Structure_engineer:
Good on you..., I would not have been so polite in saying the same thing, so here goes.
If the OP’er. does not have the time or energy, or engineering knowledge and experience, to define their problem and question, with sufficient engineering design info., sizes, dimensions, loads, sketches, etc. etc., so that an experienced engineer can understand the whole picture, why should 25 E-Tips members waste their time guessing what the OP’er. really means and wants? E-Tips is not ‘20 questions’ for engineers. That’s valuable time and effort on the member’s part, which could be being applied to the work their boss is actually paying them to do. The OP’er., despite his laziness, should at least make it relatively straight forward for someone to offer him some help. The OP’er. should be taking these dumb, ill defined, problems to their boss, so the boss knows what they do know and what they don’t know, and can guide them accordingly, to keep them and the company out of trouble.
E-Tips is a wonderful source for a broad range of knowledge and experiences on many engineering problems, conditions, details, etc. And, this knowledge and experiences comes from a core group of really good engineers who give of their time to help other engineers understand a problem they may not have seen before. They are the ones who spend (waste?) their time answer many more questions than they ask, and their time is valuable, so don’t waste it. E-Tips should not be a substitute for self-study and digging to solve one’s own problem. That’s where real learning happens, as apposed to being spoon fed an answer and promptly forgetting any learning or understanding. Nor should E-Tips be the place where you come for free answers, which you can present as your own knowledge and thinking, just to dig yourself out of the hole you made in selling yourself and your talents to your boss. If you dug it, you dig yourself out of that. If you joined E-Tips, be a real participant and contribute some of your own time and effort, or else, go away. Don’t just come here for quick and effortless (on your own part) answers to engineering knowledge you should have acquired during your first few years of your education. If you ask a question, be attentive and responsive, answer other’s questions which help flesh the problem, many of their questions are important to getting at the root of the problem and meaningful answers. There should not be 15 follow-up questions and guesses at what you really mean and need before you chime back in, without really clearing up any of the fog you generated.
