golo editor's blog

meet, "saltyrover"

 abuse

If you think GOLO member Salty Rover is just a guy who posts quotes out of context in his famous “Salty’s Quotes of the Day” blogs to give us all a good laugh, you are quite wrong. Behind all of that craziness is a man who loves his family and is grateful for the life he has on this earth. I had a chance to chat with him yesterday and it was time well spent.

Meet, SaltyRover:

Angela: You are pretty famous on GOLO. Are you famous in your non-virtual world?

SaltyRover: Since my son was born I’d have to say no. As a younger man I was pretty popular. I’m from a small town and it used to be that I could go anywhere and people would say “Hey Matt.” Now all I get is “Hey Cooper’s Dad.”

Angela: I can totally relate to that. What’s your son like? Is he anything like you?

SaltyRover: He’s a ball of fire with a huge personality. He’s 2 ½, so obviously we’re having a lot of fun with him sorting out his authority versus our authority and I’m glad he’s a boy because if he was a girl I’d be a total pushover.

He’s outgoing, likes everybody and speaks to everybody. Everyone knows who he is. He has two speeds: ‘100mph’ and ‘off’ when he’s asleep. No in between.  

Angela: It sounds like you’re enjoying parenthood a great deal.  

SaltyRover: I remember thinking ‘I can’t wait until I have my own little boy.’ It was one of my dreams and it has come true.

Angela: Speaking of dreams, what other dreams do you have?

SaltyRover: I just finished eating a bunch of food from the Mongolian Buffet so I’ll probably be having some dreams here pretty soon. (We laugh)

I’d have to say to go live abroad. My fiancé and I want to move to South America to live for a few years. I don’t know when we are going to do it. We were all set to go but decided to wait after she got pregnant.  We were looking at Uruguay but pushed it off to have help and support at home. We didn’t want to have a baby in Uruguay.

I’m a pretty happy person and feel like I have a pretty blessed life. Beyond what I have there’s not a lot to desire.

Angela: (Pauses to reflect on that deep statement) Wow! What do you think life would be like if more people thought that way?

SaltyRover: I think that everybody can. A happy person isn’t someone in a specific situation; they just have a specific attitude. If you have a good attitude when you wake up that’s the one thing you can control. Everything else might be beyond your control; but the one thing you can control is your attitude.

Angela: Preach it Salty!

SaltyRover: You know?  

Angela: How long does it take you to compile those GOLO Quotes of the Day?

SaltyRover: Sometimes it’s a day or week-long project and I’ll just randomly cut and paste comments into a word document. When I get between 10 and 15 I post it as a blog. Other times I’m in the mood and do it in 30 minutes or less.

I just randomly click on peoples’ profiles and browse their comments because if you’re on the actual blog the comments make sense. When you do it randomly it works out great.

Angela: How do you select people to quote? Do you ever target certain GOLO members?

SaltyRover: Sandlapper is number 1 on my list right now so I’m going to get her good. Con Amor because she likes to pick on me and I gotta get her. Most of the rest are just because they are Salty’s friends that he loves or maybe someone who complained about not making the list so I earmark them…

Angela: I see. So there is definitely equal opportunity in Salty’s quotes selection.

SaltyRover: It’s impossible to get everyone but mostly it’s just the people I mostly see on the blogs because that’s where I am but every once in a while I get random people who I just saw. That’s why I post my disclaimer. I don’t do it to insult I do it to make people laugh.

Angela: Have you always tried to make people laugh? Better yet, were you the class clown?

SaltyRover: I guess so. Okay, I’ll reluctantly admit that I was. I wasn’t a bad kid but I was definitely mischievous.

Angela: What are some of the differences in kids today vs. when you were a kid?

SaltyRover: I don’t think there is any difference. I’m still a kid even though I’m 30 and have one of my own. I’m still a kid. I just have a job and bills to pay. That part kind of stinks but the rest is all fun. I think that kids are born innocent and good and kids today have a lot of conveniences and technologies that we didn’t have but I’ve got two nieces and they are the most wonderful little girls in the world. One saved her allowance for a month and went to school and read books for credit and bought a big stuffed animal for my son using her own money and didn’t get a single thing for herself. I think that all kids are like that if raised that way but at some point people start to get a little more self absorbed and that’s where the problems arise.

Angela: You’re wise for your age.

SaltyRover: Eh…. That’s a generic compliment; you said the same thing to Studley!

Angela: Oh, you’re checking up one my old interviews! Okay then, I take it back. You’re not wise for your age.

SaltyRover: No…! Thank you.

Angela: You’re welcome.

Angela: What do people say about you behind your back?

SaltyRover: Probably the same thing they say to my face. “You’re crazy.” “You’re a fool.”

Angela: Why the name ‘Salty Rover?’

SaltyRover: Well, first I was Jolly Roger and everyone started calling me JR and I decided I didn’t want to be Junior,  I wanted to be Senior, so….

Angela: You’re kidding!

SaltyRover: Yes I am

I just decided to change the name. I like dogs so I thought of Salty Dog, then I decided to change the dog to Rover and it was as simple as that.

I grew up on the coast, love being on the water and I’m a bit rough around the edges.

Angela: What would you miss about GOLO if it went away?

SaltyRover: You know, I don’t even know how I ended up on GOLO. I think it was like a scam or something. Someone said visit this site seven times and a box full of money will arrive in your email box and I just kept coming back and the money never came. I started enjoying a slant on the news and I’ve always enjoyed arguing with people.

Angela: FINALLY! Someone admits that they enjoy arguing. Thank you.

SaltyRover: I was encouraged to go to law school and I applied and was accepted. I never went because I was tired of going to school. My parents encouraged me to go because I was always arguing with someone about something.

Speaking of school, I spent a good part of my junior year, spring semester in Mexico and still made Dean’s List!  

Angela: How’d you do that?

SaltyRover: Secrets of the trade. Can’t tell you.

I wouldn’t want them to take back any of my credentials.

(We laugh)

I did it on frozen drinks, flip flops and Caribbean Music.

Angela: Sounds like a good time.

Angela: Are there any people you’d like to give shout outs during this interview?

SaltyRover: There’s so many that I’m scared I’d leave someone out and they’d hate me forever. So I’ll give a shout out to everyone who reads this interview.

Angela: Let’s fast forward 30 years. What will you be doing at age 60?  

SaltyRover: I’m hoping to be the Managing Editor of GOLO.

It’s my dream job, dealing with temper tantrums, adding counters and taking them off, having to determine if images are violating the TOS….

(I am really laughing at this one)

Angela: If you’re interested, we can arrange to make that happen much sooner!

SaltyRover: I’m thinking 30 years down the road I may have the patience and experience.

 Angela: I can’t even say that I have it, at least not the patience.

Angela: Is there something you can tell us that most people don’t know about you?

SaltyRover: Okay. I’m a closet GOLO’er and I don’t want anyone to tell others they saw me here.

Angela: Are you ashamed of us Mister Rover?  

SaltyRover: No not at all. I’ve actually told people about GOLO and I don’t’ know if they have been here but I’ve told a bunch of people about it.

Angela: Thanks for that, Salty. It’s been great talking to you.

SaltyRover:   You too Angela.

Angela: I’m going to hold on to your number.

SaltyRover: Okay!

If you’d like to read some of Salty’s GOLO Quotes of the Day, visit his blog.

You can see the archive GOLO Profiles here.