what's it good for

On Oct 10, 2008, at :52 PM, xxxxxxxx wrote:


The Roomba/dust thing makes sense. I saw on its Web site that it can distinguish between wood floors and carpet and adjusts as necessary. Pretty cool. The next gadget I get, though, will be a clothes steamer. I detest ironing and try not to buy stuff that needs it, but we already have tons of shirts hanging in the basement that I haven't gotten around to ironing. A friend has a steamer and swears by its ease of use.


....excerpted....


And see, that's what I mean. You saying those things, most people just wouldn't. But you did, and it doesn't bother me, coming from you.



OK, your digestive tract info is completely wacky. Did the doc say that you're good to go or that you need to watch yourself? That's scary stuff. I take it you were born with parts in strange order? And you have a great memory. I'm thinking it wasn't Loretta Lynn. Maybe Tammy W.


I don't want to bring up bad memories, but can you tell me what happened to your dad? What did he used to do for a living?






To:
Subject: Re: ------
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 :31:16 -0500


yes, the roomba is pretty cool. the only problem is that a lot of people expect it to be something that it's not. for example, if you run it once and compare it to a vacuum, it's awful. -- but it's not the same thing. It's kind of like saying that an airliner isn't nearly as good as a steamer ship because it doesn't have staterooms.




re; the digetion stuff.. he didn't really know what to make of it. he just seemed surprised. there are a few issues of diet and so forth, but it was mostly things that I was already doing sort of naturally. basically, really fast digestion... and yes, I was born this way...




my dad did basically the same thing I do, only earlier in history, and better/more successfully. He died of his third heart attack at 56 years. He had his first bypass surgery when he was my age.



-- funny story: he actually died in a car wreck, but he'd been having severe chest pains for a few days, and hadn't seen a doctor about it, so... but anyway, he had a really cool wreck.. went off the highway at about 120mph, up over an embankment, flew about 100 feet up, and 500 feet forward, and landed flat upside down on top of a parked car. both cars were about 2 feet tall, and just flat. It was kind of cool, and if you had to pick a way to die, really, that's a pretty good one. He was lucky in a lot of ways...



--totally random aside (other than it involves people like my dad) ... have you seen mad men? it's great. I bought the dvds.




On Oct 10, 2008, at :45 PM, xxxxxxx wrote:



Any idea why he was going 120 mph? You're right, he was lucky, I guess. I'm glad that you're taking care of yourself. Heredity is a funny thing. Sometimes it means everything, sometimes not so much.



Nope, haven't seen madmen, only heard good things about it. We stuck on Survivor, The Office, My Name Is Earl and ER (last season). And Desperate Housewives (probably last season, too).



BTW, yesterday I Googled your address and if you look at the Street View, you can see your little orange car. If you Google our house, there's some random woman standing in front, getting her mail. Anyway, thought you'd get a kick out of seeing your car online ...







From:dave
To:xxxxx
Subject: Re:
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 :07:28 -0500



I think that when the heart attack hit him, he must have just slumped over, pressing down the accelerator in the process.. my stepmom was following behind him at the time. they were going to church, and for some reason were going different places afterwords.








On Oct 10, 2008, at :40 PM, xxxxxxx wrote:



More proof that church is bad for you. Are you a church-goer these days? Curious to know what you do/don't believe in. I'm/we're not church-goers. Not at all. Neither are my folks.





I also remember you teaching me how to change the oil in my car in the parking lot of your Emory Rd. apt., and watching you do your own several times. Always took a really long time and a six-pack or two ...








dave wrote:



I avoid church at all costs. it puts me to sleep instantly.



I have a pretty well informed and well thought out belief system (as you might imagine), but the short version is: I pretty quickly demonstrated to myself that if there is a god or some higher what not, then it's obviously demonstrable that he (it) doesn't want us wasting time going to church or anything of the sort. There is a set of things that is very obvious that shows us what we're supposed to do, hunger-eating, tired-sleeping, bored-fun, cold-warmth etc... but church isn't really on that list. xxxxx tells me that this is very Camu-esque, but I've never read that, so I couldn't comment. -- I think that I saw a bumper sticker that kind of sums up the whole thing: If god hadn't wanted us to eat beef, why did he make cows so tasty and slow?




Further: it's obvious that there is a built in block that all people have that prevents us from comprehending things that are infinite , --try to think about what happened before the beginning of time, or what was it that the big bang took place in), almost everyone gets faint, or an anxious uncomfortableness in this situation. -- and that peculiar block says that we're not supposed to be able to comprehend it, so why fight it. I figure that we should all just do our best to be good (in all the senses of the word) people, and hope for the best.



as an aside, and something that I came across quite by accident, but that turns out to be a key motivator behind some of the protestant religions (can't remember which exactly) but this particular bit of the bible was edited out of the catholic version, and some others. -- no lie, I found this by flipping open a bible in a hotel room while saying: "I bet everybody tries to start reading this at the beginning, and in the middle here is stuff that's more interesting" -- anyway, the chapter was paul's letters to the galatians, or just 'galatians' -- and the very first verse in there is easily summarized thusly: if any person or entity claims to be representing god, they are a false god and you should ignore them. trust yourself to see what god is, god has provided all the evidence you need in the world around you, and you should follow that true path, not letting the false prophets distract you. -- that's pretty good evidence, and a really good argument against church goers who are trying to convert you.




Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2008 :43:40 -0500
dave wrote:



This is the bit I was referring to:



I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

10Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

11I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

13For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15But when God, who set me apart from birth[a] and called me by his grace, was pleased 16to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was




xxxxx wrote:



I see. I suppose that since this was written only a half century after Jesus supposedly died, that it is referring to all other Christian denominations that came after and that its implications are thus less distorted than any that followed. One of my issues with the Bible (NT and OT) is that they were written by men, usually tens or hundreds of years after the fact, and you know what happens to memory when you try to write down what happened even last week. I tend to look at the Bible more as an elaborated account of history than a moral guide. And I just don't buy that you need God or Jesus or Buddha or whoever to tell you how to treat people decently and live a good life. The God of the OT is all fire and brimstone and in the NT all lovey-dovey. Just doesn't jibe. I'm agnostic but have been leaning more to the atheistic side as I age. But I just can't quite claim atheism, since I just don't know for sure. Do you believe in some sort of God, or higher being? And have you seen Religulous yet? Pretty good, if a little sensationalistic ...







dave wrote:




I don't really see movies. -- too impatient.



... I think you have assessed the problem with the bible that I'm trying to point out... i.e. it is not divine, and doesn't even claim to be. so much so that there are writings in it that explain that it isn't. therefore: any religion based on it is intrinsically flawed. It is demonstrably useless.



I spend a lot of time on analysis of life and cognition and purpose and morals... really just a side effect of what I do in life. ... but two things: I suspect that there is some reason or purpose... but: as I said before; we're obviously expressly wired to not be able to figure it out. whether this is because it's just impossible, or whether we were 'designed' this way is irrelevant. the point is that in either case it's a waste of time to bother with 'god'. demonstrably/ provably, there either isn't a god, or there is a god and he doesn't want us thinking about god.




I think though that you do need some sort of guiding purpose, you need to have a framework, and I see that a lot of people can't be bothered to put enough time into this. So I understand why there are religions. and the fact is that almost all of them have a common set of values between them, and those tend to agree with common sense too. so i's ok that there are religions, I just think that more people need to actually follow theirs, rather than trying to make other people follow theirs.




dave wrote:
> Subject: before and after..
> Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 :32:51 -0500
>


> I can't remember who I was talking to about this, so I'm sending it to
> a blind list of everybody... anyway: here's the roomba.. -- go ahead
> and delete it if you aren't curious. there is a picture of some kitty
> litter on the floor below...
>


> this pair of photos illustrates a good example of why it's better/
> different than a regular vacuum. of course it does more mundane
> vacuuming things too, but in a picture, I think this shows why it's
> good-er.
>


>
> to look if you don't want to.. it's not terrible, just kitty litter,
> on the floor, but I'm trying to be sensitive..>
>


> that blue stuff is used crystal kitty litter... really awful smelling
> stuff that the cats kick out of the box (already absent, usually in
> that corner)
>


> -- imagine trying to get in there to clean it up.. under the tub etc..
>


> -- now imagine that times 3 litter boxes..
>


> --every day..
>


> -- plus all the shed fur, and shredded toy mouse carcasses cleverly
> hidden under the couch, plus all the normal stuff that you vacuum for..
>


> and it's all taken care of every day.
>


> the floors are always clean. as if we had a live-in maid.
>


> and more... -- totally worth it.
>
>


>
>