Hi guysI've been away for a few days, as fortunately I do have a...

Hi guys

I've been away for a few days, as fortunately I do have a life away from this Forum. Heh Heh. Unfortunately for Intel01, I did see his recent posts before they were moderated. Frankly I am surprised that he wasn't banned from this Forum. Although there has been some (reasonable) idle sympathy floating around, I am aware that those posters have almost certainly not had the opportunity to see exactly what this bloke had to say, as it was pulled down fairly smartly. I take my personal integrity very seriously, and I believe as the 'subject' I have the right to inform my genuine peers of his opinions. If defence of my own integrity is going to bore you - then please stop reading now.

There were a couple of harmless criticisms, like he said - I know jack sh** and - He knows a lot of smart people, and myronc is not one of them. I'm relaxed - this is just grist for the mill, and in my view everyone is entitled to their opinion, although it is unclear which of my posts justified these as a considered conclusion. Still, I believe that chat forums are about differing opinions - so great. However there were two KEY points of note:

1. He said - As I have 2 degrees, I will be someone who is employed in the public service, or a large company.
My comments are: (a) - Wrong - I run a very successful private self-employed business that relies upon my technical skills to provide professional troubleshooting and expert witness style reports to a major national industry; and (b) The (boring) context was obviously in jest when I was responding to an excellent post by GiddyYup. Normal people saw that for the light joke it was. Anyone that knows me is well aware that (like many others) I secured those relevant qualifications (who cares) later in life, after a lot of coal face experience without them. So my forte is being a practical straight shooter that also has the confidence to ask questions, even of academics. I have found this to be very handy in the real world, which seems to be getting harder to interpret fairly in a variety of fields. Too bad if someone doesn't like that.

2. He said - I am a disgrace to the long-term holders of MST stock.
My comments: Whoa there - this particular comment is another ball game, because it takes a cheap shot to a whole new level of bottom dwelling. I take my integrity very, very seriously, and I don't know why this unwarranted attack came up. Let's look at some facts. I happen to have a substantial (almost everything) family funds investment in MST, and have personally attended every shareholders meeting bar one since 2002/2003, and at those meetings I usually ask a few 'considered' questions and get involved where it is sensible to do so. I don't know how many meetings our man has attended, and I think on his own posts (I may stand corrected) he may not be what many of us would consider a long-term holder. Meanwhile, I don't see much 'disgrace' here for me.

Summary:
It was good to see a few posts (after Christmas and all that) advising Intel01 to remedy his claimed alcohol issues. Me - what he does is up to him. In my book (sorry) people really need to engage the brain before they open their mouth (pen). If it was a frivolous disagreement then fair enough - I wouldn't have bothered to bight, and you wouldn't be reading this. But this exercise added up to a deep seated kick (unjustified IMHO) and it was not frivolous as it was spread over two different posts.

I thank anyone who might have bothered to read this, and hope nobody feels I should 'not' have defended my own strong integrity.

Now we have more important things to get on with, so good luck to all in the New Year and beyond.