[Mpls-pm] Introduction

[Gary Vollink]

Peter ... Thanks for your support!  I don't think it qualifies as a
new protocol - though you've got the education to tell - perhaps a
protocol extension?

Craig ... Thenks for the welcome... (read on)

Craig wrote:
> It is obvious that you have never learned the secret wink and nod that
> Perl programmers give in public to ferret out others of our kind.

Shucks, I knew there was some secret thing I didn't know.  I'll
probably be strung up because I have a tendancy of writing ANSI style
(against the style guide, but more easily navigable in VI[M]).

> Come to the meetings and you will have a chance to speak with others
> afflicted as you are.  The meeting place and times are secret and
> randomized to prevent PHP'ers from discovering our whereabouts.

Um, what if I know a little PHP (hawk, spit) as well?

> Oh, alright, they are usually the second Wednesday of each month,
> usually at the Espresso Royale coffee shop on Hennepin Avenue in
> Minneapolis.  Usually starting around 7:00PM, which is about bedtime for
> the PHP crowd anyway.
> 
> Hope to see you there.

I'm hesitant, because it's - well - something different.  I don't like
things that are different.  They scare me.  Except technical things,
different technical things don't scare me... and well, this is half
way between social (*shudders*) and technical.

O.K., really - I dislike going downtown, but I will make an effort. 
How many people usually attend these things?  How do I avoid ending up
on a one way road that forces me into a non-terminating loop that
never quite gets me to the actual place of meeting?  How would I know
how to find the group, once on location - especially not knowing the
wink and nod?  What are the typical topics of conversation (hoping
it's not American Idol - I get enough of that at work)? 
Hypothetically, what do you do to people who ask questions
incessantly?

Thanks,
Gary Allen Vollink