The $46 seat-belt summons was fair-enough, and like it was pointed out,
the fault was entirely mine. However the contrast sure was ironic, and
sounded so much like my father's warnings.

Many of you have commented "...you're a nice guy for doing that", and I
thank you, but, I'm sure everyone else who replied would have done the
same. In fact, I bet *most* people would make the effort.

Earlier in the day, when discussing the find w/ my co-workers, they
poked me: "You know mike, that guy is going to call you and give you
hell, threaten you about making sure every dollar is there, demanding
you come to him and in a hurry..." And wouldn't you know it, that
actually started to go through my mind? I actually realized that they
could be entirely correct, that the other guy could have been a real
jerk.

But, just like most of you/us are decent honest "Finders", so are most
of the people who "Lost" something, and have the courtesy to show
sincere gratitude and accomidation. Other than the seat-belt ticket, my
faith in humanity was slightly uplifted today.

Thanks for posting this. Good point! My father was in the State Dept
that day overseeing the secure-communications channels and watched them
light up like christmas lights... he remembers the incident clearly.

Thats what my father always says. Even after 39 years, it never fails to
impress me how accurate the saying is. Today was no exception. I
mistakenly did my good deed for the day, and paid for it.

I was standing in line at Dunkin Donuts for my afternoon "kick start"
and noticed something on the ground. Picked it up, its a folded check.
There's money paper clipped to the check - someone was going to deposit
it all, and they dropped it. Wow. $200 cash and a check for another
$200ish. I ran after the guy before me thinking it must have been his.
It wasnt. I asked around in the store - nobody claimed it.

The issuer of teh check had their name and phone number on it, so I
called them. "Hi, I found this check that you wrote to Mr. Smith, he
dropped it here in Dunkin Donuts. Here's my phone number, have him call
me and I'll get it to him"

I returned to work - only 2 miles away. I could walk, it was so gorgeous
a day, but laziness overcomes me easy. I should have walked. When I got
to work, the man who lost the check called and was very happy to hear
about the check & cash. Apparently it had been laying on the floor for a
couple hours! Go figure. We agreed to meet back at D&D later in the day.

When I met him, he was an older guy, late 50s, maybe more. Very
grateful, very happy, offered me a 'reward', which I declined saying
"you're the kind of guy who would do the same thing right?" We laughed,
yapped, and I returned to work. I should have walked it was so gorgeous
a day...

About 1 block from the office a cop pulled me over for not wearing my
seatbelt. Here in NJ, the govenor was nearly killed in a wreck recently,
so they're having a state-wide crack-down on seat belt policy. I usually
wear it, but, it was just a short hop from the parking lot... Yeah yeah,
the cop heard that story a thousand times. Have a nice day sir, here's
your summons.

It cost me $46 to return the $200 & check. Just like Dad said 'no good
deed goes unpunished'! ha ha

many of the gnostic texts, and "scripture books voted out in 330AD"
spoke of 7 heavens. The same concepts appear in kabbalistic texts.

The rings of heaven are generally abstractions away from physical
reality towards the reality of God. Each ring requires a new awareness,
and a letting-go. An 'emergence' from one ring to another so to speak,
and it requires a struggle with an angel. In the kabbalastic texts the
struggles involve the ArchAngels, and the traits of the arch-angel gives
insight to the level of awareness required to pass. You are already
familiar with one of these incidents - Jacob wrestled with the angel and
was victorious [Genesis 32].

Paul writes of the 3rd heaven, as Paul was keenly aware of these "rings
of heavens" because they were part of the traditional bible teachings in
both the written and oral forms. However, much of that content was voted
out of the bible in 330ad at the Council of Nicea.

-Mike

Probably too late in the thread to be useful, but, I do say that if we
beleive something strongly enough it will come to pass, and thus, make
it real.

Case in point: In the 1930s there was no bomb that could level an entire
city. A group of men, a dozen or so, WILLED it into being. Think of it -
Einstein, Teller, Rutherford - working soley in abstract physics,
formulated and designed a nuclear weapon in their minds. In their
*minds*. They set to work in 38, and within 5 years the power of their
minds created the reality of the nuclear weapon.

Another case in point: Let us say that the Law of Moses was to be
followed until the Messiah arrived. The messiah would arrive when the
Law was "embraced and loved" by the very ppl it was meant to chastise.
And in that perspective, the arrival of Jesus was WILLED into being by
the observant Jews who loved the Law.

-Mike

I came to believe Christian because that is how I was called. I resisted
it, I questioned it, I have accepted it. If I were called to believe in
a jewish, or buddist, or other way, I would go through the same process.

I think most of us accept our faith because that was how we were called
to serve. This is different than "being raised catholic...or
protestant... or muslim" because 'being raised' is not the same as
really accepting your calling.

-Mike

This thread always seems to have a couple belly-aches per week about the
site "sukcing" or "I'm leaving" etc. While part of me says "tough
noogies - get lost", another part of me agrees with the common sentiment
about this site.

Here's what YOU and ME can do to make this site better:

1. If someone emails you, have the courtesy to say "no thanks", or "not
interested", or "your profile doesnt interest me in the slightest". No
reply is plain rude. If the email is at least polite, and looks like the
guy actually read your profile, have enough class to reply. Reply
accordingly - if your 25 and he is 40, say so "...you are too old", or
whatever is appropriate.

2. DONT send sexually charged emails. Please. This isnt grade school.
Sending un-wanted crap kills the site. No woman wants to see your
"massive wand of love". Have some class. You appear very childish if you
can talk trash only to strangers, and only through a keyboard. C'mon,
get a life.

3. If someone is emailing trash, or absolutely nasty for no reason, and
wont stop, then post it to one of the treads. Expose them for being an
azzhole. [I realize the JSH rules generally forbid this, but anyone who
is harassing another member is ruining the board - and should be exposed
for it]

4. Have some faith. If you see a profile, or a post, that seems
interesting, or reflects something appealing to you, then email that
person. directly. Go ahead, reply to that person. Give some trust - open
up a little, reach out and trade ideas with someone. Trust isn't ours to
keep, it only exists when given between two ppl.


Thats my ideas. What's yours?
-Mike

I liked all the replies. Interestingly, no one shared the same
bozo-advice as my friends. Everyone said "call politely-soon". I like
that.

I really expected that most of the replies would be along the same lines
as my bozo-brothers. Think I need some better friends! Ha ha

True story: A few years after high school I ran into my highschool
crush. We were good friends in high school, but, wow seeing her a few
years later was really intense. Fireworks.

Within a couple years we were married.

Then, um, within a couple years we were divorced.

Moral of the story? Some things are best left as "wish it would have
happened"

Left to its own devices, businesses would congregate all wealth into the
smallest possible concentration of persons. Nothing wrong with that.

However, on the path to that concentration of wealth comes the required
exploitation. Nothing wrong with that - so long as the parties are
knowingly agreeable to the exploitation. But, somehow corruption of
intent, failure to investigate, envy, greed and despair creep in and we
start to say "HEY! You shouldnt have EVERYTHING yourself", and start to
demand a "re-distribution" of that wealth. Nothing wrong with that
either - its a natural counter weight to the directive of a business.

That creates two masses that somehow need to find balance and co-exist.
There are oppurtunities and liabilities for playing either side.

The reason for the Democrats dislike of the Rep education initiatives is
based on the fact that local control and power over educational policies
will be over-ridden by the Rep initiatives. In other words, the policies
(including the obvious $, but, also, the self-direction which is
important) would start to centralize and become a "one-size fits all"
program. With the general governmental trend to "outsource", "privatize"
and otherwise "abandon" responsibilities to the private sector, the Dems
make a valid point: Its eventually leading to a commercial business,
which at its heart would be focused on the Govt contracts, not on the
well being of the students.

At least thats my thoughts. Personally, I think the Dems are running
scared on the issue.

I guess the same wisdom would apply to the bars of soap in the shower
stalls.

Hi Puffins,

Nah, I didnt forget. I pass through the hole of the WTC, literally -
right through the hole.

I'm also of the mind that heightened security checks dont really do
anything meaningful. The 9/11 islamo-facists didnt bring anything
"illegal" on the plane with them. Its been said that they might have
brought a box-cutter. Ok, so we block box-cutters now - wise thought.
Still, they gained control of the airplanes by muscle, not by weapons.

DaVinci,

Yeah, the "big brother watching" certainly came to mind. Interestingly,
they didnt ask for ID, they didnt open the bag. I sort of expected to
have to explain myself etc.

As I mentioned in a prev post, last night I was filming a show in NYC. I
had my bags w/ camera gear in it, and was on the subway. The subway car
started getting crowded, so I slid my bags underneath the bench seats so
that a few more ppl could sit down. I stand up to let a lady & her kids
sit down.

Within a stop or two, I've been muscled out of the way from my gear. Its
still under the seat-bench, and the train is so crowded that nobody is
going to touch it.

Or so I thought.

At the next stop, some Transit Workers hop on, reach for my bag and
start to make off with it. I call out "Hey!" they eye me up.
"This your bag?"
"Yeah - why?"
"Stay with your bags sir." and they left.

It amazed me that (1) someone was keeping an eye out for such things,
and (2) I had NO IDEA where that 'someone' was. There are no
'conductors' per-se on the trains.

All in all, it was pretty cool that they were so attentive.

So, this isnt the "normal" way poetry readings are done?

My normal manner is to call the next day. No worries on that. I was just
suprised by the seriousness of my friend's advice "wait 2 days... check
the position of the moon, look for low tides..." that sort of silliness.

They're not being "players", they were being serious. And I do hear
everyone's point about avoiding "games". Amen to that!

You meet a girl, ask for her number, she gives it. When is the "polite"
time to call?

Obviously, calling as soon as you get home is dopey.

Sometime the next day seems ideal.

But, a couple friends were saying thats probably not a good thing. They
say "if you got the # on a weekend, then you should wait till Monday.
That way you dont try to insert yourself into her existing plans"

Then they say, "if you got her # on a weeknight, then, you should
probably wait a full extra day."

There seems to be some sense in it. The way I see it: I usually call the
next day, at a casual time. For example, if she gave me her # on a wed
evening, I would call Thrs after work - so long as things were peaceful
and I could devote some time to the call. Otherwise, I'd absolutely call
the following day even if there was just a moment to talk.

What do you say? I would like to hear both ladies and men's opinions.

I wish my ex would find someone with the same personality as herself.
Hope she finds someone is all the things she felt I was lacking. Oh yes,
what a joy it would be to find that what you wanted isnt really what you
thought, and what you had was way more than what you thought.

Too many ppl treat emotional connections like stocks-and-bonds, assuming
that "desire=value". So long as they feel they are being "desired"
(meaning that you are willing to be 'committed') then they have
perceived themselves as "higher value".

All in all, its mind games played out by the insecure players.

Tell him the "limited time offer has expired. All terms are open to
negotiation" ha ha.