I know all about the past troll and the worries and threats, BUT:
I’m curious as to what reasons people have for wanting to more-or-less hide themselves here at BT. A bunch of the folks here are fairly available. I could probably call them if I wanted. One who’s name I know has asked me not to mention even a first name here. Many don’t state anything about themselves in the personal data thingy.
In this day it’s mighty hard to hide out. Not handing out your SS# is one thing, but your name???
Any insights shared will be appreciated!
Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Replies
Hasbeen,
All it takes is one jerk to screw up peoples lives. That's why people don't use their real names.
As far as contacting people it can be done here easily. At the end of a post is an options button. Hit it and you can have an email sent to someone.
I have on repeated occasions done this. Sometimes to seek answers for myself, sometimes to follow up on leads or contacts, and sometimes just to chew the fat.
Sometimes if someone for example has a real challenging problem when doing layout work on a big and complicated job and are looking for help I will email them on how to contact people like themselves who came to BK to find answers and got them here and have let me know they will in the future return the favor and help out others from this forum. I'm talking about top notch professional help that money can't buy.
Thought this might help,
Cork in Chicago.
I take advantage of the small about of anonymity provided for a few reasons:
First I don't like the idea of people accepting advice over the internet without a fair bit of skepticism. There are no guarantees as to the adequacy, correctness or even the good intentions of the advice given. I would like to think that the advice is given in a plain enough fashion to allow its efficacy and good intention, or lack thereof, to shine through. This assumes a question and advice clearly written and understood.
Many times I have come across people who were technically skilled enough to give sound advice but lacked the skill at writing to express the ideas in a clear enough manner to do any good. On the other end some who can write have little technical knowledge. Great advice stated in an unclear manner is no more useful than the wrong advice well put. This is only compounded as a problem by the variable skills of people in describing problems and asking questions.
Then you get to the fact that people, by design, are not consistent. Amateurs often give very insightful advice while hardened experts, not uncommonly, miss the best answers. Everyone has bad days. People misunderstand questions and situations. People get confused and distracted.
I also enjoy the perpetual fresh start available on this type of forum. Every post is a potential new start. You could have been batting 0 or 1000 without pride or shame holding you back. Everyone gets an equal shot. From the worse to the best each post is your best effort at the time. Every post read is something new learned, a new start. I don't want my posts to be accepted or discounted out of hand because of past successes or failures. I don't want my offering to be prejudged because of a name.
Ideally I want my posts to be taken for what they are worth both to the specific question and as general reference later. This is why I'm a bit long winded. I want my posts to make sense without having to dig up the specific context. I want the post to not be so focused on the particular situation that it is inapplicable to larger issues. Tell a man to repair a neutral and his power will work. Teach him what a neutral does and he will solve this problem and any after this.
Ideally I try to explain why I think this or that is correct so that people can judge for themselves how well I understand the problem and the chances that any solution I provide will work and not cause other problems. Knowing my name would not help in that determination.
Good post!Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
OK guys. My real name is Homer Simpson.
DOH!
too many nuts in the world, more on the Internet.
knowing a name can lead to other things
too many years getting trained on security issues. one thing that always stuck, keep a low profile
my "nick name" is close, and is in fact how I signed things when I worked.
there use to be be people on BT that knew who I am, but they're no longer with us (manical laughter)
remember, just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
bobl Volo, non valeo
Paranoia: Just a heightened state of consciousness
; )Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
For me, it's probably closer to paranoia than fear of anything reasonable. I don't see any benefit to sharing my name, so any perceived risk or disadvantage tips the balance against.
Spent 25 years in the nuclear power business. If that doesn't teach you to covet your privacy, nothin will.
I used to post here and other places under my full name. My last name is not common and as far as i know only my immediate family shares it in this country. I got some strange phone calls a few years ago in the middle of the night and they freaked the wife out a little. I dont think it was anybody here, or even the internet but I stopped being as free with my full name. I dont really see a reason for it, and while I dont really fear anyone knowing who I am, you can see just from what has happenned here before that someone doesnt really have to be dangerous to be a real pain in the ####.
BT (and most of the other fora I haunt) get my handle, which is an identifier that is used almost as often as my real name.
Email addresses are a bit more cryptic (ain't nobody guessing my eBay username, either--unless you are a vendor or customer <grin>)
Tongue thoroughly in cheek, I do have to wonder when the question is posed by "hasbeen" . . . <grin> (unless your parents did you like a buddy of mine: Marion Xavier Ebidiah--which could not have been a good name in grade school)
I know I've sent ans recieved emails from folks--never a problem.
Cap
John Waynes real name was also Marion.
was also Marion
Worked for a Marion Oscar, who perennially went by "M.O." This caused two confusions in print. He'd get mail addressed to "Marian," or to "Moe" . . .
Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Edited 11/2/2003 11:51:59 PM ET by CapnMac
Then there is "stairmaster" who still lurks here...
Needless to say he's a tad upset with some of us...
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....
he's a tad upset with some of us
Let him. None of him are worth my concern.
Hmm, if you have MPD, how do you define identity theft . . . ?Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Thats ok, I used to work with a Mormon named Harold Richard Ball. I kid you not. It was on his time card. Never asked if he was a Mormon. Thought maybe his parents were mad a him. Oh, also, I had a girl friend whos first name was Cleopatra and shared an office space with a real nice philipino who first name was Ben Hur. Seems his mother was real religious and thought to use the name after seeing the moving. Overall, I guess anonymity isn's so bad after all.
Xavier is a perfectly good Catalan name, the equivalent of the Spanish Javier.
Marion, I think, was John Wayne's name.
Ebidiah, well, I will let someone else comment on that one.
My "Ruby" name was my dog's name I used when, at signup, this site would not accept my regular name.
Millions of internet users may never have any problems but do you want to see if you are the one that wins the lottery and get a goofball after you for some imagined slight?
Those that are advertising their services by posting their real names are the only ones with a need to do so and the chances, small as they may be, of someone getting annoyed at them enough to persecute them is a weighted risk they take.
I do think that some people would be more civil to each other if they were using their real names, or at least I hope that they don't talk like that face to face with others.
Xavier is a perfectly good Catalan name, the equivalent of the Spanish Javier.
Marion, I think, was John Wayne's name.
Ebidiah, well, I will let someone else comment on that one.
Xavier is the Latin spelling that gives us Javier, and Jaimie.
Marion, male; Marian, female spelling (learned that at work).
MXE was called "NERF" by friend and foe alike (to the great consternation of all of his ILs, who have also relented, and now call him Nerf, too). I grew up around the military, and it doesn't seem the least bit unusual that everyone has a handle or callsign, or both.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
There is no Spanish name written or pronounced "Jaimie". You may be thinking of Jaime (pronounced hai-may), a name given to boys and the same as the English James.
In our part of the world we spoke castellano and catalan only underground, as it was forbidden. Xavier was only a catalan name, Javier the only acceptable one.
Jaime is the only spelling I ever knew too but in the US I have seen all kinds of odd spellings of it and used for both boys and girls.
Languages evolve. There was an interesting study report a while back on how, even if English were to become universal, it would be unintelligible to people in different parts of the world, as it would change according to the local culture.
Happened to German for several hundred years and still does today.
I think that romanic languages are phonetically more stable and so less apt to change regionally, as spanish has shown.
less apt to change regionally
Yes, and No. In Mexico, they do not use "cacahuete" for peanut (grr, now the term just dropped out of my head). The same term used in Costa Rica is considered an insult. Oops. Using one's school-taught Castillian Spanish will get some odd looks in mesoamerica.
Construction Spanish is even worse, it's Spanglish at best (to the great consternation of bilingual educators). Those are not "vigas" they are "beams" [BEa mahs], and between them are the joists (either HOYsts or GZOYsts). The purlins are "en la troca" (on the truck). Bad enough to be able to translate "pieds y inchas."
Apologies for mangling "James." Too much Latin at an early age turns it into Jacob (not that any of my relatives were jacobites--no mater how accused).Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
In school, all of us had some five years of latin, discounting how much of that we tried to sleep thru. Too much and the most hated subject, bar none.
Even with the regional differences, the phonetics of spanish are understandable, something you can't say for the english dialectical changes in the US atlantic regions alone, much less if you spread your ears further, even to another countries, for what several linguistic studies show.
If you want to call the chaucerian times the birth of modern English, debatable as that may be, the regional nuances a few miles from each other in that era made it hard for neighbors to understand each other (that was part of Chaucer's charm/satire) and it has not gotten much better. It is the nature of the beast.
---"Using one's school-taught Castillian Spanish will get some odd looks in mesoamerica."---
I am used to odd looks, in any language.;-)
Very interesting about the construction English. In our horse and ranch industry, there are also many specialized words that are a mixture of both languages and unintelligible to those not familiar with them.
I am used to odd looks, in any language
LoL! Me too, not necessariliy due to language . . .
Ah, "Te coulde o Aprile pierce'd tru te roote . . . "
No, some local bilingual teachers were up in 'academe françes' mode, as their students would be confused. It seems that they thought that "brequas" was not gourds, but "brakes" and made "la troca" (not the briefcase, but the truck) go "whoa!"
Hevens forfend, the horror, the horror! The language is debased, the children will be ignoramouses. Bilingual school funding might be threatened.
Oh well, language changes, terms are invented, adopted, become popular andfall by the wayside. Gumshoe fans might recognise "toot sweet," but not know that it is a WWI doughboy 'bring back' of "tout suite" (which I have probably misspelt), but means "right quick now." In the same way, many recognize "boo coo" to mean "many." Most don't know that it is a term picked up in RVN from the French term "beau coups," which does mean "many." Oh well. In Germany, the vehrsehnapparat (far seeing machine) is usually called a TV (not "tay fow," either, it's a "tee vee").
Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
---"LoL! Me too, not necessariliy due to language . "---
"Me too", but didn't want to elucidate any further.
That is an advantage of being past a certain age. No one expects anything in the looks department, or any other.
"Nuff said.;-)
You could be right, but a friend who grew up in Venezuela told me it was a lot of work to converse with a lady she met from the Phillipines.Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
A couple of quotes from Helen Keller:
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold. Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
---"...a friend who grew up in Venezuela told me it was a lot of work to converse with a lady she met from the Phillipines."---
I wouldn't know about the Philippines but I have not had any trouble with anyone from the Americas, be they South, Central or Mexico. We practically speak with the same phonetics. There are some small differences in vocabulary and accentuation.
There is an engineer here from the electric company that came recently from Minnesota and even those born here can't hardly understand him.;-)
Up dere in Minnesota de say "Ya sure, you betcha" and "Oh, Geez!"
In the little Iowa towns I grew up in we joked that we had ethnic diversity (although we didn't use those words!) because we lived in a German town, but there was a family of Swedes just north of town. ; )
Actually, there was always a bit more diversity than that because I have an adopted sister who is Korean.
Thankfully, it's changed in Iowa. The town where my dad lives is now almost 1/3 hispanic, largely due to jobs available at a packing plant. The old ways die hard back there though: my dad thinks bell peppers are spicy and once refused to eat avocado because he thought they were spicy...
Yup, I grew up not knowing what green chili was. Now we are blessed with a town flush with tamales and green chili!Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Heeeaay nooooowwww, Meeneesooooootaaahhh rocks!
Okaay? rg
thought about this thread as I watched the new Law & Order last night.
Man has his house stolen by identity theft, and he shots the thief.bobl Volo, non valeo
Actually Xavier and Javier are both Spanish (Castellano). Sorry, couldn't resist.
Hasbeen
Didn't I see you sign "Joe" on a post the other day, maybe I was mistaken, not sure.
It is an interesting question from someone that uses a fictitious name.
I e-mailed you once several months ago regarding something you posted, always wondered if you got it, with the secracey(sp?) thing I'm wondering if you did ever get it. It was about something you posted about your sister.
Doug(my real name)
Yup, my name's Joe and I've used it several times here. I've also identified my business and the town I live in. Small as this town is I'm not hard to find!Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
I used to use my real name, back in the WebX days. But I eventually changed it after one of the troll incidents. I wasn't concerned for myself, but rather my family.
There's only one person in the USA with my name, so it would take about 30 seconds to find out where I live and my phone number.
I used to think that using my real name added more credibility to my posts. While that might be true at first, I don't think it matters once the poster has posted enough for everyone to get a sense of whether or not they know their stuff.
I've gotten several emails from folks at this board and others. Some I've replied to, some I haven't.
I wouldn't *BE* paranoid if everyone didn't pick on me.
This thread has been a bit of an education for me. I haven't particularly tried to be completely anonymous here nor have I used my full name openly like some. I started this thread out of sincere curiosity!
There's a bunch of you that I could find easily if I wanted, but I don't want to bug anyone who doesn't want to be known. If I'm traveling through where some of you live I might very well e-mail you and offer to buy lunch or some such and a bunch of you know where I live and are welcome to do the same. IMERC and Wrecked Angle can tell you that I'm really pretty boring and uneventful to visit.
Of course anyone one who hosts or attends a Fest must be willing to give up some amount of anonymity.
Thanks to all who responded here!
JoeAny jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
I'm really pretty boring and uneventful
aren't we all? Discounting the whole falling-off-a-ladder thing.
I never met a tool I didn't like!
I always have used my real name...paranoia will destroy ya..:)
I've used my real name since first going on-line in 1992. In those days, many of the Compuserve forums (the only national level on-line forum host in those days) prohibited use of "handles" b3ecause fora that allowed them had much higher frequency of flame wars.
I might make a different decision if I were starting out today.
_______________________
Albert Einstein said it best:
“Problems,” he said, “cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness that created them.”
Your mileage may vary ....
ya know, i wasn't concerned about it until you brought it up...
m
A little less risk with a name like yours! Must be several thousand Bob Walkers in the US.
Seems I read somewhere that Bob Johnson is the most common name in the US.Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
A little less risk with a name like yours! Must be several thousand Bob Walkers in the US.
True enough, there's even one with the same birthday as me who got himself into some sort of serious trouble in FLA awhile ago, as I discovered one day when several law enforcement types concluded on the basis of my name and DOB that I would be interested im seeing first hand the caliber oif their side arms!
Foretunately, they were fairly civil and got my SS# before drawing any firm conclusions, but they sure weren't taking any chances, either!
_______________________
Albert Einstein said it best:
“Problems,” he said, “cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness that created them.”
Your mileage may vary ....
Yikes! I'll bet that was a little more excitement than you needed!Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Is there a pattern here? David Thomas. Mike Smith. Bob Walker. Stan Foster. Mike Gabriel. These are not uncommon names - the people who post without nicknames. But given my tagline, you could find me no problem.
I give a bit more weight to newbie poster with a real name. And I remember an infrequent poster more easier without the nickname. The regulars - you figure out pretty quick who's knowledgable (and about what), who's wacko, who your friends are, etc.
David Thomas Overlooking Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska
Not sure if he was really the first to coin the phrase, but I think there's a lot of wisdom in the quote usually attributed to Winston Churchill: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
If memory serves, I think JD said (back during the troll thing) that he was using his real name, let 'em come on if they're gonna. (My paraphrasing!)Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Hasbeen-
Sheesh, you kids nowadays don't know much about history (wasn't there a song about that once...) -
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself
Close, but no cigar - wrong country, wrong leader. That was from Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first inaugural - 1933..
Churchills was:
The only thing to fear is fear itself.
FDR was referring to the Great Depression. Churchill was referring to the bombardment by the Germans in WWII. Thus FDR beat WC to the phrase by nearly a decade...
How's that for nit pickin?
You got it! Suppose anyone ever said it before FDR? Seems like a lot of quotes are actually hand-me-downs.Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
I never thought of it as paranoia, just occasional wisps of smartness.
It's just a choice we all make.
Now Luka has got me to thinking - I have a second cousin with the same name as mine. He's a little older and a little more famous, having raced in TransAm events for several years. Maybe I could use his name instead of mine.
;).
Excellence is its own reward!
OK Hasbeen, I'll take you up on that lunch next time your in Seattle............."Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Bob
You can count on it, Bob.
The salmon's just not the same down here!Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Whenever in Germany stop by the shop for cofee or beer or whatever. I´d be delighted. I have an american carpenter working for me. Great craftsman.
Mathias http://www.raulfcarpenters.com
Very nice website, Matt!
My father's family ( Sieck ) is from near the Danish border and the Baltic, my mother's family ( Stille ) is from southern Germany. I have a niece who married a Polish man and they are planning to move to the Baltic coast near Gdansk. I would love to come over to visit someday!Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
You are welcome to visit. The move to Gdansk or german "Danzig", as formerly known is a gutsy proposition, considering the economic problems the polish have (now). But...and a big but...It could be very much different in the near future. The polish enter the EEC next year and will be joining the Euro-zone in 2007 (afaIk). That means: Good-bye to Zlotys and hello to boomtown. If I were young and eager: That, or Lithuania, Estland would be the place to make a killing. You just got to be first in line - pole position. Tell them to give me a ring. My hometown Hamburg is profiting from this situation because we are in the center of East-West, North-South trade and travel.But : For americans it is expensive in EUROland. 1.15 $ to the EURO now. So the greenback buys less and less. Tell them to make the move now: Properties will appreciate like h... in Poland. It´s still Zloty time.
Just a thought, Greetings
Mathias
matt kind of funny that while reading your post danzig was playing.(her black wings)great wake up music
Thank you, Matt. And I'll pass along your advice to my young relatives!Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
It was meant as an opinion...we germans have a tendency to give out advice and know it all... Mathias
matt, nice site... what's with the double breasted suit in your mallet wielding pic ?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
has..... don't know what i'd do today... but given names were the most common when i started posting here...
now i get confused about who i'm talking to... the ones whith real names seem to register more... the other ones tend to blend.. with a few exceptions...
for the most part it seems the ones i've met a different fests all seem to post under their given names...Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
ones i've met at different fests all seem to post under their given names
Well Mike you haven't met me yet cause your plane takes you east instead of west but when you do make it out this way I'll trade you a black Pro-Dek hat for some more of that Salsa..........:-)"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Bob
Are you sure that Mike Smith is your name?
LOL
On another forum I used to frequent a guy going by that name used to stir up arguments by takiung a liberal position and playing dvil's advocate.
;)
I had a friend in Colorado named Mike Smith. He got arrested and booked one night because there was a bench warrant out for somebody by that name who fit his physical description. This just happened to be on his honeymoon trip...
MS must be one of the most misuded names on the internet, almost as common as John Brown.
Eyah?.
Excellence is its own reward!
Mike,
weren't you posting as "Patrick M." before I sold you "Mike Smith" and
started using my current name?
Or, as they'd say in RhoDylan... "hawarya?"
Not that I have anything against my full name, but using CaseyR is a habit I got into because I started in computing when all login names were limited to 8 characters or fewer and it has just stuck. Since the 8 character limit is still true in our e-mail system at work, most of my correspondence is with people with contracted names. Thus I have no prejudice against those choosing names other than their given first and last names. In fact, I am slightly partial to those coming up with short and colorful screen names...
end whadda ya hear from patrick ?
gotta get together .... how's the lighthousekeeping ?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Smitty,
I'll ring you up next time in the Isle o Rhode.
GWC
oky-doky... we'll do lunch at the PAC if u want...
got lots to tell?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
That is the traditional journeymans carpenters costume in Germany. Made of heavy corduroy, shirt with no collar...Mathias
P.S.: Look up http://fremderfreiheitsschacht.de this is the site of the carpenters guild I am a member of.
Edited 11/7/2003 1:44:53 AM ET by Matt
our name was Schmidt until about 1915.. that would be bavarian scmidts... with a few grimms thrown in...
anyways... a nice site...Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I first started posting here under my own name( Stephen Hazlett) a year or so after breaktime opened for business.
I am STILL bent out of shape that the current breaktime incarnation won't let me post now under my own god dam name---so SHAZLETT is as close as I can get.
It seems ,to me ,vaguely shifty to post using an assumed identity. As much as I like some of the guys here,I still have reservations about anybody hiding behind a screen name.
If you are afraid to have your real name associated with something you are writing about here----maybe you shouldn't be writing it. Breaktime encourages flaming and in-civility by allowing these screen names.
BTW, I can't for the life of me figure out why ANYONE would fill out the lame breaktime questionaire about their personal stats------what's up with THAT?
you have a login name and a "nick" name
you can change you're nick name any time under profiles so that you're full name can show up
when the swirch came i couldn't use my name to log in as it was taken (suspect by me) so had to use another name for login, but went to my familar name here as a nick name
and filling out some of that data helps in responding, like if i ask a question that where i'm from u can look at the profile, so filling out some can be useful
since the profiles are prospero stuff likely, it can be used in there multitudes of forums. if u go to their site u can see what they are. and most likely u can sign in with yout bt id and password.bobl Volo, non valeo
bobl,
I am sure if I wanted to invest about 90 of the most painful minutes of my life, I could figure it out.
but I figure---why the hell should I?
We had a perfectly good system here which Tauton screwed up. In exchange for a workable system that even an idiot like me could navigate intuitively--------- we were slammed with this nightmare system filled with options I don't need or want.
George Carlin does a riff on the difference between irony and coincidence.I am reminded of that riff when I notice that the folks here who are" protecting their privacy" by posting under an assumed name----will cheerfully fill out a B.S. questionaire so that the whole world can learn that they " enjoy hand holding,moonlit walks on the beach and building antique paper weights"
coincidence------or irony?
It seems ,to me ,vaguely shifty to post using an assumed identity.
Stephen, how do you know that a person using a complete name is not an assumed identity as well? How is Bill Jones any more honest than XYZ123? One is certainly assumed but there is no guarantee that the other is not. Neither one, by itself, demonstrates anything about the veracity of the person sitting at the keyboard.
Hey dude!
Oh no, this forum will let just about anybody in.
AK373,
I understand why You use an assumed name----you are one of the shiftiest. LOL.
the difference is---that useing an assumed name like AK373 tells readers that you ARE trying to hide something.Combine that with the fact that several folks here have used several different assumed names over the years.
most of the folks using their real names here have been doing it consistently for years----some before I got here,some later.
so----I would be very suprised to learn that mike smith s' REAL name is tom jones---or that rich beckman is really Lucy Kaplansky.
I would NOT be suprised to learn that your REAL name isJK101 or Cee3pio or whatever.
but what the heck---this is just my opinion.
most of the folks using their real names here have been doing it consistently for years----some before I got here,some later.
so----I would be very suprised to learn that mike smith s' REAL name is tom jones---or that rich beckman is really Lucy Kaplansky.
But wouldn't you agree that it is their history here that makes them credible and not the fact that they use a complete name? That is my only point. The name, by itself, is meaningless, whether it is C3PO or Robert Anderson. Neither one imparts any more meaningful credibility.
Used to post here a lot more; used to include more info too about where to find me, though I'm fairly easy to find if you're that interested.....used to get a lot more email from people here, not all of it good...or completely sane. I'm definitely becoming more paranoid as time goes on.....but there'sno question fro me, it's much easier to remember and place posters who use their own names.cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, N.S
A history of credibility might have something to do with it---but not a whole lot.
As I said before----If someone won't use their real name---on some subliminal level I figure they must have something to hide.
which company do I want to pour a driveway for me? john smith concrete construction----or apex concrete solutions
the initial nod is gonna go to john smith every time. He is willing to put his name behind everything he does. apex concrete solutions?---on some level I figure that guy maybe has been sued 15 times and done buisness under 6 different shell companies.
BTW---I don't know if this is statistically true---but my impression here has ALWAYS been that ,in general ,the people posting here under their own name show more restraint and think through the consequences of their posts with more care.civil behavior and showing concern for what they sign their name on.
the screen name folks seem ,to me, much more inclined to go from "polite "to "flame" in about 5 seconds.---Of course that's just my impression, and I am sure their are exceptions to either side of that story.
*ahem*
Live, Love, Forgive and Forget
Quittin' Time
There is nothing subliminal about it for me.
I've been pretty blunt about it.
I am hiding my family from abuse.
I am hiding some of my customers who hate publicity
And I am following advice I read from several periodicals re protecting yourself from identity theft and other kinds of fraud and internet abuse.
If using a screen name means you are less likely to trust what I have to say, it is no skin of my nose. I still respect you.
I've been thinking about this post of yours, introspectively. I'll have to admitt you are rtight about being more likely to flame on with the screen name than in person. Most folks here who I have argued with are the kind that I would croiss the street to avoid totally in real life. I suppose I ought to do some more ignoring here. Thanks for pointing that out..
Excellence is its own reward!
Hey! Was that really GWC? Hey, George!
I don't give any more or less credibility to what someone says online based on their user name, I try to decide if what they say has merit, not giving weight to who said it.
But I just read through this entire thread, and I'm surprised to say that with just a few exceptions, those I've met in real life use their real name here at the site. I had never even thought about it before Mike said it, but it's true. And of the many people I've established e mail relationships with over the past few years, they almost all use their real names, too.
Kind of interesting.
There's only one person in the USA with my name
I have a second cousin with the same name as mine. Exactly the same.
Born within a year of when I was born.
Born about 40 miles from where I was born.
Neither set of parents knew about the other.
They named their daughter the same as my sister, as well. Hows that for strange...
Stupidity has saved a great deal of men from insanity.
Quittin' Time
I is who I is, I ain't scared...LOL
I've just always used my real name here, even in the flame wars of a coupla years back. I have to say though, I don't think the nickname users are paranoid or weird for using them...just not my bag baby.
Mike
To many freaks in the world, and as many can confirm, construction seems to harbor the most. Lack of background checks, no drug tests, pretty much show up and work attitude is all that matters. I mean wasn't every serial killer a "home handyman" or carpenter at some point?
That and most here have more invested in their tools than they do in their homes, the fact that a little bad advertising by some internet idiot can wreck them business wise...the list goes on.
I never filled out the profile, but that's only because I hate to fill out forms.....
But I have posted pics and such of myself and family, so if you every see us out, introduce yourself.
I'm sure we all know that everyone who owns a hammer is a carpenter.Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
everyone who owns a hammer is a carpenter
So, if you own three, you must be a contractor . . . <g>
And if you one more than one T-bone, you are, uhm, . . . excentric . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I don't give my real name 'cause my answers are from experience, common sense or common practice, its the message not the messenger. My profession is questionable 'cause enough of them are jerks and I don't follow their ideas or egos, I cringe when friends say what my job is. None of my relatives are in the business, my Dad made history by being the only different face in the Plumbers Union. Just being from California make you all suspicious and skeptical. I feel I'm among peers who are generous and friendly who want the world to be a better place.
I use my real name 'cause I ain't scared a nuttin!
not even a big fuzzy spider.
I also put my hometown just on the off chance it'd lead to one more lead ....
free advertising and all .... actually last place of employ ... one of the owners had seen my name in the mag from when they steal bits of wisdom from the web site....
mighta helped me land the job?
I live in the city ..... 3 blocks one direction and you'll pay millions for the city/river view .... 3 block the other direction .... and you'll probably get shot!
So some internet wanna be terrorist that's pretending to "come get" my family isn't a top priority worry. Plus ... it's 50/50 they'll come in the wrong way and end up getting shot first?
add in the whole ... I ain't scared thing ....
and here I am.
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
Good on ya! I believe every word!
I never would have guessed it, though, since you are so shy about letting us know your opinions... ; )Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Snakes either!
and I even held on of those big cockroaches they have at the kids zoo to impress my neice .....
had a buddy that would put his tarantula(sp? .. big hairy spider) ... in his mouth and have it crawl out onto his face ...
OK ... maybe I'm a little scared of spiders in my mouth?
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Artistery in Carpentry
Used to live in AZ and had tarantulas around. We had a few chickens, too. Surprised me to find out that chickens consider tarantula to be a real treat! Found out that maggots as chicken feed make really good eggs, too. Also found out that some people won't eat the eggs if you tell em the chickens eat maggots.
M-M-M good dark yellow yolks in those fried egg sammiches!Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
maggots make for a good sunfish bait too...
just gotta tell the kids.... or the chicks...
they're little worms!
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Artistery in Carpentry
Charlotte says..."bring em' on".....
John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmit, his name is my name too.
WAHD
man ...
U guys are really prepared for those big hairy spiders!
Looks happy as a kid in a ...
uh...
gun store?
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Artistery in Carpentry
I read that some ex pert figured out that the average person swallows about eight spiders in their life - mostly while sleeping.
So if you sleep with your mouth open, you've probably already had your quota!
Afraid to go the sleep now?
LOL.
Excellence is its own reward!
I should have added ...
"on purpose and fully aware of the situation"....
if I don't know about it ... no harm/no foul!
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Artistery in Carpentry
"I read that some ex pert figured out that the average person swallows about eight spiders in their life - mostly while sleeping.
So if you sleep with your mouth open, you've probably already had your quota!
Afraid to go the sleep now?"
Sometimes the spiders go into the cave for a drink at night, and the tide washes them down the tunnel.