A Defender Responds

[Famspear]

.....And please forgive my friend Famspear, his pathologies become more evident every time he tries to play internet psychiatrist.

Yes, Harvey Hamster, you claim to "see" what you supposedly "believe" to be "pathologies" in my writing in the same sense that you see a "legal" way to avoid paying federal income tax by reading the nonsense writings of David Merrill Not Really So Very Much Van Pelt, Peter E. ("Blowhard") Hendrickson, and other such dimwits.

But, that gives me an idea..... If this accounting career of mine doesn't work out, I might have something to fall back on: my professional practice as.... Famspear..... Internet Psychiatrist.....



Kinda like "Lucy" in the Peanuts comic strip..... "Psychiatric help, 5 cents..." And limericks done, while-u-wait.......

[Harvester]

And what does your "research" show? That the so-called experts of Quatloos are very good at maintaining the illusion that central banking is wonderful? That everyone has income under the Revenue Acts? That they're very bothered by certain truths?

Despite the two years documenting every utterance a speaker or writer unknowingly tells us a great deal about himself of which he is entirely unaware, Famspear shows he still knows very little about me. What will the Knight Templar of the Sacred Tax do when our money no longer says FEDERAL RESERVE on it? http://www.roadtoroota.com/members/images/636a.jpg

[ktesibios]

Plumbers, electricians, mechanics, and others in the construction trades call these folks "job security."

I'm a recording studio techie by trade, i.e., I'm the poor bugger who actually understands how all the cool toys with the blinkylights work and what to do about it when they don't. I have said many times to the other tech, "Remember Aaron- other people's ignorance is why you and I are gainfully employed".

Funny thing though- being something of an expert in my area of technology and having spent nearly thirty years getting paid to prove myself wrong on a regular basis (this goes with the territory when you earn a living troubleshooting complex electronic equipment) I suspect I have somewhat more appreciation of genuine expertise, and of the limits of my own knowledge, than the average.

Having one's face rubbed in one's own fallibility from time to time is a healthy exercise IMO.

[Gregg]

Plumbers, electricians, mechanics, and others in the construction trades call these folks "job security."

I'm a recording studio techie by trade, i.e., I'm the poor bugger who actually understands how all the cool toys with the blinkylights work and what to do about it when they don't. I have said many times to the other tech, "Remember Aaron- other people's ignorance is why you and I are gainfully employed".

Funny thing though- being something of an expert in my area of technology and having spent nearly thirty years getting paid to prove myself wrong on a regular basis (this goes with the territory when you earn a living troubleshooting complex electronic equipment) I suspect I have somewhat more appreciation of genuine expertise, and of the limits of my own knowledge, than the average.

Having one's face rubbed in one's own fallibility from time to time is a healthy exercise IMO.

I am by training an accountant, although I haven't done that for many years, and the car biz thing has me by inclination more than qualification more into engineering. Suffice to say that in the early days at Ford, a lot of Engineers taught me a lot about transmissions. And with what I learned from them I started the side business that made me not worry about money anymore. So, a few years ago, a co-worker for whom I have the utmost respect, one who as much as any taught me how to work on transmissions asked me to rebuild one for his truck. I was thrilled that someone who knew as much as he did would ask me to work on a box for him and when I was finished with it I told him how flattered I was. Of all the people he could have asked, and for that matter could have done it himself, he asked me.

So his reply after I said as much was "you're the only person I knew had the right tools outside of the plant".

[Harvester]

I'm no expert, but tell me what's in your wallet and I can probably tell if you're ignorant or aware, deceived or enlightened, played for a slave by the "experts" or immune to Quatloosian ridicule.

[Paul]

I'm no expert, but tell me what's in your wallet and I can probably tell if you're ignorant or aware, deceived or enlightened, played for a slave by the "experts" or immune to Quatloosian ridicule.

Anyone with FRNs in their wallet that have been endorsed a la Van Pelt's advice is a prime suspect for ignorance. It's not proof, because the FRNs might have been endorsed by someone else.

Being immune from Qualoosian ridicule is just a variation on "ignorance is bliss."

Having one's face rubbed in one's own fallibility from time to time is a healthy exercise IMO.

That could be the motto of anyone who does taxes for a living. If you haven't made a mistake this week, you must be on vacation.

[Nikki]

"A man's got to know his limitations." - Inspector Harry Callahan SFPD

For the record, while I may have the tools and know-how to handle almost anything around the house and yard, there are certain things I have thought about and then decided, "No, I think I will throw a bit of money at the problem and let people who do it for a living take care of it." It usually involves large trees and chainsaws.

Agreed. I'll tackle just about anything subject to a few simple rules:

1 - If I royally mess it up, it won't cost me more than the original professional cost to fix what I messed up.

2 - The project doesn't impact anyone's safety or well-being: I will SO never attempt a brake job on my car again. Fortunately, my errors became obvious as I was backing down the driveway.

3 - Electricity doesn't leak, but plumbing does. I can handle just about any private residence electrical job. But, if it doesn't involve simple scew-on fittings, anything wet gets done by the plumbers.

4 - If there's the slightest risk involved (like anything dealing with a ladder more than 6 feet tall) there WILL be a SOBER observer with a cell phone standing by.

5 - I constantly remind myself that I earn enough to be able to hire professionals and am smart enough to know when to hire them.

<edited to add rule #5>