The Salad Bar forum.

[45nut]

I see this forum in many ways but here is one such example, a salad bar.
You go down the line and there are dozens and dozens of tasty and nutritious goodies ,, but wait a minute,, they have beets! I HATE BEETS! DAMN YOU FOR SERVING BEETS!@*&^#$&^
Never mind that there are some people out there that actually like them,, YOU HATE BEETS!!
Now,, all you see in the dozens of dishes under the sneeze shield are the BEETS!^&*!%@&^$%
Ok,, is the better approach to pass on the beets? The restaurant owner doesn't force you to eat beets,, I daresay the beets might cost more to him than the broccoli and he would prefer you don't load your plate with beets,, but there you go,, your entire plate is BEETS!&^%@#^%#! AND YOU DON"T LIKE IT ONE BIT!
Did anyone make you take the beets? nope,,was free will. At what point do you fault yourself and at what point is it such a world shattering event that requires a reaction equal to a 500megaton nuke?

There are many examples of this in history and of course on this board, it seem's to be a favored pastime of some to draw out as much drama every day from every opportunity just because it humor's them. Other's favor the victim role and play it to the hilt, vewing the role as more honorable and more likely to garner sympathy while hoping for retribution and termination of the offender.

There is no limit to the retribution demand of the "victim" either, there is no eye for an eye here, execution and confiscation of the offenders booty would not be ample reward for an insult however slight and humorless.

I am tired of it frankly, yet fully understand as I too have fallen into both role's. yes,, I am human too and so is everyone on my staff and with the singular exception of the "bot's" that register here as spammers, so is every member that takes part on this board.

When I started this board it was driven by a thirst for knowledge of shooting the cast boolit, that mission is ongoing and richly rewarding, the other knowledge required of the administration here is that of psychology and minister of policy. That skill set is also growing but remains harder than observing the instant result of the "kaboom" of a gun, it is subtle and festers like the wound from a thorn, infection sets in and pain radiates slower, but still it is there.

Not having the advanced degrees of the masters of zen nor the resources of Watson the IBM computer myself and my staff rely on the life skills we each possess that is unique to each of us.

If at times we fail to reach the highest perch you individually set for us than it is because we are human also and maybe, just maybe the fault of x and not y because this is not simple math but instead falls into string theory physics that few of us are really educated in.

The rewards of this forum can be exhilarating, the exasperation factor is also here.

Whether or not you are rewarded or frustrated remains your choice alone, I start each day hoping for a post or a thread that shows the efforts here are not wasted. The thirst for knowledge is what drove the inspiration and birth of this forum not the drama and chance for retribution.

The salad bar is open, i'll pass on the beets myself.

[Hickory]

Using beets as an example was right on (with me)
I consider any beet crop a failure.
I'll pass on the beets also.

[Hickory]

Actually, I read some of the caustic language here and I envision those people setting around a camp fire trying to boil gasoline.
It will eventually blow up in their faces.

[Rocky Raab]

Yeah, yeah; but should we call the pickled ones "beelits?"


(Rocky ducks behind his office chair, smirking naughtily...)

[fryboy]

eh some folks use ketchup to help everything go down , myself i prefer ranch dressing ( and shorter water fountains oh and long hair on women but ....)
i find no personal need to attack or to think less of another member because they either think the way they do or have different thoughts or belief's than i do or because they spell better or worse than i do , i also dont see the need for some of the obvious baiting ( even in the much free-er political forum ) that some resort too , unlike some i know that i live to my standards and that other's live to their's so i consequentially dont expect to hold them to mine whether they return that basic courtesy and respect is upon them and not i , i also know that commenting is option-able , i dont have to , no-one or their comment can make me do so and to believe otherwise would only be lying to myself , i only hope that with most my comments that it mite help one person as i have often been helped and consider it in a way giving for something gotten ( ie; tithe ) sometimes beets are good sometimes i dont care for them but i'd not deny a person who wished them perhaps even desperately the chance to so indulge themselfs ( BTW ? beets are best made into sugar IMHO turnips on the other hand ...) so pass the ranch plz and the bacon bits !!!!!!

[btroj]

Yeah, yeah; but should we call the pickled ones "beelits?"


(Rocky ducks behind his office chair, smirking naughtily...)

Some people just can't let things go, can they?

It wad funny though. My kind of comment.

Brad

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Very good post 45nut. You explained the situations well. I hope you do find that post each morning. Thank you for your work as well as the others who run this board. It is no easy job.
By the way.......... I don't think pickled beets are a food. There something you are made to eat if you do something wrong. IMO

[buck1]

I dont post nearly as much as I have in the past. It seems as if there are always a few ready and eager you rip you apart. In years past this was not the case , at least not nearly as bad.
I have decided to make use of the ignore option and use it on the voltures now.
Still this is a great place and most of the members are a pleasure to talk with....Buck

[S.R.Custom]

Mmmm... bacon bits! Can't have a salad without bacon bits! And cheese! And black olives! And Mushrooms! And sprouts! Topped off with Bleu Cheese dressing and a splash of vinegar!

See that? I've probably aggravated a hundred people with that combination right there! So what's my point? Take what you like, leave the rest. AND FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T FEED THE TROLLS! Not even the beets!

[blackthorn]

45 Nut--well said! I visit this site every day and always find a bit of knowledge freely given for which I am truly thankfull. This board, aside from being so educational, is (bar none) the most polite, tolerent, respectful place I have found on the net. From time to time there can be a bit of raised hackels, and I find some posters tend to be a bit thin skinned sometimes, but I would not trade one tenth of this board for all the others I look at. So my thanks to Ken and all the moderators who keep this place so well for me. Have a great day!

[Moonie]

I believe I understand this better than most. For several years I ran the official IRC help channel for a popular Linux distribution, I heard the same things. Some complaining about foul language, others complaining that we didn't allow it...can't win.

[Guesser]

I prefer my beets pickled, unless they are sugar beets and then I want them spun into fine granular white sugar, highly refined. Just to aggravate the health food nuts that don't want me to eat white bread. I love a salad bar, but as with everything else I don't love everything offered by a salad bar. Either way, I get to pick and choose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just like here, hear!!hear!!!!!!!

[Old Ironsights]

i like beets! don't like them pickled though......

Fie on Thee Heretic! Beets are only acceptable if pickled! :mrgreen:

[Lively Boy]

+1 to 45nut and thanks for giving me a chance at the salad bar! skip the beets but sure like the bacon bits!
Thank You
Rich

[462]

45nut,
Thank you, sir, for all you've done to make this site possible. Moderators, too.

Salad bars are healthy, especially when there is a large array from which to choose. However, if someone doesn't like a certain vegetable, they make eating all the more difficult for everyone round them, when they put it on their plate.

I've found the ignore feature to be useful...

[krag35]

+1

I like this place and have learned a lot. I don't get into political discussions much anymore since I realized everyone has a right to their opinion even if it is wrong :-)

Well worded Ken

[mroliver77]

Well said Ken.
I was an am attracted to this forum because of the vast amount of knowledge the members have and the mostly polite and adult atmosphere. The past couple of years has seen a lot of growth and an increase in the drama and inconsiderate behavior. I realize we are all different and some are more polished than others. There has to be a line somewhere. I try to be on my best behavior when not facing others directly as comments can be so easily misconstrued in a forum.
Just how does the ignore feature work? I have been here since the aimoo days but never needed it. Times do change!
I like beets. I like them fried in butter and I like them pickled. Num, num, eat your beets. There are starving kids all over the world that would love to have some beets. Actually there is not much food that I dont like. Except mutton!
Jay

[Catshooter]

45nut,

I'm with you. No need for beets, for me. My suggestion is banning. Some need it for a set period like a week, some permenent.

Over to the S&W forum one time, the site owner said, Quite posting risque pic boys. They didn't, and he banned 15 or 20 dudes for a week. Some came back, some didn't. Point being, nobody posted pics like that again. At all.

I say anybody that makes life tough here for you . . . drop the axe! That includes me, anybody. This forum is too precisious (sp). There's info here that Lyman, if they had their heads on straight, would/should kill for.

How many people over the years have abandonded casting because they couldn't stop the leading? With what we know here almost all leading can be cured, if not all.

Drop the ax! :)


Cat

[DIRT Farmer]

I love a salad bar as long as I don't have to eat the light green crunchy stuff they always start the salad bar with, it gives me one monstorus gut pain. I love beets and turnips, the wheat field in front of the house had them dotted fairly thickly out to around 150 yds and the burst nicely when a Lyman 311-291 (another thing that sets people off) centers them. I thank members of this site who walked me through smokeless PP. It is a lot of fun recycling all of the USDA forms into something useful. I do find it funny when my spelling and grammer has been slamed, as the randum magazine article helps keep me in shooting supplies.

[unclebill]

i am guilty of overreacting.
i just need to back off and remember that i came here to learn and maybe even make some friends.
i have and i do!
this is a great site with tons of helpful folks.
thanks guys.
bill

[AZ-Stew]

A salad bar that's all beets? That's a pretty bleak description of this forum.

I see it as a Caesar salad, veggies and even some meat, with a little something for everyone. If you come across something you don't like, you just pick it out and don't consume it. Every now and then someone pours on a little too much vinegar, but it never killed anyone.

Regards,

Stew

[uncle joe]

Well Ken
You have once again proven that you may be one of the most level headed guys here. I also am a full believer that if you don't like what's on the channel CHANGE THE CHANNEL. There are ways to disagree with someone and ways not to.

[9.3X62AL]

I dont post nearly as much as I have in the past. It seems as if there are always a few ready and eager you rip you apart. In years past this was not the case , at least not nearly as bad.
I have decided to make use of the ignore option and use it on the voltures now.
Still this is a great place and most of the members are a pleasure to talk with....Buck

+1. If boors and trolls feel free to make smart remarks to and about contributing long-term members without significant sanctions by onlooking administrators, be assured that substantive contributions to the site will likely contract in number--that contributors will feel strong disincentives to supplement their contributions--and that boors and trolls will be encouraged and facilitated in their tagger-crew activities.

[Ajax]

As far as boors and trolls go. I dont have any doubt they will be dealt with quickly IF reported to the Mods. I do believe the Mods are doing their best but they are not super human. They will miss posts and may not see them as trolling or boorish as you. I personally think they are doing a great job considering how the forum has grown in just the last year. Ken and his Mods are the best and fairest i have dealt with on any website. I for one would like to thank them for the job they do keeping this place as clean as it is. I have learned tons from this forum and look forward to continuing to learn. I havent had to ask many questions because i use the search function well. To all of you guys that have been here for years i would like to thank you for the knowledge you freely share.

Andy

[pmeisel]

I'll take the beets and the shredded cheese and the olives, and leave the lettuce for the rest of you!

Fine thought, well expressed....

[Fredx10sen]

Thank You for the Great Forum and it's upkeep.

[bigboredad]

I used to like my beets only pickled couldn't imagine why others could eat them any other way. Then I tried them unpickled well I be there pretty dang tasty that way too, Huh imagine that there really was two different ways that are tasty

[9.3X62AL]

No argument with ya, Ajax--this site IS the best of the best for shooting hobbyists and outdoors enthusiasts. My concern is with keeping the site the best it can be, via strident discouragement of "tagger crew" defacement and dissuasion.

I don't think it is a large burden to insist on civil discourse throughout the site. I strive to maintain that standard for myself, because I signed an agreement to do so at the time I joined AND that is how I strive to conduct myself generally. I use the "tagger crew" metaphor to illustrate a concern that a site like this can easily be defaced by boors and trolls in the same way an urban setting can be vandalized. The "tags" go up, get left in place, and soon the decent people begin to do business elsewhere while more taggers are emboldened to spray wall-scrawlings. Before long, the neighborhood is all crack houses and drive-by shootings. So, to employ Ken's own 'salad bar' metaphor--I would be greatly saddened to see it become a garbage dumpster.

[firefly1957]

I really think this is the most civil discussion board I have visited yet.....Well until someone brought up beets...Yuck. I do like cast,jacketed,holy black,smokeless,paper patch, home swaged lead and jackets,....almost like a big salad bar.

[gnoahhh]

A lot of well thought out comments that reflect my own opinions on the matter.

One feature found on other boards is is the ability to preview one's posting before hitting the submit button. I wish we had it here. More than once, on other sites, I was able to reflect upon my post via the preview and changed it to tone it down or better communicate my thoughts.

[gnoahhh]

Aha, now I see it. Thanks.

[casterofboolits]

This is the best site I have been on. As for beets.....I have planted them......hoed them...harvested them.......washed them.....peeled them.....helped my Mawma can and pickle them, but I cannot, will not eat those horrid purple root vegtables!!!!:****_hits_fan:

You are welome to my share! [smilie=l:

[9.3X62AL]

I don't mind canned beets once in a while. I won't grow them in a garden, though. When space is limited, sweet corn--tomatoes--and string beans get priority. Those are my FAVORITE fresh-grown crops at table.

[Echo]

Way to go, Ken. I feel blessed that I found this forum.

And let's hear it for PICKLED BEETS! The other kind, not so much...

[badgeredd]

+1. If boors and trolls feel free to make smart remarks to and about contributing long-term members without significant sanctions by onlooking administrators, be assured that substantive contributions to the site will likely contract in number--that contributors will feel strong disincentives to supplement their contributions--and that boors and trolls will be encouraged and facilitated in their tagger-crew activities.

+1 Al, at least in my mind. I haven't been a member as long as many and have seen some real contributors leave for various reasons, much to my dismay. I also have been a member longer than many others, and have seen some changes for the better and others no so much.

I would also thank 45Nut for a great place to be on the web. BECAUSE of this forum I have become friends with some very genuine people whom I respect and appreciate. I would not have met them without this forum.

Again Ken has masterfully made a point that all should be taken to heart.

My first and foremost advice to everyone (myself included) is to do your best to treat others as you wish to be treated.

Although I like beets, I respect others' right to disagree and that IS the central point in my opinion.

Edd

[10x]

Ever been stuck behind a couple of old women at a salad bar?
The conversation goes like this "Oooh, there is so much to choose from, I don't know what to take." They will then stare at it and hold up the line for an interminable length of time while they select the salad that won't immediately go to their more than ample posterior. Apparently the question is "Will this salad make my *ss fat?"
An old man will go through and take a little bit of every thing he likes and do it as he walks past.

This is a forum that allows you to pick what you want and there is enough room for folks to linger and choose - it doesn't hold up the line. If you don't like something - ignore it....

BTW: My mother in laws pickled beets rule, She picks them early while still sweet and filled with sugar (about the size of a radish) and then cans them in Mason Jars. She just turned 78. Way back before we had electricity and freezers the Mason jar was the best way of preserving food. About the only thing that lost flavour were green and yellow beans.
Good things come from Mason jars....

[Mossy Nugget]

Opinions are like belly buttons. Some are introspective, others are way out there. Everybody has one, and the one you have could be different from another's. Facts are ABSOLUTE. If a poster is willing to provide empirical support for their opinion, I could be persuaded to change my opinion. Beets, for example, I prefer pickled. Tell me what preparation of beets is best, and demonstrate; (in the arena of facts) why your method is superior. If this is done without disparaging me, I could very easily be persuaded to try, at least once, a different method of preparing my beets. I would take offence only if the poster dismissed my pickled beets as inedible without trial in the arena of fact.

[hiram1]

yes this is a great place and most of the members are a pleasure to talk with.and will help who ever need s it /so thanks you mods do a real good job for the pay

[FrankG]

Great post and analogy! Take some ...........leave some . As for beets ..YUKKKK!! Hate the orbs but love the greens ...steamed with bacon , onion and garlic:bigsmyl2:

Been casting over 30 yrs and still learning new tricks . That is what makes it enjoyable and still makes me smile when those perfect bullets land on the cloth !!

[OBIII]

Ken,
You and the Mods do not get enough credit for that which you do, therefore I will take this opportunity to thank you for this Fab Forum. A salad bar is a perfect example, as life is full of choices...with one exception. Choices made in error at a salad bar can be discarded. Choices you make in life...not so much so. People can make their opinions known without causing hate and discontent. If someone who posts bothers you, don't bother to respond to them. As to the beets, I love cold pickled beets, but will not touch hot cooked ones. Just my preference. Keep up the good work.

[unclebill]

if life gives you beets
make borsht!


actually thats a terrible idea.
nevermind.....;)

[WARD O]

Well, my "hobby" has certainly advanced thru my membership in this very special club. For that I sincerely thank all of you - owner, mods, and members.

Because you started this board, there are several people with new businesses - ie Mihec, Night Owl to name a couple. They are making some wonderful stuff to add to our hobby and their companies wouldn't exist if not for you.

It is a great place to come, visit a bit, escape the hum drum day to day crud and rejuvenate the attitude - and that helps make the day a little bit better for all around us.

Thank You

[Blacksmith]

I like beets and Cast Boolits too. Thank you Ken. And when I stray off the straight and narrow please remind me the first time because everyone deserves a second chance but if I don't take the hint I don't deserve to associate with the folks in our town.

[ErikO]

I call dibs on the pickled red cabbage!

As long as there is a cough shield, I'm good with salad bars.