Cheer up people!!

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I just read a few different topics and I am really upset with some of the replies I have seen. Now I am not going to single them out or anything like that but I would just like to say This Model Railroading is supposed to be FUN stuff,After all it’s just a hobbie,Okay well for some of us it’s an obsession, Me included.

I would just like to ask that if You don’t agree with someone else’s oppinion If You must let them know please be tactfull about Your reply. Some of us may do things a bit different then the rest,Or We may or may not have the amount of experience as others. Maybe if We could try to take a deep breath and relax and Think about what We want to say and the effects of what may happen before We post,Well then this Forum may be another FUN aspect of Our great Hobby!

Happy Railroading!!!

GW RWY Fan

2

What topics are you refering to?

David B

3

I have seen this phenomenon on a lot of forums this winter. I just put it down to mid-winter blues. And we here in BC do not get a mid-winter holiday, have to go straight from New Year’s to Easter. Oh well…

4

This forum has a surfeit of tactless people, and it seems to be continually getting worse.

5

Let the Mods do their jobs and hit the “report abuse” button if you have a problem. We don’t need threads like this perpetuating the problem.

6

I’m getting tired of the “Future of Railroading” threads that pop up every so often. MRRing is here to stay, probably in altered forms, but it is going to be around for a LONG time. We’ve already established this, and the countless threads on it get annoying/tedious… anyways, lets all go back and play with out choo choo’s!

7

A pseudo-public forum such as this will almost invariably suffer from periodic “crankiness.”

Maybe it’s the flu season being so bad, or just that it’s winter, or just a volatile mix of personalities, but these forums have been a bit rough lately.

I myself have been involved in a few unpleasent threads these recent months, and not always in a constructive way.

The best thing to do, as has been said, is to not get involved. But if there’s a thread going south, you’re certainly within your rights to click “report abuse” if someone is actually abusing another member.

BUT, disagreement does not necessarily equal abuse. And there’s no way to avoid disagreement. We wouldn’t want to anyway, or all of our layouts would look the same, right?

One other thought… Our most infamous antagonist was here this week. He has literally dozens of accounts here. Every now and then he comes out of hiding with one of those accounts and abuses people. Then he digs up old threads.

Just because the name doesn’t say Al Mayo doesn’t mean it’s not him. Telltale signs of an Al attack:

  1. He loves modern UP and big diesels (and obsesses over T55)

  2. He uses sexual orientation and gender slurs.

  3. He’s extremely sarcastic and defensive.

  4. He replies to threads that are several years old.

  5. His posts start out benign enough but become progressively rude and dismissive.

  6. He makes a physical threat against someone.

While no one single factor above means it’s Al, usually a combination of these is a sure sign.

It’s too bad, too. Al is actually a good modeler and has a well-detailed layout. I wish he would contribute positively. I have a sene of humor, but I have certain lines of tolerance he crosses.

8

Ditto

9

I wish I could find a hobby, a town, a church and a work place where contentiousness did not smack me in the face when I least expected it.

Not on this planet. But…

… we do share a fun hobby, don’t we?

I’m enjoying reading threads from persons who are light-years ahead of me and tossing my two-cents in on other threads when I think I have some experience to share. I’m going to go grab a cigar, and when I’m done, try out a method for getting mortar detail on an n-scale brick structure. My point in saying that is that you would surely agree that it is a pretty nice evening I am working on.

In all forums, there are “trolls” who seek contention between others. In all forums there are texts which do not convey the wry grin and wink the authors thought would be assumed and people take offense never intended to be given. But in all good forums, like this one, by and large it is just really neat to read the posts. I get smarter and my creative juices flow.

In other words, I’m happy and thanks!

10

I’ve said that before, about backpackers, climbers, skiers, computer jocks, photographers, quite a few different groups of people.

I didn’t understand at the time, how such large percentages of those groups could end up such grumpy negative people, in fact, I refused to believe that the selection factor in the group could somehow accidently capture a higher than average number of miserable busybodies, but still arranged to limit contact with them because the day in day out facts, post counts, and general trends in demeanor simply don’t lie.

In fact, I didn’t see the bigger picture until just now, tonight, reading this thread.

The majority of people simply don’t know hopw to be happy.

It’s not any one group, it’s most everybody. I do know for a fact that miserable people are a LOT more likely to try to make others around them miserable than happy people are to make people around them happy, so in a way, the grumps tend to stand up and get counted more often than happy folks, but again, the numbers don’t lie.

Well, I’m not in the mood tonight to write several volumes on “How to be Happy”, and I’ve learned it’s a waste of time anyway, since people are the way they want and choose to be, but the crank-o’s DO manage to harsh my buzz when I run across them, so I’ve gotten pretty good at staying out of their reach.

Therefore, and because it’s late, I’ll write “How To Stay Happy”, for only those select few who have examined the world they live in and understand how to work WOITH the natural laws and pressures that shape our existance, instead of tilting windmills ad infini-nauseum.

How to Stay Happy

Rule 1. Avoid grumpos, malcontents, commandants, whiners, complainers, avoid ALL negative people, lest they steal your energy, arrest your ince

11

Hmm… My first instinct was to call you out on a sweeping generalization. After all, we can’t know whether people are truly happy just based on some selected posts in an online forum. Nor do we all manifest happiness in the same way.

But there is a sizeable grain of truth to what you say. When I took a temporary hiatus from normal military life to persue my doctorate, I found that the academic world I entered was dark and jaded. Very, very few of the faculty and only slightly more of the graduate students actually seem happy with their surroundings. The one instructor whose lab I share has such a dark view on the world (and she’ll share it with you whether you want to hear it or not) that I intentionally avoid her for fear of her poisoning my attitude.

How is it, then, that I found generally happier, more well-adjusted people around me while serving in Baghdad at the start of the Iraq war than at a safe, comfortable, secluded university environment in a relatively cosmopolitan area like the Research Triangle of North Carolina?

I realize it has much to do with perspective. On a combat deployment one’s life is boiled down to the bare essentials of survival, and while one is nagged both by missing loved ones and by the danger of the situation, one learns to take great joy in simple things like a hot meal, dry boots, and a shower. Here at home the cacophony of nuisance distractions, having little to do with life’s essentials, drowns out the joys of simply having friends, family, and security.

That’s my two cents anyway. Maybe that’s why the Amish are actually much happier than people think. For them it’s friends, family, and honest work. No worries about the cell phone plan, the credit card bill, sub-prime mortgages, Johnny wrecked the car, etc.

12

To Dave Vollmer

Amen to that brother!

13

Dave,

Living here in NE Ohio, the Amish are only a reasonable drive to the east and south of us. And there is something to be said about the “simplicity” to their way of life.

Even so, I did read recently of a divorce in the Amish community. When the matter was brought before the group of elders, the Amish wife was asked why she was filing for divorce from her husband. Without hesitation, the wife tearfully but emphatically told the elders that her husband “was driving her buggy”.

See? Things could be worse…[swg]

Tom

14

2 easy and simple rules to follow for sure.

15

Yeah, on one of my posts I just asked for advice and I got some nasty replies. Then I changed the post to mountain scenery. They got pissed off a little more and told me to use the search button. If you don’t like a post, leave it alone, for pete’s sake.

16

Well…That AND the fact you posted about 30 threads in 2 days…[:-^]

17

Hey, it was my first time ever being on a forum. I went a little overboard. Sorry! Hey, one was a real humdinger, though. (worldwide)

18

[quote user=“Dave Vollmer”]

Hmm… My first instinct was to call you out on a sweeping generalization. After all, we can’t know whether people are truly happy just based on some selected posts in an online forum. Nor do we all manifest happiness in the same way.

But there is a sizeable grain of truth to what you say. When I took a temporary hiatus from normal military life to persue my doctorate, I found that the academic world I entered was dark and jaded. Very, very few of the faculty and only slightly more of the graduate students actually seem happy with their surroundings. The one instructor whose lab I share has such a dark view on the world (and she’ll share it with you whether you want to hear it or not) that I intentionally avoid her for fear of her poisoning my attitude.

How is it, then, that I found generally happier, more well-adjusted people around me while serving in Baghdad at the start of the Iraq war than at a safe, comfortable, secluded university environment in a relatively cosmopolitan area like the Research Triangle of North Carolina?

I realize it has much to do with perspective. On a combat deployment one’s life is boiled down to the bare essentials of survival, and while one is nagged both by missing loved ones and by the danger of the situation, one learns to take great joy in simple things like a hot meal, dry boots, and a shower. Here at home the cacophony of nuisance distractions, having little to do with life’s essentials, drowns out the joys of simply having friends, family, and security.

That’s my two cents anyway. Maybe that’s why the Amish are actually much happier than people think. For them it’s friends, family, and honest work. No worries about the cell phone plan, the credit card bill, sub-prime mortgages, Johnny wrecked the car, etc.

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