DIYbanter - View Single Post - I'm trying to make a turned heated bird bath.

said:

Greg G wrote:

Or possibly I'm just a very unpleasant person. ;-)

Awwww... I doubt that. It is indeed hard to find out what the intent
is of the email from time to time.

Robert,
Thanks for the vote of confidence, but don't be too sure of it... ;-)
I can be just as big an arse in person, and I doubt I've ever said
anything on-line that I wouldn't have said in person. :-o

Perceived attitude has a lot to do with how I respond to a subject
that is already smoldering. I know I shouldn't let any of it bother
me, after all, it's just faceless bits flying through Cyberspace, but
I suppose 20 years of on-line experiences has left me somewhat jaded.
Some people can be amazingly dense about life and the things in it.
And the methodologies they use to prop up their faulty reasoning is
just as confounding. And it gets worse with every passing year.

But the written forum removes the instant feedback of body language,
and when you add poor comprehension of the language into the mix, it
can be difficult indeed to determine the intended tone of a poster.

30+ years of working with a variety of incompetents, ranging from
electronics, mechanics, and construction contractors has left me with
very little patience for ignorance as well. To run across someone who
actually knows something about their chosen field is such a joyful and
all too infrequent thing. Maybe it has something to do with being
from the Southeastern US, but almost every time I or my friends have
called an alleged professional to perform a job, it ends up done
incorrectly. Or worse, with the outright intention to defraud! And
just watch 'em line up to screw over a widow or single woman. And
what really gets to me is that the biggest thieves are generally the
most incompetent and additionally believe that they should make more
money for doing less work than an honest and competent peer. I just
don't understand how anyone can go through life with such a distorted
view of reality - or not feel obligated by some personal code of
ethics to do the best job they can - for every customer, not just the
ones who complain the loudest. So I've become pretty hasty to call a
spade a spade these days - especially when it comes to two-faced
politicians and the tripe they sling at one another. Which has, in
these slightly more modern times, become talking points in an endless
barrage of media think-tank and PSYOP's propagated misinformation and
distraction.

That is one of the redeeming things about the Wreck (rec.woodworking).
Many of the participants are very intelligent people who have a well
founded understanding of their chosen fields of employment, and
several other fields as well. A few can get rather ****y right off
the bat, and perhaps some of that has rubbed off, but I generally try
to restrict my activity to expressing my opinion on a given subject
and then walking away. Perhaps somewhere, deep inside, I get a cheap
thrill out of poking some of the more excitable, unreasonable people
with a sharp pointy-stick - once or twice. ;-)

One of the various hats I don on a regular basis requires that I write
RDBS software for various vendors across the US. Some of the barely
legible e-mails we receive from supposed industry "managers" astounds
me. How some of these folks made it out of college (or high school
for that matter) defies comprehension. Total lack of sentence
structure, punctuation, and capitalization leads me to dismiss them as
lazy brained people who either drink to much, or simply don't care.

And one is only left to wonder how we, as pampered US citizens, are
going to benefit from a "World Economy" full of very crafty people who
have been surviving harsh conditions for decades, even centuries. We
have dropped the ball, and a world full of hungry opportunists have
picked it up and are charging like a tsunami towards the financial
goal post. We think we have the upper hand due to some temporal
financial superiority, but this is all changing radically as we speak.

I have seen on every group I have participated in where things get so
out of hand on things like defending Norm from NYY, Lee Valley,

I hear ya... Norm sure can bring out the passion in some folks! ;-)
I have found myself defending comments concerning Norm that were not
even derogatory, simply because a reader either misunderstood the
statement, or had so little knowledge of the subject matter that they
just blindly argued non-facts and opinion. As an example: "Norm is
one heck of a nice guy, but he is not an accomplished woodturner."
That simple statement elicited several flames, as I recall...

I participated for quite a while in the rec.woodworking ( I assume this
is your reference to the Wreck)

Yes it is - and an appropriate moniker as well... it IS a wreck!

and they got so mean and ****y that it simply wasn't worth it.

I hear ya...
When I start feeling more agitated after participating there than
before, I just ignore the lot of them for months on end. It's
supposed to be enjoyable, after all. But invariably, something will
come up that I desire additional input on, and I show back up,
dragging my tail behind me.

I have been a professional contractor and woodworker for over
25 years and I just didn't feel like I needed to
listen to some moron that got the new Time Life book on trims tell me
how screwed up I was, then scream like he was on fire if I told him he
was wrong.

Well, you have far more experience that I do. Although I've been a
hobbyist woodworker on and off since childhood, I've only pursued it
semi-seriously for the past 5 years or so... And I've yet had to hang
cove molding!

But this is what happens when you have a well established coterie of
knowledgeable people who are then inundated with newbies who think
they know everything, but in actuality, don't have a freaking clue!

Both are used now for archive sources, where they can still kick ass.

Yes, as a source of raw data - Usenet excels! You just have to
separate the wheat from the chaff - which is a daunting task at times.

I have read a great deal of your posts, especially on the wreck.
Again, mostly good stuff, but a few hot spots seem to come up.

Thanks. I'm sure I come off as an opinionated arse occasionally, but
hey, that's life! Personal redemption arrives when times proves me to
be correct about a point of contention. Don't compare me to either a
liberal or a neo-con - or imply, with a misplaced self-righteous tone,
that I'm a liar or an idiot and everything is usually cool. ;-)

Well, I've rambled enough this chilly morning - I've got more jigs and
bowls to make!

Later,

Greg G.