Member of the Month - December 2017 - Tidgy's Dad

[Kane]

The festive holiday season is nearly upon us. While some of us are charting vacations to warmer climes, others may be stringing up the lights or in dogged pursuit of shopping for everyone on their wish list.  And so, ho ho ho, it is also time for announcing our new Member of the Month!

 

By unanimous staff vote, we are happy to declare that December's Member of the Month is ...

 

 

         TIDGY'S DAD        

Situated out there in a country so many of us would thrill to visit for its reputation for fossils, Adam has been with us since July of 2015, but has been extraordinarily active in the last few months. One would be hard-pressed to encounter a kinder soul here on the forum, and his penchant for being helpful and supportive marks him as an exemplary member. Always ready with a warm welcome, he is certainly a kindly, avuncular presence.  

 

Adam -  Thanks for all you do and contribute here on the Forum!

Congratulations Sir! Wear this Crown with joy as you earned it!

 

Care to tell us about your journey here to the Fossil Forum ?  This is your opportunity to tell us about your fossil journey (and I am secretly hoping you will spin a good yarn about how you ended up in Morocco!).

 

On behalf of the staff here on TFF, congratulations! 

[PFOOLEY]

Congratulations, sir...well deserved.

[ynot]

Congratulations Adam!!

Well deserved honorarium.

[Fossildude19]

Congratulations, Adam!  

Regards,

[Troodon]

Congratulations, I appreciate all your input

[old bones]

Congratulations, Adam. Yes, we want to know the backstory.  

[Manticocerasman]

Congrats

 

[Pagurus]

Yep, congratulations and well deserved!

 

[digit]

Huzzah!

 

Speech, speech!

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[FossilDAWG]

Congratulations! And yes we all want to hear your story.

Don

[Tidgy's Dad]

It wasn't me, i didn't do it! 

Oh, wait a mo, this is a good thing. 

I thought i was just sneaking about under the radar and that no one had even noticed me. 

I am completely astounded, amazed and additional 'a' adjectives. 

I like it here, a lot of nice people, a lot of knowledgeable people and even a good number of nice knowledgeable people. 

I have learned and relearned so much since i returned to TFF in a more active manner and hope very much to make many more friends here, i think I've already made one or two. I really enjoyed following the auction,though I am to skint to participate, i'm afraid and the Secret Santa is great fun, i think my parcel has arrived, so i prepared for the trip to the post office to collect it today only to realize it is the  Prophet's birthday today, so everything is shut. It is my donkey's day off tomorrow, Sunday the post office is closed, so i'll have to go Monday. 

I cannot remember how i came to join TFF , I think it was because....................

I'll start at the beginning. 

When I was a little thing, before I even went to school, so i must have been about twenty (probably four, really) i started to develop an interest in dinosaurs. Not unusual, I know, but i went out into the garden and tried to find some. (I knew they were extinct, i mean dig some up!) . Funnily enough, I didn't find any, but i did find some interesting invertebrates (alive not fossils) bulbs and a couple of bits of pretty pottery. Most of these I ate (the invertebrates and bulbs, not the pottery, that would have been silly). 

Seeing my budding interest, my mother took me to nearby Kilve beach, Somerset, South West England and i found my first ammonites. I went to school and one of my first teachers, the marvelous Miss Williams donated me a box of fossils, i got more from an offer from Chivers' Jelly, neighbours and relatives fed my burgeoning hobby, but I found no dinosaurs, though there was a bit of dino bone in the jello box. But these other things were interesting and i started to read up on them.

A lot.

And i found a really, really good thing at Kilve which hooked me forever. 

I moved to live with my grandparents to be near an institution that did geology 'A' level and then on to study Earth sciences at university for or so many years. I collected all over England, and some foreign climes as well. And The Isle of Wight. 

Worked hard, had a good time, but then tragedy struck, lost my family, then my girlfriend and job, bit of a breakdown, got stuck in a rut and became quite ill.had to sell a lot of my collection to make ends meet. 

Finally recovered and met wifey, got married in 2001 when i was 35. Set up a few businesses, made a lot of money sold our properties, retired at 39 in 2005 and moved to Morocco to live as both of us had health problems that are worse in the cold and damp and we wanted somewhere cheap where our money could last us the rest of our lives if we were cautious.

I rediscovered my fossil collection when we moved. I fell in love with palaeontology all over again, started rebuilding my collection. Sadly, some pieces were lost or broken during the move to Morocco, despite the best of precautions being taken. Insurance doesn't replace items that meant so much, each one has a memory attached. 

We can't have children, but I rescued a baby tortoise that was being tortured by some people and nursed her back to health, it was then i discovered the internet, as i learned all there is to know about tortoises and later became a member of Tortoise Forum.This tortoise is my Tidgy, hence Tidgy's dad and I love her more than I thought it possible to love an animal, though i had many pets in my life. Tisgy is now an international superstar and three times in a row on the annual TFO calendar which is a record.

Then i contracted TB, tuberculosis, consumption, whatever you call it, self diagnosed myself incorrectly, became really sick and ended up 107 days in isolation. Nearly died. 

But didn't. 

Obviously. 

After I came out in 2013, finished my treatment in mid 2014 and started checking all my fossil ids on the net. And found TFF in 2015, because i wanted to know ids of some Moroccan stuff i'd found or bought and this is the best place on the web to go. Goodness, things have changed since my day! Moved on so much, taxonomy, nomenclature etc; so please forgive me if sometimes my terminology and names are a bit old-fashioned, i'm still catching up! 

Now, my collecting is rather hampered as I have lost more than a third of my lungs so breathing is pretty tricky and i am not particularly active any more. 

Though i spent one day collecting in Spain last year, found some beautiful Miocene stuff and realized i could still do it! I've still got the touch and i can do it, by goodness! 

So have started exploring Morocco a little more. 

Thank you for being so kind and welcoming to me, my friends,and be sure you will be seeing a lot more of me and my collection over the coming months.

Gosh, i do ramble on don't I ?

Sorry. 

All my love,

Adam. 

 

   

[Ludwigia]

Hey Adam! You have one heckuva biography! Been through a lot and I really appreciate your openness about it. What the heck, eh? You only live once they say, or at least if you do come back again you won't remember much about it, so you might just as well enjoy and learn as long as you can once you've managed to struggle back out of the pitfalls of life. It's really great to have you aboard!

[Tidgy's Dad]

2 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

Hey Adam! You have one heckuva biography! Been through a lot and I really appreciate your openness about it. What the heck, eh? You only live once they say, or at least if you do come back again you won't remember much about it, so you might just as well enjoy and learn as long as you can once you've managed to struggle back out of the pitfalls of life. It's really great to have you aboard!

Thank you very much. 

I didn't mean to sound miserable. 

Life is good and i have done so much in mine, lived in Poland, Saudi Arabia, and the rain forests of Thailand, visited another fifty countries and have so much fun doing what i want to do. 

Life's good.  

 

 

 

[doushantuo]

TD,your accolade is thoroughly deserved,general demeanor and effervescent style of posting are an enrichment of/

boon to the forum.

Your genial fezzed head is among the more enjoyable avatars around here

Very,very,very sorry to hear about your less-than-perfect-health,and thanx for the bio!!Absorbing read,to say the least!

I think you might encounter my fellow countrymen over there

(Holland /NW Europe has quite a few inhabitants of Morocccan descent)

[Tidgy's Dad]

5 minutes ago, doushantuo said:

TD,your accolade is thoroughly deserved,general demeanor and effervescent style of posting are an enrichment of/

boon to the forum.

Your genial fezzed head is among the more enjoyable avatars around here

Very,very,very sorry to hear about your less-than-perfect-health,and thanx for the bio!!Absorbing read,to say the least!

I think you might encounter my fellow countrymen over there

(Holland /NW Europe has quite a few inhabitants of Morocccan descent)

Thank you very much. 

Yes, lots of Moroccans in Holland, though some of them are a bit naughty, i understand. 

I love Holland, wouldn't mind living there myself if it didn't get so cold and wet in the winter. 

[digit]

30 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Gosh, i do ramble on don't I ?

With all due respect to The Allmand Brothers Band:

Lord, I was born a ramblin' man
Tryin' to make a livin' and doin' the best I can
And when it's time for leavin'
I hope you'll understand
That I was born a ramblin' man

 

From one rambler to another, I appreciate hearing the (incredible) backstory behind your ultimate arrival to join us here at our beloved home, TFF. I've watched movies with less plot than that story recounting the ups and downs of your life. You, sir, are one who has truly drank deeply from the cup of life. I'm glad that through all that life has thrown your way that you seem to have met it with more gumption than many might have mustered and have made your way here to contribute to the forum significantly enough to have been singled-out for some special attention this month.

 

I enjoy learning something new each day (when I can) and today I've not only decoded the secret of your member name but also learned a new word to add to my vocabulary:

 

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tidgy

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Tidgy's Dad]

Thank you, Ken. 

Yes, Tidgy is used in the UK, but not in the USA, I understand. 

Also she is a Testudo graeca graeca - Tgg, sort of sounds like Tidgy in my mind at least. 

My favourite word is petrichor and was very pleased to experience it this week after our drought. 

Thanks again,

Adam. 

[digit]

Ah, yes--a rather obscure word that I added to my vocabulary some years ago (but hard to work into conversation). I can well understand how this might have extra enjoyment in a drought-prone area. Enjoy the pleasant scent of petrichor while you bask in the warm glow of your MOTM win.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-ken

[jcbshark]

Congrats on MOTM Adam and thanks for sharing your story

[old bones]

Thank you for telling your story, Adam. Here's to many more fossil adventures and the sharing of said discoveries on TFF.

 Julianna

[Tidgy's Dad]

40 minutes ago, jcbshark said:

Congrats on MOTM Adam and thanks for sharing your story

Thank you very much. 

31 minutes ago, old bones said:

Thank you for telling your story, Adam. Here's to many more fossil adventures and the sharing of said discoveries on TFF.

 Julianna

Thank you, Julianna. 

I'm sure you'll all be very bored very soon with me sharing my finds and stories. 

[Miocene_Mason]

Congrats Adam! Well deserved of course, I have enjoyed seeing everything you’ve posted and learned quite a bit as well! 

[Monica]

Congratulations, Adam, on your well-deserved honour!  Your posts have been really upbeat and kind - a great addition to the forum!

 

Monica

[Tidgy's Dad]

1 hour ago, WhodamanHD said:

Congrats Adam! Well deserved of course, I have enjoyed seeing everything you’ve posted and learned quite a bit as well! 

Well, thanks a million, but anything you've learned from me will probably have to be unlearned as i am finding out myself! 

Seriously, thank you kindly. 

52 minutes ago, Monica said:

Congratulations, Adam, on your well-deserved honour!  Your posts have been really upbeat and kind - a great addition to the forum!

 

Monica

Thank you, Monica. 

You and lovely Viola bring light and sunshine to this place as well! 

[Ludwigia]

5 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Thank you very much. 

I didn't mean to sound miserable. 

Life is good and i have done so much in mine, lived in Poland, Saudi Arabia, and the rain forests of Thailand, visited another fifty countries and have so much fun doing what i want to do. 

Life's good.  

 

 

 

Right you are. That's what I meant. Sounds like you're living life to its fullest.