"Fred" wrote in message
...

"SteveB" wrote in
message news:G1Hwe.7310$8o.1309@fed1read03...

"Fred" wrote in message
...
I have a building in San Francisco where I had a
licensed contractor did some major work. A permit
was pulled, contractor did the work, I was ...
....


I cannot think off a better place to ask than the
newsgroups. So far I had positive responses from
someone in the building department and a registered
engineer from another group, thank you.
=== Well, that's what you perceive, anyway, but that
doesn't make it so. There are certainly better and
more reliable places to get answers from. That said,
what newsgroups ARE good for, with something as
important as you claim to have, are CONFIRMATION and
CONCENSUS. It could help you catch a con at work, or
to separate some fact from fiction down the road, and
often even arm you with enough information to decide
what questions to ask of the people in power. But to
say that you can think of no better place; well, you
need to think a little harder IMO.
You sound enticingly niave, so be careful.

Yes, the advice is free, but far
from worthless as long as you develop a selective
filter. I would say that much of the advice I've
gotten through the years is as good or better than
the advice I'd paid for including my $400/hour
lawyer, $150/hour mechanic, $250/hour CPA, etc.
=== Woof! No wonder you take advice from a newsgroup
as the last word on something! You've no problems with
paying the extra bucks and probably don't even know it
when you do. I'm not trying to sound offensive,
honest, but brutally honest with my opinion. In other
words, you're sure not driving an old Monte Carlo to
the local courts to pay a speeding ticket which you
want to account for on your taxes.


Flame them for bad advice? I have a condo conversion,
an in-law addition and a remodel to do in three
different cities. Sorry, no time. (And often times
the bad advice is not intentional.)

Newsgroups are great! I just fix my chain saw the
other day with some free advice that my mechanic
couldn't fix in ver 18 months under warranty. I learn
how to weld better, fix my cars, fix my properties,
invest better, etc. - all in all, save me thousands
of dollars and unnecessary frustration. So many good
people here and much appreciated!

=== This last doesn't seem to follow with the rest of
your post; you may have learned by wathycing or
something similar, but can you DO? And perhaps that
$150/hr mechanic needs to be replaced. Either that or
you need to realize that even the best "expert" can
miss things at times.
While the world isn't all zeroes and cone, you seem
to make a case for enjoying both but claim to be only
one? Dunno - interesting verbiage.

Just be careful.

Pop