WASaBubbleButt

TX is known for having some of the highest real estate taxes in the country. It is blamed on the lack of taxes in other areas. It's a great investment for people like me. A young couple buys a home, pays 50% down (homes are cheaper there than other states) and then taxes come due. They just can't pay them. Consider this, in AZ it is nothing for a simple 3 bedroom ranch w/o a pool to go for $200K. Housing is mighty expensive here. You guys also have tax deeds vs. tax liens, big mega difference for people like me. Instead of buying a lien I purchase deeds. I own the home while I have the tax deed. The original owner has six months to cough up the tax money and 50% penalty. If they don't, I own the home. Shoot, I own it while I own the deed, I can live in it, rent it out, whatever I want during that six month period of time. Kinda stupid on the part of the state. Out of stater's such as me take up the properties. They look at the short term goals, tax income. I look at it entirely different... retirement. And it won't be IN TX.

No, sorry. I don't know that person. That surprises me too because of my specific job. Mayo likes to hire new grads to work there because they don't go to other hospitals and learn a lot of bad habits, Mayo likes them to learn to do things the Mayo way, the right way. They hire people like me to help the newbies when they are stuck or unsure. Because of that I thought I met just about everyone. Mayo isn't really all that big in Scottsdale. Mayo is awesome, seriously awesome. We were ruled and regulated to death but unlike the other hospitals, Mayo's rules had solid thinking and reasoning behind them. However, Mayo does not have a Trauma unit and that is what I miss. I need the challenge. Working with newbies isn't a challenge forever.

We do. We not only have state income tax, we have sales tax that is shy of 9%.

I live in Arizona, Phoenix to be more exact. But my investments are in TX. When people don't pay their real estate taxes I step in. That is the bulk of our income. BTW, our sales tax is just shy of 9% here in AZ. But in TX their real estate taxes are sky high. People buy homes and they don't bank on taxes. They fail. That's a sad reality yet true.

I didn't go straight from anything to anything. I was really struggling with Catholicism and I decided to honestly study the bible and try to understand it. The more I read the more I knew I couldn't believe that no matter what. The priest is supposed to go over the entire bible in sermons every three years. Yeah, MY priest sure left out a lot of juicy parts. So I realized that it was Catholicism that just wasn't for me. I searched high and low, I joined non-demoninational churches, I studied other brands of Christianity and I just couldn't find one that I could believe. But, I liked Jewish people. So I took a leap of faith and went to Jew classes. Did all the right things and converted to the Jewish faith. Wow, that didn't work either. Then I tried New Age. I was an official New Age Twinkie. I chanted mantras, I kept crystals in my bra, I went to Bell's Rock in AZ and waited for martians, I did it all. I'll have you know that I didn't just channel spirits, I taught others to do it as well. There are still people that not only talk to their dead gma but they hear her too, thanks to me. Finally I just gave up and realized that no matter how hard I try I am what I am. I know too much, I know how Christianity came to be, I know how the formal religion came to be, I know the good and the bad and I can't force myself to believe it. I just know too much. So today my religion is to be the best person I can be. If that isn't good enough for some God that might be out there then I just simply can't do better. The only other thing I can do is lie and pretend I believe. Maybe that is what a God requires, but I require something different. My best quality and my biggest fault is my honesty. That just isn't something I am going to change so I am atheist and I'm totally okay with that.

You know what I still laugh about? I used to work for Mayo Clinic, actually I'm on an extended LOA from there. But at Mayo you can't stand on your tippy toes with arms outstretched while spinning without hitting an atheist. The people LEAST likely to look down their collective noses at us are the nuns. But the patients... if they knew they would go into shock agian. It is the patients we care for (and do a mighty fine job of it, btw) that snub their noses at atheists. I've been chastised for being a good Christian girl working on Sundays before. HELLLLOOOOOO?? Who would take care of them if we didn't? I've been slam dunked from other atheists for not being honest about my atheism at work. Well, why should I? I've lied through my teeth about my lack of beliefs before. And I'll likely do it again. If I have some older lady going to surgery and she asks me to stop and pray before she has major surgery, is that really the right time to debate religion? HELL no! I bow my head with everyone else and while they pray I think about if the OR is prepared for the procedure or if I have missed anything. The patient is comforted, I have my 3rd chance to get things organized, and all is good. I don't understand why people just don't get it. Atheism is not a choice, it is something one comes to accept and acknowledge. That does not mean we suffer the loss of theism (while some do miss the fellowship and friendships it brings), it means we accept reality and that we can't always tell others our lack of belief.

I don't know how long I'll keep my band so I want to make the most of it while I have it. I won't go over 800 calories daily for anything. If I had more time I might take it slower, but for me this is working.

Taxes in TX are what keep me from working full time. Real estate investments, namely... tax deeds. LOL

Tejas.. I like that a great deal!!! Does that mean like AZ you don't know if you are part of the US or Mexico?

No, that's not accurate. I stated that wrong. I was a firm God fearing Christian that read the bible and I could no longer accept Christianity as truth. I read the bible, studied the history and for ME it was quite impossible. I finally recognized the fact that no matter how hard I tried to play mind games with myself I just wasn't a Christian, I couldn't believe. I tried and tried, but I knew too much. I knew how Christianity came to be and I understood how it grew. I didn't "decide" one day to be an atheist, I came to understand and accept it. Big difference from what I wrote in the previous post.

Hard core Christian who gave up Christianity for atheism.

Hey Carlene... Up until about a month ago I moderated a Catholic forum! I may not agree with them but I have a certain amount of respect for them and nobody messed with my Catholics! Seriously, it was their forum. Challenging them is one thing, slam dunking them for being Catholic meant this atheist chewed 'em up like a chew toy and spit them out when their squeaker was gone. There are certain advantages to being a fundie turned atheist. LOL

I totally agree, BJean. I have learned a great deal since posting on line and changed a great many opinions. In my mind, that is a sign of a good person, someone willing to look at the whole picture and form an opinion.

Right. You just proved Carlene's point beautifully. (You do that a lot) It was not a choice, it just WAS.

Good point. I never made a decision to be heterosexual, I just am.

Laurend... You can't make everyone think. Some people must go running for the bible so they can discover their opinion.

IOW, you don't have the slightest freaken idea what the hormonal differences are! See, this is how it works. You made the claim that you are essentially well versed on the topic of gays. So I asked you if you were aware of the hormonal differences in gays vs. straights. With me so far? Instead of saying, "No, Bubblebutt, I guess I am not as well versed as I claim so would you explain it to me," you instead turn it around and act as though you know the answer, you just don't wanna tell. Google and see what you can find. It might be quite educational for you to do so. Still waiting to hear why Mark needs scientific proof for a gay gene yet you don't have to have the same kind of scientific proof for your God? Must I keep asking you the same questions repeatedly until you finally respond with something other than spew?

Not everyone considers homosexuality a "challenge" in the manner that it needs to be changed. So your statements makes little sense. SHOCK! Some people think it is quite normal but we don't have a myth telling us otherwise in clouded words.

Because the topic was education and you brought up intelligence. Edit to add: Just a reminder but I'm still waiting to see those studies you have quite obviously read regarding gays and hormonal factors. I mean, you do claim to be well versed on the topic of gays.

Your God hasn't been found either. I guess that means he doesn't exist, right?

Would this be a good time to tell you that freedom of speech is limited to ... oh, never mind.

We get divorced at lower rates than the hard core fundie type Christians as well.

Oh, education and intelligence are two different concepts.

What can I say?

We didn't say you have no education. Only stats I have seen is that atheists tend to have a bit MORE education.