On Fri, 25 Jan 2002 12:07:39 Jim Elwell wrote: >...I eventually realized there are two kinds of people in these groups: (a) >those who have lots to say and (b) those who gave money and time. And I >realized that there was not much overlap between the two.
No news here. Indeed. I'd go even farther, those that only talk and no action; and also those with money and time, but that choose not to use them or to use them inefficiently... ... Those who >paid dues were also the ones who pitched in to help and whose criticisms >actually had merit. > Criticisms IMHO should be evaluated by their own merits, and not whether it came from individual A or B. This has to do with the art of listening and with the exercise of free speech. >Some of you (including, I think, Marcus) are looking for magic wands to >metricate America. Me, looking for magic wands??? That's precisely what I'm NOT doing. That's what I've been saying all along! IMHO there just is no other way about doing this but to accept the voice of wisdom and use the tried-tested-and-true solution, which has to come from the top and with the vigorous participation of the country's government/administration. No such thing exists. Indeed! But... (more below) > We are going to metricate the USA, >and it will be through the small actions of thousands of individuals such >as Jim Frysinger and Bill Potts and Valerie Antoine and Lorelle Young and >Chris Stone and Don Hillger. > Small actions don't accomplish much and take too darn long! Besides, step on somebody's toes and you'll run for cover (again, look at the DOT's example!). >These folks have real jobs, yet they donate time to metricating America. Let me tell you about 'donating time', Jim. For your (and other people's here) information I dedicate an average of over 3-4 hours a day to this cause (except for Saturdays)! It's so much dedication to it that my wife continues to tell me that she's p...d at me for doing so!... :-( I just don't go around tooting my own horn about it! I do it because I care about this issue deeply! So, please don't tell me I'm not doing what I can, timewise! > If >my guess is anything, they each put in hundreds if not thousands of dollars >worth of their time to this. Let me see... 3 hours a day, 5.5 days a week (some Sundays I just sit down and relax... :-) ), 52 weeks a year, at a minimum of 35 $/h (a reasonable estimate of how much my time would be worth in the market place given my professional credentials), gives a total of: 30 k$+!!! Not bad, wouldn't you say?... ;-) > The *least* the rest of you can do is put in >$30 to help the USMA meet its expenses. > If I tell Eunice I'd put another 30 bucksj (US!!), plus the expenses I already incur with GO SI EH *all by myself* (so far...), plus the premia we pay for metric products and other hassles, I should expect my divorce papers Monday morning!... >Then ask yourself, "where can I contribute time?"... And that's precisely what and how I could probably help most effectively. I'd be willing to manage my and redistribute my heavy load of time I already give to this cause and squeeze in any time I'd offer to help USMA! Sorry, can't do more... PS: Just hope that because you "found out" about my not-paying status that you won't decide to value any of what I've said or done to this cause so far any less... But that I'd have to leave up to you and your conscience... Marcus Is your boss reading your email? ....Probably Keep your messages private by using Lycos Mail. Sign up today at http://mail.lycos.com
