Charles R. Stevens Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 mean admin... (sounds so much better when I'm saying "mean mommy" when the girls are trying to line out the grand babies, good for you Steve) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 It can be exasperating having to deal with the unrealistic or slow learners. Imagine having to be told not to go out of your way to tick off the people who can boot your butt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacLeod Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 I don’t think you all are as curmudgeonly as you think. I’ve been round most pages here now and I don’t think there is one person on if I I would not pour a dram for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 I think the core of curmudgeonhood is that we care. We are willing to spend our time and energy trying to help others from our wealth of experience---both in book larning and hammer in hand. I try to NOT reply to questions in areas I'm not expert in. (been using propane forges about 20 years now but do NOT consider myself a PFG for example...) We know we don't know everything; but we're hoping that we can help folks to not make all the mistakes we did learning stuff the hard way; or as I like to put it: Help people make new and improved mistakes instead of repeating ones we've already proven in... I've never considered popularity to be a metric on the worth of an idea and have cheerfully advised people to place me on their ignore list. I do not believe that everybody's opinion is of the same value on a subject---If I did I'd save a metric ton of money on co-pays for the medical experts I hope can keep me around a bit longer. I'll cheerfully read JPH's posts on pattern welding and bladesmithing and if they differ from mine---well I'll go back and research where I might have gone astray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Thomas, I have to agree. Every question I've posed has been answered honestly and thoughtfully. I believe the problems with younger folks today are no one teaches common courtesy and basic manners to kids anymore. Part of it is Young people's primary form of communication is online which promotes being rude and getting immediate results. You don't have to learn anything anymore because why take the time to read and memorize something when you can just Google and forget it. I've been taught from birth that please, thank you, excuse me, and I'm sorry will get you much farther than rudeness ever will and knowledge and skill is something to strive for and cherish. My advice for safely asking curmudgeons for advice is to try to find the answer for yourself first and if you still need help then ask a well thought out question and actually listen to the answers you get. Thanks, Pnut (Mike) and Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 Thank You for your post and your kind words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 I should be the one to thank you Glenn and all the people who make this possible. It's truly appreciated. Pnut (Mike) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 When I was growing up: please, thank you, you're welcome, I'm sorry, I don't know, were in daily use. If one of us said, "but Mother/Dad said I could," it better be so because they'd check. Mother and Father were on the same side, playing them off each other was a B-A-D idea. Curmudgeon is a term we sort of made up between us to mark the old meanies who expected a little common courtesy from folks asking our help. I have no use for boot lickers or sycophants, just a little courtesy is ALL I ask. Kids are kids and act like children. A lack of manners and wanting what they want right now is normal enough, I remember being a kid. I'm SURE I wasn't that bad though! I don't hold being a kid against anyone who IS a kid. Adults that behave like children deserve a good and proper curmudgeoning, maybe a custom deluxe curmudgeoning though I usually just stop responding. Being ignored REALLY irritates trolls and there's no reason for me to get worked up over trolls. One of the most irksome are the ones who argue because your answer doesn't meet their expectations. Actually the short answer to safely asking a Curmudgeon for anything is the same for asking anybody a favor. Be polite. It works anywhere. When I'm regularly in the company of folks from different country I learn to say, "please and thank you" or the equivalent. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buster Bolster Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 Someone who pointed me in the right direction a long time ago - sort of "you can do better, and don't think you can't without proving it" got a fair bit of bad press from question askers on woodworking boards. I'm sure he rubbed people the wrong way elsewhere, but I would consider him as reliable of a source of general advice and some very deep specific advice in certain areas. In short, his sometimes disagreeable or dismissive manner - or perceived to be that is from two things: 1) people who have not made or really learned anything of note asking for advice, and then wanting to argue, especially if they come up with "my opinion is just as valid as yours" - all too common. 2) people who ask for advice and then draw it out endlessly without letting you know they're probably not going to use the advice and tell you later they didn't. There aren't many areas I can give advice that you can't just find better elsewhere, but in the few that I can give good advice, I've started to grow a curmudgeon crust. In some topics, the demand for gobs of information is big from the start and the chance of complete follow through is probably <5%. I wrote some articles about things in the past and a red flag is when someone wants to know something, you send them an article link, or links to other references to look at, and they won't actually read them because they think it's a waste of time. it's too bad we all don't have a number below our name that conveys our intent to each other with a color to say what results we're looking for. Green and 100% for someone who is going to take information you give them and go do their absolute best to use it and down from there, and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike BR Posted September 15, 2023 Share Posted September 15, 2023 My rule of thumb is always to take advice when I get it. Even if I'm doing something exactly the way I was shown, if someone suggests doing it differently, I try it (unless they're an obvious idiot, of course). I figure it never hurts to know another way to do something, and who knows -- I might like the new one better. The flip side is that if I'm bound and determined to do something differently from everyone else, I go off and do it in private, then tell about it later . . . maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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