I miss Waterbug...

[Waterbug]

Regarding the above conversation, I also seem to be noticing that except for us diehards, most people just sign on, ask a few questions, then leave and never to be seen again. WB, if that seems to be a concern and a waste of your time, why even bother?

Writing about ponds allows me to think about ponds. I like to think about ponds. Plus there are other reasons for posting in forums.

And who knows, maybe some reader will see an idea or term they hadn't heard before and read up on it, and maybe learn something they didn't know before.

I've already said this before, but I've learned a lot from the forums. There's good and bad advice and over time you learn what's good and what's not. Sometimes someone just mentions a word, a term that I've never heard of before so I read up about it and presto, I know something that I didn't before.

Maybe even you.

 

[JohnHuff]

Writing about ponds allows me to think about ponds. I like to think about ponds. Plus there are other reasons for posting in forums.

And who knows, maybe some reader will see an idea or term they hadn't heard before and read up on it, and maybe learn something they didn't know before.

Maybe even you.

You don't have to add the "maybe" there. I know I've learned stuff from your posts, maybe reluctantly, but for sure I have!

I also did write above somewhere that when you teach something to someone, you learn something too.

 

[Waterbug]

"maybe" was meant as hurmor...but I know humor doesn't translate well in text and I do try to avoid it...but it sneaks by sometimes. Sorry.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Since Waterbug is the star of this thread, I'll give him credit for trying to dispel some of the pond myths out there.
I can't say I agree with all the conclusions he comes to, but there are a few old wives tales out there that make me cringe every time I see them repeated in the forums. It's nice that at least someone has a website that addresses some of them.

 

[JohnHuff]

WB for president!

Since Waterbug is the star of this thread, I'll give him credit for trying to dispel some of the pond myths out there.
I can't say I agree with all the conclusions he comes to, but there are a few old wives tales out there that make me cringe every time I see them repeated in the forums. It's nice that at least someone has a website that addresses some of them.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Actually Waterbug fits the dominating dictator profile much better "president", but if you want to elect a president, elect me! I promise I'll be fair to everybody, and I'll still keep Waterbug on my staff in some limited advisory capacity.

 

[JohnHuff]

I mean president of Kazakhstan, but if you want to be president of Kazakhstan, I'm all for it too.

Actually Waterbug fits the dominating dictator profile much better "president", but if you want to elect a president, elect me! I promise I'll be fair to everybody, and I'll still keep Waterbug on my staff in some limited advisory capacity.

 

[HARO]

:toothy12: :toothy12: :toothy12:
John

 

[CometKeith]

WB is actually very knowledgeable, but can be extremely offensive especially to newbies. I wonder how many new members to GPF decided not to come back to the forum after a rebuke from WB. However sometimes I am surprised how long and thoughtful his answers are and am amazed that he would put so much effort into clarifying an issue. My opinion is if you are smart then you don't need to wear it on your sleeve and belittle other people. People on their own will recognize your insight and intelligence. Basically if you want respect then you must first give it out. Just my two cents...

 

[JohnHuff]

WB is actually very knowledgeable, but can be extremely offensive especially to newbies. I wonder how many new members to GPF decided not to come back to the forum after a rebuke from WB. However sometimes I am surprised how long and thoughtful his answers are and am amazed that he would put so much effort into clarifying an issue. My opinion is if you are smart then you don't need to wear it on your sleeve and belittle other people. People on their own will recognize your insight and intelligence. Basically if you want respect then you must first give it out. Just my two cents...

You're totally right on about that. There was an entire thread started last week when WB asked a newbie to basically Google his answer and then gave a smart remark when the guy posted again. Yet just now, WB posted a 14 paragraph answer that was thoughtful and informative. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

 

[Waterbug]

Didn't occur to you that telling someone with fish currently dying to use Google to find info instead of waiting around to play 20 questions over several days was the best chance the poster had to save their fish. That they could find and read info written by fish specialist Veterinarians instead of people in this forum with no training at all. Oh, that is horrible. How could I say such a thing? We have to keep the poster on this site, for as long as possible. They can only find the answers in our posts.

That is the deal with forums...it's about signing up members, about generating as many posts as possible, and giving the most number of people a chance to write stuff. Saving fish, not so much.

2733 posts and some people read insults into how many posts? Wow, not really losing any sleep. Insecure self righteousness in forums is standard stuff.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

2733 posts and some people read insults into how many posts?

Last count was about 2730, give or take. :yikesu:

 

[CometKeith]

It's probably the nature of forums and written word on the computer by e-mail etc that things get misconstrued pretty easily. I have received some pretty rough e-mails in the past from clients, customers, etc then when you get them on the phone they say oh can you help me with a small problem and we resolve it and everyone is fine. I think sometimes you don't perceive how someone is affected by the written word when it is sent out into the internet. In person after the first wince or frown you know you have gone far enough. I try to be careful when writing e-mails or texts because people don't always get what you mean. Also I have learned that sarcasm doesn't work well in e-mails. Because my business is basically customer service and I live off of referrals I have learned to be as nice as possible when I send e-mails, texts, etc so someone is not offended, but that's just me.

 

[JohnHuff]

Puhleeze... Please don't try and justify this anymore. It just makes it look worse.

When someone comes to ask this forum for help, how does a one liner asking him to Google it help? Imagine if you/we had an urgent question on computers/automobile/birds/food and went to the appropriate forum and some guy gave you a one liner to Google it?

You didn't explain anything to him. You didn't give him information on where or what to look for. It looked more like a brush off than help. No answer would have been preferable to that one-liner.

What sealed it for me was your second sarcastic reply. That was totally uncalled for. I might have believed you wanted to help except for that second remark.

Didn't occur to you that telling someone with fish currently dying to use Google to find info instead of waiting around to play 20 questions over several days was the best chance the poster had to save their fish. That they could find and read info written by fish specialist Veterinarians instead of people in this forum with no training at all. Oh, that is horrible. How could I say such a thing? We have to keep the poster on this site, for as long as possible. They can only find the answers in our posts.

That is the deal with forums...it's about signing up members, about generating as many posts as possible, and giving the most number of people a chance to write stuff. Saving fish, not so much.

2733 posts and some people read insults into how many posts? Wow, not really losing any sleep. Insecure self righteousness in forums is standard stuff.

 

[dieselplower]

It's like a bunch on high school girls bickering on the forum lately. Between this and the redic thread about needing a garden pond forum post warning I see more drama on here than useful info lately.