You hit the word on the head! - confrontational - it' ugly. Please believe me, I love the threads that truly deal with innovation (like concrete boats - drain bammage?). I just get bored with the ones that are nothing more than (essentially) private contests based on who knows more about a particular engineering disipline.

My 'skin says "engineer" too, but I have always admired the artists and dreamers, for it it they, who UN-encumbered by the science of their times, make the TRULY innovative leaps in technology. Sometimes by accident. Had Orville and Wilbur really done their homework, and studied the immense volume of knowledge that existed about aviation in their time, Boeing would be building their bicycles, albeit super high-tech and strenuously computer simulated, but bicycles none the less.

Yes I have the option of "skipping" the stuff I don't understand, and I do that a lot when I see certain names, that's a shame - slow modem - life's too short.

I've got the plans of an Expidition nailed to the wall above the computer - That ain't scince, it's art.

Build one (and I'll trade you a thousand reasons to give to your better-half as to why the honey-dos can wait, and how to say with true conviction: "no you can't park your car in there for the next eight months")

> The one-upmanship is good and bad. It can get a bit too confrontational
> at times, but by hearing different opinions, we all can learn.

> Everyone who builds a boat does so for his or her own personal
> reasons. Some want to spend time alone in their shops. Some want to
> save money. Some find the home built boat more beautiful. Some enjoy
> the feeling of satisfaction that comes from owning, showing, and completing
> their own handcrafted creation. Some enjoy experimenting with innovations
> and the education that comes from innovating (success and failure
> both should yield education).

> Among this latter group you often find engineers. Engineers,
> by their nature, tend to be self confident, and esoteric (among other
> traits). Perhaps the confidence comes from competence in one particular
> area. I was never athletic as a young person, but I was academically
> gifted. My peers could run farther, run faster, catch and throw better,
> etc., but when it came to academics and to invention, most of them
> couldn't keep up with me. It is good to take some pride (in a healthy
> way) in what you are good at. We need, perhaps, to work on not demeaning
> the accomplishments of others.

> Not everything posted is understood by all. I see posts that
> are specific to a particular task that I know nothing about, and sometimes
> I'm lost because I haven't been around the exact "hardware"
> being discussed. That doesn't mean I don't want it posted. I read
> it, try to get a general idea, and move on. If it sounds interesting
> I may ask for clarification.

> If the engineering stuff gets too thick for you, just ask for
> clarification. It may be too complicated to explain, but often it
> isn't. Explaining it forces the person who says it to thoroughly think
> it through.

> Being exposed to new material won't make any of us a worse person.
> I really enjoy the engineering discussions. I also enjoy the building
> discussions. They belong together. Designing is too imprtant to building,
> and vice versa, for either one to be ostracized.

> That's my $.04