Trayvon Martin

[GSGregg]

Looks like it's time to put a bunch of choices into a hat and draw a new name for this thread. Until then, however, how about all the wonderful things that E-85 will do to the fuel system of any car not designed to store it over a long timespan.....

My 48-year-old rumbler is hitting the road again soon, and ethanol was somebody's wet dream when the car was new. Luckily, any plastic or rubber components are nice, simple, cheap off-the-spool hose that's easily replaced.

Now, who's supplying the hat? And just for you, Elton:
:D

 

[Coil_Smoke]

GSGregg, I'm wondering why E-85 fuel is on your mind. My Chevy Suburban Can run on that 85% alcohol blend. What are the odds of ever seeing that stuff on USA'S East Coast. I think our fuels have 10% ethanol added.

 

[GSGregg]

My across-the-street neighbor stays up on this stuff because he flies a Cessna (150, I think) and doesn't want the gov't putting that crap in his av-gas. Also, he started selling off his gasoline-powered vehicles and picked up a 2003 VW TDI because "they wouldn't dare" put that crap into diesel. (He likes the 50+ MPG, too)

Most of my fuel concerns center on how to find sufficient octane for my 'nailhead' Buick without going bankrupt; however, increased water absorption, or maybe 'affinity' as E reaches out and grabs it from the air, could have long-term effects on a plain-steel tank.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

@elton,
i appreciate the effort, but if people can't find some level of common ground then it's not going to be much of a discussion. plus, i've already debated the hell out of those topics years ago and have pretty much moved on.


the truth is i'm bored with my current collection of online joints at the moment. i applied to a new one the other day, but it looks like they want me to renew... bloody $60 or whatever just to use their crappy old forums for half a year. we'll see.


i'm also a little bitter about sleepy leaving after (apparently) meeting a little resistance on a hot topic. saw that coming a mile away and still couldn't do excrement about it... damn.


i'm also pretty bored of the same old topics around here. video games... cars... some light topic that goes a few posts and then peters out. i dropped by the VPU chatroom last night and it was the same deal. my browser did happen to crash as i was trying to be hang around patiently, but i had no motivation left to re-log.


the last five years my parents both died, and a lot of emotion, soul-searching, and yes, new growth, have come out of that. i moved to a new city, started over in everything seemingly... not the least of which is friends and support system. i started a new kind of physical therapy (kinesiology), completely changed my diet, and took up a sport at the tournament-level that i hadn't played in a decade (table tennis).

i took up buddhism and meditation as part of my overall practice / belief system (which has no name of course since it's a synthesis). i also took some extended hard looks at myself, decided i wasn't happy with some of my thinking patterns and behaviors, and have been actively working on re-wiring myself... something which is finally starting to pay dividends after a solid year of work. oh, and after two decades of confusion and physical downward spiral, i made one last push with the medical community and got a pretty decent understanding of what my long-standing physical issue is which makes doing 'ordinary' things such a PITA for me.

two years ago when i was in peru i got sick like never before... had a swollen stomach, high fever... made out my will... wrote a goodbye to a girl i loved. made my peace with the cosmos and didn't expect to wake up.

understanding my past history in terms of how it shaped me in to the person i am today was also a huge project of recent years. completely humbling and humiliating, but more and more liberating and enlightening.


anyway, i do rattle on... but point is, i like talking about real shit that matters anymore.

science / history / neuroscience especially / philosophy / being a good listener / helping when i can / life issues.

i don't mind being 'one of the boys' to a certain extent, but death comes for us all, and i want to get on with things.

meh... i'm a strange guy, tho.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

oh, i forgot to mention that i'm not an unfriendly person to those i meet online or RL, but i also get bored a lot, run out of challenges / interesting conversations, and too often drink to amuse myself. almost anyone is fun to talk to when you're a bit high.

so it's amazing how many things i'm doing well these days... sort of all DELETED by that level of self-abuse. not even due to pain, but boredom.

you want to talk about a blooming idiot...

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

i'm cool with you all, but i believe in honesty and neverending self-development. like i said, i'm weird like that.


i know for sure that some of you are working on self-development, even just as side projects. i respect that.

 

[JonPurpleHaze]

You might be hurting sooner than you expected, happened to me, had a stoke while I was sleeping at the very young age (for strokes) of 42, it was 3 days before my wedding. We survived and got married 8 mos. later, I've never been overweight and was in great shape, discovered I had diabetes when I was in the hospital. We read our wedding announcement in the hospital, had a fine job that I couldn't keep due to balance issues.

I'm now on disability, making 1/5th of my salary, had no pension, lost a bunch of stuff.

 

[Coil_Smoke]

.......???......

Post Deleted By Coil_Smoke

 

[lionheart88]

Wasted Life

Hi all,
My name is Jeff and I am an addict, what kind of addict you may ask yourself, does that really matter? I struggle day in and day out, it seems hopeless at times and I often ask myself why do I continue to live like this with an addiction and chronic pain, yes that's right I also have chronic pain so long as you define every waking moment I'm constantly in pain then yes I have chronic pain. It all goes back to my addiction though, I mean I brought this pain on myself when all of my bad habits, my addiction finally caught up to me 2 years ago, up until then I thought I could get away with it all, really just not caring what happebned right, I mean I must not have cared or I wouldn't have done this to myself. I am to blame for my chronic pain and yet somehow that wasn't enough to cure me of my addiction, cure that's an impressive word don't you think? Can my addictions be cured, my chronic pain even? Well according to the myriad of doctors the answer to the later is a big fat NO. That's right I've been told by them all that once the damage is done it's for life. I don't accept that, it can't be, ok so from what I've researched on the internt it may be true but maybe i'll be the first in history to overcome this pain and I can share it with the world. Oh what's the point, it's useless, I'll never be able to overcome this if I can't beat my addiction, afterall many years of self abuse to my health is what has caused me to be in this situation after all. In truth I never expected to live beyond 55 anyways based on family history, my dad died at age 54, his dad at 56 and his dad 57 and here I am at the age of 42 feeling already beaten down by life. You see I know I could change, I want to change but I guess I am afraid of change because I use every excuse in the book to not change. I give into my addiction without hesitation, ok I do hesitate but it's just a quick thought as my mind trys to decide between right and wrong, good and evil and my addiction always wins so I deserve to suffer right? I mean this is what I've done to myself, no one has ever made me do anything against my will so I only have myself to blame.

Cause and Affect
What I believe is that as a living human being we are presented with choices everyday and we may not know it at the time but a choice you make today can affect your life tomorrow, well that's pretty obvious right? I mean if it's a big enough choice, like for example if I had chosen to treat the love of my life better then maybe we'd still be together. I also believe we inherit certain traits that make us make bad choices, I mean how else do you explain the long list of bad choices I've made in my life and continue to make even though I'm aware I just can't stop myself. Not every choice is bad though, I mean I made a choice 18 years ago to apply for a job and here I am 18 years later with a pretty good job, stressful but better than alot of the jobs out there. That job is now in jeopardy because of my downhill spiral into the abyss that seems to be slowly pulling everything in around me but do you think i'll do anything about it. We I could try again for the umpteenth time to make a stand against my addiction and I might even overcome it again like I've done so many times in the past only to regress, SOS, Wash, Rinse Repeat.

The Reality
As bad as that all seems those are just some of the negatives in my life, there are of couse the positive things as I mentioned the job, many people don't have a job and I've been fortunate enough to have had a steady job since my teenage years. I love where I live and I'm grateful everyday for the freedoms we have in this country. I've had a very dependable vehicle ( go chevy) for the past 15 years, it has about 350,000 miles on it and I've never had any major trouble or repairs needed so who knows how much longer it will go but if you've ever owned a lemon then you'll know how grateful it is to own a vehicle that is dependable. After reading about some of you guys I'm much more grateful I'm not facing some of the adversity you guys have to face.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

The End Is Always A New Beginning - Pinball Nirvana Forums

 

[sleepy]

I'm going to revisit this topic.
The one thing that really got to me was in reading this article.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...nity-was-on-edge-before-trayvon-shooting.html

It was the story of Olivia Bertalan and the attempt by burglary suspects to enter her bedroom, apparently, and that Zimmerman's then-wife was responsible for helping to arrest the Bertalan suspects. A year or so later in testimony, Rachel Jentel states that Trayvon referred to Mr. Zimmerman as "a rapist cracka".

Now maybe somebody bugged her phone that night, or that she told her story to the cops prior to this article and became part of a smear campaign against Trayvon, but if the cops are clean, the burglary occurred well before the testimony and, I have to say it, calling Zimmerman "a rapist cracka" doesn't make a lot of sense. "A cracka" may refer to "a cop of sorts", but "a rapist" may refer to the previous case, apparently unrelated to Trayvon.

I have to consider the kid, where his drugs were coming from, and the possibility of gang-related activity. Stating in court the phrase "rapist" may have been vendetta-related to Mrs. Zimmerman and the "unrelated" arrests.

I also take issue with the idea that innocent people are Not Allowed to follow suspects??? People Do Have the Right to defend their home, their block, their property, and to follow suspicious or UNCOOPERATIVE, VIOLENT PEOPLE who then run away from them, though they Do Not have the right to use excessive force. Only necessary force.

During that time, I was walking down to the 7-Eleven and, outside the apartments out on the street, I was counting the number of cars with smashed windows. Three, four, five. Crime is a bitch, and any help is appreciated.

 

[LeeVanCleef]

I also take issue with the idea that innocent people are Not Allowed to follow suspects???

Yes, you are correct. Innocent people are not allowed to follow suspects. I worked for the Wichita Police Department for almost nine years. In that time, I helped a lot of officers prepare community policing and neighborhood watch presentations. And the most important rule in neighborhood watch participation, one that the officers go over more than once in each presentation to make sure that everyone hears it and understands it, is that a citizen should avoid, at all costs, any confrontation with someone they suspect has committed a crime. That's when you're supposed to call 911. In fact, the 911 operator specifically told Zimmerman not to follow or confront Mr. Martin. But he did it anyway. He did exactly what he was told and trained not to do. Officers truly appreciate citizens who take an active role in preventing crime in their neighborhoods. At the same time, they have nothing but disdain for someone who acts like they're John Wayne.