This entire time I stayed completely out of it, pretended not to be listening, until D did something unexpected. She turned to me, and said, "Do you agree with me?" Now, any sane person might have politely declined the invitation to join the conversation, but I'm not sane, nor polite, so I simply said, "No."
This startled her a little bit, which wasn't so surprising to me. She naturally followed up with, "Why not?"
I said, "I refuse to attempt to rationalize a loving God against the evil in the world, but instead simply disregard the premise it's built on. I don't believe that there is a God. This solves your dilemma simply, and to me, satisfyingly."
I don't think D took me as seriously as I had intended to be, because she said something along the lines of, "Oh you" and continued her discussion with T. They went on for a good while longer, until she said something that I just could not let slide.
They were discussing free-will, and D said something along the lines of, "We all make our own decisions, God just knows them in advance." If you had been inside my brain at the time she had said that you would have thought World War III was about to happen. Red alerts, sirens, flags, bombs exploding, my brain had just been assaulted by a nuclear anti-logic weapon, and I had to interject. "Uh, what?"
"Every decision that we make is our choice."
"I mostly agree, but how can it be a choice if God already knows?"
"He makes it your choice, him knowing doesn't make it less of a choice for you."
"You're saying that free will can exist in the face of predetermined destiny. You do realize those two things are INHERENTLY mutually exclusive, right?"
"No, not at all. You can have free will. Hold on, I don't think I'm explaining this right."
This is when I got uncomfortable, because she pulled out her phone and began a conversation with somebody. She repeated what she had said a few more times, after earning the approval of whoever was on the line, but I still felt like we were misunderstanding each other.
So she handed me the phone.
I was curious, "Hello?"
"Hi there. What is your question?"
I rephrased my question slightly, "How do you rationalize God's omniscience and still maintain that we have free will?"
We went back and forth, and I felt like neither of us were understanding, or listening to the other person, until finally she said, "God gives us the ability to chose, by not acting. You cannot say God is doing anything, and therefore it's still /YOUR/ choice."
"I respectfully disagree. Simply by that information EXISTING it invalidates your decision. It revokes its right to be called a choice, whether the information is accessible to you or not, is completely irrelevant."
"Child," she said, which raised my suspicion, " you cannot bring God to the human level to attempt to understand him. He is unexplainable."
This frustrated me. I responded, "That does nothing to further the discussion then. We can simply end the conversation on that note, and have gotten nowhere."
"There are many things that cannot be discussed, or understood by us, you must simply have faith."
At this point, I was just ready to get off of the phone. I said politely, "I see what you're saying. I appreciate your time. I'm going to give the phone back to D now, thank you again for taking the time to talk to me."
"You're welcome."
She hung up before I handed the phone back to D.
[Call Ended: Pastor Jill (Not real name.)]
I became flush. I had spent the last thirty minutes arguing with a Pastor and it hadn't even occurred to me. I thought she was just one of D's friends. Despite my embarrassment at not knowing, I beamed with pride. I felt like we had a cordial, albeit fruitless, debate.
The moral of the story? I don't know. The moment she brought faith into it I was no longer able to continue the discussion. I just thought I would share my amusing experience at work today. It's the first time I have ever been able to discuss theology with somebody who wasn't going to throw insults or become easily flustered, and it was a lot of fun.
It doesn't seem like I can specify whether or not this is for friends only. I may have to fix this.
Session Start: Sun Nov 30 20:57:27 2008
Session Ident: svetlauye
[20:57] Session Ident: svetlauye (freenode, ninwa) (n=helpp@88.238.25.36)
[20:57] (some turkish dude) hi ninwa
01[20:59] (ninwa) hello stranger
[20:59] (some turkish dude) help me
[20:59] (some turkish dude) javascript decode program name:(
01[21:00] (ninwa) javascript isn't a compiler language, why would you need a "decoder"?
01[21:00] (ninwa) compiled*
[21:01] (some turkish dude) 1 mýnute
[21:01] (some turkish dude) the example
[21:02] (some turkish dude) <script>document.write(String.fromCharCode(60, 115, 99, 114, 105, 112, 116, 32, 116, 121, 112, 101, 61, 34, 116, 101, 120, 116, 47, 106, 97,
[21:02] (some turkish dude) 118, 97, 115, 99, 114, 105, 112, 116, 34, 32, 108,
[21:02] (some turkish dude) 97, 110, 103, 117, 97, 103, 101, 61, 34, 106, 97, 118, 97, 115, 99, 114, 105, 112, 116, 34, 62, 10, 10, 10, 118, 97, 114, 32, 105
[21:02] (some turkish dude) ..... decode
[21:02] (some turkish dude) ým a lýttle speak englýsh ým sory do you understand me
01[21:03] (ninwa) one second
[21:03] (some turkish dude) oohh thank you
01[21:04] (ninwa) Those are just the decimal ascii values for the string, you can use this table and decode it by hand.
01[21:04] (ninwa) http://enteos2.area.trieste.it/russo/IntroInfo2001-2002/CorsoRetiGomezel/ASCII-E BIC_files/ascii_table.jpg
01[21:04] (ninwa) Or you could easily write a decoder, realistically you just need to cast each number to char.
[21:06] (some turkish dude) hmm
01[21:06] (ninwa) The beginning of that looks like this: <script ty ...
01[21:06] (ninwa) 60 = <, 115 = s, etc
01[21:06] (ninwa) here, one sec
[21:07] (some turkish dude) hýmm ý understand ... but ý am not programmer butý understood you :/
[21:07] (some turkish dude) I am looking for ready programme
[21:07] (some turkish dude) It* become in paid
[21:08] (some turkish dude) Turn, necessary,
[21:08] (some turkish dude) do you understand me
01[21:08] (ninwa) No need to pay for it, let me write something super fast, I'm sufficiently bored anyway
[21:09] (some turkish dude) okk
01[21:12] (ninwa) here
01[21:12] (ninwa) http://codepad.org/kff7XaCN
[21:12] (some turkish dude) yes
01[21:12] (ninwa) where $decode = "..."
01[21:12] (ninwa) replace ".." with all of your numbers
01[21:12] (ninwa) and it will print in the output
[21:13] (some turkish dude) oooo
01[21:13] (ninwa) enjoy
[21:13] (some turkish dude) 1 minute
[21:13] (some turkish dude) yesss perfectt
[21:13] (some turkish dude) 1 mýnute
[21:13] (some turkish dude) ým test
[21:14] (some turkish dude) language c c++ d haskell lua ocaml php perl
[21:15] (some turkish dude) which one
01[21:15] (ninwa) php
[21:15] (some turkish dude) ý want to write
[21:15] (some turkish dude) oke
[21:15] (some turkish dude) oke
[21:17] (some turkish dude) ninwa very very sory im bothering you
[21:17] (some turkish dude) ý entered codepad org
01[21:18] (ninwa) use the link I gave you
01[21:18] (ninwa) http://codepad.org/kff7XaCN
01[21:18] (ninwa) at the bottom where it says New Paste:
01[21:18] (ninwa) change the numbers in the $decode to match all the numbers you want, then hit submit
[21:20] (some turkish dude) ninwa...........
[21:20] (some turkish dude) thank you very much
01[21:20] (ninwa) no problemo
[21:21] (some turkish dude) oh
01[21:21] (ninwa) have fun!
[21:21] (some turkish dude) perfect
[21:21] (some turkish dude) where are you from
01[21:21] (ninwa) USA
[21:21] (some turkish dude) ým turkeý turkey
[21:21] (some turkish dude) how old are you
01[21:21] (ninwa) 20 :)
[21:21] (some turkish dude) wow
[21:21] (some turkish dude) ým..
[21:21] (some turkish dude) western unýon
[21:21] (some turkish dude) send money
01[21:21] (ninwa) Nope.
[21:21] (some turkish dude) you must accept
[21:21] (some turkish dude) 30$ send money
[21:22] (some turkish dude) name surname city please
01[21:22] (ninwa) If you want to send me any amount of money, you can use paypal, but I don't accept money from strangers typically. Especially wetern union :)
01[21:22] (ninwa) It's not safe.
01[21:22] (ninwa) You don't owe me anything, good luck and enjoy. :)
[21:22] (some turkish dude) translation ýmlng
[21:22] (some turkish dude) 1 mýnute
[21:23] (some turkish dude) yes
[21:23] (some turkish dude) ok ý understand
01[21:23] (ninwa) :)
[21:23] (some turkish dude) paypal buyýng lýnk
01[21:24] (ninwa) jbleau@gmail.com
[21:24] (some turkish dude) ým logýn
[21:24] (some turkish dude) paypal
[21:24] (some turkish dude) 1 mýnute
[21:24] (some turkish dude) ým
[21:24] (some turkish dude) rapidshare account new account buyýng for you
[21:25] (some turkish dude) do you want
01[21:25] (ninwa) Awesome! :) sure
01[21:25] (ninwa) fair deal
[21:25] (some turkish dude) ok
[21:25] (some turkish dude) ý understans
[21:25] (some turkish dude) 5 mýnute later
[21:25] (some turkish dude) ým
[21:25] (some turkish dude) buyýng
[21:26] (some turkish dude) rapidshare.com new account for you
[21:26] (some turkish dude) ok
[21:26] (some turkish dude) ok ým buyýng now
01[21:26] (ninwa) You really didn't have to do that, the program was no problem
01[21:27] (ninwa) but thank you
[21:28] (some turkish dude) no
[21:28] (some turkish dude) ým paypal logýn
[21:28] (some turkish dude) 2 mýnute
-
01[21:29] svetlauye is n=helpp@88.238.25.36 * hellplease
01[21:29] svetlauye on ##c++
01[21:29] svetlauye using irc.freenode.net http://freenode.net/
01[21:29] svetlauye End of /WHOIS list.
-
Session Close: Sun Nov 30 21:30:46 2008
Session Start: Sun Nov 30 21:31:56 2008
Session Ident: svetlauye
[21:31] Session Ident: svetlauye (freenode, ninwa) (n=helpp@88.238.25.36)
[21:31] (some turkish dude) jbleau@gmail.com
[21:31] (some turkish dude) 20$
[21:32] (some turkish dude) send money
[21:32] (some turkish dude) oke
[21:32] (some turkish dude) nýnwa
[21:32] (some turkish dude) send now
[21:32] (some turkish dude) Para gönderildi!
[21:32] (some turkish dude) $20,00 USD tutarýnda bir ödemeyi jbleau@gmail.com alýcýsýna gönderdiniz.
[21:32] (some turkish dude) Bu iþlem için size bir makbuz ve alýcýnýza bir e-posta gönderildi
[21:32] (some turkish dude) e-mail inbox login
[21:33] (some turkish dude) Joseph Bleau
[21:33] (some turkish dude) :)
01[21:33] (ninwa) :]
[21:33] (some turkish dude) thank you
01[21:33] (ninwa) no problem, thank you
[21:33] (some turkish dude) joseph
Session Close: Sun Nov 30 21:34:58 2008
A time-line:
Wednesday the 8th: I make two purchases, gas for $20 and food for $8.23.
Thursday the 9th: I make two purchases, a $1 deli sandwich and a $2 slice of pizza, separate debits, same facility, within the same hour.
Friday the 10th: I deposit $152 cash. It prints a receipt: "Available Balance:" $212. I then make a bill payment of $130.
Remaining available balance? $82 right? Haha. No, that would be sane.
Remaining balance the next day: ($49) that is, negative $49.
What? Let's examine what happened here.
The four purchases I made, at separate times are being overdrafted.
The banks logic, "those posted against a negative balance after you made the 130 dollar payment, because your deposit wont be available until the next day."
My logic: When you make a debit, that money is put on "hold." This is an imaginary space that is supposed to insure to the merchant that you don't fuck them over. Basically, it is to stop you from buying a $1000 item against a $1000 bank account, and then rushing to the ATM and withdrawing $1000. Even though the purchase hasn't cleared, it puts that money on hold so you can't otherwise access it. With that said, those four purchases should have been on hold, and they were put on hold against a positive balance. That is, when I made those purchases, my balance, remaining after them, was still positive.
Evidence to this fact is that they did what is called a 'keep the change' transfer. Every debit is rounded up (the 8.20 one to 9.00) and the difference is put into my savings account. This can only happen if your balance is positive.
So that said, it's evident that they were held initially against a positive balance.
Come Friday, I make my deposit (who's receipt is incredibly misleading. available balance, and by available we don't mean you ACTUALLY have it available, what the fuck.) Friday, when I make the purchase, my account goes negative, and somehow, MIRACULOUSLY, all four fucking charges clear on the same night. Now maybe it's a coincidence, or maybe it was planned, or maybe it's common for banks to clear all transactions friday night. Whatever the case is, that does NOT excuse them for dipping into my HELD funds to try and put money on hold for this new purchase. Instead, my account should have overdrafted once for the $130 purchase. I should have had a balance of ($70) for the night, until my $152 deposit cleared the next morning. This would put me at a positive balance of $82, minus one (deserved perhaps) overdraft fee of $33, leaving a positive balance of $49.
And as if all of that weren't enough bullshit to fertilize every rice paddy in Asia, not knowing anything was wrong, on the 11th I made a purchase of almost $6, WHICH SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN AUTHORIZED. Why are they authorizing debit holds against a negative balance?
This whole thing is a total brainfuck.
Who the hell designed these systems anyway? Why is it my fault that you can't account for money that you have sitting in your ATM's. Why should I even use a bank? I never spent money I didn't earn or technically own, and I am being assfucked on a shitstring of technicalities.
UPDATE: I spoke with the branch manager today and got all of the fees reversed. Why was it that easy?
People in your life are being hurt, because you lack respect for yourself. People that you love, so fucking much, and promised you would never hurt, are affected by your poor judgment. Your lack of self confidence radiates outwardly, slapping every nearby friend in the face, and you watch as they jolt back, and for some reason come back to you, because they love you. This has been my life ever since high school.
I miss so many of the good things, like our tree, or our retarded obsession with screaming "SHOTGUN WEDDING SHOTGUN WEDDING." I miss taking you for walks, but only if you're on the right side. Chivalry be damned, I love you're left hand in my right.
I've sacrificed so much on one gamble. How stupid can a person be to gamble their entire life's happiness on one thread. One, "grass may be greener" decision.
I'm going to work so hard to make it all right, because if I can't, I'm never going to be able to live with myself.
I love you.
anyway, what are some "classics" that you recommend? I'm not a huge fan of horror and I enjoy political drama (not in the Man of the Year sort of way, though...) or action drama movies influenced or based on moral/philosophic dilemmas. in other words, no stupid car-chasing gun-shooting (rush hour series? meh.) braindead (jay and silent bob had its moments...) movies where motives are only as deep as revenge (the punisher anyone? ew..
I don't think I've ever run faster. I threw on such a mishmash of clothes not caring how shitty they smelled. I nearly fell down the stairs before leaping from my door all the way into my car. I violated nearly every traffic law in existence to make the 30 minute drive to her work any number of minutes shorter I could.
You don't know how much you need something until you feel like you're about to lose it.
To make a long sotry short, the jerk only had an anxiety attack, and afterwards we went to my house, did couplyish things, and ate MacNCheese.
I love that tard.
- Use florescent lights to save energy. If you don't like the color temperature they emit then you must not know that you can get them in almost any color now.
- Check your tires regularly. I actually just had mine changed because of a flat. Driving on properly inflated tires can save you 3% on gas mileage.
- Recycle more. Why the hell aren't you returning your cans for your deposit? You're an idiot if you don't.
- Simply drive less. I know it's cold out now, but in the summer if you're just heading a mile over to a friends house or up to the mall, ride your bike instead, or walk.
- Plant a tree! I intend on trying this in the spring, it actually sounds kind of fun. When it's larger you'll always be able to drive by it knowing that you put it there.
He said something that I thought was pretty inspiring too, but not as simple.
- Vote for leaders who say they will help change how we affect our climate.
- Write to them and write to congress.
- And if they don't listen to you, run for congress.
Alright, I'm done being a pansy tree hugger now.
It should be playable by the end of the week.
A screenshot here!
Download this crappy game here . You'll need to unzip it. It's important that every file is unzipped into the same directory, otherwise it will crash.
Enter will pause and unpause it.
Space bar will shoot a bullet.
Up and Down are how you move.
Enjoy, even though you probably wont.
Disclaimer: I am NOT proud of this attrocity.
Source code here.
This is not the latest version, which includes some audio, but I'm too lazy to compile it on windows (I develop on Linux) and upload it. So... deal!
Post a comment if you want to be my friend!
-joey
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
