[ATM] I apologize

[Jerry]

Well you are a better man than me Mike.  I apologize directly to you. I was
the jerk.

Jerry




-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Lockwood [mailto:melockwo at uiuc.edu] 
Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 12:53 PM
To: atm at atmlist.net
Cc: Jerry
Subject: Re: [ATM] I apologize

Hi,

I came back from a weekend of mirror making and found all kinds of 
interesting messages in my inbox.....

Jerry wrote:
> I apologize to all for being a jerk. I should not have posted the
> nastygram to the list.

Apology accepted.  Let me say right off that I'm not mad, and I don't 
feel any hostility toward you.  We're both just trying to help.

I'm sorry if I was arrogant in any of my previous posts.

> I know how much experience you have. You post about it all the
> time. You have behaved as though you think I don't know squat.  I
> have more experience than you.  I don't care to push it on people
> like I can't be wrong about anything.

This is not my intent.  This is a good example of email distorting 
tone and intention.

I mention my experiences and I try to speak from experience because I 
want to make it clear that I've experienced the same problems that 
they have, and that I am not guessing about how to solve them.  (No, I 
am not saying you are guessing.)

I used to see people asking figuring questions on the list and then 
there would be no response, sometimes for days.  Then there might be 
one guess at a solution, and that's it, without asking questions about 
the variables involved.  So, I thought I might help fill the void in a 
systematic way.  There were so many questions about oblate spheres and 
figuring mirrors with full size laps, pressing, etc., that I posted 
web pages about them.  They were posted specifically to help people on 
the list, not because I was trying to show off my experience.  I hope 
they have helped.  (Jerry, please feel free to suggest changes based 
on your experience - I would welcome suggestions from someone with 
your knowledge.)

There are many on the list with more experience than me, but many 
don't post because they don't want to or because they simply don't 
have time.  Let's face it - giving advice online is often not very 
rewarding, either!

I never said that you "didn't know squat".  I just asked what your 
experience was because I have no idea who you are or what you have 
done.  Heck, I don't even know your last name!

Lastly, I never said I can't be wrong.  I am wrong quite often, and 
that's how I learn.  I'm an engineer so I have to embrace that concept 
or there will be big trouble.  However, I will not deny that I am 
confident when it comes to mirror making advice, so that's my own 
flaw.  I also don't recall all details of past posts, so I can miss 
things, especially in long posts.

Now that we have learned a little more about each other, can we go 
back to helping John finish his mirror?

	Mike Lockwood