John Ratcliff's Weblog

Know that we still love you. On Monday evening our dear friend Steven Solomon was killed instantly in a tragic car accident. His fiance Stephanie was driving immediately behind him in another car. There is absolutely nothing to say about such a sad and tragic event. My wife and I are doing whatever we can to help Steven's entire family; including Stephanie, Marty, Patty, and his brothers and sisters during this difficult period. I loved Steven very much and the Solomon children feel like a part of our own extended family. Tomorrow is the visitation and the funeral is on Friday. I realized one of my greatest fears when I received the phone call from my crying wife sharing this terrible news and I was thousands of miles away unable to comfort her. Our thoughts, prayers, and love go out to Steven's family. I know his soul lives on, and I believe this deeply. Only just Saturday night I spent hours on my boat talking to Steven and Stephanie. Ever since I joined the Freemasons Steven...

I am ready to bump my old post. This was a busy weekend. On Friday we had a small after work party to celebrate the end of term for three college interns we hosted for the summer. It was a very lovely evening with good cheer. On Saturday I was installed as an officer in my lodge. I really enjoyed the ceremony immensly. I found the experience very inspiring since, as usual, the ritual called upon each of us to strive to be better men. My two interns came along to see what the lodge was like and found it quite interesting. After the ceremony we socialized with a lovely meal. On Saturday afternoon we threw an impromptu BBQ for the interns. (They certainly had a long goodbye...) While out on our boat we stopped to admire the massive new deck our neighbor built. We chatted with the nice guys who built it and invited them over to the BBQ as well. I was pleasantly surpised when they both showed up with their lovely bikini clad girl friends. You see, it pays off to be friendly! We ...

I am cross-posting here a messsage I just wrote for my religious discussion forum. The reason I am cross-posting it is because I think it is interesting. I touches upon some of my views regarging the entire purpose of online discussion to begin with. And, hey, it bumps the page. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "An open invitation to new members to this moderated forum" Welcome to this safe haven. I know many of you only feel safe in the confines of a forum that is devoid of strong language and personal attacks. Here you will be at peace. Feel warm, comfortable, and safe in this haven. Feel free to create fake shill accounts through hidden IP addresses and temporary email servers. We don't mind. We just love the dialectic struggle. Share your thoughts here on topics of a religious nature, all the time feeling safe and secure that no one can attack your person. Please act as a troll. I welcome trolls. I love trolls. Do yo...

Well, I would like to update my blog but I can't. I lost the cable that connects my camera to my computer. And, without the cable, I can't transfer pictures. And, without pictures I can't stimulate my memory. And. if I can't stimulate my memory, I can't form a narrative. So, I guess I can't make blog entry. Last time I checked in I think I was bitching about my boat being broke. My boat is still broke. I appreciate the feedback from people who have added comments to my blog suggesting how to fix it. Please, I implore you, show up with a toolbox this weekend and let me know when you fix the problem because, you see, my mechanic can't quite seem to figure it out. Currently the boat is running fine at speeds up to 8mph, which is all I need to putter around the lake. All I really, personally, like to do is putter around the lake anyway. I hate throwing good money after bad and I just don't feel like spending any more money on the thing. I was only ...

My boat is still busted. Can you believe that shit?