[R-390] First they chased off Nolan...

[John KA1XC]

Hey Tom, pardon me from snipping your text, it's just convenient.........

>As a recent subscriber to the list I would like to point out that you
>guys are your own worst enemies.

Have you turned on a TV lately?; the whole human race is it's own worst
enemy :^)  It's just plain impossible to get along with everybody all the
time.

>When the
>experienced members leave who will the complainers look to for advice?
(shrug) People come and people go, and eventually everybody goes. Todays
newbie can become tomorrows expert.

>I don't know Nolan, I don't know Dr. Jerry........

I did, at least from reading and some correspedance.  The Dr. J situation
reminded me of  my early experiences in my electronics career, and that was
that some of the most talented or educated engineers also had some of the
most difficult personalities to get along with. I also found it amazing how
these accomplished folks genuinely had no clue as to how badly their
attitude, language or even tone could affect others. Since they were usually
a corporate superior there was usually not much you could do except remain
silent, but here on the internet everyone has a voice. I guess folks like
this just don't respond well to feedback!

The Nolan situation was completely different. Nolan was not one to run or to
be chased away from anything. I also loved his colorful tales and he was my
inspiration for catching R-390 fever again. But he knew *exactly* what he
was doing when he would post his wildly off-topic exploits to the list, and
I would often get a double belly-laugh, one from the story itself and the
next from anticipating the howls of discontent that would arise from deep
within the list. (Nolan had an interesting observation too, the biggest
complainers were usually those who never contributed any other posts!). He
also had a lot of other interests besides radio, and I remember him telling
me about some health and family situations to deal with which contributed to
his absence.

I for one appreciate the simple list rules of conduct, the presence of the
moderator, and also those who speak up if their toes are stomped on. I have
seen totally open bulletin boards and Usenet groups go down the toilet when
there were no controls. Just check out rec.radio.shortwave or the CB band
for perfect examples of anarchy. Hey, we're all big boys playing here, and
are responsible for what we say and how we say it. Now I gotta get back to
the radios!

73, John