I can tell you why I basically quit posting on RAMVA, about 6-7 years ago... I got tired of the internet Guerillas and Commandos threatening me, and ESPECIALLY my family, during some flame wars that occured. You wanna piece of me? Fine. But to include one's immediate family in your threats, was totally uncalled for. Rather than start a huge beef, and involve the Police and etc, I opted to tuck my tail between my legs, and depart. I had a feeling when I left RAMVA, that he site was going to diminish rapidly, until there was only a few people left posting. Some of the old timers, ie; Jan Anderson, Bill Berckman, etc etc probably remember this.
I remember. I was disgusted at how low some people can go. You got my admiration for taking the high road and not doing anything stupid. Sad to see you go of course. Some others would have been more deserving to disappear... hehehe
Oh and watch who you're calling Old Timer there, ok? LOL :D
I remember as well, when there would be 75-100 new posts A DAY on RAMVA. Remember James the Beserk? I know there were flame wars sometimes, and shoot, I even got involved with a few, especially it it was concerning my (former) place of employment. I can remember Thom Fitzpatrick from Vintagebus.com literally calling me out to what was tantamount to an online duel....Then I met him at a pre-Sacramento Bugorama foodfest at the Old Spaghetti Factory, and he was actually a quite pleasant fellow... Ant The Monarch of Menace...Met him at Kelley Park, not nearly as weird in person as he was online... Then there was John Henry, nice guy from the start, and even nicer in person. Bill Berckman, nicest guy you'll ever meet... remember driving that RUF-equipped 998 Porsche Cabriolet ( easily a $100k car) and hitting a huge chunk of concrete on the Highway, and we thought we had killed a $3k wheel and tire? lol (I never did tell Mark about that, no sense in it, what happens in Cincinnati, STAYS in Cincinnati, LOL!!) Lotsa folks have come and gone from here, Banzai KG, I'll be seeing him in a few weeks as part of the Vintage VW Treffen from Portland, OR, down the Pacific Coast to Ventura, CA, down Highway 101 and Highway 1. Jan Anderson, while I have never met him, have become kindred spirits in an internet sort of way, and I hope someday to have the opportunity to "bow to the King" lol But when it got ugly, and my family was being threatened, it was no longer fun. And I had always said: "This is supposed to be F-U-N. And the day it ceases to be F-U-N, I am O-U-T" and I was.
Sold my last ACVW (originally belonging to Earle Horton - remember him?) to an Apache gunship/helicopter technician/mechanic who was based in Afghanistan this past March but still keep track of what's going on here occasionally. I remember a tiff with Dave about an article that I misunderstood and made a stupid remark about here but hope that it wasn't too upsetting for Dave compared to some of the other things that happened. I got a lot of things wrong in those days and maybe learned a few things from those mistakes along the way. And I remember all of the personalities mentioned along with some others except for James the Berserk who stopped posting right about when I arrived - LOL
I remember a tiff with Dave about an article that I
Tim, it must not have rattled me at all, because I have no remembrance of said tiff. Shoot, some of the articles **I** didn't agree with... you should have seen some of the boardroom brawls I had about promoting substandard (IMO) parts, to get that almighty advertising dollar!!! I usually won the battle, and I think if you read closely, you could pretty much tell what I wasn't thrilled about. As long as you didn't attack or threaten my family, the rest I could take... I told lotsa people "you wanna piece of me? bring it, Pal (or, in one case, pal-ette...)" but leave my family out of it... well, some internet guru found out the name of my family members, and where I lived, home phone, even went so far as to send me a photograph of my friggin' house...that's when I pulled the plug on RAMVA.
most folks are just blowing smoke, but some are truly crazy.... and it's tough to tell sometimes... I can't even fathom taking *anything* on an internet forum so personally as to act out as folks did with you... Another member of this board that is widely disliked received threats behind the scenes. as much as someone may, or may not, deserve what they have coming, I don?t, and won't ever, agree with faceless folks sending seriously threatening messages against them or their families.(even if said person did constantly try to bring other's families into threads)..
Dave, I hate what happened back then, and I find it a blessing that you still manage to keep up here a RAMVA after that... hat's off to you.
Thanks, all. When I left, my dad had just passed away, I was way in over my head in VW stuff, working for the magazines, and I just didn't need the extra aggravation.I still lurk, but not as much as i used to
I am living a nice quiet life, in a brand new (well, it was brand new when we moved into it in 2005) PAID OFF, 3,00 sq. ft. home, 500 feet from the Pacific Ocean, in the redwoods of Northern CA. Still have the Polar Silver Oval, and have built /am still building a 1926 Model T Tudor Sedan Hot Rod, fenderless... Working as a Custodian for the local school district, one thing I didn't anticipate when I tried to semi-retire, is what the cost of health benefits was going to be for my wife and myself... The $$ I get from the Custodian job is pretty much gravy, I just mainly went to work there for the benefits. Been doing some fishing, we have world class Salmon fishing, Albacore, Perch, Ling Cod, Snapper, and of course, Dungeness Crab... Thanks for thinking of me, Max, do you ever hear from any of the other guys/gals in the "gang" like Steve Hollingsworth and Deena?
I do sometimes. Actually got down to Phoenix in March ... saw Steve H and Don Bulitta. Went to the Classic in 2007 and the last Berg Cruise in 2006.
I'm spending this summer fixing up the KG (finally). I'm hoping it will be prettier than Jimmy Kikuchi's 64. :-) He just had the 64 repainted, looks great from the picture. First time I'd seen his car bra-less.
Next summer I hope to hit some of the CA shows with my KG. Once a road car, always a road car.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.