outintexas

chairs in rows 10:30 on a Sunday morning the word "available"

Will there be a new poster too? I certainly hope so!

That was funny!

I'm happy to say most of my memories of weirdo leadership I endured have pretty much faded away like a bad dream. But there was one time in the mid 80s, I guess, I was visiting my parents near San Diego probably for Christmas (yeah, I said it), and being the ever faithful leaf, I attended a branch meeting with my sister who lives there. I don't remember the specifics, but in the middle of a teaching the branch leader just started going off and started really yelling and screaming about something. I mean he really lost it. This was way beyond your "normal" loy-type yelling. It was totally uncalled for. I just remember thinking "okayyyyy.... this is real normal..." And I think my sister said that was kind of typical for him. Funny, I hadn't thought of this in a long time. I also did do my share of housecleaning and helping to move corps branch coordinators who seemed to move a lot in the 90s. How nice it must have been to have waybots at your beck and call. And if you didn't do it right, woe be unto you.

It was kind of like Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.

I'm thinking the glass floors were in the "stacks" - the part where the bookshelves were. I think the purpose of the glass was to let the daylight through from the windows. And I think the glass was frosted, so you couldn't really see through it. My memory is pretty faded; I could just be making this all up in my mind, but I don't think so.

Tony Phillips. I couldn't remember the name either, but I was able to find it looking up old team rosters. I remember him playing for the Angels.

It all makes sense now why, when the subject of adultery came up in teachings, it was always "spiritual adultery." It was as if only simpletons would think the scriptures were referring to sexual adultery. I caught the end of a show last night on National Geographic Channel called Inside A Cult. So many similarities - it was creepy. They're showing it again Saturday night, I think.

I didn't see that episode, but yeah I saw the same thing about the mesh tailgate on their website. Love that show. As a Yankee transplant in Texas I get a kick out of all the pickups here. Just part of the culture.

I work in the fuel business, too. If you use premium, I'd stay away from the mom & pop stores. Many times I see where the driver wrote that they were instructed by the store to drop some regular in the premium tank. I've noticed some pumps are confusing with the regular in the middle or on the right, so you'll grab the wrong one. I'm sure that's not intentional, ha ha ha... Also midgrade is actually 2/3 regular and 1/3 premium. It's not in the middle, although the price usually is. And don't use premium or midgrade if you don't need it. It's not 'better' gas; it just has more octane for engines that need it. I see lots of pickup trucks with their tailgates down. That doesn't improve mileage. There's a bubble of air over a moving pickup bed, so the air doesn't really push against a closed tailgate. You can Google that. I think people get a bit irrational with gas. A couple cents price or a tiny change in the temperature isn't really that significant on a fill-up, imo. I think you can save more by simply driving slower and smarter.

25 years wasted on twi's hampster wheel. So glad I'm out.

Fifteen - Lifting Sixteen - Fixing Eighting - Waiting That's how I remember those 3. And that was 30 years ago!

Funny you should say that Exie, because we also were each asked if we were with management or against - the loyalty thing. The person who had been my boss before, but not then (long story) said, "no" and she found a new job someplace else soon after. Two months later she ended up hiring me and one other co worker at her new employer. That's where I am now. For a few months we'd get together pretty much everyday at lunch for "group therapy."

I don't know if this fits the topic, but I had an office job for about 18 months where I was severely micro-managed. Everything we did was reviewed with a fine-tooth comb. Mistakes were magnified and things we did right were taken for granted. There was so much tension in the office, visitors for just a few minutes could pick up on it. It was eerily like the bad old days in twi. Happily, I don't work there anymore; that was four years ago. I was so happy to get out of that place. It's nothing like that where I am now. :D

Good point. Thanks, George. :)

1). You were in debt. 3) Leadership said you had a chronic weakness in your life. It was #1 and #3. I was guilty of "treachery." That was the word that was used probably half a dozen times on the final phone call I got. That's what I got for giving them 25 years of my life. What really happened was I couldn't keep up with the ever increasing pace of the twi treadmill. There is only so much time to work, raise a family and do twi activities. I was glad I got the boot because I didn't know what else to do. It didn't take long to realize I was much better off without twi. That was almost nine years ago. Of course, now I don't care how I got out, I'm just glad that I'm out.

I like the bug. Reminds me of the TV commercials a few years ago with the roaches crawling on the screen.

I forgot about the bicycle and the handlebar thing. I was only 17 when I took "The Class" and still in my bike riding days. I remember thinking gee, you'd have to be pretty stupid to ignore the fact that the bike was turning and maybe there was a problem (or problen as vic would say) with the handlebar alignment and just keep riding into a telephone pole. But who was I to say?

That was also my thought.

Just make sure your car doesn't drip any oil on the new asphalt.

I'll always remember doing the door to door thing and we happened to knock on the door of someone I worked with. I was mortified. Why did I stay in so long?

At the top of this page at the moment there's an ad that says "Depression Cured in 3 Minutes." The irony.

I think it was more about developing the skills to cope with my divorce, which came two years after leaving TWI. I had poor social skills and my self-esteem was in the toilet. My situation wasn't about to change any time soon. I'm happy to say things are a lot better now. In my case, it just took time learning how life really works. I was in twi from age 17 to 43.

I ended up going to therapy for about five years and I was on Wellbutrin for 2 or 3 years, beginning in late 2000 when my marriage ended. I was clinically depressed. I feel, in my case, depression came about by just being in bad situations for an extended period of time. TWI was always down on outside professional help; I remember Craig saying you shouldn't have to pay for someone to hear your problems when you have the "household." But there was no real help in TWI. You weren't supposed to have problems to begin with and if you did, it was your fault. Depression is real. There's nothing wrong with getting help from people who know how treat it.

I remember being yelled at for not looking excited when I arrived at fellowship. Another time it was hinted that we had too many cats. They supposedly cost $1000 a year, each. Another time at an advanced class grad meeting we were yelled at for not washing our "f-ing" cars. Another time, when my 30 year-old car wouldn't start, I was yelled at for not getting it all checked out ahead of time. TWI was never about helping people.