Terry,
I was looking forward to your take. This thread started as a question
due to the fact that when I used brand new aluminum (I called it a patch
but it was really for "fender skirts") I did not like the contrast to
the 52 year old aluminum. This is the same as the "say it's so Joe"
paint the tongue black line of thinking. This list is wonderful to see
the creativity that abounds here.
Thank you young man for your experience and insight,
Paul
terry tyler wrote:
> Hi Rob,
>
> When I saw your words, I did a double take
> as a broad smile crept across my face.
> You said:
>
> >Wow: no flames! Just lotsa questions!
> >
> -------
> One of the fringe benefits of me being
> an older Airstreamer is I'm no longer
> 16. At 16, I knew everything and no
> one could tell me anything. With each
> subsequent year, "everything" kept
> increasing until it was obvious I knew
> a lot about many things and had a lot
> to learn about most things. It was also
> clear that I'd never be done learning.
>
> With that came another insight that
> suddenly served me exceedingly well. I
> found that asking the truth seeking
> questions kept me out of the flames,
> and put me squarely into the arena
> of problem solving. The neat thing
> about that was it paralleled the
> path for successfully accomplishing
> all sorts of goals.
>
> As a 25 year old, that insight was
> worth its weight in gold. Now, fast
> forwarding to today 2000, I read
> postings by another generation of
> young adults and low and behold,
> they've already learned that.
>
> Perhaps this discussion group
> attracts those who do not rush
> to judgement or those who know
> adventures can be exquisitely
> more satisfying when there is
> attention to detail, organization
> and planning, and thinking about
> what they want before charging
> into action.
>
> Whatever it is, just by considering
> "dull and shiny" in the same
> sentence speaks volumes. All of us
> know the only thing that's constant
> is change. By definition, that
> includes attitudes about what used
> to make an Airstream beautiful,
> what still makes an Airstream
> beautiful and what may make an
> Airstream beautiful next year.
>
> This "dull and shiny" thread is
> going somewhere none of us have
> been before. Hey Guys, this is a
> more exciting line of thinking
> than I imagined when it first
> started up. Whether it continues
> unabated or pops up now and then
> as more experimentation occurs
> and results surface, is not
> relevant. What's relevant is a
> new concept has begun to take
> shape. This is the ground floor.
>
> Ooops, after re-reading this and
> knowing I've only put the tip of
> my enthusiasm into words, maybe
> I've gone on a minor tangent.
> Oh, well. So be it.
>
> Terry
>
>
>
>
