Dave --

I'm glad that added clarity has helped.

Adrian,
it seems that this thread has founds its end.

I have a couple of parting words (well, probably a couple hundred).

It is important to me that Public misunderstandings and Publicaly made insults and challenges to egos get Public closure too. I have been royaly chewed out in a room full of people, and later taken into a quiet room and been privatly apologised to, by my public butt chewer. In this case, it is I, who wish to make amends for the things I said, Publicaly.

In my old life, early in childhood I was often pressured to "get it out quickly", "make it short and sweet", ect. ect. I learned (wrongly) that it is better to say something and be a litttle off target than to spend that extra moment or two to collect my thoughts. Then, for a few years it was "Think David, Think", and sometimes he just rolled eyes and walked away.

In my adult life, I simply try to communicate the best I can and hope that my listeners trust that I am a good guy with good intentions. Still, over the years I have been misunderstood and accused of a lot of badness that just wasnt ever in my heart. I still respond very badly (unproductively) to implied accusation. If I tried to carry a heavy bucket for my dad, but just couldnt lift it, later my dad would tell how "Dave wouldnt carry the bucket". There was no time given for me to counter that accusation and I only sounded guiltier, and even insubordinate for my effort at clearing the record. It was only a bucket (a thousand times in a thousand different ways).

I ask you to give a fella the benifit of the dought next time.

I am a willing student, and if you speak directly and clearly to me, I will listen and try to make use of what I have been told.

Dave

re" I have been royaly chewed out in a room full of people"

I am aware of how this thread started, and ended as I was one of the contributors. yet I am amazed that you considered yourself to be "chewed out" from the postings made in this thread. I read all the postings and at no time were you flamed or insulted. sure you got postings that said things you didn't like. lots of people didn't agree with you. but considering the kinds of postings I've read at this website and many other websites over the years, to claim that you were "chewed out" is just stunning.

you know I read a posting somewhere where some guy told someone to stop yelling simply because they used all capital letters. guess the guy couldn't discriminate between linear text in an Internet forum and yelling.

one thing linear text can't do or does very poorly is convey subtext(read: tone). yet some people will complain about the "tone" of a letter or posting when there's no way they could have known the "tone" the author wrote something with.

my 2 cents

Oops, I guess you misunderstood. I meant like in the past, like at work or in grade school. I was refering to how people will publicly embarres someone and then when they have to apologise, THAT part is done privatly.
Publicly, (on this forum) I was hostile tword another member, It is only right that I make a public amends as well.

I did not mean here on the forum. Adrians posts seemed to paint me in a colar I would not have prefeed. He seemed to be making assumptions about who I am that were totaly off. By none of MY definitions, could I ever accuse him of anything like a public butt chewing. Abrasive, sure, but the world is full of well intentioned good people who are also abrasive.