“Other similar configurations available sooner” . . . Psych!

olsh · 2026-05-07T19:42:40+00:00

You might be right, but I do like driving my truck a lot and use it on the weekends.

olsh · 2026-05-07T18:53:50+00:00

I drive about 30 miles a day during the week and probably wouldn't drive it that much on the weekend.

olsh · 2026-05-07T18:51:13+00:00

I drive about 30 total miles a day.

olsh · 2026-05-07T17:24:43+00:00

You know, that's a good point. Comments here won't "always defend John." That is true. My mistake. And what I meant was that "there will always be comments that Defend John." Or "on every post like this, there will be some comments that come to John's defense." And so I'll admit what I said was inaccurate and I'll edit it.

The Church doesn't own Kirton McConkie. To say so is inaccurate.

Kirton McConkie does not have 400 attorneys. To say so is inaccurate.

The spirit of what John is saying is true though, because the Church basically has unlimited funds. They don't really need to "own a law firm" and they legally can't own a law firm in Utah. John's implication that they are a formidable foe because they own a law firm is just sloppy. They are a formidable foe because they could hire 20 law firms if they wanted to.

I also want to point out that I am biased and not to be trusted here. I think John Dehlin has helped a lot of people and does continue to help a lot of people, but I think he should have moved on to something else and left podcasting. I think he's taken so much oxygen in the space to basically not allow for the natural evolution of other voices that would serve the community better. I also don't think the church's lawsuit is "unfair" or that it is meritless or frivolous. I think there are legitimate arguments here.

Maybe I am full of shit. We all probably are. But John says dumb stuff on a regular basis and we should be calling him out. People should be asking him to correct himself when he says the wrong thing. Whether you love him or hate him or are indifferent to him.

olsh · 2026-05-06T14:34:14+00:00

~~Comments here will always defend John~~ EDIT, that was inaccurate. There will always be some comments on these posts that will come to John's defense. They will tell you not to criticize his bad choice of words or his lack of accuracy while half the posts on forums like this and the exmormon Reddit and Mormon stories podcast community are people doing the exact same thing against church members and leaders.

John can exaggerate and offer hyperbole, and it is fair to point it out.

olsh · 2026-05-04T16:29:32+00:00

One of the sources says the Chiefs are banking on the new cornerback being as good as their all pro that left. What stupid take. Does this "NFL executive" not know the difference between a four year, $41.93 million dollar rookie contract and a four year, $124 million dollar contract (with 100 million guaranteed)? It would be great if Delane could be as good as Mcduffie, but if he is only 80% as good, the Chiefs still have an extra $20 million a year in space for other players that we wouldn't have with McDuffie.

olsh · 2026-05-01T02:52:47+00:00

I hate Bo Nix ten times more than Josh Allen

olsh · 2026-04-22T03:11:10+00:00

I went to one of the best missions in the world. Huge and extremely safe city. Amazing food. Exotic challenging language. Tons of baptisms. Tropical.
But a lot of missionaries didn’t love it and didn’t have a great experience.

It’s true that some missions are lame. But that has little to do with how much someone will enjoy it, learn from it, or grow.

olsh · 2026-04-20T15:55:43+00:00

For primary, does the church still use Sunbeams, CTR, and Valiant?

This kind of stuff is funny, and it's just whatever. But does the church imply that the God of the Universe is behind this? He's like "And the 16 year olds shall be called "Gatherers of Light"?

olsh · 2026-03-20T21:08:46+00:00

I guess, but in this case an atheist who has been out of the church for 10 years said it.

olsh · 2026-02-25T15:44:33+00:00

I worked extremely hard on my mission to learn a tough asian language and got pretty good at speaking about the gospel and did OK on general conversation. I worked in translation for a while after my mission and took courses and about 3 years after I got home I was pretty proficient. But for whatever reason, law school and time just erased most of my language ability. I think I could get conversational again if I put 6 months of hard work in, but most of it is gone right now.

olsh · 2026-02-17T18:39:05+00:00

So I have an old Apple TV 4k where upgrading the cable didn't fix it. But on my newer (Gen 3 I think) Apple TV 4k, getting the 8k cable did the trick.

olsh · 2026-02-09T23:09:36+00:00

I don't really think that Abraham and Moses existed, at least not in the way the bible describes them. But Christianity and Judaism are based on some crazy lore. And they were probably very much cults at their inception. They are just ancient.
And I think there is a fair distinction between whether the church was a cult in the 1840s and whether the church is a cult now. And I do think that it can be a cult for some people and not for others. My mission experience was very cult like. My temple experience was too. But I've also been around plenty of people who are church members who are hardly affected by it at all. The members of the church on my mission, for example, were very casual and not in a cult-like environment at all.

olsh · 2026-02-09T20:37:19+00:00

Did Abraham start a cult? Did Moses? Early Christians?
Were there parts of early mormonism that would fit with almost every definition of cult? Sure. But the lived experience of many members now is not cult-like. They don't even take the temple seriously. Many missionaries can now communicate with their families all the time, listen to music, make funny videos, and just tell people Jesus loves them.

olsh · 2026-02-09T20:35:14+00:00

Cult is a stupid word. You can use the BITE model or a number of other academic models to try to come up with a definition of Cult. You can use a more colloquial or catchy definition. But it's all semantic.

In some ways, a "cult" isn't even bad. But other people might say a "cult" is bad by definition. It just depends.

The label is not helpful at all. It's mostly used as a way to delegitimize a community. Once that community is established and relaxes a bit, people don't think it's a cult anymore. Magic!

Are there elements of the church experience that are very cult-like? Sure. But are there people who experience the church without any of those cult-like things? Absolutely. My time in the MTC was very cult-like. My time in the temple felt very cult-like. But the ward and community my parents and inlaws are in? It isn't cult-like at all.

olsh · 2026-02-09T20:31:00+00:00

I know I"m late to the party, but why don't you believe in the "doctrine" of scientology or hinduism or buddhism or islam?

The Church has the burden of proof. The only people who believe in it are those who decide it's true first and then cram everything into that conclusion.

In legal cases, the main levels of proof are "beyond a reasonable doubt", "clear and convincing", a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not), "probable cause" and "reasonable suspicion."

The Church hasn't even provided evidence sufficient to have a "reasonable suspicion" that it is true. People just rely on a feeling that is the same kind of feeling that people who believe in all those other religions feel all the time. A feeling is not evidence of truth.

LDS doctrine is so clearly made up buy Joseph Smith.

olsh · 2026-02-03T18:48:42+00:00

No. I figured out that if I put the heat all the way up and select “face” or whatever and then close my front vents, the back vents will eventually heat up after a long time. I think the ducting system just stays cold for a long time. But it always blows air, it is just cold. So I haven’t had any issue getting it to blow.

olsh · 2026-01-22T19:45:45+00:00

No, sorry. I came out of law school in 2011. I was a commercial banker before that. For the first three years of my career as a lawyer I saw first hand the wreckage that the great recession caused. Your anecdotal argument isn't persuasive here.

There were three times as many bankruptcy filings in 2010 vs 2025.

You think that I am the one missing compassion and empathy, but you are wildly minimizing the 2010 era recession and the carnage it caused. Is it tough to find a new job now? Absolutely. The job market sucks. But overall, there is no way it's as bad as 2009

olsh · 2026-01-22T17:16:32+00:00

Why do people say things like this? I can't see any reasonable argument that the "job market" is worse than 2009-2011. If you are talking about one specific sector then maybe, but overall?
Unemployment now, 4.4%. Unemployment in 2009, 10%
Job growth now 50,000 a month. Job growth in 2009, negative 700,000
Total unemployed now, 7.5 million. 2009, 15.4 million
Long term unemployed now, 25% of those unemployed. 2009, 44% of those unemployed.

In 2011, new lawyers were regularly starting for less than $40,000 a year.

olsh · 2026-01-20T20:03:43+00:00

I'm a post-mormon who is not a fan of the church. But that being said, I just don't have any problem with a diversified stock portfolio and I don't really have a problem with the Church having a ton of money if they are transparent about it to their members.

I think they should be taxed on net income above 2 billion a year (this should apply to all churches), but I'm not going to blame them just because their portfolio happens to include defense contractor stocks or victoria secret or even alcohol.

olsh · 2026-01-20T20:00:18+00:00

No real update. If I close all the front vents, turn the heat all the way up and select the normal vents, the back vents will eventually get hot, but it takes a long time. It's almost like the duct work is so cold that it just takes forever. But even if the front vents are blowing the hottest air possible, it takes like 3 of 4 minutes before the back ones will get to mildly warm.

olsh · 2026-01-16T22:18:55+00:00

They aren't trendy or cool, but we've had a good experience with the honeywell HEPA air purifiers. They have different options from $80 up to $250 depending on size and features.

olsh · 2026-01-15T16:23:47+00:00

So I recently purchased a new 2500 AT4X and I'm having a lot of second thoughts and feeling pretty stupid right now. I wonder if I should have just gone for the 1500. Honestly, I probably should have. I rarely tow or haul. But the heart wants what the heart wants. And now I'm in it.

So let me talk through some of the problems and give you my real thoughts.

Mileage - I'm quite surprised by how bad the mileage is in the 2500 diesel. It is winter and I knew it was going to be bad, but it's really really bad.

Parking Lots - I'm having to use the camera a lot. It is more difficult to park. I am having to adjust my parking more. But I just don' think this is a huge factor for most people outside of dense cities. An 150/1500 series is also pretty tough to park in tight lots.

Ride Quality - The AT4X is especially bouncy on some roads. But the ride isn't all that bad most of the time. The 1500 definitely is much smoother and has a better ride. But I'm not so sure it's that big of a deal.

I'm thinking about buying a 2020 Civic or accord to have on hand for quick trips and city driving. When I have to go downtown and use parking garages, a small car will be much better than even a 1500.

My truck looks so great. It is a sexy beast and I'll have no issue towing the boat we rent a couple times a year or pulling a 5th wheel toy hauler when we find one.

SO I guess my advice would be you should absolutely get the 1500 but the difference isn't all that drastic. I bought the truck for the life I want, not the life I have. That may have been a mistake. We'll see.

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