[Hammer]

Rcourt, no offense, but I don't follow you. You seem to be saying that someone isn't a newbie if they've got time under their belt and money is not a determining factor. That makes no sense, as I've already stated. Five years from now, if you aren't successfully profiting from your adult business ventures but are still posting here on Oprano, I would have to say you were still a newbie.

If you go to the beach and someone teaches you to surf for the first time, you are a newbie and the other surfers will probably make fun of you and laugh at your mistakes, but some of them might take you under their wing and teach you the techinques they know.

Six months from now, if you've surfed every day and applied what the pros had taught you, you might be considered a good surfer. You certainly wouldn't qualify as a great surfer, because greatness could never be achieved in such a short period. At that point you are no longer a newbie, but you're still far from being an expert.

3 years from now, if you've continued to practice and hone your skills and have some natural athletic ability and talent, you may be considered a great surfer and called an expert.

However, if, after 3 years all you can do is sit on the beach and tell newbie surfers how to shoot the curl and cut a wave and sound like an expert, and all those newbies say, "Wow, he really knows his shit," but when you get on the board all you can do is wobble and wave your arms and look like an idiot, you're still a FUCKING NEWBIE!