The Life and Times of Jim |
Hi, there. I'm Jim. Welcome to my phlog! This site was written for Las Vegas, then LouisVille. Now, it seems to be about anywhere. In these phlogs, you'll see a lot of my personal notes and pictures. I like to post my observations here to remember life and celebrate it. I'm not religious. I don't pray for good fortune. I'm ecstatically grateful for the gift of life and I think our time should be remembered and not taken for granted. I'm not a writer. I think pictures tell stories so much better than words. I love just about everything in this life, and, I guess that would have to include you. So, if you've seen me, don't be surprised if your picture is in here somewhere. Of all the critters, people are absolutely the most interesting. |
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05/01/2007 09:32:21 jim Microsoft Astoria, in so many words | Tue |||||||||||||||||||
On Monday at Mix '07, Microsoft revealed yet another piece of its puzzling cloud-programming puzzle: "Astoria." COMMENTS:Astoria is a set of patterns and infrastructure for Web data services, explained Pablo Castro, technical lead with Microsoft's database group. Castro showed off Microsoft's Astoria work during his session on "Accessing Data Services in the Cloud" on April 30 at the Las Vegas conference. Astoria as one of a number Microsoft technologies that are designed to allow users to make their data available over the Web via a REST interface and using open formats such as XML, JSON or RDF. Astoria is built on top of Microsoft's ADO.Net Entity Framework. Developer Division General Manager Scott Guthrie's "layperson's explanation" of the framework (provided at my request): The entity framework allows you to model data in a database. The entity framework is designed to make it easier for developers to model, publish and program against their data over the Web. What the $^*%$%#? Isn't EVERYTHING a set of patterns and infrastructure for something? I still don't know what Astoria does different (besides creating new buzz words) I guess what they are really saying is Astoria makes it easier for web programmers to access data I think one of the most annoying things about working with computer techs these days is they just don't know how to talk to people. This is how I sum up the above article (in my mind) 1-First I boil down all of the synonyms ASP=The old BASIC language with commands for the internet ADO=The old BASIC language with commands for accessing data XML=The old FILE structure with a different way of storing its DATA. JSON=The old FILE structure with a different way of storing its DATA. RDF=The old FILE structure with a different way of storing its DATA. REST=Another way to let the old basic talk to microsofts new commands. Microsoft's ADO.Net Entity Framework=ADO=The old Basic language. The old BASIC language = a computer language. 2-I take out all of the ridiculous statements Accessing Data Services in the Cloud 3-I reread everything that was said and I sum it up. Microsoft introduces Astoria. Astoria gives Basic easier ways to access data on the web. 4-And I understand. What really gets me is these people get paid highly for talking crap, inventing new words, and embelleshing old stuff. I don't care how you slice and dice it. Computers still do three things and its simple: -Find out what you want -Get data if necessary -Show the result. When I dropped out of the mainstream of computer technologies I realized a few things Computer languages were popping up everywhere. New words were being invented. If a new version of something was created, developers gave it a new name instead of a new version number. Now we have a million new words, most of which have died (like the old versions numbers did). Now, instead of having BASIC 2007x, we have ASP, ASP.NET, VB, VBScript and a slew of other names. The addins in the old days, (like XML,SQL,ADO) we'd just call libraries. To upgrade, you changed 1 line of code. Its become more complicated, not because it is more complicated, but because developers got confused. It all should have gotten simpler. When Windows 3.0 came out, it was truly different. When Windows 95 came out, it acted like an improved Windows 3.0 with items moved around or renamed. When Windows 98 came out, it acteded like Windows 95 with things moved around. The same holds true for 98SE, NT, Windows 2000, Millenium, XP, Longhorn and Vista. They're all just different just improved versions of Windows, aren't they? Why don't the names reflect that? The names should reflect the product's origin. At least say Windows Vista. When Basic came out in the 60's it was incredibly easy to learn It stayed that way for 2 decades. Then Microsoft came up with Visual Basic and you had to rewrite everything. Then it came up with VB 3.0 and you had to rewrite everything. Then it came up with VB 4.0 and you had to rewrite everything. Then it came up with ASP and you had to rewrite everything. Then it came up with ASP.NET and you had to rewrite everything. For 20 years, you didn't have to rewrite anything. COBOL is/was the same way. You didn't have to rewrite anything. It was sweet. |
04/30/2007 22:36:56 jim Yellowbook.com is late | Mon |||||||||||||||||||
They seem to have a lot of problems. In light of that, I signed up for: - Msn.Com Yellow Page Listings (superpages.com) - Yahoo Yellow Page Listings Hopefully, we'll get a few hits a month from those sites. |
04/30/2007 09:44:31 jim Things I may never know | Mon |||||||||||||||||||
Does nature have any rules that are absolute? Birth Was I really nothing before I was born? I know life comes from life. I know my components existed on the planet before I was assembled. The odds of me being alive are highly improbable, yet, here I am. If life on this planet was started by a god, then what started his life? Time Will time travel ever be possible? Would you actually have to reverse the actions of everything in the entire universe to travel back into time. From our current perspective in life, the past had to happen exactly the way it did. There is nothing random about it. Did we ever actually have any choices? Can we prove the future exists? Is time being replayed right now? How would we know? Are we stuck with all that we have done? A million years from now, what will become of the 30 trillion life forms that make up my body? Consciousness Do rocks have consciousness? Does the universe? Does a self replicating molecule? Do we? What is the purpose of life and why is it so persistant? Exactly, why are people better than any other life form on this planet? I hope its not because we can kill everything else. Humanity We've only been here a short time. The hard part of creating our species has been accomplished by nature. Will our species become extinct to another species? Will mankind destroy itself? Will mankind every conquer the effects of aging? Will mankind ever increase its lifespan to a million years? Will it be possible someday to transfer the information in our brains? |
04/29/2007 09:05:59 jim The land near Sunrise Mountain | Sun |||||||||||||||||||
A trash dump that turned into an environmental nightmare in 1998 is finally headed for closure after eight years of impasses. But closure might come with an increase in local garbage bills to fund the final $20 million of cleanup work. Once a settlement is reached and the site is finally covered with two feet of earth and rocks, the county intends to end its lease of the land from the Bureau of Land Management and acquire the property. The wash empties into Lake Mead, the valley's primary drinking water supply. Authorities feared that toxic compounds and metals buried in the dump might escape into groundwater layers and eventually Lake Mead. Months before the flood, in April 1998, nearby residents complained about the rotten-egg smell of hydrogen sulfide gas emanating from the dump in concentrations hundreds of times higher than are considered safe. During a visit to the site that month, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he had "never smelled a toilet this bad." |
04/28/2007 13:23:34 jim Our house depreciated 3.8% last year | Sat |||||||||||||||||||
The house appraised at $250,000 instead of $270,000. Last year, it appraised at $260,000, so it depreciated $10,000 (4%) in one year. Personally, I think a house should cost no more than 4 times a persons annual income. The results are good though. We will get some cash out. The housepayment will drop $150 a month. The mortgage will be payed out of our rental income instead of my savings. Its all well and good. |
04/27/2007 04:52:29 jim Back from Disneyland. We had a great time! | Fri |||||||||||||||||||
The trip up was a breeze. I followed Paul all the way. We both got their in just under 4 hours on 3/4's of a tank. My scheme to get annual tickets didn't work, but it cost nothing to try. We got two, two-day passes for the same price at the gate. The Will Call booth gave me a rough time about my Nevada Drivers License. I couldn't believe the agent was talking Disney techno talk to me. She said I'd have to bring my apartment's lease agreement with me, because anyone could print business cards. She said the 'Bank' might approve it if I talked to the manager, but I'd have to buy tickets to take to the Bank. However, if someone was with us that had California ID, they could've have bought our 2 annual passes for us. Its was all pretty strange. The logic seemed flawed in all directions. The Californian Adventure. I was surprised about the park. I thought it was supposed to have an adult theme to it. From the start, Paul and I split off from the group. It had one decent rollar coaster (it had a really nice launch technique). We actually got Jennifer to ride a tiny roller coaster with us. Jennifer didn't know it, but through out the two day trip, it had the roughest roller coaster ride. The day passed, and we wrode everything we wanted to ride. The most interesting looking of all the rides was the Haunted Hotel. It turned out to be a glorified elevator. The best ride of all was the Omnimax like motion simulator. It lifts you up and you feel like your flying of the ocean and through the mountains. It even through in 2 smells. I held up alright for only having 2 hours sleep the night before. We stayed the night with Paul, GMa, Jennifer and Dustin at a Sheraton. I think Paul paid $190 for the room, but I couldn't chip in. I budgeted a one day trip at $200, 2 days at $400. They offered to share their beds with us, but, I slept on the floor anyway. It just felt more natural to me. Actually, I didn't care where I slept. My feet felt like BRICKS. Becky and I got an extra blanket and slept together for awhile, but I couldn't stay asleep. I got up at 2am, went outside and enjoyed California's night air, then watched "Independance Day". When I got back at 4am, Becky was sleeping with GMa, Paul looked content in his bed, and I passed on the floor I could barely walk. Sleep was nice. We spent Thursday at Disneyland. We started to spend the day together as a group, but Jennifer started crying in deathly fear about riding Space Mountain. I just wanted to have fun, and didn't want to have to deal with those irrational fears, after all 8 year old kids were riding the ride. So, Paul and I took off. We wrode most of the major attractions in 3 hours. Paul and I wrode Space Mountain, Big Thunder, The Matterhorn, Mr Toads Wild Adventure, Pirates of the Carribbean, and The Haunted Mansion. Becky, GMa and the kids road watched Innovations, road Mr Toad and Snowwhite Adventures. We connected later, and wrode Pirates of the Carribean and Haunted Mansion again. Almost all of us rode Star Tours, Indiana Jones, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Jungle Cruise. Dustin, Paul and I capped off the day by riding Space Mountain one last time. Splash Mountain was closed, and I never noticed Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters. All-in-all, we pretty much experienced the best rides that Disney had to offer. Driving home was breeze. Except for the usual freeway delays, we drove 80mph most the way, stopping only at Cajun Pass to let the top down. The trip takes less than four hours, one way. Cutting through California's freeway traffic is a breeze in a convertable... Hehehe...I only got flipped off once after squeezing in between a tailgater and the car in front of him. What can I say, I put on my blinker, looked directly at him, and still, he wouldn't give me enough room to change lanes safely. I guess some people enjoy at risking other people's life. To sum it all up - We all had a great time. The whole trip cost me around $400. It probably cost Paul around $900. The driving up and back was great. I'd say cramming that much into 2 days was making us cranky. I know I was starting to feel edgy. When we got home at 10:30pm, my blistered feet were swollen, and my head felt like I'd had a bottle of Jack Daniels. I'll take a couple of days to recover. But the pleasure far exceeded the pain. I'd do again in a heart-beat! |
04/27/2007 12:36:07 jim (Reply)..Back from Disneyland. | Fri |||||||||||||||||||
We drove the 97 Mustang Convertible. It was very FUNctional! It got 25mpg, was very maneuverable and I trust it now at high speeds. Driving it was like being in a star attraction at Disneyland. Its turning out to be a great little car, even if it is, haha, 'A Ford'. The kids seemed to love it. Dustin rode several of the rides with me and Paul. Jennifer preffered riding between me and Becky. btw-I know thats bad English to say 'me and someone', but, if everyone says it, who am I to be proper. Everytime a ride would drop 5 feet, Jennifer would pull me close and shake. I thought that was cuter than a Blue Ribbon Pig at the Livingston County Fair. There was a lot of hugs and hand holdings throughout the whole event. When you come in October, we'd like to bump heads with you in Los Angeles. I think that would be the greatest of hooters. Why October? |
04/25/2007 14:37:01 jim LA,CA-CaliforniaAdventure-Jim | Wed |||||||||||||||||||
04/24/2007 21:43:01 jim Terrible Herbst has the BEST FOOD | Tue |||||||||||||||||||
We ate at the Bougainvillea Restaurant and it, TRULY, has the best steaks in Las Vegas. What a deal too! Sonny had a a 16 ounce T-Bone steak for $9.99. I had a 12 ounce New York Steak for $12.99 Becky had a 12 ounce Prime Rib for $12.99. Each dinner came with - fresh steamed vegetables...they were great! - Baked potato or mashed pototoes....they were....well...you know, potatoes. - And the steaks and prime rib were perfectly cooked...exactly the way we asked. Mine New York steak was medium rare. It had charred lines on the outside, and was tender in the middle. And people...it actually smelled like a steak. Sonny's TBone was well done, and they burned it. Thats exactly what he wanted. Becky's prime rib was well done. That always goes against my better judgement, but it came out really good. The au jus was unique. Terrible Herbst also has their own brand of steak sauce. Its mainly ketchup, worcestorshire sauce and cayenne pepper. It is spicy hot. I've lived in Las Vegas now for 32 years. They used to have $1 steaks everywhere here. They tasted wonderful and were usually every bit as good as a charcoal grilled steak. Somehow over the years, steaks got more expensive, and they lost their aroma. Something else I've noticed: Clam steamers are hard to find anymore. I used to order them a lot. I'd even find them on menus at local bars. They were a specialty at the Port Tack, Starboard Tack, and Clamdigger restaurants. Now they are hard to find anywhere, even in California and Florida. I miss clams! I love clams! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO OUR CLAMS!!! Bring back the clams bwahahaha |
04/24/2007 15:43:30 jim Scarey Stories from HELL | Tue |||||||||||||||||||
Maybe we saw The Andromeda Strain a few too many times in our formative years, but we can't help shivering when we hear about microbiologists reanimating long-dormant lethal viruses. And those biologists working to make human limbs grow back: Haven't we seen that film? Don't the guys in lab coats all die in the first reel? They may sound cinematic, but the incredible research projects on the following pages are not imaginary. They're real, funded ventures by respected scientists. They have perfectly rational goals. They also happen to creep us out. Continue reading below for six of the scariest ideas in science. Check out Popular Science |
04/24/2007 10:40:18 jim TuleSprings,NV-Becky,Jen | Tue |||||||||||||||||||
04/24/2007 01:00:00 jim ..Disneyland | Tue |||||||||||||||||||
So true. Californians are magicians. Nevadan's owe so much too our California friends for buying desert land. They've turned this rock and sand into GOLD. Even Arnold Swartzenhagger has a house down the road! BTW - I mentioned that I had signed up to be a loan officer with some company and that turned out to be just another MLM hustle. He said it sounded like I was talking about World Loan Corporation. He said they were sued out of existance, lol. What was really very nice about these loan people is... They said they needed mobile notaries badly!!! He said they could never find a mobile notary after 6pm. They can't notarize their own documents. I told him, hey, I can be anywhere in 20 minutes. Just calls us (I gave him 10 of our business cards). I told him after this week, we'd be ready for anything. |
04/24/2007 15:34:44 jim (Reply)Disneyland | Tue |||||||||||||||||||
We're taking off tommorrow. Gotta get up early in the morning. I feel weird, making us CA residents to get 50% off an annual pass. But then again, it cost the same as two tickets...bwahahahahahaha!!! I am SO BBBBBAAAAAaaaaaaaddddddd... |
04/24/2007 15:46:07 jim (Reply)...RE:Disneyland | Tue |||||||||||||||||||
We're new residents of: City Place Apts, 801 E Walnut St, #201, Pasedena, CA 91101 for a $1,455 (1 bedroom apartment) hahahaha. Life was so much cheaper in Vegas...hahaha. Anyway, Disney said all I needed to do was show the credit card I used to purchase the tickets with, show my online ticket voucher with barcode and some sort of picture ID. We did something like this in Orlando for the Universal Studio 3 month pass. When we got those passes, we didn't have Florida ID. All I had was a sweet, sweet story to tell... But if it doesn't work, I'll cancel the transaction and just get two tickets. If it does work, I'm in for 2 (1 year passes) to Disneyland and California Adventure... |
04/23/2007 21:46:25 jim I love you too sugar booger! | Mon |||||||||||||||||||
I Love you too Becky Babe I think we'll have fun tommorrow at Tule Springs Disneyland should be a blast too, Wednesday. I love Las Vegas Realestate!!!! Don't you? |
04/23/2007 17:45:38 jim Vegas,NV-Gabriel-Rainbow | Mon |||||||||||||||||||
04/23/2007 17:45:38 jim (Reply)Vegas,NV-Gabriel-Rainbow | Mon |||||||||||||||||||
04/23/2007 10:32:11 jim Oak Hill Mortgage Loan | Mon |||||||||||||||||||
Donny Cell : 702-743-4258 Monday at 10am, will meet Jake or Zack. Will verify on Saturday. Says $902. $40,000 cash out. Balance will be $236,000 (80%) Sounds good to me! |
04/23/2007 10:03:50 jim Zap2It.com seems to be the TV Guide leader | Mon |||||||||||||||||||
Zap2it - Seems to be where most TV Guide providers get there information from.
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04/23/2007 03:53:52 jim Vegas,NV-Gma-Drama | Mon |||||||||||||||||||
04/21/2007 15:20:48 jim SunsetPark,NV-Becky,Dustin,Jennifer | Sat |||||||||||||||||||
04/20/2007 11:56:24 jim Freezing cold outside. Is 60, feels 30 | Fri |||||||||||||||||||
Vegas weather is SO FLAKEY! One day its hot, the next day its not. Of all my odd observations, how people respond to the weather ranks on top. When I cruise the Strip, I see people walking around in ski jackets, right next to people wearing tank tops. We'll be riding around in the Mustang with the top down, Becky will have the heat turned on, Jennifer and I will be marrily riding along, and Dustin will be in the back looking like he's in Greenland. I have been a Polar Bear Club wannabe forever. That is to say, I've skinny dipped in a non heated pool on a cold Kentucky winter's night. What a blast! But I'd like to think I'm normal in a few ways. My question is...is 75 degrees HOT, or is it COLD? |
04/19/2007 23:36:23 jim I found Jack, (one of my old friends) too. | Thu |||||||||||||||||||
We first met in Kentucky. HE WAS BORN IN KENTUCKY TOO!!! But I have no idea who this other guy is. |
04/17/2007 18:40:16 jim More One Liners | Tue |||||||||||||||||||
If Daddy dies, we'll be in Heaven. I'll take Police Brutality for $20 million Alex. Brides thoughts at a wedding: Aisle, Alter, Hymm. Law of Thermodynamics: Everything gets worse under pressure Congressmen should have a two term limit: 1 in office, 1 in jail. Statistical fact : Half of all marriages end in divorce. The other half end in death. Physics: Stress = unit of force per unit area. People: Stress = To force of physics on people. Mob Restaurant Menu Item : Blackened Bluefish, well battered |
04/17/2007 11:55:44 jim BoulderCity-Carnival,Dustin-FreezingToDeath | Tue |||||||||||||||||||
04/16/2007 04:52:51 jim My Observations | Mon |||||||||||||||||||
Fear is based on pessimism. Our consciousness begins and ends with life. Everything has a cycle. Nothing is ever wasted. Nothing ever happens exactly the same way twice. There can only be one outcome for the past. There is only one future, and it is set. We just don't know what it will be yet. Everything has a purpose. Everything is important. Once an event happens, it has served its purpose. Once our life ends, we have served our purpose. While it may be possible to be reborn, it is highly unlikely. The present is when everything changes from a perfect chaos into a perfect order. Time, space, matter and energy are boundless. They can only be measured relatively. Light traveling toward light must be going twice the speed of light. Inertia is the glue that holds everything together. Friction is the force required for one mass to displace another. Friction is the result of coherency. A butterfly's wings has never caused a hurricane in Florida. That is insane. Nothing ever happens in reverse. Any new action depends on everything in the past happening exactly as it did. Time travel only exists in fiction. Math, if played with long enough, can be made to explain even the most ridiculous concept. Math is set of rules for calculations done on paper. The first thought of the universe had to be "I am". Even god had to be shocked. The first thought for any normal person had to be "I am". The last thought should be "I am not". |
04/15/2007 01:25:29 jim 300 was a pretty decent movie | Sun |||||||||||||||||||
Nah, we didn't spend the usual $40 we'd spend in a walk-in theatre. We spent $12 at the Vegas 5 drive-ins. Gosh I'm cheap! But with that admission, you can watch any 2 movies!!! Of course, you're not supposed to hop movies, but they'll tell you right up front, that's what most of the cheap people do. The music comes in through your car's FM stereo, so you can blast it if you want. And here's a kicker, we brought our own Starbucks Coffee. I suppose we could have brought our own whiskey, gotten all slap silly drunk and stayed all night if we wanted. Now do that at a walkin movie. I dare ya. It was great! I just love the drive-ins. We got cozy in the back seat of the Mustang - we had the convertable top down - we were all laid back - our feet were kicked up. - and we were snuggling like young lovers. Try any of that in a walkin movie. We didn't do hickeys like in the old days. At our age they take a year to heal! The refreshments at the snack bar were reasonable too . $7 bought 2 Nathan hot dawg lookin things and one huge 20 gallon coke. And the best part of it all... You can record it all on your camcorder, Sell the recording and maybe pay for your kid's college tuition. Just kidding...hahahaha! |
04/13/2007 19:11:01 jim Vegas,NV-JennifersBDay,Gma | Fri |||||||||||||||||||
04/13/2007 17:40:44 jim We are learning each time we go out. | Fri |||||||||||||||||||
This was our second Notary and once again, the right wording wasn't on the document(s). So, after clumsily sifting through mounds and mounds of internet garbage about the proper way of notarizing, I realized that most notaries don't have a clue as to what they are doing. They're just running the bases. If they can't right it down, then they probably don't understand it. So we should do great. I read a lot about loose certificates. Nowhere on the internet is there an example of one. You can buy them from NNA, but why, if you could just print them up. I also read about certificate stamps. Nowhere on the internet can you buy one. I had to get some made up. This is a very gray (or grey) business we're stumbled into. Its hard to find good documentation on anything. They say you shouldn't have to read a document. It shouldn't have any blanks. It should have the correct notarization verbage. If it doesn't state it, ask the customer...but how many people do we know that knows the meaning of the words like: JURAT, or ACKNOWLEGEMENT, or that some ACKNOWLEGEMENTs need JURATS...lol. |
04/13/2007 11:22:41 jim Did our first actual notary | Fri |||||||||||||||||||
We started at 10:00 am and got home at 11:45am. We made $60. Not bad! It was a blast. The gate security at Georgia Pacific knew we were coming and let us right through. PLUS: Best Rate Lending called for an $80 notary on Monday. What's odd about that is another agent at Best Rate was going to call me on Monday for a refinance. We were in the spaghetti bowl when he called, and I thought it was for the refinance...oops. I could hardly hear because of all the road noise and told "Brian" I would call him back in 20 minutes. I did, but by then, he'd already found someone else... : ( Its all well and good though. I've noticed that its probably going to be pretty common for documents not to have the notary certificate wording on them. I'm going to order stamps from Office Max with Copy Certificate, Jurat and Acknowledment wording. Plus, for the heck of it, I should bang out a document, take it to Post Office Express, and see how they handle documents without the notarial certificate. |
04/11/2007 13:02:46 jim ...car:I like Honda Accords | Wed |||||||||||||||||||
There, that should be better! Nice Car Mikey. |
04/11/2007 13:02:46 jim (Reply).car:I like Honda Accords | Wed |||||||||||||||||||
They're nice, reliable vehicles. I just bought a new gas cap for the Ford Mustang. Turns out the owner of the Brakes Plus place was right, a bad gas cap can cause emissions systems failure (or more importantly, the check engine light to come on). Gas caps these days aren't just caps. They have a check valve in them, allowing air to come into the tank, but not leave it (unless its over a certain pressure). It figures doesn't. These days, even gas caps are complex.... hahahha. |
04/11/2007 13:01:51 jim .On the picture of the hand, wheres the .... | Wed |||||||||||||||||||
Yea. <======= They should look something like this. |
04/11/2007 10:24:16 jim Take a Brake Break - from Brakes Plus | Wed |||||||||||||||||||
$760 for all four brakes. That sounds terrible to me, but they sounded so bad. The rotors looked terrible. I told them Mr Brake replaced the front brakes 2 years ago, and they have a lifetime warrentee on them. But I also told them, Mr Brake should probably be called Mr Break. They said they'd toss in the front rotors. Which would have been $220 more. Sonny's footing the bill, which is darned decent of him. I'm going to spring for a new stereo in that truck. The last one got stolen 2 weeks ago. |
04/11/2007 06:19:53 jim My sister is saving me. | Wed |||||||||||||||||||
She's trying to save me from Hell. While her actions are noble, they aren't realistic. Thats because I don't believe in Hell. She repulsed me from any of the monotheistic beliefs (either of the Abrahamic, Jewish, Christian, or Islamic persuasions) with her evangelistic proselytisms, forty years ago. She believes she's a devout Christian. She will do what ever her pastor tells her to do. I owe a lot to my sister. She inspired me to read the Bible at a very young age, just to verify half the things she dribbled out. I doubt she really, really, read any of it. She just quoted it, out of text too, which is pretty meaningless. Personally, and this is just my beliefs, I think the notion of Hell should be sold with children's books, right next to the stories of Santa and the Easter Bunny. I'd hope most people on this planet don't believe there's a red devil, with bull horns, cloven hoofs, and a pointy tail. That's just disfunctional. Nothing with hoofs has hands. LOL. And whats with the pitch fork? Did he work on a farm? LOL. Is that the best tool he could find to pitch bad people into hell with? LOL. I would have used a hay bailer, but they weren't invented yet. The devil looks like a character in a poorly written DC comic book and his concept just doesn't make any sense. If this creature were born on a farm, it would be veal cutlets the next day. The whole concept is just plain ol' dumb! And I am sorry fo the adult who says these things to other adults, with either love or hate in their eyes. They are the ones who are lost. If you want to find god, just look in the mirror. Figure out exactly what it is you see. Maybe you'll see that we are devices, built from smaller devices, built from even smaller devices. The more you learn, the more you'll realize that you don't know much at all, and that you can't quote god. You are one of god's best works of art, not the other way around. I would hope that someday, all religions could rejoice in their simularities and not their differences If one religion has 8 gods, and another has 1 god, and yet another has a messenger, a god and a spirit, they should all rejoice in that, because they all believe in a high power of some kind. |
04/09/2007 19:36:05 jim I am really grateful for this wonderful life. | Mon |||||||||||||||||||
I didn't earn this life, but still, I am here and I really do appreciate it. It doesn't matter to me if I there is an afterlife or not. If there is an afterlife, I'll know it the second after I die. If there isn't an afterlife, then I'll go back to in the oblivion I came from. I just want to say, thanks, to what ever gave this life to me. I know I'm not smart enough to know God. I know no man is, though many say they do. Ever day, when I learn, I discover all the things I don't know. Every breath I take, is a debt I owe to the creator. I'm no more important than a bird, dog, insect, plant or rock. Everything is important. Everything leaves a trace. But like I said, I didn't earn this life, and I would be ungrateful to expect more than I've already had. I won't pray for anyone either. I will help them, and when I need help, I don't want prayer, I want help. And if I hurt someone, I won't ask god for forgiveness. I will ask them, and I will try to repair the damage. I won't ask Jesus to save me, and I won't ask any God to save me. I'm grateful, not greedy. I don't want a gold castle in the sky, or pastures of green when I die. I don't care what anyone says about the after life. If they go on belief without evidence, they deserve to be called sheep. |
04/09/2007 13:33:25 jim .Lucretius | Mon |||||||||||||||||||
I like Lucretius ! My question to people since I was a kid was, weren't we dead before we were born? If so, isn't life an abberation of our normal state? If so, isn't the fear of death illogical? People told the kid I was, that I was incorrect. That when I die, there will be angels, pastures, and Jesus. If I get saved, I will go to Heaven. Everyone else will go to Hell, which is a firey place where you burn forever. And that I shouldn't ask questions. I should just have faith. Faith seems to be the fire consuming the world of mankind. For with faith, there is an extreme lack of understanding. I tell someone god gave me a beanstalk that reached to the sky. Another says yes, and it had blue bells on in. Another says, yes, it glowed in the night. And yet, another says, it was the beanstalk of life. And everyone with faith just believes it. Those who question are told they will go to hell and they are killed by the masses of the ignorant. And the ignorant are told, "It was God's will, and it was good". Those with faith are the sheep. They'd rather not think while they are herded into battle for land, money, or "Glory". And they shall be called the poor, uneducated, and undesirable. And those without faith will be learning how to grow their own beanstalk, and it will reach to the sky someday. And they shall be called the rich, powerful and beautiful. They shall create more stories for the sheep to follow. |
04/09/2007 13:33:25 Jim (Reply)Lucretius | Mon |||||||||||||||||||
Superstition is the notion that supernatural powers created our world and interfere with its operations. Fear of such gods and their will is banished with understanding. By showing that the operations of the world can be accounted for entirely in terms of the regular, but purposeless motions of tiny atoms and agglomerations of atoms in interaction in empty space. The fear of death will be banished by showing that death is the dissipation of a being's material mind. And so, as a simple ceasing-to-be, death can be neither good nor bad for this being. The value of life for a being is something that only matters to this being during its life. Fear of death is a projection of terrors experienced in life, of pain that only a living (intact) mind can feel. Lucretius also puts forward the 'symmetry argument' against the fear of death. In it, he says that people who fear the prospect of eternal non-existence after death should think back to the eternity of non-existence before their birth, which they probably do not fear. |
04/09/2007 13:25:46 jim The Hand | Mon ||||||||||||||||||||
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04/08/2007 19:27:22 jim Vegas,NV-Strip HawiianMarket | Sun |||||||||||||||||||
04/08/2007 18:45:14 jim Vegas,NV-Strip-SouthPoint | Sun |||||||||||||||||||
04/08/2007 18:08:04 jim Vegas,NV-BlackMtn | Sun |||||||||||||||||||
04/08/2007 18:08:04 jim (Reply)Vegas,NV-BlackMtn | Sun |||||||||||||||||||
04/08/2007 12:02:21 jim BlackMtn,NV-Mustang-Jim,Becky | Sun |||||||||||||||||||
04/08/2007 12:01:01 jim Vegas,NV-BlackMtnVeiws | Sun |||||||||||||||||||
04/08/2007 07:59:37 jim Advair works for asthma!!! | Sun |||||||||||||||||||
Thanks GMa for the sample! It surely beats the heck out of paying another $800 for a doctor and coming out with 1 bottle of Albuterol (like I did). Albuterol is better than Primatine Mist (which is bottled Epinephrine), but its not great. Advair is Albuterol plus ipratropium bromide. |
04/07/2007 22:16:42 jim Underwear....Whats Underwear? | Sat |||||||||||||||||||
Superman forgets to wear pants, again ! ! ! Becky's kids, Dustin and Jennifer stayed over for several days this week. They were great as usual. However, the following seemed strange: When we picked the kids up, GMa told Becky, "Make sure Jennifer changes her underwear tommorrow". That night, Becky blurted "Jennifer, you need to change your underwear". Then Jennifer said "GMa said I don't have to change my underwear until tommorrow!". So, being natually curious, I asked "Whats wrong with your underwear, Jennifer?" Jennifer said "NOTHING". Becky said, "Nothing's wrong, GMa asked me to make sure Jennifer changes her underwear". I've never heard people talk about their underwear like this before. That is, unless they are drunk and are trying to seduce me at the local pub. But clearly, that wasn't the case here. I've just never thought of putting "1) Change Underwear" on my To Do List. Now I'm wondering if everyone changes their underwear daily!!! These are things I would have never thought of if it wasn't for these kiddos. |
04/07/2007 21:24:23 jim .Happy Easter | Sat |||||||||||||||||||
Becky I love more than elephants love peanuts. I love you more than mice love cheese. I love you like salt loves pepper I love you more than dogs love Alpo. I need you more than my socks need washing. You are my Easter Bunny Baby!!! =) |
04/06/2007 21:35:36 jim GMa gave me some Combivent. | Fri |||||||||||||||||||
Its seems to work pretty good for my COPD. I may have a chance at life after all. Thanks GMa!!! Of course, its got some pretty nasty side effects...one of them being death. But if you'd had my experiences lately, its worth the risk. Its got "ipatropium bromide" in it, and is one of the ingredients in Atrovent. BTW - I ordered some Advair and Pulicort from Canada. 6 months worth for $180 including shipping. BTW-DID YOU KNOW The Japanese, French, Icelanders, Swedes, Spanish and the English all live longer than Americans. Wow. |
04/06/2007 21:25:32 jim Movies all day. Thanks Rudy!!! | Fri |||||||||||||||||||
We watched: Ghost Rider GREAT MOVIE I thought it would turn out to be another "Wicker Man" for Nicolas Cage, but it was one of his best yet. The effects were awsome. IMAX Deep Sea Wonderful movie. Its amazing how they illustrate the balance of nature. They put together how all the creatures interact in life and death, and in ways that even a cave man can understand. Premonition It was okay. The story was very predictable right from the beginning. Ahhhh, but whoever recorded it ran out of memory at the last 10 minutes of the movie. I thought that added to the movie. I made up my own ending, which was probably better than the real one. Wild Hogs Good movie with Tim Allen, John Travolta, Will Macy, Martin Lawrence and Ray Liotta. A good illustration of an over the hill gang getting a second chance at life. |
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