NewGuy2005

My daughter is moving home from Japan in a couple of weeks. The State department is supposed to be asking her to voluntarily quarantine herself for two weeks. She will fully comply with this request by staying confined to our home and only leaving the house to go for walks, etc, and avoiding the public. My wife informed her employer and co-workers of this and two of her co-worker immediately declared they would not work with her and if she shows up for work they would not. This was a little disappointing, but it looks like my wife is going to get a couple of weeks off.

Comment removed in order to stay with the lighthearted nature of this thread!!

Is that average for a modern canopy? Long? It's been 11 years since I've jumped, so I've forgotten what is typical.

I think there's little difference since the most important traits are shared by both.

On second thought, how about Rudyard Kipling's "If?" That's one place to begin talking. If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Lighten up, Francis(es)!! I was just joking around. I don't hold myself up as an example. Sounds like the rest of you have ready answers that you are anxious to reveal, so please proceed.

One that "provides." Gus Fring explains what it means to be a man.

That would be me.

How long is the snivel? Much altitude lost?

What do you call a wall placed across a river?

I should have said "some" of the believers. They're not all like that.

Agreed, but the vengeful sentiment of the believers is spot on.

Agreed.

Those are the only counterpoints I have heard, but it seems like something so central to a religion would be stated more explicitly and repeatedly. Compare this to the admonitions regarding virginity or working on the sabbath. No one argues about what our instructions are about that.

Correct. That's what I'm talking about, or rather, the soul leaves the body at the time of death and goes to Heaven.

There is nothing in the Bible that indicates the existence of a human soul. The only form of life after death that is mentioned in the Bible is the resurrection of the body when God or Jesus returns to reclaim the earth. The only exception to this is Jesus, who existed for a period of time as a spirit. Last year, I read the Bible from cover to cover. This was pretty surprising to me because one of the central elements of Christianity is the hope that we are immediately taken to heaven at the moment of death. There's nothing in the Bible that indicates that this is the case. Where did this come from? Is it a construct of the church? Did I completely miss something important? I'm no Bible scholar and I'm open to other opinions on this. I really am puzzled by it. With regards to a basis for morality, God help us if we rely on the Bible. With the exception of some of the teachings of Jesus, the Bible is a horror show.

Does anyone have experience with a pay system like this? This affects someone I know, not me. This person is going to be given numerical performance goals to meet based on prior months' performance. Their pay will fluctuate based on how closely they meet or exceed these goals. The goals will be re-evaluated and reset every quarter. This is not for a year end incentive bonus, but instead is used to continuously set and reset their salary. Having been around a while, and having seen (or not seen) decades of yearly incentive bonuses that were based on poorly defined, or completely secret criteria, I am skeptical that this will be advantageous to the employee. I've done some searching and have only found white papers and articles that are written to guide employers in the implementation of programs like this. I suspect that this is a new phenomenon. The cynical side of me says that this is nothing more than the re-branding of a piecework payment system.

Missouri? Whereabouts? I'm in Arkansas.

Thanks, guys.

Could you expand on this? Maybe in a PM or separate thread? I have no opinion, myself, but have a few friends that use Ring.

I went to visit my cousin that lives in a “shipping container house” in the high desert of Arizona. I figured he kept his food in an ice chest or 12 volt RV refrigerator. When I got there I was amazed that it was four containers stacked and crisscrossed. I went inside and he had a full sized refrigerator, three freezers, air conditioners, and televisions all going at the same time. He was not roughing it.

Impressive! Do you generate more than you use?

What do you mean by building your own playhouse?

Anyone concerned he will start a distracting war, in the event of a recession?

True. It has been sobering to watch people I've known, or thought I've known, go off the deep end for this nut job. We've only seen a peek at the possibilities. In the end, it will be a win for the constitution, but not much else.