I live in Michigan. The hall I grew up in was almost all white, except for the occasional black family that tended to be hyper-sensitive on race issues (the "oh, you said this because I'm black" types)
B_Deserter
JoinedPosts by B_Deserter
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34
Dominican Republic- Does Anyone Live There ?
by gumby inhey folks, i want to know if anybody from here lives there or has lived there.
photo's?.
are the witnesses pretty much the same there as they are here in the u.s.?.
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B_Deserter
All I know about "the DR" is that it's basically like a young witness spring break down there. Now that Spanish is the latest trend with the Dub-lings all of them go down there to "serve where the need is greater."
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B_Deserter
I can tell you what I'm NOT attracted to style wise. The frat boy look *ugh* it really is a turn off to me. You know, the long slogan t-shirts, the multipocketed khaki, or brown, or khaki long shorts, wearing either flip flops or those what I call "Calvin" shoes that are bulky with their ankle socks.
LOL, you just described my little brother PERFECTLY. He's not a dick though.
Or my most unfavorite, a short sleeved collared shirt with open with a t-shirt underneath. Sometimes they wear a cap, which just makes them look worse to me.
Ahh well there is actually some functionality to this. You see, when a man like me is of the larger persuasion, we tend to work in a field that requires "business casual" attire. Ergo, the polo. However, it is incredibly dorky to button up ALL the buttons, so the style is to leave the top one undone. It is also very...70s-porn-star...to have an open shirt with your chest hairs sticking out. It's quite gross actually. The t-shirt serves two functions: one, it cleans up the look and avoids the "showing off" of unsightly chest hair. two, it keeps our nipples from poking out and becoming the talk of the office. You could say that the undershirt is almost a man bra, more like a man training bra.
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B_Deserter
Physically: Between 5'3" and 5'7" and between 130-170 lbs. I'm not really into the model types. Nice skin. Shapely feminine attributes. Hair color doesn't matter so much but I like black the best. Eyes not too close together. No goiters.
Personality: Sense of humor, smart, nerdy, silly, affectionate, mature. I also like the slightly introverted "stay home and read" type rather than a party-animal.
Keep in mind too that the physical parts are guidelines (except for the last two), kind of an "optimal range" for me. So if I met someone that was like 5'8" and 175, it wouldn't be an issue for me, much less a deal-breaker. The personality part, however, is pretty much set in stone.
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I've Fallen In Love
by choosing life inwith michigan.. i have been to michigan many times and i just love the lake and the landscape.
the sunsets over lake michigan are the most beautiful i have ever seen.
i have been to most places up the west coast along the lake.
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B_Deserter
Michigan is a great place to visit, but a terrible place to live. We have a saying here, "A view of the bay (or lake) means half the pay." The state right now is in the middle of economic disaster. Engler destroyed the economy in the 90's and Granholm has failed to restore it. Jobs are going bye-bye everywhere. All the furniture and automotive businesses are going either to Mexico or China. On top of that, the cost of living is ridiculously high. Good paying jobs here are scarce and even if you do get one, you will probably get laid off in the next few years. Long ago each side of Michigan decided to put its' eggs in one basket: furniture in the west and automobiles in the east. Now that both are suffering there is nothing the state can fall back on.
For every 1 person that moves to Michigan, probably 3 move away. U-Haul is charging an extra fee for people leaving the state because they actually have to drive the trucks back due to lack of people moving here. If you value your happiness and financial security, take it from me: DONT MOVE HERE. -
25
I had a super-natural experience
by Blackboo ini know some might not believe but i had this experience about 5 years ago.
i was laying in the bed..and wide-awake..all of a sudden i literally saw a white-hand...that seem like a spirit..and it lifted me up in the air....and i actually felt my body coming back down to the bed..i was not dreaming at all..because i was aware of the things around the room..i wasnt scared but in awe of what happen.
the hand was so real looking and i was staring at it..there was no face..it happen so fast..but i remember everything from the evil laugh afterwards too..that one blew me away.
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B_Deserter
This is actually a well-documented phenomenon called "sleep paralysis." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
Sleep paralysis is a condition characterized by temporary paralysis of the body shortly after waking up (known as hypnopompic paralysis) or, less often, shortly before falling asleep (known as hypnagogic paralysis).
Physiologically, it is closely related to the paralysis that occurs as a natural part of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is known as REM atonia. Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from a REM state, but the bodily paralysis persists. This leaves the person fully aware, but unable to move. In addition, the state may be accompanied by hypnagogic hallucinations.
More often than not, sleep paralysis is believed by the person affected by it to be no more than a dream. This explains many dream recountings which describe the person lying frozen and unable to move. The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as a dream, since completely fanciful, or dream-like, objects may appear in the room alongside one's normal vision.
The primary symptom of sleep paralysis is partial or complete skeletal muscle paralysis during the hypnopompic or hypnagogic states. In other words, it is the sense of being aware that one is unable to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up. Sleep paralysis may also be accompanied by hypnagogic hallucinations. These hallucinations can be auditory, tactile, and/or visual. If a polysomnograph is taken, at least one of the following will be shown: skeletal muscle tone suppression, REM sleep at sleep onset, or dissociated REM sleep. The paralysis can persist anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes before the person is able to either return to REM sleep or to become fully awake. If the person returns to REM sleep yet remains fully aware, they are likely to enter a lucid dream state.
Sleep paralysis occurs during REM sleep in order to prevent the body from manifesting movements made in the subject's dreams. Very little is known about the physiology of sleep paralysis. However, some have suggested that it may be linked to post-synaptic inhibition of motor neurons in the pons region of the brain. In particular, low levels of melatonin may stop the depolarization current in the nerves, which prevents the stimulation of the muscles, to prevent the body from enacting the dreamt activity (e.g. preventing a sleeper from flailing his legs when dreaming about running).
Many people who commonly enter sleep paralysis also suffer from narcolepsy. However, various studies suggest that many or most people will experience sleep paralysis at least once or twice in their lives.
Some reports read that various factors increase the likelihood of both paralysis and hallucinations. These include:
* Sleeping in a supine position (facing upwards)
* Irregular sleeping schedules; naps, sleeping in, sleep deprivation
* Increased stress,br> * Sudden environmental/lifestyle changes
* A lucid dream that immediately precedes the episode. Also conscious induction of sleep paralysis is a common technique to enter a state of lucid dreams, also known as WILD.
* Artificial sleeping aids, ADD medications and/or antihistaminesDuring paralysis episodes, patients may be advised to try moving the facial muscles and moving eyes from one side to the other. This may hasten the termination of the attack.
Clonazepam is highly effective in the treatment of sleep paralysis. The initial dose is 0.5 mg at bedtime, while an increase to 1 mg per night might be necessary to maintain potency. Anecdotal reports indicate SSRIs such as fluoxetine markedly decrease the incidence of sleep paralysis. Several people who have been both on and off SSRIs have reported corresponding decreases and increases in sleep paralysis episodes. Others report no effects at all.
Complete references to many cultures are given in the References section
* In Japanese, sleep paralysis is referred to as kanashibari (???, literally "bound or fastened in metal," from kane "metal" and shibaru "to bind, to tie, to fasten"). This term is occasionally used by English speaking authors to refer to the phenomenon both in academic papers and in pop psych literature.
* In Hungarian folk culture sleep paralysis is called "lidércnyomás" ("lidérc pressing") and can be attributed to a number of supernatural entities like "lidérc", "boszorkány" (witch), "tündér" (fairy) or "ördögszereto".[5] The word "boszorkány" itself stems from the turkish root "basz-", meaning "to press".
* Kurdish people call this phenomenon a "mottaka", they believe that some one, in a form of a ghost or perhaps an evil spirit, turns up on top the of the person in the middle of the night and suffocates him/her. Apparently this happens usually when some one has done something bad.
* In New Guinea, people refer to this phenomenon as "Suk Ninmyo", believed to originate from sacred trees that use human essence to sustain its life. The trees are said to feed on human essence during night as to not disturb the human's daily life, but sometimes people wake unnaturally during the feeding, resulting in the paralysis.
* In Turkey this is called "karabasan". It is believed that it is a creature which attacks people in their sleep.
* People who believe they have been abducted by aliens or visited by evil spirits during the night might have suffered from sleep paralysis, in which they can't move and see or hear things they think are real but instead are just hallucinations.
* Ogun Oru od a traditional explanation for nocturnal disturbances among the Yoruba of Southwest Nigeria; ogun oru (nocturnal warefare) involves an acute night-time disturbance that is culturally attributed to demonic infiltration of the body and psyche during dreaming. Ogun oru is characterized by its occurrence, a female preponderance, the perception of an underlying feud between the sufferer's earthly spouse and a ;spiritual' spouse, and the event of bewitchment through eating while dreaming. The condition is believed to be treatable through Christian prayers or elaborate traditional rituals designed to exorcise the imbibed demonic elements.* (1605) Miguel de Cervantes makes mention of the phenomenon in Don Quixote when a tavern wench jumps into the bed of the soundly sleeping Sancho Panza, who, started, and feeling a prodigious weight upon him, thought he was labouring under the nightmare.
* (1851) There is a particularly fascinating account of sleep paralysis in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. Chapter 4 (The Counterpane) is an account of Ishmael's meditation on an episode of sleep paralysis in the middle of which he could not distinguish the difference between Queequeg's arm and the quilt. Indeed, he could not even distinguish the difference between his own body and his surroundings. He then recalls an earlier episode of sleep paralysis from his childhood, which he determines was the precise moment he discovered the feeling of "otherness" of his own body with respect to his surroundings.,br> * (1936) An account can also be found in Ernest Hemingway's The Snows of Kilimanjaro, in which death approaches and sits upon the narrator's chest so that he cannot breathe.
* (1969) The main character in Kingsley Amis' novel The Green Man also suffers from the affliction.
* (1975) Maxine Hong Kingston recounts an episode in her book The Woman Warrior where her mother, Brave Orchid, suffers a night of sleep paralysis in the "Haunted Room", in which she claims she battles a "Sitting Ghost".
* (2001) The progressive rock band Dredg explores the different aspects of sleep paralysis, on their album El Cielo. The booklet with El Cielo contains letters written by sufferers of sleeping disorders with descriptions of various experiences with or relating to sleep paralysis. Singer Gavin Hayes incorporates and expands upon the material found in the booklet for the lyrics to the album; all of the songs on the album (except the instrumentals) contain snippets of the text in the booklet.
* (2006) Experimental band Fear Before the March of Flames talk about the struggles of dealing with constant sleep paralysis on their album "The Always Open Mouth". One of the songs is even called "Drowning the Old Hag" -
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overcompensating when leaving JWs?
by B_Deserter inever notice this phenomenon?
seems like a lot of people that leave in their early 20s tend to become wild party animals as soon as they leave da troof, getting tattoos, piercings and the like and going almost overboard with it.
anyone ever experience this?
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B_Deserter
Ever notice this phenomenon? Seems like a lot of people that leave in their early 20s tend to become wild party animals as soon as they leave da troof, getting tattoos, piercings and the like and going almost overboard with it. Anyone ever experience this? I guess I don't understand how someone can feel comfortable doing things they've been forbidden to their entire lives within literally a few weeks after leaving. I suppose if you've always wanted to do some things, but I can't help but wonder how most people don't experience some sort of mental hang-up about it.
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B_Deserter
He forgot to put "Watch Tower" as two words!
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36
3 months, not even a phone call about my late mother from the Dubs.....
by WingCommander inso......it has been 3 months since my mother passed away and not one, not one witness has called, stopped by, or even sent a card to me!
it hit me today.
i mean, i must have gotten like 50 sympathy cards in the mail from her worldly relatives and co-workers, as well as numerous phone calls, but not one witness has done anything!
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B_Deserter
The JWs are the absolute embodiment of Conditional Love. They'll love you until you disagree with them, then all the friendships you hold dear are snuffed out in an instant. It's as if no one cared for you at all, which points to the fact that they really don't.
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Damaging property and driveways in Field Service. The good old days.
by Open mind injust got done reading b_deserter's partial life story and it sent me drifting down memory lane.
this is a long, rambly story, so if you're not in the mood, i'd recommend clicking on another thread.. did you happen to grow up in "god's country?
" you know, a rural or semi-rural part of the country that is far superior morally to the "sin den" i moved to, california?
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B_Deserter
I know someone that killed a householders dog out in service. It was a little ankle biter and he held up his foot to keep it away as it was attacking. The dog ran into his sole chest first at full tilt and died instantly. I wasn't there so I don't know what the householder's reaction was, but I bet it wasn't one of admiration seeing a large, ogreish boy with an IQ of about 80 saying "uhh I killed yer dawg" in his thick Georgia accent.