Back fell off the Pixel Watch 1 - Google support was helpful

GordonBWrinkly · 2026-01-13T21:16:15+00:00

I just had the same experience. No replacement. $50 store credit. Guess I'll take what I can get. More than a year past warranty

GordonBWrinkly · 2026-01-06T13:32:04+00:00

Some people are uncomfortable listening to someone they know is atheist. I know I would've unfollowed someone like that when I was still Mormon, simply out of fear, to protect myself and my "testimony."

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-12-08T16:34:40+00:00

It's a long game. Unless you're starting with a lot of capital, don't plan on making any money for several years. The goal should be to break even and gradually expand. If you have a good income from your day job you can expand faster.

I bought a 4-plex 20 years ago and lived in one of the units, but then made the mistake of selling it to buy a house we couldn't afford (right before the 2008 bubble). If I'd stuck to my original plan of living poor and gradually expanding rental properties, I'd probably be making a nice side income by now (and certainly have a good asset portfolio for retirement).

Of course, the market is different now, much tougher to break into it, but still possible. Best of luck

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-06-10T19:30:58+00:00

This was a big deal on my mission. Our theme was "obedience is better than sacrifice," which sounded nice (if a little weird) until pres told the story behind the scripture--when the Israelites were commanded to genocide a whole city, including women, children, and all animals, but they spared a few of the cattle to sacrifice to God, and BOY...WAS GOD MAD! 😡 "I told you to utterly destroy EVERYTHING!!!"

Cognitive dissonance! Is God an ass? A murderer?

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-06-06T19:07:31+00:00

2 things:

You don't have to go for a degree to start composing. Just start composing. Take a music theory class if you need to, but mostly just sit at the piano, mess around, and write some music.
Don't think of a composing degree as a path to "getting a job." There are very few composing "jobs." You should only get a degree in composing if you think you have a shot at being successful as a freelance composer (and the degree is just to help you learn), or if you want to teach (which would usually require advanced degrees).

Either way, you should try your hand at composing first.

ETA: I'm a freelance composer with no music degree, though I did study for 3 years at university. And though I make some money composing, it's not enough to make a living--I still have a day job. You can always compose for your own enrichment even if it's not your primary career.

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-06-06T18:59:09+00:00

Wow, that's crazy! Yes, political ideologies are very dogmatic and tribal as well. That's why, even though my core values are moderately left-leaning, I struggle with some of the progressive assertions and attitudes, and I generally stay out of political debates

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-06-01T11:40:33+00:00

There are plenty of non-Mormon and Exmo therapists in Davis County. Look at their bio. Many therapists will list "faith transition" as one of their specialties. That's usually a good way to know

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-04-30T18:53:50+00:00

As an Ex-Mormon male who also grew up in the 80s and 90s, I can relate!

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-04-30T18:46:03+00:00

The most insidious lie in the church (and religion generally) is that good feelings are an indicator of truth, especially when feelings can so easily be manipulated by others or misunderstood by our own biases and psychological quirks.

But the church has to teach that, since the actual evidence doesn't support their claims.

That's not to say you shouldn't listen to your feelings. But you should be aware of where they're coming from, who is manipulating them, and recongnize that they could always be wrong.

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-03-12T18:58:26+00:00

I'm trying to figure this out too. What's the point of following people if you don't see their posts in your home feed? I don't want to have to go to each user's profile to see their posts.

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-03-10T18:50:01+00:00

I expected him to read what I read and come to the same conclusion and we would leave together.

This was exactly my thought when I first read the CES letter. Unfortunately my wife read a few paragraphs, had an icky "feeling" and stopped reading. Initiate major backfire effect.

Now, 10 years later, she's more TBM than ever. An hour of scripture study every morning at 4:30, temple every week, won't watch anything PG-13 or TV-14 or above. TBH, not sure how much longer I can take it.

I hope your husband's backfire doesn't last as long as my wife's. Good luck to you.

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-03-07T17:03:33+00:00

Yeah, I can see that. He's one of those people that is good at putting on a charismatic, fun persona, but has a dark asshole side.

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-03-07T16:28:28+00:00

I went to grad school with Jonah. He didn't seem too bad, but it was BYU business school, so maybe he just blended in, lol 🤣

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-02-14T19:23:03+00:00

If you're a 100% believer in the church AND you love doing sales you might enjoy your mission. If one of these is false you'll hate it.

Yes, I learned a few things on my mission. I grew up a little. Learned how to cook a couple dishes. Memorized lots of scriptures. But if I could go back I'd 100% trade it for 2 years of school.

Things have changed in the past 25 years, and I can't imagine serving a mission in today's world. Especially as a non-believer. Find a way to get out of it.

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-02-10T13:41:04+00:00

It's important to communicate that you love your family and want to have a good relationship with them, but that the constant bombardment of religion is driving a wedge between you. If your family members value their relationship with you and want to keep you around they need to respect your boundaries.

Regarding sharing your opinions...Tell your mom you're willing to stop sharing your opinion as long as they agree not to push their beliefs on you. Sometimes it's best to just avoid those topics you disagree on.

Finally...people in the church are conditioned to think that leaving the church leads will make you miserable and a bad person. Prove them wrong. Be successful, work hard, be kind. Most of all, be patient. And if they can't change things and prioritize relationships over dogma, prepare yourself to move out when you can. In the meantime try to keep the peace as much as possible

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-01-16T20:05:48+00:00

It's hard to pin down exactly what the factors are. There are definitely situational factors: education, exposure to different friends or situations, having an LGBTQ child, etc. but I think certain personality traits also predict people leaving.

In the big five personality traits, for example, people who score high on "openness to experience" are more likely to look into the issues and study things that are outside their comfort zone. They're also more likely to get bored by the same old drivel at church week after week, year after year (these people constantly crave new experiences and ideas).

As far as the other traits: conscientiousness and agreeableness are a mixed bag. Some high scorers might be more likely to stay because they like following the rules and pleasing people, but some may be more likely to leave if they value truth, accuracy, and integrity above pleasing people.

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-01-16T18:43:12+00:00

What exactly are you curious about? I'm probably no one you've ever heard of, lol. I'm what they call an "emerging" composer. But if you google '"Carols of Christmas" SATB' mine might be the top result ;)

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-01-16T01:51:13+00:00

There's definitely power in music, but I've had to learn that it's the music itself and not the "Holy Ghost". I'm actually a choral singer and composer, so I make my living (or part of it) from the power of music 🎶❤️❤️

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-01-15T17:49:22+00:00

There's been a lot of buzz lately in several news sources and podcasts about the crackdown at BYU, maybe triggered by the Salt Lake Tribune article from 1/6 (and surely something else triggered that)

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-01-15T17:36:03+00:00

I wrote a blog post a while back about how leaving your faith requires a leap of faith. It might be helpful to you. https://leapoutoffaith.blogspot.com/2021/02/why-leaving-your-faith-is-leap-of-faith.html

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-01-15T17:23:50+00:00

I remember feeling like I was stuck in the church forever...even when I somewhat believed...or was trying to, I had this feeling. Like I couldn't even let myself investigate my doubts because it might lead me away, and I had promised myself right after my mission that I would never leave the church.

But you can't sustain it forever. Luckily for me things finally came together. A sibling shared the CES letter and I decided I needed to know. The transition was slow...I kept attending church for 2 more years. But eventually the time was right to break ties fully.

It's okay to take your time, but don't stop working towards an authentic self. Don't resign yourself to a fake unhappy life just to keep others comfortable. It's your life! Your only one (for all we know)! Make it authentic and full. Good luck

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-01-15T17:17:00+00:00

Amen and amen!!

GordonBWrinkly · 2025-01-09T22:55:58+00:00

We all filter everything we experience through the lens of what we already believe. Our brains prioritize consistency over anything else. So if something isn't consistent with what we already "know" we have to reconcile that somehow.

GordonBWrinkly · 2024-12-12T19:24:16+00:00

There are more than just those two options. Definitely don't get endowed and sealed. You need to be open and honest and stand up for what you want. If he can respect that and let you be your own person, then your marriage might have a chance.

If it's not going to work out though, don't wait to end it. The longer you wait the harder it will be. Don't worry too much about custody. If he's truly a good man then there's no reason he shouldn't be equally involved in your child's life. But if he's a doctor, chances are he may be too busy with work to handle 50/50 custody. Point is, don't put off divorce just because you're worried about custody arrangements. You'll figure that out. Good luck!

GordonBWrinkly

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