Captain Colonial Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 Good morning all It's been a rough few days, and this post might be a tad long, but I have an apology to issue, so I'd appreciate it if you read it. (I'll try to do the Reader's Digest version.) Last week, there was a bit of unpleasantness here in the chat area, when I made a comment about one of SteveD's posts being unreadable in the format that it was posted. With the gift of hindsight, the way in which I worded my comment about that post, while not intended to offend or be provocative, was clearly seen by many as being so. (This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that something I have said came out and was received in a way which was totally unintended.) The responses which followed I, in all probability, richly earned and deserved. Therefore, I would like to offer once again my unreserved apologies to Steve, Chairman Paul, and anyone else who became involved, for wording things so badly and causing offence when none was intended. I can only hope this apology will be accepted. At the same time, I also received a highly abusive email which also threatened physical violence, quoting the thread, from an unknown email address. At that time, the only way someone could have sent me that email was if they were reading the boards and also known my email address. Logically, it could only have been a boardroom member, who had the ability to view my profile (guests cannot see Profiles). Rattled and concerned, I decided to leave the boards with immediate effect and said so. Within a very short time, I received much support from a number of WSCC members, most notably from Norman, who contacted Chairman Paul and Secretary Mark, and who then contacted me to encourage me to investigate and pursue the matter. I am grateful to them and also to all of you who PM'd me with your support - thank you! This weekend, after investigations by the web-based email provider and an ISP, we discovered who the culprit was. You will be as pleased as I was to know it was not a boardroom member. It was a boardroom guest, however - the son of a friend of mine - let me explain. This young man of 14 was at my house several months ago with his parents, attending a party, when I accidentally discovered him hiding and smoking a joint in one of our bedrooms. Without getting into the merits or evils of drug use (not starting another posting war, thanks), as it was in my house and he was just 14, I felt his parents had a right to know, I took his father aside and told him gently what I had seen. His father promptly went ballistic and took them all home immediately, with the boy receiving a very public verbal bashing all the way to the car. I pretty much forgot about it shortly thereafter. It would seem that the young man decided I needed to be taught a lesson for "grassing" him up (pun intended), knew I owned a Westfield and used these boards, watched the boards as a guest for some time and bided his time until I stuck my foot in my mouth (didn't have to wait long, naturally), before he used a Yahoo.com (US-based) email account to send me the threatening email, then closed the account. He got my email address off the family computer. Still with me? It all came to a head yesterday when the sender's IP address was ultimately traced to my friend's home and the police knocked on their door. After some quick questions, the horrible truth finally emerged. After I drove over and discussed things with the police, the terrified boy and his boiling father, and judging the outcome and impact it would make on the boy's future to take things to the next level (and he is only a boy), I decided to take the high road and not to press charges against him, screwing up his future prospects. I fear, however, my friendship with his father may be irrecoverably strained. So if anyone thought I was being petulant by leaving, it wasn't the case, I was being cautious and prudent, but again, sorry if it came across that way. My thanks again to all who contacted and assisted me in this troubling matter. I thank you for reading this, your understanding and your time. To top things off, you will also be able to read shortly in the Tech Section about my mixed weekend attempting to repair the Westfield and about what a dipstick (literally) I was, so if you're in the mood to have a further laugh at my expense, tune in this afternoon. If I can get the car repaired in time, I may now well see you at Stoneleigh, where I owe both Chairman Paul and Secretary Mark a beer and a death-defying burger. Again, my apologies. Scott Quote
peterg Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 I suppose this means you won't be leaving after all... hahahaha just kidding glad you got it sorted Scott and very glad it wasn't one of 'us' Quote
Bananaman Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 Re Boardroom stuff, while you were a bit over zelos with the gramma thing it was no great shakes IMHO, and it's nice that you have written an appology. RE Your mates son...... Oh dear, the lad seems to have gotten in way too deep but it would appear that you have done the correct thing. Hopr you & your mate can work things out, after all you have done nothing wrong here from what i can see. We were all stupid teenages once, hope the lad can learn from it. Hope all matters can be put to bed & we can all get on with taking the p**s! Quote
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 Great to see you back Scott; the boardroom is all the better for it! Probably the less said about recent threads the better, Just hope you can get the behind the scenes stuff resolved. Quote
mikef Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 Nice apology Cap'n. Bit of a saga but I think you did the right thing. Non illegitimi carborundum. Quote
Mike H Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 That's a nasty situation. Welcome back. Mike Quote
RedditchJay Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 WHEN iI read your STEVED comments i chuckled..... didnt ever think or consider it offensive to anyone..... just normal adult board room banter.... anyone who takes any of this stuff too serious needs to get out more...... I am sure STEVED {who often takes the peeeee} didnt find it offensive...he would be the 1st to construct a responce if he did...... Quote
Cleggy the Spyder Man Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 a tear in my eye - not telling you if it is down to joy or sorrow good to see you back Quote
jeff oakley Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 I would like to say what a pleasure it was to read a well constructed and punctuated apology Glad to see you are back as I am sure many others will be as pleased as I am. Quote
Matt Seabrook Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 Glad you got to the bottom of it Scot and you are staying Quote
Mark Stanton Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 Takes guts and a big man to post an apology like that - top work Scott and so much trouble caused by the youth Quote
lippydave Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 RE Your mates son...... Oh dear, the lad seems to have gotten in way too deep but it would appear that you have done the correct thing. Hopr you & your mate can work things out, after all you have done nothing wrong here from what i can see. We were all stupid teenages once, hope the lad can learn from it.Hope all matters can be put to bed & we can all get on with taking the p**s! Well said Mr Bananaman Sir... I can only heartily echo your sentiments in a semi-grammatically correct manner..... Quote
Matt Seabrook Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 Takes guts and a big man to post an apology like that - top work Scott and so much trouble caused by the youth Very true Mark Quote
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