Apologies....

[Sandy G]

When I 1st came back here, I was VERY angry over what had happened to me, & wrote a thread-full of hate , bitterness, & hyperbole It apparently-RIGHTFULLY so-caused many of you to complain to the mod staff. After cooling off a bit I read thru it again & deleted the whole sorry mess. REALLY wouldn't kill anyone, ever over anything-Well, maybe if someone was about to kill my wife, or me..Anyhow, its gone, & I think there is a pretty good chance I may be, too. Yeah, it was THAT bad. What is the overall opinion of you folks ? If y'all say I need to go, I'll say "Sayonara", & we'll part company. I'll never bother this august group again. If you think I deserve a 2nd chance, maybe I'll stay. I haven't made up my mind-Yet. A LOT depends on how you guys feel. This whole thing is rather difficult, I foolishly let my bile & vitriol get the better of me. This apology is not an excuse, but maybe a feeble attempt at an explanation. By the bye, Even my wife gave me a pretty good "Chewing" over what I did/said, & is even madder than normal at me. "You run yr damn mouth AGAIN didn't you ? Told you not to, but you wouldn't listen." Sometimes, it ain't easy/fun being me....

[Electronic M]

As far as I'm concerned they deserved the bad mouthing they got... folks that Rob a family who's charity they were living off of are scum... there's other scummy aspects I could comment on but I rather not catch the same crap you probably did.

[benman94]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

As far as I'm concerned they deserved the bad mouthing they got... folks that Rob a family who's charity they were living off of are scum... there's other scummy aspects I could comment on but I rather not catch the same crap you probably did.

I would tend to agree... to a point. Attack the content of their character, which is clearly ATROCIOUS given that they would rob Sandy blind, not some other aspect of their lifestyle that is, quite frankly, irrelevant to the robbery. In any case, making suggestions about open murder, be they in jest, hyperbolic, etc, is still beyond the pale. This forum is hardly over-moderated; I think setting a line in the sand at "Thou shalt not kill" (or suggesting to do just that) is about as reasonable as one can get without letting a forum go completely off the rails.

Any other "scummy aspects" you wish to complain about should be directed to Tim.

[benman94]

Sandy, you're fine and more than welcome to stay. All is forgiven.

For some background, the comment in question raised the ire of more than one member. Tim received the complaints, and then decided to hand the issue off to me as he felt I could better separate the wheat from the chaff.

As a general rule, I don't give a damn what someone's beliefs are regarding, well, anything. In fact, I had read through the thread initially and, having missed the one offending comment, didn't think there was anything particularly wrong with it.

There has to be a line drawn in the sand somewhere though, and the "pieces and parts" remark crossed it. I understand that you were upset, and I get that you tend toward hyperbole in general, but it still couldn't be left. I genuinely believe you to be a good person who let his anger get the best of him. It's probably one of the top ten universal problems of humanity, and one that nobody is immune to, myself included.

[Sandy G]

Danke Schoen, all y'all. Yeah, this AIN'T the 1st time my big yap has got me in Dutch, & it likely won't be the last. I guess the thing that ticks me the worst is that they will never have to pay in any way, shape or form for screwing w/me. The police ? I may as well have opened a window & shouted outside. I couldn't PROVE they did an effin' thing. One of 'em told my wife that I had TOLD him he could "Help himself" to whatever he wanted in my basement. This was when they 1st came here, & had nothing. I DID tell him he could sell off some trinkets from the basement to help himself & his boyfriend to get back on their feet, but taking a Model 500 S&W revolver, & a US type set full of rare & expensive coins was NOT exactly what I meant. They also threatened to go to the cops when the one kid's mother "Broke" into this house where they had been living "Off the grid", that they really had no right to be in. The house had had NOBODY living in it, hadn't had for 10 years, the lights & water were off, & I think it had been sacked several times by other lowlifes. But that kid had lived his entire life similarly, given a pass for every eff up he'd done, & NEVER having had to answer for anything. Looking back on it, I need to have had MY arse kicked for ever having let these 2 around in the 1st place. But me & my wife took pity on them, not knowing what incredibly GREAT manipulators we'd stumbled onto. They stole from her a bunch of Coach purses & stuff she'd collected to be given out as Xmas presents. I now have a strong disrespect & distrust for gays, which is likely unwarranted, but "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on ME..." But screw all this, lets get back to talking about old TVs & radios, which are 10K times more interesting than this is, anyhow...

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

When I 1st came back here, I was VERY angry over what had happened to me, & wrote a thread-full of hate , bitterness, & hyperbole It apparently-RIGHTFULLY so-caused many of you to complain to the mod staff. After cooling off a bit I read thru it again & deleted the whole sorry mess. REALLY wouldn't kill anyone, ever over anything-Well, maybe if someone was about to kill my wife, or me..Anyhow, its gone, & I think there is a pretty good chance I may be, too. Yeah, it was THAT bad. What is the overall opinion of you folks ? If y'all say I need to go, I'll say "Sayonara", & we'll part company. I'll never bother this august group again. If you think I deserve a 2nd chance, maybe I'll stay. I haven't made up my mind-Yet. A LOT depends on how you guys feel. This whole thing is rather difficult, I foolishly let my bile & vitriol get the better of me. This apology is not an excuse, but maybe a feeble attempt at an explanation. By the bye, Even my wife gave me a pretty good "Chewing" over what I did/said, & is even madder than normal at me. "You run yr damn mouth AGAIN didn't you ? Told you not to, but you wouldn't listen." Sometimes, it ain't easy/fun being me....

We waited how long for you to come back! No one blames you to be really angry.
What was that saying, " The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

[compu_85]

Hey, we all get angry sometimes. But a wise man can say "I was wrong here" and move on

PS: Nice user title

-J

[Sandy G]

Yeah, & MINE is never a quiet country backroad, its a 6 lane motorway, filled w/Trabants buzzing along happily at 45 MPH in all lanes... I'm in a V12 S-class, trying to get from Stuttgart to Berlin in 45 minutes....

[benman94]

I can even understand the disrespect and distrust now; it's a natural reaction to anger.

I had an individual actually get into my vehicle and threaten me while I was stopped at a stop sign between McNichols and Gratiot along Gunston. I was on the way back home from planting flowers on my grandparents graves in Mt. Olivet cemetery.

Later in the same month, my home was broken into and I not only had a considerable number of items stolen, but a large number of items smashed and destroyed and then left.

Both perpetrators were members of a particular group, though I'll decline to get into that aspect. Needless to say, I was distrustful and disillusioned for a time. That said, at the end of the day we must ultimately make a decision to either continue to hold onto our anger, distrust, disrespect, etc, or forgive them for our own sake, move on, and try not to hold onto negative feelings toward people with no involvement whatsoever. I will say that is easier said than done, and I don't begrudge anyone that can't or won't do so.

[maxhifi]

Originally Posted by benman94

I had an individual actually get into my vehicle and threaten me while I was stopped at a stop sign between McNichols and Gratiot along Gunston.

I ought to print this.. people always make fun of me and accuse me of being xenophobic for locking the doors and putting the windows up whenever I venture into a "sketchy" area.

[benman94]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

I ought to print this.. people always make fun of me and accuse me of being xenophobic for locking the doors and putting the windows up whenever I venture into a "sketchy" area.

I usually do the same, and I live in the city of Detroit itself, so basically all the time. It was a nice day though, mid-morning, and I honestly didn't think anything would happen. I got too comfortable and it very easily could have turned into a carjacking and/or murder. In retrospect, I'm surprised it didn't.

[maxhifi]

Originally Posted by benman94

I live in the city of Detroit itself,

Interesting. Is the urban decay as widespread as the media would have us believe, or is it isolated to specific parts of the city?

[benman94]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

Interesting. Is the urban decay as widespread as the media would have us believe, or is it isolated to specific parts of the city?

Actually, sort of both. Detroit is laid out using a spoke and wheel system, so I'll go by that to start. Downtown is fine. The Woodward/Cass corridors are fine for the most part. Michigan is fine out to about 12th street. Grand River is fine until just past the casino. Jefferson is fine clear out past Grand Boulevard. Fort Street is rough. Gratiot is rough. Van Dyke between Jefferson and Kercheval is fine, otherwise the whole street is pretty much a war zone.

Going a bit deeper into the neighborhoods, it sort of depends. The Boston-Edison is fine. The Palmer Park area is fine. Indian Village is fine. Mexicantown and Southwest Detroit is fairly stable, though not exactly "nice". Brush Park is fine. East English Village is fine. Islandview is turning around. Jefferson-Chalmers is fine. The Jos. Berry neighborhood is fine. Pingree Park is turning around, very slowly though. Arden Park is fine.

Then there are neighborhoods I wouldn't dare to venture in under police escort, like Brightmoor, St. Jean and Jefferson, almost anything along Van Dyke or Mound, Briggs, Chaldean Town, what's left of Poletown, etc

Then there are the overwhelming, vast majority of the neighborhoods that aren't exactly "bad" per se, you likely won't end up a crime statistic, but there just isn't anything left. Over on the far east side this is extremely common. Entire groupings of city blocks with perhaps one standing home. Some areas literally look like fields with streets running down the center of them; it's wild. Parts of Grixdale Farms remind me of this. The residential sections of Milwaukee Junction are probably the best example of this.

So I think in some sense, the media gets it right as the majority of the city is still rough around the edges, but in the same breath they won't dare show you Downtown, Midtown, Brush Park, Indian Village, the Boston-Edison, etc, because it doesn't fit the blighted narrative.

[benman94]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

Interesting. Is the urban decay as widespread as the media would have us believe, or is it isolated to specific parts of the city?

If you want to see some really insane looking stuff, look up the Heidelberg project. 110% unadulterated nightmare fuel. I won't even drive past the remnants of it.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

I ought to print this.. people always make fun of me and accuse me of being xenophobic for locking the doors and putting the windows up whenever I venture into a "sketchy" area.

I have three cars that the doors lock automatically when the car is put in drive. I generally have the windows shut, as I always use the air conditioner or heater. That's no matter where go.
Right now, I live in" God's country" where the crime rate is in the negative numbers.