Thanks, Tom. Even though I am relatively new to this group, I have been
pretty disapointed to watch its deterioration. Not many folks enjoy the low
signal to noise ratio in here lately. It used to be a great place to come to
listen and learn about woodworking.
I agree with a lot of what you say. Keep your fingers crossed that things
will get better. That's all you can do.
Matt

"Tom Watson" wrote in message
...
There was once a day when I could read the thoughts of Patrick Leach.

There was once a day that I could read the thoughts of Walt Akers.

There was a once, too long ago, that I could glean the wisdom of
Paully Rad (r.i.p.).

O'Deen used to post every day, maybe every other day.

Duke of Urls was right there beside him.

Charlie Self fielded every intelligent question that was thrown his
way.

JOAT only asked that nobody emailed him.

Tommy Plamann was seen around here, frequently.

C-Less would sing the praises of whatever finish or technique he was
enamored of, of the moment - and it didn't matter, because he did it
so well.

Bitch Slap Bob wrote some most entertaining stuff, most of which I
thought was funny as hell.

****, I used to enjoy LRod defending Norm to the death, but it seems
like he's worn out, too.

What do I have now?

Most of the intelligent and interesting people have been driven into
lurkdom, or some lesser form of same which shows up as a lesser form
of involvement.

What I have now is Bay Area Dave, who is a worthless piece of ****.

I have jclarke, who spends a great deal of time on the ADD ng, and
that is totally appropriate for him. I just wish he would stay there.

We've suffered through the Woodpecker infestation, the Man In The
Doorway troll, the Doggie Conspiracy, The Age of Bennett, The Living
Turd, the This and the That, that makes our Wreck experience less than
what it should be.

Is it even possible to return the group to a level that we can all
enjoy?

I'll admit - I wrote off Bay Area Dave, and said that he should be
shunned. I should have followed my own recommendation. It's just
that he is a bully - and I hate to see a bully go unchallenged.

I'm actually coming around to the position of C-Less, and really
ignoring the assholes.

There was, in times past, a forum for the trading and dissemination of
tidbits of knowledge, of the wooddorking sort.

There was, in times past, a place where we could all hang out and
learn from each other - tell our jokes - spin our yarns -share our
experiences in the moaning chair - just be wooddorkers, ya know.

But we have become a cesspool of mindless argumentation - an
unreflective gathering of nanominds.

I will admit to being among the most culpable in this regard.

I have found myself replying with language and logic that I would have
never used in this place before.

I'll give you my pledge.

I'll killfile the usual assholes and not respond to them when they
show up referenced in other posts.

I will use my best efforts to return the Wreck to the state it was in,
when I really loved being here.

I do want to say this before embracing my abstinence:

Bay Area Dave is the single most destructive force to hit the Wreck,
since I have been here.

Bennett was actually entertaining, because he was half-assed
intelligent. There were some good threads started in response to
Bennett.

BAD just wants to draw attention to himself - in such a way that
should make any thinking person sad, and fearful of the possibility
that he might be overcome by such a monster of pathology.

I suppose, that he is more to be pitied than reviled.

Tomorrow, I will begin posting only happy thoughts. I will help where
I can and encourage where I can't.

I'd like the Wreck to go back to that happy state that I enjoyed so
much.

If it doesn't - I have books to read and write.




Regards,
Tom.

Thomas J.Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.)
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1