How do you keep track of the "How Do You Count Laps" Threads?

I lost count.

Same here. I think I have enough for a new bike.

Phooey. It's a forum, not an article repository. The question asked isn't "How do people who were here 3 years ago count laps?". It's "How do YOU count laps". There's a big difference.

For every person who actually posts the question on the forum, there are probably 10 or 20 reading the first page of the forum at that moment who are looking for the same information. And sometimes they're not just looking for a way to count laps. Sometimes they're looking for a bit of community around this small, odd sport of ours.

When starting something like triathlon, it's a big mental boost to know that there are people out there who are at this moment in the exact same position as you, with the same questions. Knowing that there were people like you isn't the same. There's a world of difference between "come sit in the circle" vs. "go look in the library".

The Forum Search feature is useful. (I used it to find the first version of this post from early 2006 when the subject was creating an FAQ.) For people who want to look for questions asked previously, it's great. But our forums are the gathering place for a community, and one of the things communities are very good for is passing on information to new people on a person to person basis.

From a practical standpoint I'd hate to see people gather the courage to ask a question only to be told to do a search. How are they to know what constitutes an ok question? How many times can something be asked before it's no longer ok? Following the logic of "that's been asked already" you eventually end up with a situation where you only get a small set of cranky old coots arguing over the aero characteristics of the newest ultra-light carbon bottle holder.

Beginners and new folks: there are no stupid questions, no questions that are not ok, no questions that have been asked too much already. Wondering about something related to triathlon? Ask away. That's what we're here for.

And ignore the furry guy in the corner with the abacus. He can't swim very well anyway.

Don't pick on my husband, you, you...

 Uh, do the search. If you get three dozen hits, it's probably been beaten to death. As an added bonus, you'll probably get answers that the current group of people won't think of.

Pot, kettle. At least I know what to do on the bike afterwards.

I'll refrain from commenting on the obvious and let the irony here simmer a bit.

And for the record, my swimming has improved quite a bit this year. I've worked hard at it.

Ed. for clarity, here's what was originally posted by "mama bear":

(mb2.PNG)

Yeah, so mama bear was signed on when I posted my reply. I did some creative editing .

So work on the sense of humor next.

thanks.  I thought I was going to have to point it out. 

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

I have tears of gratitude!

However, I don't think these friends can count any higher.

x2

  I bet they can count to four.  Eight with the two of them!

BTW, thanks that pic made my day.

The irony in the OP is how many "views" each and every one of these threads got! 

~mr