Thank you Stephan, I see I only need 193 scratch that 192 more post to earn another Diamond. Back when this Forum first started I used it very extensively as a learning platform and actually have received monetary rewards in the form of wage advances.

I took advantage of the abundance (wealth) of knowledge available and made good use of it. I am extremely grateful to all of the people who took time to answer my questions and tutor me along, to many to list. I owe a lot to you all, you included Stephan although some of post are so technical I have to read them with a dictionary, Physic's and Metallurgy book in hand .

I still have a great many questions but my approach has changed since this Forum has become so popular there are many others to post the questions and I have only to follow a long and read with out the need to post.

All though I said it in jest IMHO the Diamonds are very negotiable or at least they have been for me. Every Diamond by my name represents a rung in a ladder leading up to the $2,500 sipping coffee and surfing web. I got a away's to go yet for that.

I had the number of posts BEFORE there was ever a rating system...I just like participating and helping where I can. There are so many posts these days that I spend more time reading than I have time to reply. There seems to be a pretty knowledgeable group here lately and rarely do I have anything further to add to what has already been posted.

John,

even though I don't know if it might be a "mistake" to write...

When I have read your last posts, I felt reminded on a similar discussion been conducted a time ago, see also:

http://www.aws.org/cgi-bin/mwf/topic_show.pl?pid=68223#pid68223

As I am a proud - but being both a foreign + a short-term(!) - member of even this BEST welding forum in the world, I have never had a look upon how many diamonds... oh, I must apologize, this is not true, since when I started, I was interested even as well as the initiator of this thread, how the "diamond" system may work and to be honest, yes, I was proud at that time to having received my tenth diamond, but however, the only thing what has ever counted for me was the opportunity to talk to all these fantastic welding experts and great fellows here in the forum!

And as I said recently, I would never barter one only second of all this what I have experienced here over the course of time. To be honest, I have created the one or two - unwanted(!) - "misunderstandings" when I have started to participate in the forums. But truly, I have learned my lessons well and today I thank everybody - one of the very greatest ones has unfortunately passed away from us much too early - who has kindly taught me that time some very fundamental and valuable things which I will never forget again, and all those ones who have encouraged me to continue my attendance here in the forum.

And to say the least, here are some of the greatest people in welding I have ever had the honor to talk to, although to the most of them just virtually, except to two of those as well personally :-) :-).

And some of these great people have of course participated in the forum long times before I was even a "member" and (to cite Ross) have generously shared their enormous experience and wisdom with the welding world. As a kind of appreciation they have earned the "diamonds" which is a kind of "due" for an actually invaluable gift.

But... in my very own personal interpretation, no one of those great ones would have ever hesitated only one second to share even their expertise with those ones who are seeking help, (as I am often even one of those) even as they would have known that no diamonds would have been the "due" for their generous work. I am sure!

I would like to attend much more the forum but often the daily job doesn't permit to do so - unfortunately*!

Thus, in regard to the diamonds, I am just a chunk of coal - as an appreciated colleague said so in one of his posts - and I am sure to probably never reach those "heights of glory" some others - justifyable - have reached, but however, and here I agree with you, I do not care, since every single time I had a look into this great welding forum I have learned more than a thousand of books might ever have taught me.

This is the truth and I swear, I thank all these great women and men here in the forums as well as in the background (AWS) - making this forum work - heartfelt for allowing me to be an accepted member of their chosen community!

For me it's a true honor!

Best regards,
Stephan

* If some of you wonder why I am continuously "online" today, I have a day of vacation :-)