Carol the Dabbler

I recall being slightly annoyed by the original series' "where no man has gone before" motto because it seemed illogical (after all, the crew included Uhura, Chapel, Rand, et al.). By the time Next Generation came along, I was really curious how they were going to phrase it, and then thought "no one" was pretty good, even if a bit less poetic than the original. But I recently got to thinking that either version is a bit like saying that Columbus "discovered" America -- when there were already loads of people living here! So is there any good way to phrase it?

OK, took me a while to find, but we do still have a Report button. Lest I confuse anyone, it doesn't look like a button, it's just the words "Report post," near the upper right corner of each post. Like a lot of other things, it's currently damn-near invisible if you're using the New Dark theme, but can easily be found either by mousing over it (which should bring up a tag reading "Report this content") or by highlighting the area (as though you were intending to copy it). So -- if you feel that a post has any politeness issues, please click the Report button. You will then be given the option to specify what you find wrong with it (and I would encourage you to do so). Then click the Submit report button. A "thank you" message will appear very briefly, but otherwise nothing will seem to have changed, and the person who posted the questionable content will never have any idea that you reported it. However this will create a red flag at the top of every single forum page, visible only to staff members. Optionally, you could send a Private Message to a staff member, but it's best to use the Report button, because then whichever staff member happens to be online next can deal with it right away. If the issue is blatant enough, a staff member will immediately delete all or part of that post. In less-blatant cases, we may do a bit of creative editing, along with a rather pointed reminder of the forum rules. In borderline cases, we're more likely to just remind everyone to be polite. It's also possible that we don't understand what you see as being a problem, in which case we may contact you for further information. But please don't assume that a staff member will notice an offensive post without it being reported. There have been cases where an insult was so subtly worded that those of us who weren't particularly interested in the discussion just skimmed right over it. And in other cases, there was nothing wrong with the post at first, but some offensive comments were edited in later -- which happened to be after staff members had already read that post.

I suspect most of them were simply taught as children to fear and avoid anyone who isn't like them. Therefore they want to keep such people out of their little corner of the internet. If they're typical of the people on that site, I'd say they did you a big favor by immediately letting you know what a hateful place it is. I concur with the other mods, nothing like that is tolerated here. As Tobe said, there's been some brief nastiness every now and then, but we do our best to nip it in the bud. I need to go become a non-mod for a moment in order to check your options, should you ever notice anything of that sort.

As I may have mentioned already, there's a terrific answer (which I heartily recommend that you read if you're interested in Hobbit meta) to the question of why there are scarcely any females even mentioned in The Hobbit: Very briefly, Bilbo is shy (which is frequently demonstrated in the book), so it's perfectly plausible that (like a lot of shy guys) he's extra-shy with females, to the point that their presence scarcely registers with him. So they're hardly ever mentioned in his memoirs (AKA the Red Book, which we know as The Hobbit). Therefore -- maybe Jackson didn't make up Tauriel after all -- maybe she really *was* present in Mirkwood and/or at the Battle! (I still draw the line at Lake Town, though.)

Cats do that too, except they do it on the keyboard. Thank you. I was rather proud of that one myself, especially since it's relevant to current events.

Trust me, even if you know how the zeroes and ones work in general, it can still be very challenging to figure out how a specific piece of software works. It depends on what the designer had in mind, and whether the programmer actually accomplished what was supposed to be accomplished. If they didn't, that's called a "bug," and I suspect that's what we have here. Believe it or not, our old friend the Forbidden error was not actually a bug, it was a feature. Unfortunately for us, we didn't WANT that particular @#$%&*! feature, but they hadn't provided any way to disable it.

I know what you mean! I strongly prefer one-one-one chats, where I feel more free to say what I think because I actually know the person I'm talking to, or at least I can tailor my comments to what we seem to have in common. That is incredibly rude! In their defense, I must admit to having done that once myself, though only for a few minutes. Even if you know (intellectually) that not everyone in the group knows a certain language, it's awfully easy for that to slip your mind in the excitement of the moment. But it's still really rude, especially if was (like you say) most of the time.

Let me clarify what I should have said. Here in Indiana, for example, things never were as bad as in places like New York City, and the situation has already improved considerably, so the government is currently requiring only that stores "encourage" people to wear masks (and most people are complying), which seems good enough to me. Basically, I don't see the point of businesses being stricter than their government is requiring. But in situations (such as public transportation or medical facilities) where I believe even Indiana is *requiring* masks, or in localities where things are still really bad and the government is *requiring* people to wear masks whenever they're in public, then I agree with you. I didn't mean to encourage anyone to ignore their government's COVID regulations, which seem to be there for a good reason (or at least a best guess).

It would also avoid confrontations, where a non-mask-wearing person is screaming (or even spitting) at the would-be enforcers, quite possibly spraying germs on them. (And that's not even counting the few who physically attack the enforcers.) Is that really better than just letting them peacefully do their shopping? Is it really worth it, just to increase compliance from most people to absolutely everyone? Our grocery store has a sign prominently displayed in the entrance that says "Face masks requested," and most people (including all the employees) do comply -- and of course you can social-distance the heck out of anyone who doesn't. This is fully consistent with the current Indiana order that customers be "encouraged" to wear masks, so if I owned a store, I think it's the way I'd handle it. Some situations are different, though, such as doctors' offices and public transportation, and I believe the government orders reflect that. I'm not sure what to say about those. And it's not just the people with grungy masks, it's anybody who has rubbed their eyes or blown their nose since they last washed their hands, regardless of whether they're wearing a mask. That's why Alex and I treat everything we bring into the house as contaminated -- groceries, mail, deliveries, and so on. We put it in quarantine, then wash our hands before touching door knobs or anything, and don't touch the new stuff again for 24 hours, by which time paper and cardboard items should be safe.

Sorry, we don't have dogs, so I have no idea. But why are you letting the dog lick your butt -- stores still out of toilet paper?

Sadly, I don't doubt it. But the reason we hear about these incidents is that there aren't very many of them. Unfortunately there will always be buttheads, and right now they have one more thing to be hostile about. But most people are decent.

Plus some people are scared by anything new. How's your mother doing in her new home so far? I hope she likes it and does well there.

Maybe, maybe not -- but we haven't heard *your* opinions yet! As Caya says, please feel free to post your comments, questions, etc. on any thread where it's relevant. And if you don't see a relevant thread, then feel quite free to create one (by clicking "start new topic" or "create topic"). Consider this: The forum came online shortly after Series 2 was aired in the UK, at which point the first few members discussed all of Series 1 and 2. When Series 3 aired, a lot of new people joined to discuss the new episodes, but they also added their thoughts on the first two series. And the same thing happened when Abominable Bride aired, ditto Series 4. Plus a lot of people joined between series. So just because there hasn't been a new series lately doesn't mean you aren't allowed to have your say about the entire show! Furthermore, unless a thread is short, you needn't feel obliged to read all the prior posts before posting there. You may accidentally repeat what someone else has already posted, but so what? Goodness knows I've even repeated *myself* now and then. The point is, other than possibly a few people with photographic memories, *nobody* remembers everything that's ever been posted here.

If she's telling the truth about having some sort of breathing problem such that her doctor advised her not to wear a mask, then I can sympathize with her, and I can also understand why she felt ganged-up-on by the employees (or were they other customers?) who told her she was required to wear one anyhow. I do agree with you that she could have shown more restraint -- but then again I've had one or two low-blood-sugar moments where I was probably no more civil than that, so who am I to judge?

Most people had never worn that sort of mask before, and it does feel weird if you're not used to it (perhaps because of the increased warmth, humidity, and CO2 inside the mask?). So it triggers a panicky feeling, or at least it sure did in me. Like you, I figure if surgeons and nurses can wear masks while performing some rather intricate tasks, there mustn't be any great danger involved. But many people trust their feelings more than they trust logic, and that sometimes includes me. Human nature and all that.