I don't get the "two camps" talk. We all were hurt equally. Some have moved on, some have not. If that is the two camps, then I DO get it.03_SONIC_BLUR wrote:The way I remember it, he asked for money twice, not once. We expected that the second time would be like the first. That did not happen
So, over the entirety of the life of the site, it was not "Free". I even remember Dave making a comment about how much I contributed the first time as he felt maybe I had overdone it
Anybody offers me something in exchange for money should not renege. I have a long memory for those things
I may have had use of the site at a discount, but certainly not "Free". I think at a minimum, I paid for the opinion I now hold. I will not be labeled some kind of freeloader as it seems to have been implied
Money? I donated when asked, and donated some more behind the scenes. I take all of my donations divided by my gross income during the years I used the site and the result is .0000 -- yes, not free, but .0000 . I spent more on drinks at the car event in San Marcos last week than I donated in total to Richard over the years.
The real loss was what we all put into the site. A group of diverse guys were committed to Terminators and other cars and SoCalT and linked by that commitment. I had over 35,000 posts and I don't remember whether I was even in the top 5. We had a very special recorded history of a special time in Ford history and our lives, near-contemporaneous recordings of fun events, time slips, incoherent rambles. That for me is what was lost. And we all hate that we lost it, and the fact that we thought we had "saved" it at the very end made the hurt greater.
For sure, I don't think that beating on a guy (Richard) who was having a very bad time in his life is the right path, but different strokes for different folks.
I consider it a blessing that my brain just doesn't work that way.
Anyone's financial loss is relatively nothing compared to what we all really lost. But I am moving on... (one more time)