Appraising follow up

[Ron Nossaman]

> While I certainly applaud those who seek and attain RPT status, its 
> significance is primarily internal, that we, by social contract in our 
> association, wish to provably raise the level of our techinical 
> expertise by taking examinations which, as we all know, at 80% are 
> marginal at best. 

While I'd love to be able to see the attainment of RPT status 
as a declaration of intent to acquire further education, it 
doesn't necessarily work that way. As I see it, it doesn't 
matter what the lip tattoo says. Glue pot Dobbin and 
Seabiscuit aren't functionally interchangeable by virtue of 
each having passed the minimum equine quadruped test. The 
label means jack (no offense Jack), and the sooner we get past 
the qualification designations and start taking this stuff 
personally, the better our chances of learning something 
useful from the whole thing. Maybe we should possibly focus on 
what there is to learn instead of who wears what hat to 
church. The stuff is the thing, not the thing.
Ron N