ScroogieII

Spring has always been my absolute favourite season but this year I'm almost (but not quite) wishing it would end and we could get on with summer. Why, you ask? Well, it's like this: For those of us who don't yet know, last summer/fall I volunteered to work at a couple of community organizations, first the Grand Forks Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Store, then shortly thereafter, the Grand Forks Public Learning Garden. As most are likely aware, gardens can demand quite a bit of actual physical labour, especially in Spring. Conspiring with the advent of Spring is an aspect of human nature which causes many of us to, after being shut in for the winter, suddenly desire to "clean up the cabin" as it were, in the process discarding (read donating) unused or unwanted items, often to charitable organizations (read, in this case, ME). The short story here is that I have been EGGGGSremely busy for lo these last 2 weeks or so in dealing with this annual juxtaposition of Spring and Human Nature. That is all by way of saying that I have been, alternately, either too busy or too tired to even look at my review queue for about two weeks. Today, though, I took an afternoon off to tend to some other things, then my review queue. Upon turning to the latter, I was very pleasantly surprised to find ONLY 21 items in the queue (all in one category, BTW ). I had fully expected the number to be well into the triple digit range. So - THANK YOU to all those officers who have covered for me over the past while. I do expect to be as busy for the next two weeks (or more), but shall definitely at least TRY (I know, destroyed, not just split, infinitive) to get here more often. Thanks Again Guys, The Scrooge

From yet another Canucky, WELCOME BACK!!!! (It's Spring, after all, and everything is green, or soon will be!) We can always make room for another Great White Northerner!!! The Scrooge

And what's life without a little P[h]un?!?! I, too, would join your category, and even help you build it, should you be silly enough to ask. The Scrooge

Paranoia R US?

Now, CW, don't ever abuse yourself of the notion that we are opposed to controversy hereabouts. Witness this very thread, for example. I'll admit that there are those who believe themselves to be taller than others, or weightier than others, but, when all is said and done each of us has exactly ONE vote on each and every matter. Translation: If anyone feels a particular category needs to see the light of day, I would encourage them to follow their heart. The Scrooge.

No, I'm actually having fun finally getting the time to read all the responses. I am somewhat surprised by the sudden spate of activity on this thread, but not at all dismayed. A few people have managed to get a bit off their chests here, which is seldom a bad thing. But Thanks for asking. The Scrooge Could you explain it to me, then? I mean personally, as opposed to in the forum. I believe I know your meaning, but am not 100% certain. The Scrooge

Well, Thank You, Erik. This was just the type of response I was hoping for. I (personally ) agree with each and every point raised in that paragraph, save for your surety of loneliness in your thinking. After all, you now have 5 (make that 6) upvotes and a giggle. Well, what does the rest of the community have to say to Erik with regard to the above outlined topics? The Scrooge PS - as for "Closing the Subject", that was just part of the metaphor, but there's more, if you can divine the hidden meaning.

In the hope that it might move things along, I'm quoting your post, Erik. Wayfroggie of ours, could we Please, Please, have that Icon added to the Bat Boxes category? Thank You - The Scrooge

I believe it was back around the turn of the twentieth century that an officer or employee of the American[?] Patent Office uttered the opinion that (to paraphrase): "Everything of value has already been invented. Why should we not close the patent office?" A parallel thought might be: "Everything Waymarkable is already included in our Category Master List". Hence, should we not close down this subject? (For the deep thinkers among us, this is more than a simple metaphor!) The Scrooge

Have to agree with both yourself and the Bluesnote. When an Aldi store is gone, I would suppose that not much of our (collective, as opposed to personal) history is taken with it. The loss of an XXXX year old building, structure or artefact is usually quite another thing. The Scrooge

Oh, don't be TOO surprised, Torgut. I happen to personally know a couple, mebbe even a few, who show up to check out various things, yet neglect to review any Waymarks while passing through. I could NAME NAMES!!! Hint! Hint!!!! The Scrooge

Yet another example of a category, though manned by able officers, that is beginning to show many signs of mold. Though Thierry wants to accept (and does) submissions specifically proscribed, he can't amend the category to make it more relevant. Moreover, the Coats of Arms home page is quite busted, requiring a substantial overhaul, with no licensed mechanics, though available, approved to handle the task. Whacha think, Wayfroggie? The Scrooge

I'd been unable to log into my account for more than a week, but, thanks to a tip from Our Wayfroggie, I'M BACK. As a result I missed the inauguration of the category. I've just now been able to look at some of the approved submissions and find that I completely agree with your assessment, Elyob, and we thank you for offering your (very positive) input on the matter. Could I infer this to mean we've somehow managed to elevate the quality of Waymarks submitted? Actually, I think not, but time and history will be the ultimate judges. That said however, I've believed for years that a well thought out category proposal often tends to elicit well constructed submissions. The Scrooge

I know you're one busy guy Wayfroggie, but I see that the Bat Boxes category has not yet been blessed with Erik's (well done) Icon submission, so I reiterate. Could you, pretty please, make it happen? Thank You, The Scrooge

No problem, Speedy, Yours was a mistake made by many in the past, and hopefully will be made by many in the future (that is assuming that Waymarking shall continue into the future and will continue to attract aficionados such as yourself). The most instructive advice I can offer at this time is to look at, and learn from, the construction of other Waymarks' home pages, as well as those of other successful Waymark proposals, such as the other one in peer review at present, I.E. Bat Boxes. Then, ALWAYS first present your proposals to the community via the forums, even before you've put pen to paper in outlining a proposal, thereby achieving a consensus. Use up your ink here first, THEN, and only then, should you happen to achieve somewhat of a consensus here which you find acceptable, one way or the other, might you decide whether to either drop it or continue on your quest to becoming the proud owner of a Waymarking Category. Should a favourable consensus be achieved, you must continue to present additions or amendments here (those usually, but by no means always, resulting from input from the community) until you, and the community, are in agreement that it has become worthy of presentation at Peer Review. Should the opposite occur, that still doesn't mean that your idea has become dead-in-the water, possibly only that it needs further thought, still further fleshing out, or attack from a different paradigm. The Scrooge Question, Read and Learn. Nothing of value comes without effort. The Scrooge

So, please GO VOTE!!! The Scrooge

And this might well make it the easiest category you will ever achieve, Kai, doncha think? The Scrooge

It's Right Here, Phil.

Yes, that has occurred to me, but it's an issue that comes with the territory, so we'll have to accept it. Keith

Indeed, that category could use another officer or two. I'll see what I can do, given you're willing to become an officer. The Scrooge

Yeah, Erik. It's deathly quiet here. (BTW, thanks yet again for the icon. From past experience I know that our Wayfroggie can be a touch particular about the design of icons, but I see that yours adheres quite closely, if not perfectly, to formerly stated requirements, desires and demands.) It's now February. Maybe the Waymarkers have entered into their winter torpor and will not be seen, or heard from, again until late March or early April. Still, that fails to explain the complete silence from those Down Under, not to mention those of the lower latitudes. Anyhow, with, as I write this, 95 views and no comments, relying on the "No News Is Good News" adage, we might as well send it to peer review. The Scrooge

Our resident genius, Erik, has come up with an icon for the Bat Boxes category which we think would be purrrrfect for the category. Wayfroggie, if this one meets with your approval, could you please do the magic that you do so well, and make it so? The Scrooge

Further edits as of 3:40 3:55 5:45 (hopefully the last) PM PST.

Though still in need of a couple of tweaks, the Bat Boxes category has been created and is ready for your perusal & input. I see that a distance limitation hasn't yet been implemented, which we need to get to, hopefully this afternoon. It's intended that it reside in the Animals Department. The Scrooge

OKAY - now I'll tell you my singular Up Close & Personal bat story. It was a large, two storey, four bedroom, American Foursquare style house on the very rural farm on which I had grown up, in fact The House in which I had (mostly) grown up. When I was at the tender age of 10 we moved from the farm into town, as my dad had a machinery dealership in the town and my mother had gone back to teaching school, in the same town. They had finally come to the conclusion that it would make sense to live in town, whereafter only my dad would have to commute, not both of them. Problem was that they didn't tell me. Later, after arriving [home] from a camping trip with a cousin and uncle, we entered The House to find it empty. COMPLETELY empty. NO furniture, no nothing. I will admit that I then experienced a feeling quite unlike I'd ever experienced previously, nor ever thereafter. In later years I heard jokes about kids so completely unloved and unwanted that "They came home to find that their parents had moved". That was me. In any event, I got over that and life went on, taking me through more years of school AND work on the farm, ultimately plunking me down in my latter teens, a time when we all venture into booze, drugs, sex, or whatever. As best I can ascertain, this was pretty much the norm in small towns all across Canada, and probably throughout North America. With my crowd, or at least one of my crowds, it was booze. At the age of 17 or 18 that particular crowd thought weekends were made solely for boozing. Being underage, our first roadblock was finding booze, which was usually, or often, at least, handled by one or another of the bunch. The second was finding a sufficiently secluded place in which to partake of our newfound boozy riches, thereby avoiding both legal intervention and parental damnation. Following my family's' taking leave of The House it was intermittently occupied by hired men who worked on the farm, sometimes with family, sometimes without. In any event, during our boozing times it happened to be empty more often than not. Given that we were still working the farm, Dad kept the heat on in the house and the refrigerator and the cupboards somewhat stocked, as we used the house as a lunchroom. SOOOOO, it was inevitable that it should occur to me that it might be a perfect Boozing Spot. To cut to the chase, as it were, during one of our weekend sessions at The House, after we had all imbibed sufficiently to be feeling invincible, a little bat flew by us in the kitchen. Feeling no inhibitions whatever, though I was aware that rabies had been found in the area, I reached out and grabbed the bat. It immediately bit me so I released my grip. It unfolded its wings and proceeded into the dining room, never to be seen thereafter. Drunk as we were by that time, it never occurred to us that a bite from a bat might lead to further, unpleasant, consequences, or even that we should chase it down. After all, It was gone, but the beer wasn't. I lived, and, as far as I know, so did the bat. The Scrooge