Kat--

I agree, Dick's suggestion is a capital one. I know the page you quoted says, in addition, "Anyhow, I hate the idea of accepting donations. We can't afford to get our tax exempt status, therefore any donations are not tax-deductible. Plus, I am sure you have more important things to do with your money. We are not suffering here." But even given that, it's a good idea that we kick in the odd bit of gelt, regardless of whether we post bandwidth-wastage to BS threads or not, simply because between the 'Cat and the 'Trad, we've got a golden, precious resource here. I'm new to the Cafe, but I've been using DigiTrad for years.

Besides which, Dick's suggestion came right after my Monty Python quote, so being the insecure sod I am, I thought for a moment, "gees (we Minnesotans pronounce it with an 's' rather than a 'z'), maybe he specifically means me." So I figure I'm in for a buck already anyway.

Now, I don't know Dick well enough (or at all, really, me bein' new) to know if he was just being sarcastic, or if he really thinks that this random bit of fun and silliness is really an egregious load on his resources (in which case, mea culpa), but I think giving to the 'Cat is a good plan regardless. But...I don't really see where anyone on this thread has disrespected Dick in any way for making the suggestion. Wowbugger took the "bandwidth" thang and ran with it, but I saw his (her? its?) posts as playful rather than as any direct, or even oblique, flame of Dick. Frankly, the playful, teasing tone I so often see even in informational threads here is one of the things that has motivated me to start actively participating; this isn't just a strictly-business, "just the facts" informational resources, it's actually a community.

But I guess that's part of the problem with digital forums. Don't use smileys, and people don't know you're just funnin', use them and you look like a dork. :-)

And finally, since this is, after all, a vituperative BS thread, "I don't wanna talk to you no more, you empty-headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hampster, and your father smelt of eldeberries. Now go away before I taunt you a second time!"

[Imagine the above with a bad French accent. Directed not at Kat, but just a nod to the spirit of the thread. It's just another Python quote, in case anyone thinks I'm actually directing a flame at Kat.]

Oops, I guess that's now two bucks to me. Shoulda given up vituperting for Lent,

Chris (whose vituperation is plagiarized, but hey, if you're going to steal, steal from the best....)