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16

General / Re: Wildlife living around you...

« on: October 28, 2011, 01:46:40 PM »

Close by: squirrels, raccoons, possums, foxes, groundhogs, chipmunks, craptons of flying birds, wild turkeys, pheasant, deer

Neighbors try to raise turkeys, so we find domesticated turkeys in our backyard occasionally

Rumored: wolves & coyotes

Further north: black bear (sighted the next county over, so not too far, actually)

That's all I can think of, but I'm sure there's more.

17

Serious Business / Re: The I ain't religious no more but I used ta be thread.

« on: October 28, 2011, 08:07:15 AM »

I mean, I can't believe we're even having a serious discussion on this crap.

Mainly for people, as you said, were brainwashed as children.

This is a place they can talk about what led them away from said brainwashing.

The whole point of most (or all?) religions is to indoctrinate or brainwash children as young as possible, and keep it going, so money can be milked out of them for as long as possible. If you're taught from birth that there is an omnipotent, omnipresent being somewhere "up there," watching and judging your every move, and you're young enough to believe it, then walking away or even questioning it is the hardest thing a person can do. I count "deconverteds" (from religion altogether) to be among the bravest people I know (myself included) - some religions more than others because of the threat of physical violence. Technically, the bible dictates that my friends and family not only shun me because I don't believe, but it also says they should kill me. Luckily, they aren't as fundamental as they think they are. They might shun me (not everyone knows - those that do are fine with it), but they won't kill me.

I can only speak from the perspective of an Evangelical/Fundy Baptist background. They start you out very young, as early as 18 months or so, with bible story books, full of the most popular stories that have been sanitized  - as best as they can - you don't really see or hear the real bible for some time. Other books full of morality tales are popular; my dentist's office had a stack of them (they're given out for free a lot of the time). I still remember one story about a mother who left her sleeping baby in the house to run to the store for milk (although the illustrations made her look like a painted whore) and while she was gone, the cat or something knocked over the lamp (these were old stories) and the house burned down with the baby inside. (I would have been 4-6 years old when I read that.)

Simultaneously, all authority (parents, pastors, Sunday school teachers, pretty much every adult in the place) is set on breaking your will. Obedience is the goal; independent thought is frowned upon. I've seen it in action even recently: kids being taught to say "yes, mommy" and obey without question. I even knew a family that spanked their infant because she cried when she wasn't hungry, sick or wet/poopy (this was probably in the late 70s, early 80s - there is a shitton more of those freaks following the Pearls). Little wonder that there is so much sexual abuse in churches. They fucking raise the kids to lay down/bend over and take it.

By the time you're reading the real bible, you are mostly ready to believe whatever other people say it says and most believers don't read the nuances. Hell, I can honestly say that I read the whole thing cover-to-cover, but I have to have been only half paying attention because the story of Japeth's daughter never clicked. Or Job - offering his daughters to the angry mob to save the angelic visitors - being such a virtuous man.

The teaching is full of contradiction - god cast Adam and Eve out of Eden because they listened to a talking snake and became self-aware, destroying all human life on earth (except for one family), Job, Japeth's daughter - such an evil bastard, really, then suddenly, you turn the page and it's the new testament and the same vengeful guy is loving and caring and wonderful. Jesus was the ultimate PR spin. A lot of shit is forgiven/forgotten in the bible because of jesus. He loves the little children, you know.

They never got me entirely, which is why I think I was able to walk away, even if it took a long time. I was indoctrinated, but not 100% because my dad wasn't especially religious. Of course, he let me be trucked to church from the age of 2 or earlier, but was okay with questions and even encouraged me to consider breaking the rules if the rules were stupid (as long as I understood that I might still get in trouble with those in authority if I got caught). The fact that my parents weren't united in my religious upbringing saved me, eventually.

I know people that have this tiny worm of doubt, but they keep burying it. They're all "la la la, I don't want to hear it," (literally, except maybe for the la la la part, I've heard those exact words) because they can't risk doubting their faith. Odd, since if it's true, it should be able to withstand a little investigation. To them, it's far scarier to risk separation from their social group (which church is when you get down to it) and of course eternity in hell (if it exists) than look closely at the evidence. In a lot of ways, I don't blame them. It is fucking scary. What helped me a lot is that my social group (my church) turned its back on me first. So I got some distance and the threat of losing it couldn't be effective. That was an additional chink that led me to serious questions.

18

General / Re: Cop Thinks he is overdosing on Marijuana he stole from victims (Video)

« on: October 27, 2011, 10:41:04 PM »

If he was a regular clueless guy who hadn't taken the weed at gunpoint, I might feel sorry for him. If you're not used to it, and do too much, it can feel extreme.

I tried some of the synthetic stuff (forget what it's called) awhile ago. I'd never been a regular smoker and was trying a bong for the first time. i didn't think I'd gotten much - I really don't inhale that smoothly - so I did another half bowl. Shit. I thought I was ODing. Or would have thought that if Shaw hadn't been there, assuring me that it was impossible and that I would be fine in just a few minutes. I flipped out and was crying and wigging, and going on about this heavy weight on my chest (it was the DVD remote). It felt like an hour, but I think it was only a few minutes.

(The few seconds of this, starting just before 5:00 cracked me up when I saw the movie for the first time (this summer).)

Cheech & Chong Up in smoke car joke

19

Serious Business / Re: Health scares.

« on: October 27, 2011, 10:22:30 PM »

We tried the Rice Diet and I lasted maybe six or eight months. I was miserable and hating life the whole time. I'm sure I was pretty intolerable to live with.

Maybe, if I hadn't also been going batshit from the blandness and the boredom.

Okay, so my story. Not for Shaw, but for the thread:

I'm not a huge fan of doctors. I have to go to a couple fairly regularly, to get my insulin scripts re-written for the year, but have never been great at preventative stuff. I had some minor issues .with depression, but have had this feeling that I wasn't going to make it to 60 (my mom and most of my grandparents didn't), so why try too hard? But lately, I'm thinking, what if I can get my shit together and get healthy? What if I could stick around longer? Oddly enough, deconverting had an impact, too: once you realize that this one life is all you get, wasting it is a terrible thing. So, I don't want to waste it.

We've been doing the Paleo thing since Saturday and I'm loving it. I have energy and better focus and mood already. My blood sugar has started to respond, too, but not steadily. Have to keep an eye on my numbers and adjust my insulin accordingly.

I had an issue over the summer where a slow build-up of a problem became serious. There was a blurry spot in the middle of my right eye. Not like John's. Found an ophthalmologist that took my insurance near my office and got the fun news that it wasn't going away: cataract. I now have an artificial lens (I call it my bionic eye) that, in addition to suddenly giving me 20/20 vision for distance (I've always been nearsighted), does this cool little trick of glowing if the light hits it just right. (The cataract is a result of the diabetes, but didn't have to be, if I'd taken care of myself better. I might have gotten one eventually, but not at my current age.)

One scare I remember was just freaky. I was at work and suddenly was very dizzy - room spinning dizzy. I actually crawled under my desk and started to cry. Someone called my dad and he drove out to get me. My doctor at the time was sort of a quack, but he was the kind of doctor that would see you quickly, call half of your visits "follow-ups" so insurance would cover them, write prescriptions for almost anything (within reason) and write you a note to get out of work. Anyway, he diagnosed me with "vertigo," which is a symptom, not an illness and ordered me to bed for a week, in the dark, with no books or TV. Fat chance (slightly ADD and being still for that long while awake was SO not going to happen). I wised up after another episode and saw an ENT and found out it was Miniere's. A bitch, but less scary having a name to put to it. Luckily, I don't get all the bad symptoms (long-term ringing), just occasional bouts of vertigo that last a couple hours at most.

20

General / Re: Dllama in the Free State

« on: October 25, 2011, 11:14:48 AM »

Call me stupid, but I couldn't figure out how to vote.

If you're registered & logged in, the polling buttons appear. Also, all the pics show up. I couldn't figure out who I was voting for until I was logged in & all the pics displayed.

21

General / Re: Dllama in the Free State

« on: October 24, 2011, 09:04:44 PM »

Voted!

22

General / Re: Dllama in the Free State

« on: October 24, 2011, 08:22:39 PM »

p.s. soapy boobs

register and vote muthafuckas

I would totally do it, but hate registering b/c of spam. If I can remember the email addy I created just for such things, I'll go vote. (What do you win?)

23

Guns, Drugs, and Crazy Independence Stuff / Re: Halloween!

« on: October 24, 2011, 08:18:43 PM »

Makes perfect sense.

Giftmas is almost like that for me. (Not to derail the topic, but we've been slowly crafting our own version of the Dec. 25 holiday, since we don't celebrate for religious reasons. I'm not to the point of it being just another day, but it doesn't resemble past holidays. I wouldn't bother with T-day except that my family likes to get together, but that's got a backstory that has nothing to do with time and age.)

24

Serious Business / Re: I need help on planning for my transition (TG stuff)

« on: October 24, 2011, 09:54:13 AM »

I second Brasky's suggestion. I have several friends who are not traditional sexually (covers so many things - furries, bisexual, etc.) and they have all been so much happier finding communities where they can be with people who are supportive or feel the same way. I would think that the same thing would apply in your case, maybe even more so, because of the transition you're considering.

25

Guns, Drugs, and Crazy Independence Stuff / Re: Halloween!

« on: October 24, 2011, 09:43:09 AM »

I used to like Halloween. 

What changed?

26

Guns, Drugs, and Crazy Independence Stuff / Re: Bulk food storage, sources, and buying experiences.

« on: October 23, 2011, 06:26:08 PM »

I'd be hesitant to use garbage bags if the food was going directly into them. They're just not designed to come in direct contact with food. (Not sure if that's what you meant, though.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDPE

Generally, the only difference between "industrial" plastic applications and food-grade plastic (if its "PE") is the food-grade has to use edible, food-grade lubricants in the manufacturing process. 

Minus that difference, this is what they make many food containment products.  Saran wrap, milk jugs, sandwich bags - you name it. 

Its not really the plastic itself, but the FDA requirements of hair nets, factory conditions, and lubricants. 

I'd be more concerned about the pesticides and "acceptable" contaminants like rat droppings than the off-gassing of the plastic.  That same plastic is soda bottles, etc.  Even the white pickle-buckets, polyethylene.

Just sayin'.   

The only plsatic you should be concerned with (for long-term storage) is the PVC with the recycle code #3

Heres a handy-dandy chart..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_identification_code

 

Learn something new every day!

27

Serious Business / Re: The I ain't religious no more but I used ta be thread.

« on: October 22, 2011, 08:31:03 PM »

how bout speaking in tongues?

Don't know if that's directed at me. For my denomination, no way. Raising your hands while singing was suspect until fairly recently.

28

Guns, Drugs, and Crazy Independence Stuff / Re: Bulk food storage, sources, and buying experiences.

« on: October 22, 2011, 08:27:32 PM »

I'd be hesitant to use garbage bags if the food was going directly into them. They're just not designed to come in direct contact with food. (Not sure if that's what you meant, though.)

29

Serious Business / Re: The I ain't religious no more but I used ta be thread.

« on: October 22, 2011, 05:38:51 PM »

Raised Baptist (independent, evangelical, fundamentalist type, but not quite as fundy as some). Went to Baptist high school and some college. Taught Sunday School, sang in the choir, all that shit.

I was a believer, but looking back, I think I never fully (like, 100%) believed, because I had real issues with the way women were treated. Being raised in a fundamentalist church meant that you had to accept all of scripture, without exception. If you rejected one part, then you were rejecting it all. Also, at some point, I stopped praying or offering to pray.

15-16 years ago, I quit going to church (long story, good reasons) and finally got everyone to stop inviting me to church. I went out of my way to have as religious-free a wedding as possible, something that - for a real xtian - should have been as god-filled as possible (we didn't even have a prayer - a poem that sounded like a prayer was read and no one noticed). A couple of years later, I realized that at the very least I was agnostic. Finally, I admitted that that was a cop-out for me, and acknowledged that I was an atheist. Never looked back. I will say that I'm not "out" 100%, but close.

30

General / Re: Creepiest cooking show ever.

« on: October 21, 2011, 04:32:56 PM »

A. I'd probably try making the bread.
2. But that is a seriously fucked-up video, so I couldn't watch it and follow the directions.
c. WTF is up with the Sherlock Holmes book on the counter and the "artwork"? I didn't click on the video to open a link (I try to never do it) but the URL it gives doesn't actually exist.