Mindi, I don't think anyone is upset with you, certainly for any valid reasons. Some people may still be having difficulty believing that you're actually a real person. But most of the people have actually welcomed you and hope you'll be a positive influence on the corporal.
Patrick, provided you don't violate the rules, I'm not going to bounce you out of here. If you were a true detriment to the site with a very negative effect, I would ask you to leave but you are not doing that. You have been making an effort to show an improved online persona which is appreciated. Your views on things in life are odd to say the least and it's not that people can't appreciate other peoples views, it's more that they can't give much credit to the views put forward by a kid that does slightly more than the zero to gain the worldly experience that you preach.
I do appreciate the "improvement" in attitude you've made and I don't want you to be a lurker. I also don't want you to "help" based on regurgitating stuff you've read mixed in with a little theorizing of your own. What I want you to do, when you're not in school, work, or improving your relationship with Mindi, is to FISH. To start off with the basics and FISH. Cast & catch fish. Don't offer the excuses that there are no fish. Or that becuase you don't have the English Channel Heaver, you don't bother to FISH. This site is about FISH and PEOPLE, the people that FISH. 90% of the people here have a passion to FISH and that's what this is all about. The common thread that runs here is FISH. The boards allow good people with different personalities and views to create a sense of sense of community because we all FISH. We talk about other issues, because for the most part, we respect the views & integrity of those that FISH.
You postoed on another thread how well, ya know, things are busy, and "Just too much going on and scheduling conflicts and yadda yadda yadda. Plus our season hasn't been going so well down here. You know how it goes". That's crap. That nearly made me ill reading that. If you WANTED to fish you would fish and not offer excuses. "Scheduling conflicts" - what's that, when playing Super Mario Brothers is more important than cleansing your soul the way a 20 knot wind in your face does on a cloudy night in October? Try juggling a job, a home, and far more importantly, your family into your schedule and still trying to find a moment to relax under the beam of a lighthouse even if it's only once or twice a month. To fish with your buddy and see no other souls along a stretch of beach as your stresses, worrys, and anxieties of the WORKWEEK melt away.
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I just don't get it. I've tried to be good. I really have tried and I thought I was doing much better. I haven't called names, I've helped where I could and I've asked serious questions. I've really tried to change
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This isn't about having an enviable online personna. If you ask just the right questions or offer a complex theory on the migration habits of 9 year old females (I'm talking a bout fish people
) to punch your ticket to make you a greater forum POSTER. These people see right through that in a heartbeat. You know, I bet 90% of the people you've irked would forgive you and actually may gain some respect for you if you went out and learned how to fish. Consistently worked at it and gained experience on how to do it. I don't give a rat's arse if you went to an Aquaculture school or could discuss metallurgy on outboards with the engineers or Mercury Marine. You can't tell me that nobody in your area can catch a fish or have a decent night. Granted, you're not living in Truro, Montauk, or Narragansett, so your battle is a little more uphill. But that battle will turn you from a kid to a man IF it makes you think AND work out a problem, provide and then IMPLEMENT a solution. I'm no expert at this but I don't play one on TV either. I'm learning too. And in every RARE opportunity I get to go out, I try to LEARN something to make me a better fisherman.
You want to "Get IT"? - GO FISH. Make the opportunity to FISH. Soothe your SOUL by FISHING. Bring Mindi out FISHING and share that experience. The fishing and the sense of wonder you get out on the beach (my sister doesn't know it yet but she's going to babysit a lot more next year so I can take my wife out FISHING as I think she'll like it and I KNOW she'd like to spend more time together). If you do both of those successfully, you'll be doing better than most of us. But if you choose to maintain the path you're on now, your being a fraud to yourself and to others. You are seriously misleading yourself if you think you'll become one of the guys and all friendly like with other fishermen & women if you TALK the game instead of playing it.
I hope both of you do come up next weekend. I would like to FISH with you two and hopefully see that you both enjoy yourselves. But come up to do that, to ENJOY yourself, not to impress all of us that you're a real nice guy. We want to see you fish...