[Mark_T]

Recycled60 and Timco have made valid and reasonable points.

The upside of Jake is that he is obviously extremely knowledgeable, willing to help and give advice, and an all-round good guy. He provides resources that we are fortunate to have available to us. I'd ship him my car in a heartbeat (underscoring that we are also a resource to him in the form generating work)

The downside is that he does come across as being a bit full of himself, and he has a tendency to throw little tt's like this when he feels that he is not being shown the level of awe and admiration he feels is his due. That policing comment was way out of line.

But here's the thing. We all have positive and negative aspects to our personalities, and we all have to take the good with the bad when dealing with other people. I personally think that, though a bit irritating from time to time, the benefit we all gain from this great resource is well worth putting up with a couple of minor character flaws. I will freely admit that I'm a quick-tempered, outspoken, cranky bastard and have little patience for those that won't help themselves, but I will bend over backwards for those that have made a good attempt but still need some help, and I am always willing to share what little knowledge I have (plus I'm a helluva great dad/grandad). Good with the bad.

Now, what we're supposed to do now is wring our hands and cry "No Jake, please don't go, we neeeeed you!" so that he can grudgingly agree to give us unworthy mortals one more chance and we can all go back to being good buddies again with everyone's ego intact.

Wadya say?