI files can be burned to a CD, but they won't play when you put the CD into a boombox. That's because a MIDI file is a data file that describes the notes of the tune and the instrument that plays them. The MIDI file has to be 'played' into a synthesizer (which can be part of the sound card in your computer) to make music. There is a way to create a music CD of a MIDI tune that will play on your boombox. You have to install a software 'recorder' that will capture the output of the synthesizer and convert it to a .wav file. You can then use the .wav file to make a music CD. I've done this a couple of times for my daughter. She needed the accompanyment (which we were able to find as MIDI files) to some pieces she was practicing for chorus. I used a recorder program called 'Total Recorder'.

Happy birthday, girl. Wishing you the best.

Now you've lost me... What do you mean?

I heard that someone once introduced Emal and Dorothy as "Mr. and Mrs. Dorothy Owens" at a limb meeting. Surely there was hell to pay for that...

I took your writing style as casting a bad experience in a humorous light, a storytelling style that I learned from my dad and that I use alot with my own experiences. I acknowledge that it doesn't diminish the pain that you went through at the time. I didn't mean to imply that you didn't suffer.

Ok, I gotta say this. All the time I was active in TWI, all I *ever* heard from the returning WOW's was "it's great, you gotta do it, it was the greatest thing in my life", blah blah blah... I always felt guilty for not going. What the hell happened? A la prochaine has me LOL with her story. Hers' at least didn't involve physical or sexual abuse like some of the others. Did all the returning WOW's just pretend to have had a great time? Pro, don't take this as me doubting your experience. Nobody could make up a story like that....

I try to avoid reproof by thinking before I type. It mostly works.

Just tell them that the Bible says "judge not, lest ye be judged"

It's a little late. You've run off HCW, royally ....ed off Catcup and derailed the thread into the next county. Just give it a rest for awhile.

Decline to go door-to-door witnessing.

"Use the fork, Luke"

Well said George.