"John Fereira" wrote in message
.. .

First, what did you get to replace it?

Another kayak.

Some of the long-time regulars on here will agree with my choice, others
will not. More to the point, I found a shop I hadn't visited for quite some
time. Good guy, I'd bought climbing and camping gear off him. It suddenly
dawned on me that (duhhhh.....) they sell KAYAKS there too. Off to the
shop, another mea culpa or three for having overlooked them in my quest for
a kayak, and now I'm all set. Shop has a better customer, I have a real
knowledgeable salesman / mentor who actually cares whether the thing works
for us or not, and will stand behind the thing and do everything in his
power to make it work. He will also sell the highly coveted Animas for what
I paid for it at the (now defunct) other shop, and he'll sell it to someone
who knows what it is and how to use it, who has a roofrack to transport it
the many miles to waters where it's the right boat for the job.

Secondly, I've been reading this group for about 8 years and believe that
Steve has been here as long as I have or longer. Coming into a forum and
asking a long time regular to leave is not a very good way to gain favor
from him and other regulars.

You're at least partially right. I (Roger here again, not using Maria
Teresa's computer today) should have said something different. Of course
nobody can get kicked off of UseNet, right? So my response to him was
hyperbolic. Unlike this most recent spanking you've just administered, my
summary execution and expulsion of Steve was quite improper and unjustified.
I'm sorry I know neither the ritual nor the incantations to gain favor from
the in crowd. But thanks to you guys, I now know that WW doesn't just stand
for "wrong way".

I should have made a different observation, though, instead of kicking Steve
off the internet. The horse was dead when Steve rode up. Now, it's a
large, unpleasant oily blot on the shoulder of the road, and as recently as
a day ago, Steve was still obsessively beating it. That's what I SHOULDA
said. He can come back anytime and stay as long as he wants, and beat that
poor old horse-stain as long as he pleases. I don't care.

Now that you've got (or getting) a new kayak
you'll probably have a lot more questions regarding using it.

Yes, I will. And I won't ask guys named Steve who spend their valuable time
finding brand new and creative ways to repetitively tell me I stuffed up. I
knew it when he rode up. Shee-yit, it was me killed the damn horse in the
first place, remember?

I know that
at least I would be more likely to spend time providing answers if I
thought
they'd be met with a bit more congenialtiy.

Rightly so. But I don't know you, and you don't know me, and free advice
(as I recently re-learned to my embarrassment, once in real life and
repeatedly on R.B.P) is usually worth what you pay for it. If you run a
shop, and I stop in, I will ask you questions. The difference between that
and my Animas "experience" will be that I will assess your credibility as a
knowledgeable kayak guy before I once again plunk down my hard-earned. I
will assess you as a businessman the old fashioned way, not as a "long-time
regular" on some electronic discussion group where the veracity of Dirty
Harry's observation about opinions and orifices is so frequently borne out.
AS often, I hasten to add, as is the old saw about speaking up. as I did,
and removing all doubt.

My new/old kayak guy runs a business and his advice is worth my money. I
don't know that about you, or about Steve. I will run my own business doing
what I'm good at and successful at, and my kayak guy will run his. You guys
are entertaining to read, but you're a bit clannish and at least some of you
have a tendency to haze newcomers. My thanks to those who don't.