My apologies

[Neil Brooks]

I'm just going to apologize, and promise to bow out of the shit-storm I caused ... if not the woodworking portion of tonight's feature film.

While everything in my heart wishes that I *could* just snap my fingers, and you'd all decide "that I was right," -- maybe in the spirit of Steve Turner's post -- I've realized that I've had a rough few weeks, and latched on with the foolish tenacity of a pitbull.

ON topic ... here's a little more insight ... AND some woodworking content:

HAS piled up on me, lately.

I've faced more challenges than normal, and "normal" includes more than a few.

Did I take that out on y'all?

I guess I did.

It *would have* been better if -- in the words of the Grateful Dead -- I had "State yer' piece and get out."

Would I be grateful if the *message* lingered a while, in the minds of the Wreck's contributors? Sure.

But I won't flog anybody ... or myself ... any more on this.

I have my wounds -- like most of us do -- and will vow to find

*better* ways to heal them.

If I'm *really* lucky ... part of that healing WILL be in my wood shop ... where ... the SECOND one of these (this is #1)

in the works.

So ... please accept my apologies.

Rough roads ... usually don't lead me to take things out on others. This was an unforeseen speed bump.

Neil

[busbus]

Good luck, Neil. Lost my dad whenever I was 39 and he was only 66. He lost his father at a young age (25) and he was the one who drew the short straw to tell my grandfather that he had terminal lung cancer. He had a really rough time with that for the rest of his life--he wanted to die of *anything* but lung cancer. So what did he die of? Lung cancer.

Oh, and he and my mother lost two children: one still born and one lived a couple hours. Although I did not lose them myself, I think I know what it was (is) like.

busbus

[Steve Turner]

> Is in the works.

Well Neil, I'm not quite sure what to say... I'm having a hard time imagining what you went through in the two hours that elapsed between this post and all the others before it. Maybe I should say a little prayer of thanks that my Dad is still with me, and I'm not even a religious man...

I think back to some of the things I *wanted* to say and *could* have said in my post, but past experience has taught me that it would accomplish little and I forced myself to take as much of the high road as I could. Thanks for confirming that it was the right thing to do.

Enough said for now, except to echo Mike Marlow: Onward and upward. Cheers.

[Mark & Juanita]

Took some courage to write that and also to apologize. Condolences on your loss.

Looks like you do good work. Great thing to focus upon.

Certainly. Time to start over and focus on the woodworking

[Stuart]

I echo that.

It was my mother I lost early - ovarian cancer - she was just 65 and I was

2. Take care now.

Stuart