ITonRamp Exciting, Valuable new course: Quickbooks!

[WonderingInWA]

LOL, okay, who posted this one?

I can't believe they let that one through. The Maxwells sure don't get snark, do they?

LOLOL. Good one. It wasn't me, though.

[kpmom]

LOL, okay, who posted this one?

I can't believe they let that one through. The Maxwells sure don't get snark, do they?

Calling johnhugh. Yoo hoo, johnhugh.

[nelliebelle1197]

Calling johnhugh. Yoo hoo, johnhugh.

Had to have been.He has a pact with the devil on the Maxwell comment board.

[WonderingInWA]

Calling johnhugh. Yoo hoo, johnhugh.

That was my first guess, too! Sooooo clever! :)

[marmalade]

LOL, okay, who posted this one?

I can't believe they let that one through. The Maxwells sure don't get snark, do they?

Stehovah typically uses those as an example someone who has to pray to save for the course. I think everybody here knows that they don't take installments; they operate with a strict "all tuition up front, all the time" policy. Because, heaven knows, Steve-o doesn't want to get stiffed once the students realize how shitty the product is.

[DrPusey]

You know what bugs me the most about that post? The fact that Sarah posted a picture of Christopher with his family as the illustration. The not-so-subtle come-on is basically "help support this worthy upstanding young man so he can support his virtuous stay-at-home wife and bebe!" I'm only surprised that the caption wasn't something like "And they have another one on the way!"

[MamaJunebug]

You know what bugs me the most about that post? The fact that Sarah posted a picture of Christopher with his family as the illustration. The not-so-subtle come-on is basically "help support this worthy upstanding young man so he can support his virtuous stay-at-home wife and bebe!" I'm only surprised that the caption wasn't something like "And they have another one on the way!"

Love it, had the same reaction.

And also - I'm beginning to see a certain something in NRAnna's eyes that I didn't use to see. A churchlady-like, acute smugness: "I was trained by my parents and they got me married to one of the medium stars of the patriarchal movement, got one in the stroller and one in the oven - ain't I special?"

No fly lasts very long in any Maxwell structure, I'm sure, but to be a fly on the wall for a half an hour or so would surely produce some fascinating observations! :mouse-shock:

[nelliebelle1197]

Yes, MamaJ. I think you are right on about NRAnna! That is why argue heavily against these folk being unhappy or planning to flee. I do think fundy folk often have a certain smugness. Just like republicans.

[WonderingInWA]

Love it, had the same reaction.

And also - I'm beginning to see a certain something in NRAnna's eyes that I didn't use to see. A churchlady-like, acute smugness: "I was trained by my parents and they got me married to one of the medium stars of the patriarchal movement, got one in the stroller and one in the oven - ain't I special?"

No fly lasts very long in any Maxwell structure, I'm sure, but to be a fly on the wall for a half an hour or so would surely produce some fascinating observations! :mouse-shock:

I noticed the smugness, too. I liked her better when she was more humble and, dare I say, afraid. She must really be starting to build confidence in herself, and that's what's showing through. Can't be a Maxwell lady without being confident.

[Marian the Librarian]

You know what bugs me the most about that post? The fact that Sarah posted a picture of Christopher with his family as the illustration. The not-so-subtle come-on is basically "help support this worthy upstanding young man so he can support his virtuous stay-at-home wife and bebe!" I'm only surprised that the caption wasn't something like "And they have another one on the way!"

Seconded. I had precisely this response to the post and accompanying photo. I think the Maxsells expect their adoring sheeple to turn a blind eye to the obvious fleecing afoot. Purchasing their insanely overpriced products does, after all, help insure the continuation of Stevehovah's holy dynasty!

[pattygbucks]

I just watched the ITonRamp "About Us" video. Long pauses in the narrative.

"focusing...on...non-profits...and small business...throughout the kansas city area" there are other awkward pauses...while, he, takes, a breath, every, comma, instead, of a pause.

Am I imagining this oddity...????

[nokidsmom]

Seconded. I had precisely this response to the post and accompanying photo. I think the Maxsells expect their adoring sheeple to turn a blind eye to the obvious fleecing afoot. Purchasing their insanely overpriced products does, after all, help insure the continuation of Stevehovah's holy dynasty!

Took a look at the same post and got the same feeling. The message is to "help support this godly family", so don't pay any attention to the pricing, which is, IMHO, a total ripoff.

One poster upthread pointed out that the testamonials were by people indentified as Mary M and Anna M. But the other thing I noticed is that there are no recommendations from any corporations or businesses in the area. Or even claims by them to have done some work. It's not usual to state "we have done work for XYZ company" or post a good recommendation from a major customer. This might fit in with Steve's leaving evil corporate America and he doesn't want to do such work but it sure limits their options in a big way. Plus just as Christopher has to have lost potential photography business with his "list", I am sure they have also lost potential IT business in a similar way as well.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Took a look at the same post and got the same feeling. The message is to "help support this godly family", so don't pay any attention to the pricing, which is, IMHO, a total ripoff.

One poster upthread pointed out that the testamonials were by people indentified as Mary M and Anna M. But the other thing I noticed is that there are no recommendations from any corporations or businesses in the area. Or even claims by them to have done some work. It's not usual to state "we have done work for XYZ company" or post a good recommendation from a major customer. This might fit in with Steve's leaving evil corporate America and he doesn't want to do such work but it sure limits their options in a big way. Plus just as Christopher has to have lost potential photography business with his "list", I am sure they have also lost potential IT business in a similar way as well.

For the longest time they've hosted a variety of dead websites all hanging off the "we-communicate.com" URL. Just recently they've updated that site, but it is still pretty much content free.

In 2013 pretty much the worst anti-advertising you can have for a business is a dead web site. It's possible to purposely not HAVE a web site at all, or POSSIBLY to have a single page site that is only the equivalent of a print ad in the yellow pages (though that's highly not recommended), but to have a site that was clearly meant to be updated that has maybe 3 posts on it a few years old and then nuthin', that might as well be the kiss of death. That's what they had until recently.

The site for their home remodelling business had a whopping total of 4 posts, all projects done on their own house, all posted within a few months of each other, then the site was abandoned. The site for their IT consulting business (?) had a few VERY basic plain HTML experiment type pages with a simple javascript counter, that sort of thing, perhaps what a high school kid would do as a little proof of concept thing, and that was it.

The new version has links to updated and more professional looking websites for each business. The home remodelling business is gone (interestingly enough, since from the posts they made on their blog I think they could definitely make a living as home remodellers). Nathan's IT consulting is just a flat page that looks like a naive resume (I'm reminded of the flyers the Moody kids make for their pet business) touting his credentials in Windows 2003 (surely they know newer versions of Windows are out? I'm definitely no Windows expert but the place I work is all about Windows server 2012 or at least 2008 and Exchange 2010 going to 2013) and no links to any businesses or even naming any businesses. It's just "networks of varying sizes and complexities" with no concrete examples. He also says:

Instead of attending classes where, many times, instructors provide "hints" regarding questions on the exam, he's chosen to self-study all of his exams, over 25.

And he says "loose touch." Argh.

The One Ton Ramp has a more professional page. It does have "statement of faith" page which is pretty fascinating. HOWEVER!! They have a tab for "blog" and it is EMPTY. Again, that's the kiss of death, do they not realize this? If they don't want to maintain the blog, they should get rid of it.

A while ago I googled around trying to find mention of their classes anywhere, and came up with two homeschooled high school boys unrelated to the Maxwells who had done the first One Ton Ramp course. The two boys were friends of each other. I didn't find much else. Now, surely they have people taking these classes if they're still on offer, but I was surprised not to find any family blogs mentioning it.

Christopher's wedding site similarly has a new page. They're doing a bit better, there are galleries from this summer. Only two, but then again it's easy to assume that the galleries are only a few handpicked examples and that there are tons of others not on the page (I have no idea if that's true, but it makes a plausible excuse, so this isn't a dead web page).

For a while they had some links to websites they'd helped design, from their page. Those are gone now, but it's where I found the website of the Idaho irrigation company with the potential suitor.

[WonderingInWA]

I doubt Christopher does more weddings than just a couple a year. I think what you see on his photography website is it. The restrictions he places on which events he will accept probably turn most couples off completely, even if he is priced better than others.

As a side note, the number of photos he takes on a diagonal make my head want to implode.

[freethemall]

I wondered why Christopher's pic was in the post. I never had any use for him after reading his "requirements" for his wedding services.

Wow, I just had to go to his website to see what you were talking and well, WOW. You're not going to be a very successful wedding photographer if you're going to exclude over 90% of weddings, are you? So friggin arrogant.

[nokidsmom]

If I were planning a wedding and ran into a photographer with Christopher's list of acceptable criteria, I would not hire hire him even if I met them all. It's not only arrogant but I can only imagine that I would have to deal with more "requirements" down the line.

[WonderingInWA]

If you look at this unfortunate bride on his photography page, you see he really made no effort to make her undershirt look any less conspicuous, particularly in the later photos where it was riding up and coming out of the top of the dress. Aren't photographers supposed to spot and fix stuff like that? But dang it, she was modest!

christophermaxwell.com/weddings/josh-lexi/index.html

[anjulibai]

I don't think that's Christopher's fault. The undershirt looks like an afterthought, like the dress was picked out and then they realized it wasn't modest enough so they had do sew something in. Kind of like Michelle's Klinefield dress. There's no photography that could make that look good.

I did note that he still has a link to his Scripture Prints, which they haven't made in several years.

[anjulibai]

You know, all this shoddy work makes me wonder what the important computer work they are all doing all the time really is. Do they have clients? Do they just dick around and pretend to work? :?

[Justme]

If you look at this unfortunate bride on his photography page, you see he really made no effort to make her undershirt look any less conspicuous, particularly in the later photos where it was riding up and coming out of the top of the dress. Aren't photographers supposed to spot and fix stuff like that? But dang it, she was modest!

christophermaxwell.com/weddings/josh-lexi/index.html

Those pictures are horrible. Especially the one on the grooms head (no neck).

[Coconut Flan]

Along with the satin shirt-like thing added to the dress why did the bride pull a string of hair behind each ear? That was so tacky and distracting to me. Christopher could really stand to apprentice with a real wedding photographer. I wish the fundie brides would just buy a dress that meets their modesty standards from the beginning. They are made and carried somewhat widely.

[nelliebelle1197]

Wow, I just had to go to his website to see what you were talking and well, WOW. You're not going to be a very successful wedding photographer if you're going to exclude over 90% of weddings, are you? So friggin arrogant.

Didja scan down to the bottom and see he has that damn good person test on the site? Go back to some old titus2 postings- before NRAnna Christopher did much blog posting- and read about his obsession with that stupid "test"

[Cleopatra7]

So now I'm wondering how the Maxwells manage to support themselves. As others have mentioned, their products and services are crummy and overpriced and their websites are lame and haven't been updated in ages. I know they don't spend money on entertainment or clothes or anything "fun" but how are they getting enough money to keep the lights and water on? It makes me wonder if Steve is running some kind of "operation" on the side.

[socalrules]

Why have I never investigated all their classes before?

May I please, please, please take the PC Reloading class? For only $175 I can learn to reload and wipe my computer clean after it has been infected with a virus and/or spyware, since this is not an easy task. To think, I used to do it the old way and just slip in the cd that came with the computer and let it crash and reload my system for free. Obviously I was not doing it the Godly and correct way.

Are there people that really pay for this crap? How dumb do you have to be to take these classes? I know fundies don't want contact with the outside world but community colleges are so cheap per unit and, here in California, you would pay about $140 for a three unit computer class. For people who are all about saving money, they would be crazy to pay for worthless Maxwell classes.

[WonderingInWA]

So now I'm wondering how the Maxwells manage to support themselves. As others have mentioned, their products and services are crummy and overpriced and their websites are lame and haven't been updated in ages. I know they don't spend money on entertainment or clothes or anything "fun" but how are they getting enough money to keep the lights and water on? It makes me wonder if Steve is running some kind of "operation" on the side.

I've always suspected Stevie got a settlement from Boeing over the harrassment issue (where he was forced to go to lunch with a female vendor or that he refused to based on his principles or something to that effect). That was when God "brought him home" from the ebil corporate world. Having worked for the company and having a good friend who worked in legal there, it happens all. the. time. The largest number of law suits that company deals with are disgruntled employees and they end up settling out of court because it's cheaper overall.