Dave had this to say about me this evening:

"There are very few people in the world who I trust to add none of their own bullshit.  [snip]  People sometimes bend over backwards to appear to be fair and say things that are wrong. I think I caught Don Park doing that. Hey Don, is <dc:date> really better than <pubDate>? That sounds like bullshit to me. Sounds like you're trying to get someone to think you're reasonable. Weren't you the one who told me to never be reasonable? That was good advice."

Dave was referring to this bit in my Watch Your Six post:

"Ben of Six Apart explains why Six Apart has pledged support for Echo.  Unfortunately, his list of reasons are mostly resolvable technical complaints against RSS.  For example, Ben writes that Dublin Core elements are technically superior.  I'll agree with that."

Just before getting married, I told my wife of my Selfish Pig Rage Rule which is:

• Wait your turn

For eleven good years, that rule worked well for us.  I also use the rule with friends.  So Dave, I apologize for upsetting you and how I will upset you when my turn comes unless I forget to.  Chances are, I'll just forget to get pissed off since that is why the Rule really works.

Now, I will say these "designed to make you feel guilty" words though.  Dave, the operative word was 'technically.'  That word may be interpreted in many ways, some bad, some good.  Frankly, I am surprised that you, a friend, chose to interpret it in a way that leads you to sum it up as bullsh*t.

Also, my advice to be unreasonable was my attempt to address your habit of bending over at the wrong time and getting shafted badly, which just builds up emotional stress in you until you blow up seemingly for no reason, catching most people unaware and upset at you.  Since you obviously missed what I was trying to point out to you, here it is:

If you can't handle the big waves of emotional ups and downs, make the waves smaller.  I have similar problems so I made the waves smaller by being unreasonable more regularly and in smaller magnitudes.  I also use humor to minimize stress on people around me.

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p dir=”ltr”>What I wrote above is not some attempt to be reasonable or clever.  This is how I survive being me day to day, Dave.  You can find your own solutions if this doesn't fit you.