"Road Trips" by The Old Squid
"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step into the
Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you may be
swept off to."
Bilbo Baggins
"Eating Crow On The 2-wheeled Internet"
or "I Was A Middle-aged Luddite!"
posted 05/02/03
When a friend of mine became involved with computers and the nascent Internet 10 years ago I would chuckle at his tales of long nights surfing the web and chatting with people around the country and around the world. "What a waste of time," I thought, as he would relate a story he’d read or a conversation he’d had. "You should be talking to real people, face to face! What kind of a friendship can you have over a computer?"
Well, it turns out that you can have a pretty good friendship on line and solve some thorny problems too. My first experience was with a Honda CBR 600 that I bought seven years ago. I needed information about the bike and a Yahoo search pulled up something called the CBR List so I followed the instructions on the Web site and subscribed. I was a "newby" and made the usual errors in etiquette and was roundly cursed for them. I had joined a large semi-functional family that was 60% North American but with the balance scattered all over the world. There were "lurkers" who watched and read but never posted questions or answers. There were colorful characters.
Kysh, who assumes the persona of a female dragon on the Web but is a very normal looking young man when I met him last year in California. Kate from Saskatchewan who is a Mensa member and didn’t own a motorcycle until she joined the list for the discussions on anything and everything under the sun. We convinced her to buy a bike and learn to ride during her too short summers. Her posts are always entertaining and God help the man who tries to poke fun at her or attempts to take her on in an argument. When that happens, a "flame war" erupts and it's time to get out the popcorn and watch the fun.
One list member claimed to be a female porn star AND a graduate in physics from Rutgers University. After ‘she’ made some bonehead errors in explaining how centripetal force applied to a motorcycle, I corrected her which lead to some heated insults on her part and eventually, the only death threat I’ve ever received via e-mail. Some quick sleuthing by the List members turned up that "she" was a "he" who’d never attended more than a few classes at Rutgers much less completed a Masters! That "she" was in hot water on other lists for insulting behavior and that there were outstanding warrants for the real "him" in Arizona. We also found out his real name and current address and forwarded that to the local police in his hometown. It’s not a good idea to piss off a bunch of bright people who own computers!
Along the way, I did get much good advice on my bike and contributed my share of advice to the list. When my fearless wife and I went to Florida last February a list member bought us lunch because an emergency fix I’d posted bailed him out when his bike broke down 500 miles and three states away from home. List members have stayed with us and I with them on my trips. On a trip to the East coast for business a computer programmer from England who was living in Boston loaned me his high performance motorcycle so I wouldn’t be bikeless for the whole trip. I’ve done the same for others who visit here.
This summer I’m working on a "Convergence". As many as can get free will meet in Montana for a few days of face to face conversation and riding. I’ll be in charge of setting up the itinerary on this one as I gone from Newby to being on the List Admin team.
I guess it's time to eat crow concerning my earlier attitudes towards the Internet. Sure, a person can spend too much time on virtual life and not enough on real life but there is a wealth of information out there and lists for every hobby under the sun. I’ve made some real friends along the way. I’ve also wasted time too but then, I would have found a way to do that in any event! For me, there’s never any question when confronted with the choice of riding the bike or surfing the Web but more and more, the Web does have its place. Search out your own lists. Go to a search engine and type in your topic followed by the words "mail list" and sub up.
There are several types of groups. "Chat Rooms" are real time and what you write is posted as you type. I never felt comfortable with them as they tend to be more opinions than information and quite frankly, I’m a slow typist. "Bulletin Boards" allow you to view posted e-mails at a Web site and the messages are usually arranged by topic. Nothing comes to your e-mail. "Mail Lists" send you the messages and topics are in the subject header. You respond and in a minute that’s posted to all who subscribe to the list. If someone is on line, you can go back and forth with them like a chat room. If not, catch up later.
I like mail lists the best in that it allows time for reflection and research before a reply is made. You can read all or ignore and delete all. As time goes by, you get to know the dominant personalities and learn the ground rules. The down side of a list is that they can generate a huge amount of mail. On a busy day, the CBR List sends over 150 messages! My computer sorts them to a specific in-box and then I sort them by subject header. Most are on topics I’m not following so they go unread and are deleted daily. Others I read and a few I respond to. It only takes about five minutes to "read the mail" so the number of messages isn’t as intimidating as I first thought. In my life, I’ve replaced some TV time with Web time. So far it’s been worth it.
I’m still considered a Luddite by my net friends though. I don’t own a palm pilot!
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