In the interest of full disclosure, this post is going to be rather lengthy. For those who love drama, this post will be an A ticket ride. For those who wonder what it is like, running a discussion forum, welcome to my nightmare.
The user who was described back in
Post #7 of this thread is now conducting his own private smear campaign against myself in particular, and this site in general. So it is time to point out all the falsehoods and fabrications. I will be doing this here, so I can do it once and get on with life, rather than explaining it time and again in private. Various names will be withheld to protect the innocent, but the guilty party's identity will be left, as-is.
Fasten your seatbelts, and let's take it from the top.
At 9:09 PM on 29 November, I received the following message from an individual using the pseudonym, 'Marlin Rambler' -
At 1:00 AM on 30 November, I sent 'Mr. Rambler' the following reply -
At 3:10 PM on 30 November, I received this reply from 'Mr. Rambler' -
I am always greatly impressed by people who have to resort to locker room language to make their point in a conversation. I find it is generally a very valid indicator of the intelligence level of the individual. But you will see he also suggests I might be ignorant. My position on that is the proof lies in the fact that I am running this place, so how smart could I possibly be?
At 1:18 AM on 1 December, I sent 'Mr. Rambler' the following reply -
Shortly thereafter, I discovered 'Mr. Rambler's' childish registration for this site, under the username of tbucketeersSuck, shown below -
At 3:19 AM, I sent 'Mr. Rambler' the following -
Eight days later. after not hearing another peep, suddenly 'Mr. Rambler' is back, defecating in my InBox yet again. I received the following at 1:17 AM on 9 December -
As you can see above, my earlier estimation of 'Mr. Rambler' was correct, as he was suddenly admitting to his own laziness. I really have no idea what he intended to prove by pasting all of the WhoIs data for this domain into his e-mail, but you will see I have opted to redact my personal phone number and the personal e-mail address I used for the domain registration. The information is easily available to anyone who chooses to seek it out, but I prefer not to load my own assassin's gun, as you might well expect. I am protecting 'Mr. Rambler's' true name, so please excuse me for redacting my own contact information.
At 7:25 AM, on 9 December, I replied to 'Mr. Rambler' with the following message -
OK, this is where the cheese gets binding, so if you've bothered to read in this far, please go back and identify where I have suggested, implied, hinted at, alluded to or otherwise put forward the idea that Mr. Johnson might be "basically stupid". As you will see, I never said anything about whether or not he might be stupid. I will say both he and his message composition are painful as boils on my backside, but at no time did I ever suggest he might be 'basically stupid".
After sending this message, I logged into the server and set up a filter on 'Mr. Rambler's' e-mail address.
And just so you can read the entire fail message in the Actions pane, here is a second screenshot -
As you can see, no expletives and no slurs were used. After setting up this filter, I returned to my e-mail client, where I had to chuckle, as I read this -
But this is another place where the cheese will bind. Roll back up a couple of images and you will see where I asked 'Mr. Rambler' what he had "done to be welcomed." And then, bear in mind that he allegedly had a Gmail autoresponder failing that message to him, which means he would never have seen it.
The afternoon of 10 December, I received an e-mail from one of this forum's sponsors. Again, I am redacting the name of the sponsor, as well as 'Mr. Rambler's' true surname. Whilst he might get off on outing people online, I am the better person, so I will not reveal his true identity.
Yes, I am aware that his compositional skills are lacking, but try to read through and grasp what he is getting at.
Yesterday afternoon, 13 December, I received a Personal Conversation from another forum sponsor. Once again, I have redacted the sponsor's identity, as well as 'Mr. Rambler's' surname -
Point #1 - I should imagine this site will rank low in "Customer Service", since I am not here to provide customer service. I am here to keep the forums alive and healthy, as well as to enjoy discussions on the site, the same as anyone else.
Point #2 - I sent 'Mr. Rambler' no tirades of any kind, particularly not one identifying him as "basically stupid". I am an 'if the shoe fits' kind of guy, so if 'Mr. Rambler' has some sort of complex he needs to work out, he needs to own it, rather than trying to hang it around my neck. His first, outright lie.
Point #3 - Do you see any "name calling [SIC]" messages I sent him, let alone several of them? His second, outright lie.
Point #4 - At no time did I ask what 'Mr. Rambler' had done to deserve joining our forum. I did, however, ask what he had done to deserve being welcomed, but remember, that was the message 'Mr. Rambler' bounced back to me on an autoresponder.
Not only did he see my message, but he also mis-quoted it. His third, outright lie.
Point #5 - 'Mr. Rambler' attached images to the messages he sent to the forum sponsors, one of which answers pretty much all the questions anyone might have about him. That particular screenshot was from another individual's flashlight, sailboat, home nursing forum (do they still talk about T-Buckets over there???), which clearly indicates he is another of dickofficer's plants. I had that sorted when I saw his last falsehood, specifically that I don't even own a T-Bucket. His fourth, outright lie.
The last and final point is that 'Mr. Rambler' is clearly trying to put an end to the business relationships I have enjoyed with our forum sponsors. Yes, his lies, his falsehoods and his untruths all constitute libel and defamation of my good name. But when he is trying to chase away forum sponsors, he is attempting to create a breach and an infringement on some long-standing business agreements. The legal term for this type of infringement is tortious interference, and 'Mr. Rambler' meets all the prerequisites.
If anyone is interested in the list of the individuals who have been banned from this site, they are as follows (spam registrations are not included) -
tbucketmaster, Money Maker, steel buckets, Layosek, dickofficer, GeezerGearGrinder, george123, HotRodDaddy62, HopFrog, leg show T, PrimoRod, rustfather, Tahoe, tfeverfred and TXGasser.
That accounts for fifteen usernames, but I want to point out that those usernames represent only eleven, different individuals. Eleven bans in seven years? That number shows just how well this forum works, no matter what the wannabe naysayers want to pretend.
I have turned over to my attorneys both digital and printed copies of all communication exchanged between 'Mr. Rambler' and myself. I have also turned over both digital and printed copies of all communications between 'Mr. Rambler' and our forum sponsors. 'Mr. Rambler's' untrue and defamatory statements, as well as 'Mr. Rambler's' decision to infringe upon my business relationships are all actionable, exposing him to both compensatory and punitive damages.
Mike's #1 Rule for Survival - always retain the meanest, nastiest and most hateful attorney you can find. Retainers can often get expensive, but the cow always comes home.
And now, you have had a chance to see all the fame and glory a Web site owner can receive.
I try to stick to my motto of "Illegitimi non carborundum," but there are times when doing something like watching my freezer defrost certainly sound more enjoyable.
Tune in next week, for more of the soap opera known as How The Rambler Rusts, to see if a certain someone presses forward with stepping on his own tender vegetation.
