no.stupid.answers

For the past two weeks, we’ve read about Jadeacres and ThatwouldBme, self-declared WikiNeighbors who reside on their cozy, friendly farms in Ontario, Canada. This week we’ll bring it all together with a deeper look into how the relationship between the two Wikiholic Supervisors runs deeper than just the actual WikiAnswers website… It’s a WikiWorld full of neighborliness, t-shirts… and eggs.

In their own words, Jadeacres and ThatwouldBme share some highlights of their WikiWorld:

On being WikiNeighbors.

ThatwouldBme: It seems that Jade Acres and Snugglefoot Hollow are a fascination within the Wiki-community. With the e-verse the way it is, people make friends worldwide, and yet, sometimes, fate passes you wonderful people and puts them right next door.

Jadeacres: Jade Acres is not only a refuge for us. The coffee is always on and the doors remain unlocked 24 hours per day. Family and friends drop in from hundreds of miles distant on a whim and there is room for all.

ThatwouldBme: When my husband and I returned to Canada we settled into this place like we were born here. That’s very nearly a miracle considering Galad is from the city (New York, New York) and we are now living (as he says) half way to the back of beyond. We got a great place, with lots of property and a nearly new house, but there had been very little done to “tame” the place.

Jadeacres: The day Deborah and I drove up to the house with the moving truck, we had barely started unloading our possessions when a shout from the long laneway caught our attention. Up the drive trudged a couple of “hippies” in the most traditional sense of the word. Both had long gray hair, tied in ponytails and bandannas, Ty-dyed retro clothing, work gloves and the worlds friendliest smiles. Within minutes, we were the best of friends and today they are “family.” Both Galad and Shell share their hearts and home as readily as we do and better neighbours could not be found in a lifetime of searching.

Shell is often found sitting at our dinning table making use of our high speed internet connection and soon became as much the Wiki fanatic as myself. It was not long before I had convinced her to become a Supervisor. As a “Veteran” of WikiAnswers (all of a few months) I asked and was allowed to become possibly the first face-to-face Mentor in WikiAnswers history and help guide her through the rules and Terms of Use policies.

As of this writing, the ‘couple of hours per week only on Wednesdays’ promise by Shell has fallen by the wayside. It is not uncommon for her to be here, happily Wiki’ing on Monday, Tuesday, always by 10AM on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The story behind the T-shirt.

Jadeacres: A small bit of background info on Shell. She is an artist, somewhat well-known in the area and beyond our borders. She is often commissioned for her work and can command high prices for her skills.

Within a few days of becoming her Mentor, I found a green T-shirt folded on our table. It was to become the WikiT I would wear each Wednesday at our regular weekly Wikithon. Front and back it is decorated by hand, announcing to all who see, that the wearer is empowered and assisted by SuperPowers and aided by two dogs and a rooster.

ThatwouldBme: It has been my personal pride to say I will paint very nearly anything on very nearly anything, and T-shirts are an old favourite, I‘ve done dozens.

James is so pleased with his connections with WikiAnswers, and proud of being asked to become a Supervisor. So when his birthday arrived I needed to do something special. It doesn’t take long for ideas to percolate from my imagination into a full blown finished project, so the day before his birthday I hooked a ride with him and his Deb into town.

Anyway, we did our usual round of buying, laying mash for the chickens, groceries for both households, as a retired chef, grocery shopping with James is a true experience, (but that is another story), then on to a department store to pick up a couple of things, including a green T-shirt as the “ground” for his present.

Back home, the shirt was washed and hung to dry while I sketched out the rough draft. Then I ironed the shirt, opened the bottles of paint and painted the pocket.  When the folks of Jade Acres arrived the next evening for cake, ice cream and celebrations, the T-shirt was sitting on the table next to a birthday card. I wish you could have seen James’ face… he couldn’t believe I had managed to do the work in such a short time - after all, he’d seen me buy the shirt the day before and here it was, done.

Come WikiWednesday I set it on the table for him, and it has become a formal part of our days at WikiAnswers.

Friendship through… eggs.

ThatwouldBme: When James started raising chickens I found the perfect canvas for a new project. From Jade Acres came an array of the most fascinatingly-coloured eggs, which I took and painted on. At first it was wildlife, then after painting a butterfly on one for a client, I had the wild idea of painting my “Butterfly Divas”. They are tiny little fairies, with wings that look like real butterflies, and they are dressed in “high fashion” clothing from different eras. I even did a series of eggs with belly dancers on them for a local shop (a chance to combine my art and my weekly diversion of ethnic dance).

Of course, Jade Acres has a good sized collection of painted eggs, not to mention the hand-painted Christmas balls I’ve done over the years. James and his family have become so much more than just neighbours, they are dear friends.

Jadeacres: Breaking News! I breed Araucana hens and occasionally some Cochin chickens, and on a whim this summer I bred a few for egg colour variations, hoping for some interesting variations. Araucana chickens give us the blue/green eggs and Cochin hens lay rose/light brown eggs. Well it seems to have worked. This past Christmas Eve, while gathering eggs, one of my new girls (hatched in July) gave us her first egg. Wait for it… A GOLD egg! Under artificial lights, the egg appears a deep khaki colour not often seen by breeders. When under natural sunlight… these eggs are GOLD.

I will give some to Shell for special artwork.

A big thanks to James and Shell for so enthusiastically sharing their story with the rest of us! Hope to hear more great things from this Wiki-duo soon.

Missed part of the story? Click for Part I and Part II.

Do you want to be interviewed for the Contributor corner? Just leave a comment below and we’ll get to work.

This is the story of two neighbors brought together by their adjacent farms, their love of wiki and their generous spirit. Jadeacres (James) and ThatwouldBme (Shell) live on neighboring farms in Ontario, Canada and have found that their shared values have brought together their families, their farms and even themselves - by working together on WikiAnswers. This week we’re presenting Part I of their story; stay tuned for the next installment in a week.

To begin the story, we must first begin with Jadeacres: The rainbow (literally!) of badges on his bio page is only part of what can attest to his dedicated activity on WikiAnswers  for over a year now.  He supervises eleven categories and works on the Community Outreach program, Vandal Patrol and Mentoring program. He’s also a recent winner of the How-To AnswerThon (second place).

But enough introduction; Jadeacres has plenty to say and says it well:

How did you originally hear about WikiAnswers?

I came across WikiAnswers long ago… We were living in an area where dial-up internet was super slow. I was searching for information under the Crohns Disease category. I was soon to undergo a Methotrexate treatment and was looking for answers. I remember thinking, what a great concept, ask everybody, get multiple answers and narrow down the facts from the fiction. However, the internet connection was so infuriatingly slow that I gave up. I actually returned in November 2007 once we got high-speed and signed in looking for an answer to a chicken question.

Explain your username.

When my wife Deborah and I bought the farm we had not thought of naming it. Our neighbours - Galad and Shell - are aging hippies and artists and we were searching through some pinewood slabs to use as woodworking projects when Galad suggested we both make signs for our two properties. They came up with Snugglefoot Hollow for theirs. Deborah and I took a few hours and put our two first names together - James and Deb, blending the concept of the old TV show Green Acres into JADE and it fit. She is the “city girl” living in the country and I am the country guy making a dream of farming come true.

What motivates you to volunteer your time to the WikiAnswers community?

I truly believe that the only way to make life better is through education. The sharing of knowledge and experience is, after all, what education is all about. Even a question well-answered often leads to more questions. Answers from a single source can lead you down a narrow path. We should explore the many paths to reach understanding. As I get older, I want to share my experiences in life - and what a perfect forum WikiAnswers is for that!

What are your areas of expertise?

I grew up as the oldest child of a military officer. He instilled a strong work ethic into all his children. My dad taught us that any job worth doing was a job worth doing well. We traveled throughout the world moving every three years. You learn to adapt to different societies, make and lose friends very quickly.

Change became part of my life and I craved change even after I started making my own way in the world. I tried my hand at many jobs. Cooking was my first real passion, it allowed the artists soul in me a way of expression. I was also very good at interacting with people so I tried food sales. I have built cottages, installed fireplaces. Worked security, done first aid at a steel mill, been a hunting guide, taught outdoor survival skills, search and rescue. I eventually decided I wanted to be a police officer like my dad but medical issues prevented that so I did what I thought was the next best thing, At twenty four years old I learned to scuba dive, within a year I was teaching it to others and focusing my own training on specialized diving skills. Through my various community services, I became known to various law enforcement agencies and was offered a position as a contract instructor. I taught basic diving, underwater search and victim recovery, evidence preservation and several other specialized diving courses.

I did much of this diving in my “spare” time and worked several jobs to provide for my family. I ended my career as a supervisor for a distillery sales team. I retired earlier than expected, as my struggle with Crohns Disease finally became a priority. Jadeacres was purchased soon afterward and I set my skills to renovating, expanding the farm and raising chickens.

What is your favorite WikiAnswers feature?

I love the whole concept. The idea that, any individual can ask “the world” a question and get many perspectives on an answer is exciting. Having knowledgeable Supervisors sorting the trash and managing a collective sober second opinion is wonderful.

What has been your funniest question/experience on WikiAnswers?

I guess the questions that really can have no answers - at least not factual ones. I love letting go and making up a story because you just know it is some child, probably given a “homework” assignment by a teacher wanting them to use their brain at digging up an answer and expand their literary skills. The idea that my humorous answer may end up being marked in a class is just hilarious. For example: Who decided to eat chicken eggs first?

Share a random fact (or two) about yourself.

Random fact #1:

My wife Deborah puts it best: on the outside I can appear unshaken and uncaring. Years of bringing closure to families who lost loved ones to drowning accidents, my personal fight with disease and death and my views on life and mortality all give me a somewhat different perspective on how we live and treat others. I have a low tolerance for those who are cruel to children and animals. Not too far under that hard shell is a human being who wants to make the world a better place.

Random fact #2:

The following was one of my first entries as a Supervisor and it gave me a chance to use one of my own poems. It was funny as both An8thg and Zanbabe messaged me when I posted the poem that I needed the permission of the author to use it. LOL! I have been writing poetry since I was in grade school in the 60’s. This one was written after the passing of my Deborah’s Siamese cat Max… Originally titled, ‘For Max’: Is there a dog heaven? Our vet asked permission to use it years ago and now has it printed on a card sent out to clients who lose a pet.

Stay tuned for next week, when we explore the second half of the Jadeacres-ThatwouldBme duo.

Do you want to be interviewed for the Contributor corner? Just leave a comment below and we’ll get to work.

WikiAnswers contributors are special people with special answers to… special questions. Today I’m posting excerpts to let them represent the answers to this gem…

Why did Old MacDonald have a farm? 

 ”…He was an outcast, or a misfit if you will. He just didn’t want to play “society” anymore…”

“…His sister also was a chronic bronchitis sufferer, and he removed her from the smog, into fresh air that alleviated the symptoms…”

“…MacDonald was just trying to earn a living like the rest of us…”

 Get the full answers by clicking on the question. Hilarious.