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The last time I addressed everyone on this forum, I said that I was broken. A little over 2 months have went by since that awful day...and I can now definitively declare that I am past being "broken"...I've been ground into dust. There are parts of me that will never be whole again in this system...because those parts simply no longer exist. I've been left sitting as a proverbial pile of dust...and no, I'm not feeling sorry for myself and I'm not being dramatic. I'm sharing this because after speaking with a trusted friend, an elder who has been with me through my years in prison to here and now today...I now am beginning to have a very different understanding of the word "dust"...and it has strengthened my faith immeasurably over the past few weeks. The scripture? Isaiah 57:15 "For this is what the High and Lofty One says, Who lives forever and whose name is holy: “I reside in the high and holy place, But also with those crushed and lowly in spirit, To revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of those being crushed." Dakah...crushed, pulverized, beaten down or ground down into dust! What a shocking word...what a visceral image that would have brought to mind for our ancient brothers and sisters. Total collapse... absolute vulnerability...sound familiar? It does to me...and that's why I'm formulating this post. These aren't just words on a page, not to me. This is weeks worth of shock, rage, humiliation, vulnerability, anger, hatred, sadness, fear and concern, loss of control...spilling out of a heart that has been crushed, pulverized , beaten and ground down...a heart reduced to dust. And yet...and yet, I'm still here. Emotional? Yes. At a loss for words sometimes? Definitely. Unable to move forward or backwards at times? Absolutely. Feeling tiny and vulnerable and sick to my stomach with worry and fear? Always. And yet...I'm STILL HERE! Why am I still here? Why haven't I blown away yet? Particles of me have scattered...individual dust motes of me have flitted away in the wind...I cannot retrieve them...and I cannot find the energy to chase them even if I could. So why am I still here? Dust...it's that simple. I'm dust, that's why I'm still here...here, let me explain. You see, I've always had a backwards understanding of dust, even though I've used it symbolically in my posts before, I never really stopped to take a good look at what it actually is...not to humans...but to Jehovah. Dust is not actually the end state of something...it's quite literally what Jehovah used to START human life. Dust scatters easily...and this isn't something I'm talking about from observation...it's something I've personally felt...something I've lived through...AM living through...currently. The wind comes along and WHOOSH!!...there it goes, up into the air...dancing around...lost and alone...helpless until the air settles down and it can land once again. I am dust...I've been picked up and moved along here and there...and yet...I'm still here...I haven't settled in some random place...I haven't been left to the mercy of chance or a good stuff breeze. Why?? Here's what the brother shared with me: My heart may be dust...but Jehovah's holy spirit is like that wind...it lifts up all those tiny fragments and gently carries it along with his chariot...protecting and shielding all the tiny bits of me that would otherwise be scattered and blown away. And JUST when I start to feel worthless...just when I start to feel like I should just give up and slip away, slip back into the darkness...Jehovah's glory lights up the tiny little specks that ARE me...and by that light...I start to glow and shine...just as real dust glows when hit by a sunbeam. So you see...I'm just dust...but that's okay, in fact it's the only reason I'm still here...because someone much much stronger and wiser than me...simply refuses to let me go.

Along those same lines, if anyone has a Toyota/Lexus, The Car Care Nut is the best YouTube channel to check out IMO. He worked as a master Toyota/Lexus diagnostic technician for 10 years or more and now operates an independent mechanic shop specializing in Toyota/Lexus repairs. He gives very good advice on how to take care of these cars and seems to value honesty. He also seems to do honest reviews of Toyota/Lexus vehicles.

Yes, me too. The dad is funny, and they make a good duo. Another good one is The Car Guy Chronicles With Zac. He's not humorous like they are, but he's been a finance manager for about 30 years and offers really good advice. If you’re talking about Scotty Kilmer, I like him too. His laugh and picture edits are hilarious.

All the dinosaurs died so that pretty much set a precedent that animals don't live forever Not to sound callous but I think pets will die in the new system also

I have been listening to him for years...and I like Scotty as well...very knowledgeable

do animals die in paradise?

I wasn't trying to contradict or one-up your comment, if that's what you were thinking. I was simply adding to or complementing it. You can email and text to inquire about a car without ever mentioning a trade-in, and bring your car in for them to appraise without ever bringing it up. That's what I did. I cleaned my car, filled up the tank and had screenshots of offers from Carmax and the Kelly Blue Book value.

But in paradise, animals still die....

I think that is a good thing to ask from Jehovah in prayer. . I agree, there's so much heartache in this system.

Me too, exhausted from convention which finished yesterday. It's been a real struggle in the lead up for everyone I know, but we made it!!

Me too, I’m still processing convention we finished yesterday, broadcasting will have to wait a week I think 😆 It’s true we have an abundance of spiritual food 🥰

Yeah. I do that. But yesterday while at the meeting I wanted a verse but the words I recalled were not unique. I just used "indescribable free gift" as an example. So I lost the verse and eventually I had to concentrate at the wt study so I lost what prompted that need to do the search. I like jotting down things I learn from the meeting when I want to do further research on the information. Thanks [emoji120] Sent from my moto g stylus 5G - 2024 using Tapatalk

This is where the model can make a big difference. I just conducted a test with 4 models GLM 5.2, Gemini, Sonnet and Chat GPT on 50 poem prompts. Using a few words from apparent poems and then each model trying to find the poem and author:- In summary, something like Sonnet will not guess and will be very low at hallucinating. Whereas Gemini will try to answer everything and hallucinate all over the place. GLM was overall more accurate than the others, getting more correct; however, it did get a few wrong. So again, you just need to check your results. Overall, AI can speed up a search for you. But making sure you give it a good input greatly increases your chance of getting a better, more accurate result. The task of finding a poem and poet from a few words is a very good test for finding out how much the model you use tends to hallucinate. It also goes to show depending on what model you use your view of AI could be radically different if you keep on getting junk answers rather than being told it doesn't know the answer.

Hmm. Maybe this won’t work. Here we go again. I came across a, “recipe”, for when your dog or cat has an encounter with a skunk. (Does not involve tomato juice!) I wrote it down, because when you need this, you need this! 1 Quart of hydrogen perioxide, (3%) 1/2 cup of baking soda, 1 tablespoon of dish soap. Lather it on a dry dog, (or cat) leave it on for 5 or six minutes.( until the smell is pretty much gone. Don’t get the solution on their face. You can use a spong delicately around face and ears. It will sting their eyes. Big dogs, you may have to multiply the solution. I heard of this, wrote it down. But I didn’t know if it actually works. It does! It was used by someone in our congregation. ̨ And, this was a house dog. (If you smell them really close, maybe a hint of skunk smell.

It is used for hand washing the dishes, not machine washing them

If you are dealing on-line, by email or text (like was mentioned earlier), how much gas a car has or how clean it is, doesn't matter. Do research first and know what your trade-in is worth before you deal with the salespeople. You can negotiate an equitable price for your trade-in if you know what it is worth and what you want for it.

Speaking of trade-ins, a former finance manager on YouTube said to always fill the gas tank to full before bringing the car you’re trading in to get appraised. That sounds counterintuitive, but the finance manager will look at your gas meter, and if it's close to empty, he'll conclude you’ve already made up your mind to trade it in and offer you less for it. Also, wash it. Don't bring it in dirty. You want them to see your car in its best possible condition and eliminate as many reasons as possible to lowball you.

I use many tools. Some of them include the adjustable wrench (Cresent Wrench), water-pump/slip-groove pliers (Channellocks) and vise-locking pliers (Vise-Grips). Each of these tools has a proper use: adjustable wrench: common complaints are that they don't hold very well and often slip off, tending to round off bolts and nuts water-pump pliers: common complaints are that they don't grip pipes very well and they can be hard to hold closed Vise-locking pliers: common complaints are that the damage the surface of what they are used on and can be hard to adjust However, when examined closely, it is often found that: people often use the adjustable wrench 'backwards' allowing the jaws to open when under pressure because they are being forced open instead of forced closed they were originally designed for use on water pump nuts used on early vehicles, not pipes and are not the same as a pipe wrench clamping vise-locking pliers too tight can make them hard to close and cause damage because they are not really a 'universal tool', they are a 'last resort' tool That said, when used properly, they work quite well. The same can be said of AI. They are tools. When used correctly - for the job they are intended, they can result in very good results. When used wrong, they can give as bad of results as using the above-named wrenches wrong. Does that mean that all the faults that occur with AI are 'user error' ... No. It also doesn't mean that all AI's are wrong 'all the time' and can't ever be trusted. Your results may vary - I've had both types of results ... far more good results than bad.

Sure. I’ve never sold cars, but I was offered a sales job when I was 22 that I worked for a little while. I’ve have had several family members who sold cars, so all I can do is offer my opinion of the pros and cons of being in the retail car business based on what they told me and what I know about it. I’ll send you a personal message tomorrow when I have more time.

Another tip is not to mention or discuss a trade-in until the OTD price has been established. That way you will be offered what they really think your car is worth instead of them building an inflated used car price into the cost of your new car purchase. Likewise, rolling over you existing loan into the new one only builds negative equity into your new car purchase.

Spoiler

I am aware of everything you mentioned, including the different types of “cash” purchases, since I've bought cars cash different ways. The point I was making was paying in full (Whether using actual currency, cashiers check, bank wire or personal check) is frowned upon as opposed to financing by dealerships. I wasn’t concerned with getting into the specifics of various forms of cash payments.