If I wasn't on this list, I wouldn't have found out lots of 
things.  Radios, antennas, advice etc.  Some of the off topick things 
are just as interesting.
It's like a radio in some ways delete, or change the station.
Mike
KD2CDUAt 04:31 PM 5/17/2014, you wrote:
>When I tune around, especially on 75 and 20 meters, I hear groups of hams
>discussing antennas, amplifiers, towers, guns, loading their own ammunition,
>their cars and trucks, religion, politics, computers, gear from 50 years
>ago, how their wife and kids and grandkids are doing, what they are going to
>do on vacation this year, their physical problems, equipment they want to
>sell, buy, or trade, what they like to eat, getting the car painted, and so
>many topics unrelated to ham radio, it is unbelievable.  I heard a long talk
>by a guy just recently who had been on cancer treatments and how his son got
>him some marijuana and he said for a year, it kept his pain and physical
>discomforts down so he could function and now he is doing great and doesn't
>need the grass any longer.  This is a drop in the bucket from what I hear so
>why does blind hams have to be so different?  I agree with Ron and Jim.  I
>delete more than I read on any list regardless of the list main topic of
>discussion.  This list has answered hundreds of my questions over the years
>and I've been on blind hams since its conception.  I personally enjoy the
>off topic talk as much as the on topic ham talk because that's how it works
>on the air.
>
>Phil.
>K0NX
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Dr. Ronald E. Milliman" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2014 1:46 PM
>Subject: Re: Ok already, enough!
>
>
> > Jim, Alan, and any others on the list that share their views, I suspect
> > you
> > probably perceive many, if not most, if not all, of the messages I post to
> > this list as being of no value and hence, a waste of your time.
> >
> > I certainly cannot speak for the other members of this list, but it is
> > obvious that we have a very wide repertoire of hams subscribed, ranging
> > from
> > highly experienced in all phases of ham radio to newcomers who are
> > struggling to comprehend the vast array of information about different
> > rigs
> > and their attributes and all of the variations in antennas, their
> > individual
> > strengths and limitations, etc. In like manner, some of us are far more
> > affluent than others and can afford new, top of line equipment, while
> > others
> > are not so fortunate. I remember when I didn't have two nickels to rub
> > together and couldn't afford anything but the cheapest used gear. So, I
> > urge
> > that we all step back and reflect on when we were just getting into
> > electronics and ham radio and remember how it was all mumbo-jumbo to us in
> > the beginning. I remember when I didn't even know what coax was.
> >
> > Admittedly, I, too, get a little irritated at the posts that just say
> > things
> > like: "I agree," or "Ron, any idiot should know that!," or other similar
> > kinds of remarks that are meaningless and are simply a waste of time and
> > space. So, we just delete them and go on.
> >
> > I've been a ham since 1957, and I know quite a bit about electronics and
> > ham
> > radio, but as you can tell from some of my messages and questions, I sure
> > don't know it all, and I've found the information shared on this list
> > extremely useful, not all of it, of course, but you all have answered some
> > questions that could not be answered by searching Google or reading books
> > or
> > asking sighted hams. Since we are blind or low-vision, we share a common
> > trait that means we also share common challenges, the solutions to which
> > we
> > can also share, like tricks for tuning up our rigs, reading SWR, etc.
> >
> > So, Jim, Alan, and others, be patient with those who are struggling to
> > gain
> > the knowledge and experience you have; we are all valuable in different
> > ways!
> >
> > Ron, K8HSY
> >
> > Dr. Ronald E. Milliman
> > Retired Professor of Marketing
> > President: A3 Business Solutions (a3businesssolutions.com)
> > President: M&M Properties
> > Chair: American Council of the Blind's PR Committee
> > Chair: American Council of the Blind's MMS Committee
> > President: South Central Kentucky Council of the Blind (SCKCB.ORG)
> >