Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Come clean

WOW--What happened here folks. I leave yesterday afternoon to take my old man to see the lowly Nats get trounced by the Phillies and came home to a hot one. I have received private mailings taking me up on offers of gift certificates I had and could not use, I have answered each and every PM I have received, I have given legal advice when asked by PM and I have PM'd those I would like to say something to or to apologize when I lost some of my family taught civility. Each time I have mailed something to a member I have enclosed my card with a note for good wishes. There isn't anyone on this forum who I would refuse assistance to if they asked for it. Near 97% I would love to sit with at a dinner table , even in my home.I have posted my real name a couple of times ,so anyone could take that and look in Martindale Hubble or the net and get my complete bio.I do not care.As to the discourse, Yeah, I disagree with many but I respect the discourse and I often learn. Not only would Barak and Penyy be welcome in my home, I'd love it if he could come to work with me for a few days ( kind of like show-and -tell) I disagree with many of his positions but in my Family/criminal law practice , 50 % of the folks disagree with me each and every day. 280-I wish you'd pay me a visit so you wouldn't have to wait till November to kill a deer.The list goes on and on as to the really neat folks Ive associated with as you all kindly helped through the early(still early) stages of my membership. Hell--Coss and I got off to a bad start but I wouldn't hesitate for one minute having that man defend me if I was in a jam.Really the list goes on and on and I'm entering the realm of babble--Sorry. Gene-that invite for a meal and/or hunting stands for you anytime as well. If these folks wish for some semblance of privacy ( for whatever reason) just respect it. It is their right.I hope you don't leave as you do offer food for thought in the threads you post. Just let the others post their thoughts in their way of privacy if that's what they choose to do. I'm plenty cool with that.

Interesting. It's a long story that you can probably find two or three iterations of here on the Campfire if you search, but years ago I was many times mistaken by cops for a perp, and in all but one case I was treated much worse than Gene L has treated anyone here; in that one case it was an old white-haired cop who finally explained to me what was happening and how to avoid it (noticed that the guy I was being mistaken for was twenty years older than I, nine inches shorter, fifty pounds heavier, and black).

If what you say about your department is true, perhaps it's not particularly common.


You probably know this already, but it's officially called an "opus." You know, "You guys don't properly appreciate my brilliant intellect and scintillating personality, therefore I'm outa here and boy are you gonna be sorry. So there." If you've been on the Internet any time at all, you've probably seen a number of opuses. ("Hey guys, wanted to let you know that I'm about to head into some life changes and probably won't be posting for the next few months" is not an opus.) The common feature of almost all opuses is that they don't work: the poster has to stick around to see how it's received, and almost invariably is compelled to respond to something said about it. Both Gene L and Steelhead have recently posted opuses. and they're both still here, for example.

If I may toot my own horn a bit, here's an opus that worked: http://oregonconcealedcarry.com/index.php?showtopic=1701&hl=

Here's another clue for Gene, and his attitude.

http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerouser?cmd=viewprofile&id=16061

Then click on the link to go browse the forums and click random profiles to compare "user ratings". Seems Gene is quite unpopular in many circles...or at least in those places where he can't prove how manly he is by knockin' heads, and by cuffin' and stuffin' you.

But did you go back to read the responses?



Gene I think you really missed the mark on this subject; regarding the use of an alias as interpreted as one looking for a way of hiding from their opinions. I don't believe that of most here, I believe most here would state the same opinions face to face.

I had my name out here for two years and never had a problem, but now I have decided on an alias, The alias is for family security, security from theft, security from the unknown, not as a way of stating an opinion that I don't have the nads to back up. I'm sure there are kids out there that use an alias for your stated reasons, but I'm pretty sure most I have debated here would re-state their same opinions face to face.

As an LEO, I believe you must understand that train of thought.


As I disagree with Gene on this subject I also disagree with the tactic of attacking and piling on over one of rebutal or ignore...this is really getting out of hand.

Thanks, Isaac.

As a matter of fact, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all you fellows who have said nice things about me for the encouragement.

Recently I was talking to my rabbi about the Kairos weekend I'll be leading in October, and my reflections and insights regarding it. Around that time there was some hot thread or other about something or other and I was deep in the thick of it--like I normally am--and some newbie came in and called me a name. Instantly, everybody (well, it seemed like everybody) jumped in and started defending me, some folks in terms that made me blush. I mentioned that thread to my rabbi and used it as an example.

I said, "With that Kairos weekend coming up, the devil is going to be using whatever he can to sabotage me, and one handicap I definitely don't need is a big head."

He said, "Well, how do you respond to material like that?"

I said that it generally made me uncomfortable. I have a much longer history on the Internet of being acidly and expertly reviled from top to bottom, morning till night, than I do of having anyone hold me in any real esteem, and once I grew to be comfortable with the former reaction, the latter tends to leave me somewhat nonplussed. (No one should feel sorry for me, of course: I gave as good as I got and in some cases even gooder. I thought it was fun.)

So, I said, usually I just let it go by and don't respond at all.

Oh, no, he said, don't do that. If people offer you a part of themselves like that, it's really disrespectful and insulting to completely ignore the offer, refuse to acknowledge it, or act as though it had never been made.

Hmm, I said; I never thought of it that way before.

Then garryc gave me a taste of my own medicine on the MRSA thread, where I said nice things about him and he completely ignored me (probably for the very same reason I've been doing it). The way that felt was quite instructive; I'm glad he gave me that opportunity.

So...I want to apologize to all of you folks who have been nice to me in public and have been totally unacknowledged. I appreciate your sentiments even if they do make me uncomfortable. I didn't mean to make you feel bad, and I'm going to try not to do it anymore. I'm awfully accustomed to the old ways and don't know much about the new...but I'm going to give it a try anyway.

Yah--that's the point. It's tough to read what people say about you when you've given them permission to act as though you're not in the room...and resist the temptation to jump back in just to clarify something, or to rebut a completely uncalled-for attack, or defend a point, or for whatever other purpose you can rationalize to yourself is justification for breaking your opus.

Making an opus stick is hard work. Having done it myself, I respect all the more other folks who do...and am inclined to extend grace to folks who don't manage it.

Barak - that type of post there is exactly why people who don't agree with you defend you. I am mostly intrigued by your positions on things, some I wonder about others I agree with but the way you present them has earned the respect of many here.

Respect does not mean total agreement -- It's something eaned during the disagreements.

I don't know of anyone who doesn't at the least respect you. Well Gene seems to have a hair in his soup but other than that....

Barak,

I have never tried to defend you. I think your more capable of that than I. But I do hold you out as a shining example of someone that I almost always disagree with, yet can still respect, and would certainly have a beer with and enjoy a nice discussion. I don't think I can say I have ever seen you get down in the dirt with you posts, something I have been guilty of and am ashamed of, and your comment are usually very lucid.

If you're ever down in Dixie, I'll be disappointed if we don't get to share a meal, a drink, or cup of coffee.

Randy-
I'd tell you where I live, via PM of course. You and your family are welcome here and when you show up, I'm buying the beer!

Start telling me what personal information I have to put on the internet or I'm a puszy...you're SOL!

That said, having read your posts giving me an incling to your philosophy, and having drunk your beer at YOUR home, well, we're right back to you being welcome at the house or camp m'man!

Barak,
I looked up the word 'opus' in my Webster's dictionary that I have on my hard drive and it doesn't have the definition you give. There may be many definitions and Webster's may have just used the one describing a musical work. Where did you get your definition?

I thought, briefly, about playing with your head and telling you that I think you're wonderful, wise, witty and charming but decided against it lest some think I was a little 'little light in the loafers'. You are a pretty nice guy, all things considered, but tend to have a tad of Machiavelli in you.........or so it seems at times.

"Swan Song" is a good euphemism, and I'm guilty as charged.

Whatever happened to that Federal hubub about attacking or harassing folks anonymously on the web? Has that ever been used in court? It was just announced last Winter if I recall, so maybe not.

Boy Hi Deee, I just waded through this whole thing. Not sure it was worth the effort but was entertaining in spots.

Anybody wants to know who I am look at my profile, I think it is there I haven't looked myself in quite some time.

I use Boggy Creek Ranger because that is what I am or rather was. I've told the story as to why several times and don't intend to do so again.

Maybe this is just a unique place but every poster that I have met in person has been just what they protrayed themselves to be. Some thirty or so now and some that no longer post.

Now I will admit that there are some who post that I have no desire to meet but that is beside the point.

The point is, from my experience, almost everybody here is just what they say they are.


BCR

teal, .280Rem...thanks.


Heh. What does it say about the word "plonk?" Back in the days of Usenet, "plonk" had a very specific meaning. The most popular newsreader of the time, rn, had a feature whereby if you created a file named ".killfile" containing the usernames of people whose posts you didn't want to see, it wouldn't show them to you. "Plonk" was the notional sound a username made when it hit the bottom of a .killfile. For example:

Bill:
Tony's ugly and his mother dresses him funny.

Tony:
Yo, Bill: Plonk!

Thereby everyone would know that Tony had just added Bill's username to his .killfile and would no longer be responding to Bill's posts. Very much the same thing as the Ignore option here, although on Usenet there would be no other way for Bill to know that Tony had killfiled him.

"Opus" is kind of the same thing. It's actually a Latin word (if I remember correctly) meaning "work" or "accomplishment;" for example, "Bach's Prelude #1 in D, Opus #47." That means that Bach's Prelude #1 was his forty-seventh work of art, according to the folks who follow such things. (This is just an example; I know Bach wrote a Prelude #1, and I know how it goes, but I don't know whether it was in D or not and I highly doubt it was actually Opus #47.)

But in the context of Internet forums, "opus" has come to mean a long, often ill-tempered post saying essentially, "Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I'm going to take my ball and go home, I hope you all choke, nyah." Or words to that effect.

Whoof, but I'm an old fogey on the Internet! I remember when "hacker" was a good thing to be called, and when "troll" was a verb rather than a noun. Heck, I even remember Emily Cummings' username. Anyone else?

You know what really boggles my mind is the guys that don't really seem to care about shooting, hunting or fishing, as most of there posts are in the campfire forum. And it seems the folks the bitch and moan the most, and get their panties in the tightest wads, are those that really have little interest in huting, shooting or fishing.

So I gotta wonder, those that aren't so keen on hunting/shooting/fishing, why do you spend so much time here???

I don't want to be morbid or an a-hole but if this is true...
WB has just passed on some significant news here....
I just thought he went moose hunting and never returned...
By by Wetass...

458,

The great majority of my posts are here in the fire. I enjoy debate, current events, jokes, general discourse, etc. There are more forums here that I don't visit than I do. And even on those, like say reloading, hunting rifles, or the like I only post in thread that I am interested in and can either contribute knowledge to, or learn something from.

Some here have no interest in debate or discussion of many of the Campfire forum topics, and stay only in those forums about hunting or shooting.

As we say down here, Q-sooey-sooey! To each his own.

Well I spend most time here at the campfire. I closely watch the handgun and rimfire forums and respond there as well, that is where my major interest lies these days as hunting is out for me.

LOL +1

Brad

I'm not a coward my name is Mike.There is way too much that can go wrong giving out your last name.

Coward NO
Smart YES.

I think "opus" means "effort" or "attempt" and is related to music. Or was a Penguin on "Bloom County."

OK, OK...I'm not trying to eliminate handles. Gene L is a handle. My opus is to oblogoate the annonymous ponces here who hide behind them.

Penny mentioned (or someone) mentioned that as a police officer I should know what harm having your real name in your bio can cause. Well, as a DEPUTY, not a police officer, I do it. That should give you a clue as to how little harm it has caused me.

So, continue your opuses (opi?) and keep urinating up and down the aisle with your gold-rimmed testicles on your nose to remenustrate.

Barak is probably the only person on the board who understands English at this high level, so if you have any questions about etymology, just ask him.