[bstark]

Jerry harkens back to the early days of these things and this forum when forming a club was discussed at length.

A few of the fellas who indicated they'd not be adverse to holding office in any club were of the variety that jumped on every negative post as though you were casting aspersions towards their first born. I myself received one of those castigating emails and answered it with an equally caustic rejoinder. Thankfully those days are all but behind us now.

Strangely the formation of the club went relatively smoothly with those early vehement "cheerleaders" perhaps being involved in the formation of the club but through the wisdom of those early members, not gaining re-election at first end of term. Funny how that democratic process works to weed out the most strident and abusive.

A forum such as this, to have any value at all, should encourage each and every owner to post his experiences, especially the negative ones. This is how relief is actually spelled. You get the chance to vent and also find out you're not alone in your frustration along with the information on how to go about rectifying your dilemna.

We can all be overbearing sometimes in our attempt to make our case but I believe we need those posts just such as every neighbourhood benefits by having it's curmudgeon or resident eccentric.

We have the right to ignore posters like Jerry with the customary "oh it's just Jerry complaining again" but we should never call into question his right to post or his ability to practice rational thought regardless of our feelings towards his offerings.

I will close with this admonishment to all who would choose to censor folks like Jerry, I guarantee there will be at least one time where you'll encounter a problem and will perform a search on these boards for information regarding same and it's subsequent repair, without posters like Jerry contributing your search may be fruitless.

Hang in there everybody and overlook each others foibles; you're all in this together!