Henry Frye's complaint raises legitimate concerns. There _IS_ a point at
which the value of this list as a resource of Triumph information and
fellowship becomes outweighed by the time (and talent) necessary to sift
through off-topic material.
Consider the following recent post to the Healey list:
> Let me start at the beginning. I'm a 54 year old widower. I got a
> place in a small beach town in southern California. My boss gave me my
> BJ8 and told me to go get a woman. I got one of the last Healeys
> prowling the highways and byways of LA in search of fresh meat. While
> I've been posting to the Healey list, I've also been picking up women
> over the Internet. For the past couple of weeks I've been working on
> this 41 year old screen writer who describes herself as "athletic", both
> in bed and out. She told me I "give great email". After I sent her a
> photo of my Healey, she agreed to go out with me. She asked me what I
> like to eat. I told her anything she'd like me to. That's how it all
> begins in this town, folks, with a perfect match, a screenwriter and a
> character.
The Healey folk had mixed reactions - some liked it, some thought it more
appropriate for a chat room, others thought it would be a good idea to start
a rating system for posts (GP, R, X, etc.), those who were offended were
referred to as "thin skinned Healey-heads". Result: a whole string of angry
posts having very little to do with Healeys.
I hope that this list doesn't disintegrate to that level.
Some folks are here for technical information, some for the chatter and
personal interaction, some for both, and that's all fine - but this list
would be a lot better for everyone if we paid some attention to the volume
of messages being created . . .
By emailing comments directed to specific individuals to the person involved
rather than the whole list.
By not sending replies to the list AND the original poster AND everyone else
who's replied to the same thread - no one needs to get multiple copies of
the same reply.
By not _automatically_ crossposting everything to both the TR and Spit lists
unless the comment or question is germane to both.
By posting a synopsis of the advice received off-line when you ask a
question of the list.
By giving some thought to whether your comment will be of interest to the
group generally.
I think this list is THE most valuable resources available to Triumph
owners. There's no single expert or manual that can provide the experience
and diversity of the members of the list. We ought to do everything we can
to keep it that way.
Jim Hill
SpyderWeb Vintage Racing
Madison WI
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