Uncle Frank,
Thank you for the warm reception. It is this behavior that attracted me to this thread when I leafed through it in September. This really is a special place. Your stewardship has kept it nicely focused and very warm and inviting. One of my first impressions was that this was in part due to the "senority" of many of the early posters. So many threads have posters who are intent on showing how stupid the other posters are who disagree with them. This seems less important as one gets older. More respect and perhaps more people skills.
One thing I found interesting about reading from the beginning was how I felt while reading some of the less pleasant incidences. It upset me and in one case ruined my day - and I was not even a participant. I can only imagine how bad it was for those directly involved. It taught me that whenever possible Private Messages should be used to minimize the collateral damage. Not that every post has to be cheery, but I think you have demonstrated extraordinary leadership in keeping a positive, sharing environment, and when one receives a chiding/correction/scolding from you it is probably in the thread's best interest for your wishes to be followed. This is the most inviting environment I have found online.
<<There is only one step left before we can initiate you as a full fledged member of the Gorilla gang; you need to fill in a little more of your profile so we can get an angle on you>>
Hey, what's wrong with my profile? It list my name, email address, and when I officially joined SI. You want more?
My post from yesterday was meant to supply some of this information. I'll supply some more below. For some reason I have a wee bit of concern adding personal information to a public database. This is accentuated by my decision years ago to post under my real name rather than a pseudonym. It would be more useful to others to have it listed in the profile for future reference, but I'm still not comfortable with the concept. Neither do I like bumper stickers on my car - just enigmatic I guess.
On to the rest of the bio. I was a physics and math major at the University of Minnesota back when streaking was the rage, but to no personal benefit. Maybe Minnesota winters had something to do with it. My first corporate job was in R&D and I really loved it except I was away from the mainstream of the company. I migrated into marketing/planning jobs where I still had some involvement with new projects, but also had contact with customers. About 7 years ago I left Fortune 100 life for a small, family-owned industrial sales company. No involvement with High Tech, so my investing life has to fill this need.
In the days before children I used to have a life. Sunday evenings were usually spent ballroom dancing. The regulars were so nice to us youngsters, relieved that it might continue with the next generation. After having a succession of dance partners move away, I returned to playing hockey in an over-the-hill group of thirtysomethings. Now they're too fast for me.
Merlin posted the other day (I think it was the other day. I know I read it the other day, but it may have been from an old post. My internal time stamping is out of whack from reading current and old postings at the same time.) that he attends 40-50 concerts a year. I used to, too, but haven't for the last 5 years. I also enjoyed seeing (and hearing) the Met Opera when they used to tour in the spring. I've seen a few performances at the Met and Covent Garden - who knows- maybe I've seen BB? When I travelled for business I tried to see baseball games during the summer and concerts/operas during the winter.
All these activities have been suspended until the children get older or I abandon the day job. I had planned on working until Social Security kicked in, but maybe this investing game will work for me too, and I can graduate to Occupation: Private Investor.
Let me end with a bit of physics humor since I noticed that you and others majored in physics. I found this in a physics journal about 20 years ago. I liked it and maybe someone else will too.
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When Niels Bohr was asked, "What variable is complementary to truth?", his answer was "Clarity."
This aphorism can be regarded as a minimum uncertainty wisdom packet in that is is not perfectly clear, and it is not rigorously true, but it is as clear as it can be, considering how true it is, and it is as true as it can be, considering how clear it is.
In my opinion, such an optimal wisdom packet can be defined as common sense (or uncommon sense, if you will), which too many people confuse with pernicious misconceptions, that lead them to act as if their notions were perfectly clear, or rigorously true, or both.
Truth eigenstates (like energy eigenstates) can take an infinitely long time to achieve, and clarity eigenstates (like instantaneous impressions) can be misleading. Science leans toward truth, advertising leans toward clarity, and government leans toward common sense, if we elect people who do not confuse it with common misconceptions.
Keneth J. Epstein
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Congratulations on your re-retirement,
Greg |
