User talk:Eric Corbett/Archives/2022/January

You ass.
I just sat down and read the entirety of Donner Party, something I rarely do, preferring to bounce around an article. But I soaked up the prose, start to finish, inspired by a program I was watching on Curiosity Stream called Pioneering the American Frontier, which touched on the event, but told me no more than I already knew, so I came to Wikipedia to read up a bit. So I read, and I'm impressed with the level of detail and quality of prose, as well as the overall flow, so I look at the top, knowing this must be an FA, and of course it was. I wanted to look up the person who brought it to FA (and TFA, I found along the way), to leave a nice note complimenting them on the fine work. Truly one of our better articles, hands down. And it was you.

Now, the reason I'm calling you an ass isn't because of the fine work, it's because of you inability to play nice, which I know you despise. You and I worked together on Sunbeam Tiger (FA/TFA), 1950s American automobile culture (GA) and American automobile industry in the 1950s (GA) was solid work, but Donner Party is truly a stunning story, and your work here was truly stellar. There are so many other articles could have been, which is a purely selfish sentiment, but still true. I know you check here every now and then, so know that I hope that life is treating you well, old friend. Dennis Brown - 2&cent; 02:59, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
 * I hope Moni and Karanacs get some credit for the Donner Party :). There once was teamwork towards beautiful FAs, and when that team joined forces, Katie bar the doors. Merry Christmas, Eric; miss you like heck in here, but never got around to a Christmas card this year. Sandy Georgia  (Talk)  03:06, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
 * See Eric, some still love you around here! Drmies (talk) 03:07, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Not meaning to take away anyone else's credit, it's always a group effort, I'm just always maddened that I never got the chance to do more automotive articles with Eric. Honestly, I learned more from working with Eric than everyone else put together, and that is not hyperbole.  I just wasn't ready to stop. Dennis Brown - 2&cent; 19:41, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
 * I just read the Donner Party article again, after having moved to Grass Valley, California and then enduring a blizzard that knocked out our power for four days. The thing that I am most curious about is details about Bear Valley, which is mentioned many times in the article as the refuge that the survivors struggled to reach. There are three other, much more notable Bear Valleys in California, but I am reasonably sure that this reference is to a valley formed by the Bear River (Feather River tributary), which currently divides Nevada County, California and Placer County, California. This is consistent with a location downhill from the Emigrant Gap  I have driven across this river many times in recent years, and often think of the Donner Party when crossing its various bridges. But I do not know how far upriver or downriver this valley was located, or what sort of accommodations were available there back in the winter of 1846-1847. Is it the current location of Rollins Reservoir near Colfax, California? I have read some mentions of a Native American village but suspect that there was some small white settlement there as well. I would like to learn more.  It is a very good article, and you are missed, Eric. Cullen328 (talk) 05:37, 31 December 2021 (UTC)

Happy new year, in friendship, and you are missed. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:50, 6 January 2022 (UTC)
 * For me, it's Wife Selling and the Cottingley Fairies that I recall reading from start to finish in an engaging session, and realising most of the heavy lifting had been done by Eric. I've also had first-hand experience with Eric getting involved in GA reviews such as Soho and Woolwich Ferry, where he gets right the heart of what the process is for, which is to make the article better, address the factual accuracy, and copyedit things up front to be tighter and more appropriately presented for the reader. And like Dennis, I'm peeved that I never got to do another London or Manchester architecture article with Eric, as I'm sure there was another one waiting in the wings. And similarly, what finally turned me against Eric is when he went for completely the wrong target and insulted someone who's done great work on the encyclopedia and has become one our of better admins too.
 * The problem with Eric is that he did come back as a sockpuppet, was found out quickly by reverting to type and checkuser blocked. I don't think Eric ever appealed a common-or-garden admin block, so the odds of him appealing a checkuser block to Arbcom are approximately zero. He's gone for good. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont)  11:58, 7 January 2022 (UTC)