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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

User:Doctree


Older than dirt and almost as smart, a curmudgeon who dislikes most everything, especially hate, intolerance, vandalism, rudeness, graffiti (unless it's very pretty and artistic), bad grammar, misspelling and Microsoft.

  • Life 1 = Master Sergeant, US Army (retired)
  • Life 2 = Volunteer Medic, EMT-Cardiac... back when that existed (retired)
  • Life 3 = Police Communications (retired)
  • Now = Wikipedian, singer, citizen scientist and gardener.
  • Life * = Husband of one and father of three.


Interests

Amateur Ornithologist

Citizen Scientist

  • Participate in citizen science projects including:
    • NestWatch
    • Project Feeder Watch
    • Great Backyard Bird Count

Free Open Source Software

I use free (as in freedom) software whenever possible. When forced to use a Microsoft product, Virtualbox allows me to do so without leaving Linux.

What I'm doing

Current Projects

Some of my current projects
Page Name/Link Page Contents
sandbox/Cordelia Sanwood Draft of bio of early ornithologist
sandbox/Driftwood Wildlife Association Draft of a new article on chimney swift conservation
sandbox/Althea Sherman Planned bio on an early ornithologist
sandbox/Aerial insectivore Draft of a new article about this avian guild
sandbox/Neotropical migrant Outline of future article

Ongoing Activity

To support Wikipedia, every day that I log in I try to:

Wikipedia has changed. Maintenance activity now requires permissions from an administrator. I can and will watch for inappropriate edits and revert or correct them but I'm not interested in spending a lot of time doing those things.

To Do

What I've done

Miscellaneous

Antandrus' observations on Wikipedia behavior help me keep going.

Teenly helps keep me humble.

I may occasionally be helpful.

Useful Stuff

What's in a name?

My legal name is Robert but please don't call me Robert or Bob. Those who call me by those don't know me. They're trying to sell something and found my name on a mailing list or some legal document. My mother called me Chips except when I was in trouble, another reason I dislike being called Robert.

DocTree is a nickname I use on the Internet, two nicknames joined together.

  • Doc. No MD or PhD degree in my background. Back when I was a volunteer in a local rescue squad, the senior medic on an ambulance was informally referred to as "the doc" and often addressed as "Doc". Some who knew me back then still call me Doc.
  • Tree. I've been called Tree since 1969 when I joined a detachment with 11 soldiers called Robert or a common nickname (Rob, Robbie, Bob, Bobby). Adding another was problematic. When I arrived, I had a pet squirrel that lived on me, clinging to my t-shirt under my fatigues or resting in a pocket. My comrades determined that anyone named Greenwood with a squirrel living on him must be a tree. He remained a pet until he tried to befriend a large dog who didn't understand that fellow pets should not be treated as a snack. I was stuck with the nickname Tree.
I discovered later that members of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) sometimes referred to the mass of male soldiers as "the forest" and individuals as "trees", especially if a male soldier dated a WAC. I not only dated one, I married her forty-five years ago. I didn't understand the giggles from other female soldiers when I was introduced as "Tree".
When I returned to the United States mainland, many knew me as Tree. I adopted my nickname and began to like it. Everyone who actually knew me called me Tree. Only bill collectors, salesmen and such would phone for Robert or Bob. So call me Tree or Doc Tree.