[Paul Johnson wrote in another thread:]
>thanks for the "welcome back". i have been keeping in touch via email with some Forum regulars. also, i've never stopped reading the Forums. however, i would, generally, prefer not to "post" any longer as i don't want to chase anyone away from the Forums as i fear that i (and my wife) may have done some weeks ago.


PJ, that's unreasonable. If you're spending too much time on-line and need to quit posting, that's understandable. But not to post because you think you might offend somebody--no. I haven't seen anything on BPL (including your posts) that would be considered a flame by general Internet standards. Accidentally offending somebody isn't the same as attacking somebody.

You contributed a lot of useful information in your various posts, and asked a lot of questions that elicited more useful information. You have as much right to be here as anybody else. It's unfair that you should feel you're forced to lurk because you might offend us.

Edited by Otter on 01/05/2006 16:29:11 MST.

I think the same way, I learned alot from you, even though we were both posting only for a short period of time.

would it help if I said please. :-)

i do believe i actually did cause someone, a VIP, literally, to leave these Forums. very sadly, i haven't seen any further Posts from this renowned individual since his last response, some time ago, to me and my wife's Posts (she was pretty upset with something he had posted and later deleted - she did the same i believe; she has since calmed down; she sure picked the wrong time to become curious about what i had been doing Online). what makes this "crime" of mine even worse is that this was an individual whose continued presence on these Forums would have been far more beneficial than anything that i could ever contribute. we're all the "poorer" for his absence. my sincere apologies to all.

furthermore, i think we both (he and i) began to realize that we were comparing "apples to oranges". i'm going to leave it at that and not comment or find further fault with (i.e. "nit pick") anything posted at that time in response to me. most people's Posts are probably somewhat hastily written and it's probably not too difficult to find something minor which is incorrect in them.

i sincerely hope that he returns as a regular to these Forums. i very much appreciated his helpful reply to me in a different Thread the day before i disagreed (perhaps in too strong terms; certainly not a flame) with him on a new subject.

FWIW, i do plan to try my hand at a Reader Review of the new SMD Essence pack after it arrives in the mail. i'll try to keep the review short.

thanks again.

you are a classy guy Paul, sorry to see you go, both of you, even though I dont know who the other is. I bet I could have learned alot from both of you, good luck, take care.

PJ, I wouldn't worry too much about your posts to Dan McHale. It's not the first time he has gotten agitated with forum postings. The same goes for me...lol. Agitated may be the wrong word. Some people do come across as aggressive in the forum posts.

Forum postings are two dimensional and it can be easy to take them the wrong way. Even though I know that, it still happens to me and I stupidly over react to something someone types in a box.

Edited by jshann on 01/05/2006 19:08:00 MST.

Paul, Come over to my Chaff Thread and have some fun. We need some new blood.

Fornshell-san,

i've already PLOP-ped there (and the other two earlier Anon. posts as well - probably didn't fool anybody with the Anons).

was going to leave them as Anonymous, but i didn't want to appear rude by ignoring your Post to me here in this Thread.

however, that's it from me for now.

i hope the other fella' i may have offended returns to the Forums. ...after some more time elapses, if he doesn't return to the Forums as an active participant - even an occasional one, then i'll probably start posting regularly again and hope i don't offend anyone else - i'll just be more careful with my wording (and not be so dogmatic) if i disagree with someone.

BTW, it's amazing how much i learn from keeping my mouth shut, so to speak, and just reading the Posts. there are some newer guys (VH being one, and JR - not sure if he's newer or even might precede me???), together with some older regulars (you and KD, amongst some others whose initials i'm forgetting - sorry; and of course real experts like Mr. Moak, and Mr. Bell and the BPL Staffers) who have so much knowledge and experience.

just one example: i was going to reply yesterday to the "20 degree bag use in single digits" recent Post. wrote a full-length novel reply (WAY too much detail) covering VB and non-VB solutions. then i decided to click the CANCEL button. turns out it was the right thing to do. the individual who replied, was more knowledgeable, concise, clear, and accurate. a much better response than i ever could have posted.

Sayonara,
pj

Edited by pj on 01/06/2006 00:43:13 MST.

Paul,

I've been away for a while, so I'm joining the discussion without context. However, I sincerely doubt you could have done anything to merit a flap of this magnitude. Your posts always carefully distinguish fact from opinion and you clearly devote substantial mental effort to phrasing things in non-provocative and innoffensive ways. Perhaps there were some notable exceptions. If so, I suggest that they be treated as such and not allowed to outweigh the enormous remainder of your contribution.

Alex,

i didn't want to be rude, so i'm replying to you. many thanks for your kind words.

i think that you put more thought into your descriptive phrasing than i have put into my posts. usually, i just "wing it" (diarrhea of the keyboard) and correct the numerous typos and errors with a seemingly, endless series of "edits". i guess i usually fail to engage brain before putting keyboard in gear.

since you've "been away" as you termed it, i'll elaborate somewhat on the situation so that you understand a little better.

i "blew it" with one or two posts in another Thread. really only wanted to foster a back-and-forth discussion, but i worded things too strong. i was questioning a long accepted premise which may not be true in all situations - sort of a "sacred cows make the best hamburger" (as the saying goes) type of thing. i may have appeared that i was attacking, depends upon one's point of view, perhaps. instead, i was employing some "debate strategies" to elicit a response to my objections so that i could understand better his perspective/reasoning.

it turns out that we were probably speaking of different situations and so, were both correct for the situations we were envisioning. had we been face-to-face, certainly a more efficient way to communicate ("back-and-forth" ques. and ans. interaction is easier), the misunderstanding probably would not have arisen at all.

using 20-20 hindsight, i should not have posted my objections without first posting a series of questions, and waiting for him to reply, to make sure that i understood clearly what specific situation(s) he was speaking of. i thought i knew, but i was wrong. i just assumed that he was speaking of L/UL backpacking.

if you are so inclined to try to locate the other Thread, he made some edits to some of his posts afterwards (as did my wife who picked the wrong time to want to get involved) and so the full "flavor" of the "back-and-forth" is diminished somewhat.

i haven't seen any Posts from the other individual since that day. perhaps he's just very busy with his work and i really didn't "chase" him away - i don't know though. some of his wording, now deleted i believe, did lead me to believe that i had given occasion for offense.

i have no plans to personally reply to any of his posts (if he starts posting again) other than to agree with his opinions, unless he specifically addresses me in his post(s) and asks me to get involved if i disagree. however, if even posting agreement with him would keep him away, i would be 'ok' with not replying - period, or even participating in the Forums (other than reading them, which i'm "addicted" to doing).

i'd really like to see him back in the Forums because he is undoubtedly a recognized expert on some subjects discussed in the BPL Forums. i feel that he is too valuable a resource to be lost.

everyone has as much right to participate in these Forums as any other, and if i have given him a different impression, i am truly sorry for that.

if he doesn't start posting again, then i'll probably slowly work my way back in. let me give it a few more weeks. however, i have made a small number of Anon posts (with neutral tone, i hope) more recently which i really dislike doing. i probably didn't fool anyone with them anyways - i'm sure the regulars could figure out who posted them based upon the wording of the posts.

'ok',...'nuff said.

thanks again and take care,
pj

Edited by pj on 01/09/2006 00:39:31 MST.