quasi Report This Comment
Date: March 08, 2012 10:32AM

I recently watched a documentary about the Amish and it struck me that they are religious extremists, but they're extremists with an "I'm OK, you're OK' and "live and let live" attitude, unlike many extremists who want to cram their religion down everyone's throat, or worse, kill everyone who won't accept their religon. I think everyone can learn a lot from the Amish, from how to live off the grid to getting along with others who have different viewpoints.

jgoins Report This Comment
Date: March 08, 2012 11:55AM

The Amish should be looked at as role models for all religions and atheists as well. Not so much for their lifestyle but their attitude toward others, I couldn't live without my TV.

Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: March 08, 2012 12:27PM

Yep, the Amish are my kinda zealots since they're only zealots to themselves and are accepting of others ideologies and lifestyles since it has no bearing on their own beliefs. Indeed this would be a refreshing attitude for all people of faith to embrace as it would be far better for humanity as a whole were they all to adopt such a stance. I have never been able to comprehend the need by most believers to extend their belief structure outside their own psyche and have often wondered whom they're trying to convince in such efforts, others, or themselves.

On a sidenote, and as a show of some pretty extreme tolerance on both sides of the faith issue: My business recently crashed and burned causing me to lose my shop and the 2 acres I was buying with it. After putting up a valiant fight the dwindling economy in the printing industry here finally took its toll and I wound up selling off my existing machinery and parts inventory for scrap metal and closing my doors for good .... HiHo

Anyway, I have relocated 120 miles away to 10 acres my sister and brother-in-law own. They're both very deeply involved in their church and are hardcore in their positions regarding their faith, so much so that in a testament to their faith they've named their place here Hallelujah Hill.

In an interesting dichotomy that is an example of peaceful coexistence of polar opposite belief structures, this atheist now lives on Hallelujah Hill. Though we are all 3 equally set in our ideologies regarding religion, neither their position, nor mine has any bearing on how we interact with one another since each one respects each others right to belief, or in my case, lack of it.

If only the rest of the worlds believers of differing religious ideologies were able to be so accepting of one anothers positions mankind as a whole would benefit enormously

BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 08, 2012 02:27PM

A while back there was a show segment (I don't remember which show) about Amish folks using cell phones now. Apparently things are changing.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: March 08, 2012 03:52PM

but Sharia law is awesome for the male.

-you get to beat women for no other reason than someone called her a whore.
-make your bitch walk behind you everywhere you go.
-treat any one who isn't Muslim like the devil making murdering them perfectly legal.
-protect the family name by killing your kid because she wore a short dress or something equally dark ages like.
-kidnap Americans and hold them hostage, or just plain chop their evil ass heads off.
-take money from the American tax payer to help control their own extremists or not so neighbourly neighbours and do the opposite. ( infidels).

i think you guys have a few million others to add, i'm done typing for the day. (headexplode)

quasi Report This Comment
Date: March 08, 2012 04:59PM

Wow, sorry about losing your business & home, Kim, but glad you have family that you can get along with to lend a hand. Hope things turn around for you soon. Let's hope things really are turning around for everyone, as the media is telling us.

I wonder though - stopped in this morning at the place I used to work and things aren't looking good there yet. When I started there in June 1998 it was a 3 man operation. It grew to a 7 man (OK, 6 man and one really good woman) operation before the economy went to hell. When I was let go in Jan. of '09 there were then 4 left, and as of just a couple of months ago it's back down to limping along with 3 people. Our problem here is that much of the economy was for 50 years based on the building industry, with more people moving to sunny Florida year after year, and I was involved in construction and construction supply for for almost 30 years. Now the few options there are for employment are servicing all those transplanted people in one way or another, which I'm sort of in now in a backhanded way because I figured out when I recovered from my back surgery and was ready to go back to work that it worked out better economically for us both and quality of care wise for me to take care of my mom, who has dementia, full time. Or I could have gone completely broke maybe working part time somewhere if I could find something while my mom went broke in six months paying for full time care. Turns out I'm cheap compared to professional aids.

woberto Report This Comment
Date: March 08, 2012 08:39PM

Quasi & Kim, I've been through both situations (minus the back surgery) and I'm not even 40 yet. The economy sucks but you just have to be determined or smart. Don't give up. If all else fail, join the Amish.

quasi Report This Comment
Date: March 08, 2012 09:51PM

If worse comes to worst I know where there are ready supplies of wild deer & hogs so I won't starve. Even if I get caught poaching on the preserves I'll get three meals & a cot in jail.

pro_junior Report This Comment
Date: March 08, 2012 10:11PM

"join the Amish" - that's fucking funny

Kim, wow that sucks, I'm really sorry to hear that..from what little I know of you, it would seem as though you didn't deserve that...what I mean by that is bad things shouldn't happen to good people..same goes for you quasi, berto I think you're probably a good person too, you just don't like to let it show that often

I lived near an Amish community in Minnesota mid to late '80's..nice people, kept to themselves, etc...I remember some boys being arrested for breaking and entering, not to vandalize or steal, they just wanted to watch teevee
they can use fones and other modren technologies if it is necessary.. i.e. if they operate a furniture making business, they can use the telephone to order lumber deliveries or to call a customer and let them know their table is ready for pick-up, but they couldn't use that fone to call the wife at home to say they would be working late..

the only issue I have with the Amish is their mode of transportation...I respect their belief to roll around in a horse and buggy instead of a car, well let's face it, they wouldn't have a car, it would be a van...but anyway, I've seen up close and personal what happens when Amish buggy meets Kenworth W900 and its pretty well fucked. I blame the government...our roads should be much wider, not just for the Amish, just because...if you dont agree then you've probably never had to change a flat on the shoulder of a highway...

quasi Report This Comment
Date: March 08, 2012 10:24PM

According to the documentary I saw, each Amish community makes it's own rules regarding modern conveniences and though they all tend to stick with the old ways some communities do allow a few things that others don't. For anyone who wants to see the program, I saw it on PBS, American Experience I believe, and it's probably available online through PBS.org.

Note: Not only do I still have dialup internet, I also have only broadcast TV. I'm not Amish but I'm not one to have all the most up to date things either, especially in my current financial state.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/2012 10:27PM by quasi.

BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 01:26AM

A lot of good people have fallen on very hard times through no fault of their own, myself included. We're doing without a lot but ok.

I really feel for those worse off than we are.

quasi Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 01:57AM

Amen, Blah. My situation isn't the greatest but I consider myself lucky. And all four of my kids are doing well which is a big load off my mind, though I still worry about them - I don't guess that ever stops.

BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 02:16AM

I don't expect worrying about your kids ever stops. Part of parenting. They might be all grown up but to you (and them) you're still their daddy. Always will be.

Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 04:38AM

Many thanks for the kind comments above. Life can be difficult and certainly challenging, but hell, that's 1/2 the fun, iddn it?

After having been married/divorced 3 times now I view this similarly since it's just another "starting over" exercise. At least this time I made it out with more than I managed from my marriages!

All in all I came away with a 48' shipping container crammed full of tools/equipment, car parts and personal belongings along with a 2 BR mobile home I purchased several years ago, my daily driver Plymouth Laser, a Dodge pickup I traded for my old Hyster forklift and 3 project vehicles, so .... it definitely could have been worse all in all.

I've spent over a month trying to set up the new Casa de Steele here in the sticks but must say all in all I truly appreciate the new location for many varied reasons.

My B-in-law and I are great friends and this move has allowed me to get much closer to my sister and nieces too, which is great. My B-in-law and I have planted a huge garden and are hopeful these efforts will be rewarded with a crop of goodies, provided the coming summer isn't as brutal as was the last one here.

I'm exploring several options in regards to employment/income while I clean up for the good ole urinalysis requirements for such an undertaking, but, better to pass a test than fail one, so ... it's off the left handers for a while ;(

woberto Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 09:23AM

Life is pretty simple.
You just need to get on with it.
You don't get any reward for getting on with it
but most people just do it anyway.
We seem to be the minority these days however.

jgoins Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 12:04PM

Well I am grateful for the fleamarket for the last 25 years which has supplemented my disability and allowed us to survive on a weekly basis. When the economy gets bad fleamarkets get better with people trying to save money, if only they would stop using plastic so much at Wally World.

woberto Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 01:08PM

Running your own business or being a contractor can be pretty good. But it means that you invoice your customers for goods and services provided. When the economy slows, just try and get those invoices paid, it's almost impossible. Kim may relate. It sent me broke a while back. Good guys absolutely finish last in the real world.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 02:12PM

from what Kim's told me, there are some serious piece of shits in the printing machine resale b-ness.

how much did your buddy get scammed on that deal Kim? $250,000?
i'd be payin' that fuck a 'lil visit.

Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 02:35PM

Oh yeah, working for myself is MUCH more appealing than the idea of working for anyone else. The older I've gotten the less I am inclined to want to take orders from those who typically know less about what I'm doing than I myself do.

While it would be nice to have someone else worry about the bottom line, makin payroll and all such things I still prefer to pilot my own boat. At least that way I'm still workin with an asshole for a boss, just one I can better understand

Invoicing and getting paid can absolutely be 2 very different things when times are good, even worse when they're bad, and although the news keeps tryin to coddle us into thinking things are gettin better here, I am less than sure that's anything resembling the truth.

With well over $100k of outstanding invoices, had I been able to have gotten paid on all my accounts receivables I would have been able to make it for another cuppla years on just those funds. However, when your customers are themselves hangin on by slim threads and many dropping like flies it's really hard to get paid.

The printing industry in the US has been on a slow downward spiral over the last decade, with the smaller Mom & Pop operations (which many of my customers were) in an even steeper decline. The little fish are gettin eaten up by the bigger ones and even in many of the larger shops employees and management alike have had to take salary cuts and wage freezes as a way of life as the industry as a whole tries to survive.

Like fossil mentioned there are also scammers aplenty in the used equipment business, so many in fact that my Mom and I kept an ongoing file of them that was passed around to our friendly competitors in efforts to minimize such stuff occurring to us and our friends in the business. And yeah, one of my buddies got submarined by a scammer for a 1/4 of a million on just one deal which most likely will drive him outta business too, a business he's had for like 20+yrs now, sad indeed, but just one of the many such stories I know in the industry as a whole.

While I'd absolutely LOVE to open up a hot rod shop I know this is impractical as very few actually make it for long and most don't even last any longer than it takes to run through the owners savings. The typical customer comes in, picks your brains on what he wants to do, the parts he'll need to get there with, then hits the net, buys it all and does it themselves, or tries to. Not exactly a rosy scenario for a shop owner. Even my old shop, Bar None Motorsports was an enterprise the 5 of us did in addition to our fulltime jobs.

Meh, still kickin some ideas around and seein what's available here locally but the local economy is mostly tourist based and seasonal to boot, with very little industry per se. I could commute 45-50 miles each way and find work in Ft. Worth but that's not very appealing either.

Luckily my personal expenses are really low so my salary requirements are equally low which allows me latitude in what I chose to undertake. Maybe I'll just say "Fuck it" and become a Walmart greeter





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2012 02:44PM by Mrkim.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 02:47PM

"welcome to Walmart asswipe"

pro_junior Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 06:24PM

sounds like your sisses place has plenty of room to start the 613 commune...looks like I'm going to lose everything too...my story is a little different though...the only thing I did wrong was get injured on the job.

BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 06:40PM

Man I sure feel for you PJ, also for you other fellows that have fallen on hard times.

I'm not so sure I'd want to try communal living (again) but people do what they have to in order to survive, it's the real Prime Directive.

I too have a horrible tale I could relate to y'all but it's damn near a book with lotsa bullshit of getting fucked over by "the man" in different ways that culminated in me getting laid off from a career job I held for ten years (and I was fantastic at it BTW) by HR manipulation based on my age and health. Can't prove it.

I'm almost 60 now and no one will even give me an interview anymore. Age discrimination? You fucking bet it is. Pass any fucking law you want to about that but it isn't gonna make one goddamned bit of difference. Those assholes find ways around it. They've got it down to a routine now.

woberto Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 09:32PM

I wouldn't hire someone who's application read...
Name: Blah blah blah

BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 11:44PM

I wouldn't hire someone who couldn't spell their name right, so we're even.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: March 09, 2012 11:58PM

don't make fun of his lisp.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2012 11:59PM by fossil_digger.

BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 10, 2012 12:20AM

Thatth not a lithp. Ith a diffewent type of thpeech impediment called a thound thubthtitthion, thiwwy wabbit.

woberto Report This Comment
Date: March 10, 2012 12:21AM

You bunch of wascles!

BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 10, 2012 01:58AM

I thpewwed it wwong. Thubthtituthion. Thewe. Aww bettew now.

We know a woman named Kristy who has the r=w substitution problem. We call her "Kwisty".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2012 01:59AM by BlahX3.

Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: March 10, 2012 03:17AM

One of the Exs had a very unusual speech problem. She pronounced "chimney" as "chimeley". Dunno WTF it was 'cause she could say "Chim" and "nee" separately but when she put it together she could only say it as "chimeley"!

Bah, the bitch was a certifiable psycho anyway, so that was the least of her problems, or mine with her for that matter

BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 10, 2012 03:44AM

Fez on That 70s Show did the same thing with Amelica.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2012 03:51AM by BlahX3.

pro_junior Report This Comment
Date: March 10, 2012 05:32AM

I know two people that say "chim-ley", they don't know each other, they both grew up in Minnesota...although I dont know if that has anything to do with it as I grew up in MN too and I say chimney...

jgoins Report This Comment
Date: March 10, 2012 12:06PM

In today's economy one has to do whatever it takes to survive. I cruise yard sales and buy stuff cheap and sell higher at the fleamarket. I wouldn't suggest everyone do this because it isn't as easy as it sounds, dealing with idiots who think they can get it cheaper at Wal-Mart is difficult. Even with all the problems I truly love it. It keeps me out and I get to meet lots of people and visit with friends, winter is rough but summer is fantastic.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: March 10, 2012 01:48PM

if you wanna take a ride some day, Canton Texas First Monday might be worth a road trip sometime.

let me know if you are going, i love that damn place and am always trying to talk someone into going with me besides the O.L.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2012 01:52PM by fossil_digger.

jgoins Report This Comment
Date: March 11, 2012 11:27AM

I have always wanted to see the Canton market but unfortunately I seldom get farther than 20 miles from home. It is one market you can't see all in one day.

BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 11, 2012 04:13PM

It looks like an awesome market. That could make a fun weekend but I hate crowds.

I think it's cool you guys are recycling other people's throw away stuff and making a few bucks doing it.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: March 11, 2012 04:27PM

i'm a buyer not a digger.....no wait....

BlahX3 Report This Comment
Date: March 12, 2012 03:05AM

That guy ain't a strict Amish anyway. In the original picture he is wearing a white shirt with buttons. Amish do not use buttons. Buttons signify adornment and self-pride to them. They use hooks and eyes to fasten their clothing instead. As is the Amish way, choose the most labor intensive method to accomplish the task. Amish don't pose for pictures either.

woberto Report This Comment
Date: March 12, 2012 08:32AM

Who said he was Amish?

quasi Report This Comment
Date: March 12, 2012 09:21AM

Yep, he could be a Mennonite (of which the Amish are an offshoot) or a member of the part of Church of the Brethren (my own roots) which still dresses simply & similarly to the Amish and are called the "Old Order Brethren" by the more progressive branch of the church. My mom had cousins in the Old Order who dressed liked this but had all the modern conveniences. The Mennonites and Brethren are all a peaceful bunch and not in your face at all. I brought up the Amish because of the documentary I'd seen and the similarity of dress.

jgoins Report This Comment
Date: March 12, 2012 11:15AM

Let's don't forget the Jehovah witness the most pushy group. What do you guys say when they come to the door?

quasi Report This Comment
Date: March 12, 2012 12:14PM

For a few years I've had a notice on my door that says, "Absolutely NO SOLICITORS commercial or religious" and on a couple of occasions I've seen the JWs walk up the driveway and then walk back down the driveway without knocking.

Only one time has anyone knocked (other than the neighborhood kids selling stuff for school who don't understand - they get a pass). A couple of months ago I heard the knock and went to the door expecting to see one of the neighbors or my son. It was one of those guys selling meat out of a freezer from the back of a pickup. I pointed at the sign and asked him if he could read and he says, "Yeah but we're not commercial, we're residential." I just glared at him and gave him my best Clint Eastwood "Get outta here" and he damn near ran to his truck which was almost worth the bother.

[plus613.net]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2012 12:56PM by quasi.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: March 12, 2012 01:35PM

i've got all y'all beat. my best friend of 30 years plus got out of prison about 10 years ago ( did 7 of 10 years ). this would be great except that the JW's got ahold of him and he "practices" his BS on everyone now. i was hoping it was just a ploy for good behaviour, but i was mistaken. we now have an understanding that if he as much as mentions Jehovah he's liable to wake up horizontal with a big headache.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2012 01:35PM by fossil_digger.

quasi Report This Comment
Date: March 12, 2012 01:58PM

The "born again" folks are usually the most obnoxious, especially if they were addicts or falling down drunks before.

Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: March 12, 2012 05:01PM

Reformers are quiters

quasi Report This Comment
Date: March 12, 2012 05:11PM

Years ago I was friends with a couple who were both drunks. One time when they separated I even gave them a hand getting back together because their only problem was that they were in the bag half the time. Then they got born again and basically substitued an addiction to preaching at every opportunity for their former addition to the bottle. Though I'm not much of a drinker and I am a Christian I liked them better when they were drunks.

jgoins Report This Comment
Date: March 13, 2012 11:28AM

"born again" smokers are just as bad as "born again" religious.