Jump to content

So where have you cast your lot?


Ralphie

Recommended Posts

I just got the urge to use that expression but it makes a good question. I was thinking aboot that in the insanity of the increasingly crowded NJ turnpike. So by default I have cast my lot with the US and its car culture. I want out and retaarment is at least easing over to the slow lane. I love cars but hate how we use them. We should be more home-based. Driving to work everyday is nucking futs. 

  • Heart 3
  • Hugs 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Philander Seabury said:

Driving to work everyday is nucking futs. 

It's a weird experience many folks have had these past couple years where they finally get a chance to see - firsthand - how different life is without a 10, 30, 60 minute commute to an office.  Really, though, it's had "been that way" for millennia - commuting & moving long distances. Not simply in cars, but just "getting places" to work, eat, survive, so using cars (instead of horses or walking) is nothing new, but likely just a shameful waste of a great tool.  

I don't miss driving or commuting to work. Driving was always a crapshoot - will it take 20 mins or will there be an accident and it takes 45 mins or more?  I sometimes drove with a coworker, and that was nice chatting time, but it could tax your serenity some days (and would exhaust my left knee using a clutch in stop & go traffic).  Then, it's been the Metro for years, and that was also fine (time consuming) except on the days when there would be some dopey snarl that screwed up the trains (the 2011 earthquake!) and made things unbearable.

You don't get the nonsense like that when working from home, but you also lose some of the weird and sometimes fun stuff that a drive or commute can offer.  Also, I like being in an office with people sometimes :) and miss the city for lunch walks and tasty variety of food options.

  • Heart 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

1 hour ago, Philander Seabury said:

or otherwise shiftless people

That would be me you're speaking to...

 

"Old English hlot "object used to determine someone's share"

The object was placed with others in a receptacle (such as a hat or helmet), which was shaken, the winner being the one whose name or mark was on the lot that fell out first. Hence the expression cast lots; to cast (one's) lot with another (1530s, originally biblical) is to agree to share winnings. In some cases the lots were drawn by hand, hence to draw lots. The word was adopted from Germanic into the Romanic languages (Spanish lote, and compare lottery, lotto).

 

What it all boils down to is...... "I get your stuff"

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Wilbur said:

I suggest you read up on cleromancy or sortition.  

Fair enough, you soliloquent bastard!  (Now I have three words to google to see ifn I made that one up. :D )

Not the right word. :( I was looking for a $20 word for people who use $20 words.  :D  Where is mosey Susan when you need her? :(

 

 

 

  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, TrentonMakes said:

I read through this thread and later visited nj.com where I was greeted by this photo.  Look familiar?

image.png.a75eeab4efb5264c63123e44ab6f17b1.png

Man, those lower exits on the turnpike are the "good" ones.  Get up around the shore points exits and then the getting closer to Newark and New York exits, and the real joy begins :)  

They did a nice job recently adding some express car lanes from like 7a south to exit 6 (PA turnpike), so now from 6 up to the top, there are separated lanes most of the way.  

I usually take the parallel I-295 instead of the turnpike. Free, less busy, and a little more scenic - but probably slower as you can go 70 but not 90 like the maniacs on the tpk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Get up around the shore points exits and then the getting closer to Newark and New York exits, and the real joy begins :)  

They did a nice job recently adding some express car lanes from like 7a south to exit 6 (PA turnpike), so now from 6 up to the top, there are separated lanes most of the way.  

I usually take the parallel I-295 instead of the turnpike. Free, less busy, and a little more scenic - but probably slower as you can go 70 but not 90 like the maniacs on the tpk.

Right - up around Newark, where even 14 lanes aren't enough!

Based on where we live, I'm very rarely on the Turnpike south of New Brunswick... by the time you get to Trenton the distance between the Turnpike and 295 has widened significantly.  For points south we do use 295 often, to avoid congestion/construction through Philly.  Once they're done with that 76/42 interchange, 295 will fly straight over which should shave off a little time especially during peak times.

  • Heart 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hard to answer that one, I don't cast a lot.

Just took exit 4 on Sunday!  295 for the ride north, Turnpike on the way back.  Don't know why, we just did.

Those extra 6 lanes on the turnpike opened within weeks of my daughter graduating in North Jersey, thus eliminating the need to make that Tpk drive so often.

Last but not least - I cut my commute from 1:15 each way to 10 minutes.  Or 15-20 by bike.  I will NEVER go back to long commutes!  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Philander Seabury said:

Nice cockpit!

That's my dream car, the Toyota GR86 for those who can't afford the GR Supra.  Surprisingly the cockpit is very similar to my Scion IM.  All the controls are in the same locations and similar in operation except for the shifter.  Even the air vents are the same in location and operation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Several references in the Bible. 

What is particularly significant is the fact that, in ancient Israel, the High Priest did use from time to time the tradition of casting lots for important, uncertain decisions. It amounted to consulting God for the answer, as Proverbs states "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord" (Proverbs 16:33).

This impartial practice stops arguments and contentions between people (and no doubt could prevent them from occurring in the first place). The book of Proverbs states that "Casting lots causes contentions to cease, and keeps the mighty apart" (Proverbs 18:18)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, BuffJim said:

Several references in the Bible. 

What is particularly significant is the fact that, in ancient Israel, the High Priest did use from time to time the tradition of casting lots for important, uncertain decisions. It amounted to consulting God for the answer, as Proverbs states "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord" (Proverbs 16:33).

This impartial practice stops arguments and contentions between people (and no doubt could prevent them from occurring in the first place). The book of Proverbs states that "Casting lots causes contentions to cease, and keeps the mighty apart" (Proverbs 18:18)

Casting lots is a big thing in the Bible.  Book of Psalms, 22:18: "They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots."

  • Heart 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Supposedly, I have cast my fate to the wind.  People, through much of my life, have said I've sometimes just wandered through some years of life and then something very lucky came along.  I prefer to think that I worked my ass of to get the skills I needed to be successful, but sometimes it took a while before the success became apparent ir before I found the chance to use them.  Of course, luck has also happened, like the big check I recently got from State Farm, but that didn't come due to pure luck: it was the result of me talking to people then deciding I was better off paying a Claims Manager to handle my house fire's recovery than not.

Some was definitely luck.  When I was worried about carcinogenic industrial chemicals and looking for another job, I played first base on a Jaycees League softball team where the other 3 infielders were brothers and their 4th brother was a high school teacher.  After some direction from him, I soon had a full-time job in our county's school system while simultaneously taking education courses at night to get fully certified.  My fellow students would ask, "Who do you know in A.A. Co. that you're teaching full time now?  You are so lucky."

Of course, the county schools were also short of people capable of teaching chemistry and physics, I had taught college chemistry labs in grad school, though I also got some help from some of my former teachers who lobbied for me to get a position in the high school from which I had graduated.

It's like Charlie Harper on 2 1/2 Men running out of money and saying "Something will come along," while Alan tries to forestall financial disaster by selling blood, taking part in drug studies, etc.  Then Charlie stumbles into doing a CD of songs he wrote for a girlfriend's kid and her ex-husband turns out to be a music producer who turns him into "Charlie Waffles" and he makes a bundle selling kids songs like "No more boobies cause I'm a big kid now."

Alan is disgusted at how easily Charlie makes money.  But THINK about it: if Charlie didn't have the skills, he wouldn't have been able to take advantage of the opportunity.

Sometimes I've lazily waited for opportunities to present themselves and cast my fate to the wind, but I had the confidence that I had the skills to take advantage when opportunities presented themselves and knew they would.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...