I know cal to be patient and helpful with everyone.
Seems like the same results were being achieved from the same techniques and he figured a little blunt action might help a new cook move on to enjoying what we all do.
Back when Smokin' and I were teenagers and he started the old forum,all of us had come out of WSM s,stickburners[offset,or upright] pit buildings,holes in the ground,etc.
The 008 had been around for a half century,as one of the best big meat cookers ever.
Smokin' and I got one for the reasons most stickburners moved to CS.
You would see them around cookoffs for the cooks to cook their own meals and as holding ovens.
There was no forum and no one could mess it up.
Cooks didn't even consider a therm with a wire to go into the meat-so you didn't need to open the door.
Smokin' spent much of his time just explaining how it could be a useful indicator.
You checked meat tenderness by trying to lift it with a two pronged meat fork.
If it slid off,it was done.
Still one of the best indicators for big meats.
The control box could be covered by a little plastic bag you put vegetables in at the grocery.
You could put the probe in the meat at bedtime, leave the therm in the house,if it was storming out.Plug it into the base unit in the morning to check indicator temps.
If some non- owner wanted to insult you,they would say" you just set that thing,forget it,and get perfect food-that ain't cookin'".
Yes,now we start out worrying about the cookers like they race at Indy.
We start thinking therms are "rocket science".
Easy for us "old cooks" to get impatient and want folks to just go ahead and cook something and quit worrying.
