bl8tant

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Everything posted by bl8tant

  1. If you like accents, you should jump on iTunes and grab the free "Coffee Break Spanish" or "Coffee Break French" podcasts. The instructors have really heavy Scottish accents, and they're a blast to listen to.
  2. Sure, there would probably be some knuckleheads who would decide that the (low) probability of paying $5000 once was better than the 100% probability of paying $75/year. Those are the same people who don't buy fire insurance in the first place. Even with the sob stories, I still think this would be a better alternative than just letting the place burn down to the foundation.
  3. This might have been my favorite talk of the entire conference. I hope we'll be hearing more from Elder Kearon in the future.
  4. There's already a precedent for this kind of thing: rescue services. If you get lost in the backcountry, or have a mishap at sea, people will come try to save you, often at the risk of their own lives. If they succeed in rescuing you, oftentimes you'll get a bill. I would argue that, because the homeowner offered to pay whatever the firefighting cost, the fire department should have put out the fire, then sent him a bill. I'd bet that he would have paid it. That solves all the problems in one go: the homeowner didn't have his house incineratedthe fire department's actual expenses were coveredhomeowners who choose not to pay the $75 are put on notice that, if they need fire services, they will be much more expensive than $75Does that seem like a reasonable alternative?
  5. Welcome to you both: welcome to the site to Jacqueline (lovely name btw), and welcome curtishouse to the church!
  6. I think it would be way more fun to just make up your own and submit it.
  7. Welcome! That's very exciting, and I'm glad that you've found us.
  8. Interesting. I was listening to him on my phone, so I didn't see any facial expressions or anything. He did seem to speed up a bit, though. I wonder how often / how much speakers for general conference rehearse? Some speakers seem to be very uncomfortable (like poor Elder Arnold Sunday afternoon), while others, like dear President Hinckley or President Uchtdorf, are able to ad-lib seemingly at will.
  9. I thought so too, Snoozer. I expect there to be multiple warnings about immorality and porn at each conference, but I was struck by the detailed warnings against prescription drug abuse. Overall I think the theme that I noticed the most was that of agency. President Monson dwelt on it at length in his priesthood session talk, and there was related discussion in many of the other talks. My vote for "best talk," though, goes to Elder Kearon, who I'd never heard of. What an awesome talk that was!
  10. Without descending into Kremlinology, I also note that the relative emphasis given to each of the 14 points by the two brethren who mentioned them is probably worth some pondering and study.
  11. OKCupid.com is, um, not really LDS-oriented, let's just say. However, they do a *fantastic* job of giving you tools for finding compatible people, plus a lot of customization. If you list yourself as Christian, though, your odds of matching most of the site denizens will drop sharply. I've spent some time both on ldsmingle and ldsplanet. Of the two, I much prefer the site interface on ldsmingle. LDSplanet has very few searchable fields, limited ability for you to customize your profile, no group chat (at least that I can find), and a terrible mail system. (Example: want to view messages you've sent? Too bad, you can't).
  12. It depends. If you're storing food for one person, you can buy lots of small (8-16oz) cans and put them into various places. For example, I think IKEA sells blocks that you can use to raise many of their beds; put one in each corner and you'll get an extra few square meters of space. Even if you can't store a year's supply, I encourage you to store whatever you can. Good luck!
  13. That's because the Acadians were too uppity for both the French and British, so they all got deported, and many ended up in Louisiana. Since then we have developed our own brand of (incompatible) French, as well as our own (really excellent) brand of cooking. Yay Cajuns!
  14. I got divorced because I was not careful enough about selecting someone who would be a good long-term companion. Alternate explanation: I got divorced because I was too immature to think through exactly what I was doing and the reasons for why I was getting married. (but I still like "I got divorced because my ex is a jerk" as an explanation too!)
  15. I'm fluent in French and am learning Spanish thanks to the fine peeps over at livemocha.com. True story: the Liahona is a super way to maintain your reading fluency in whatever language you speak. It has a nice range of articles, from stuff for primary kids all the way up to talks/articles by GAs. I found the Book of Mormon in French to be tough sledding because of the archaic verb tenses, but it sure broadened my vocabulary!
  16. Hmmm. I'll go out on a limb and say "it depends." The court can order that someone voluntarily enter a treatment program as an alternative to jail. I'd guess that the court order typically says something like "you must go to rehab programs X, Y, or Z", so that the perp has a couple of options. Failure to comply with the order would be contempt of court, which could get the perp thrown in jail. Just as with child support or other kinds of legal judgment, inability to pay can be a defense but only if you bring it to the court's attention.
  17. And if you don't stop judging me like that I'm going to make you tap out.
  18. Are you accepting job applications? I keep hearing that there are lots of single LDS women in Europe, and with five weeks vacation... well, let's just say that's about four weeks more than I get to take now.
  19. Thanks for drawing that distinction, JD. I think of Ultimate Fighting as barbaric: it is nothing more than violence for its own sake, with the most brutal participants winning the laurels. I contrast this with MMA, where there are rules and where brute force and aggression are not enough to win the day: you also must have solid technique and be able to come up with a strategy to overcome your opponent's strengths. As for your point about us becoming like the Romans: I keep meaning to read Amusing Ourselves to Death but haven't yet. I think it might be relevant.
  20. I think of what was said of Jesus: that he increased in favor with God and man. If you are spiritually growing, you will show an increase of Christlike attributes in your daily life. These will both draw you closer to the Lord and His son and to your fellow men.
  21. Pam, there's a service called ScanCafe-- you buy a box from them, fill it with photos, and mail it to them. They scan the photos, doing minor correction (removing scratches, red-eyes, etc) and return the scanned photos and originals to you. It might be worth looking into. I use a service called DropBox to store all my important work files, personal photos, and other things I don't want to lose, along with a different service called Evernote to keep scanned copies of important things like birth certificates. If I had to get the heck out in a hurry, I'd want my laptop bag, my go bag (pistol, ammo, GPS, ham radio, and other emergency goods), and I'd be set. Anything more than that would be gravy.
  22. I worked from home for 12 glorious years and would love to return to being able to do so. It is really hard to separate work and home, though, and it's good that you're trying to draw more of a bright line between the two. Does your business give you time during the day when you're not working? If so, perhaps an inexpensive shoji screen (or, heck, even a drop cloth) that physically hides your desk or other office stuff might help make the switch between Work Liz and Home Liz easier. To the extent that you can keep all the work in one room, that would help, too. Depending on the nature of your business, is it something you could occasionally do outside the home? For example, can you write (or create web pages, or whatever) from the local coffee shop/Panera Bread/etc? If one of you can occasionally work someplace else that will help provide a bit of quiet for whoever stays in the apartment, plus they can bring a snack back :) Good luck!
  23. I can't answer for anyone else, but I became an MMA fan after I started learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It may not look like it to the untrained eye, but there's actually a lot of technique involved in an MMA bout. The goal is not to inflict pain on your opponent just to be mean, and so I don't have a problem with it. (But then I'm by no means qualified to act as an example for anyone else, so take my lack-of-problem with an appropriately-sized grain of salt.)
  24. Ahlan wa sahlan, Mousa. There are two articles from church magazines that I think may be of interest to you: "A Latter-day Saint Perspective on Muhammed" "Islam and Mormonism— A Comparison" And of course, you can always ask us whatever questions you may have!