Thankful for the ferret

[Cormanus]

Thanks, Guth, for those generous words and thanks to you and the Ferret for providing the most visited CB1100 forum in the English-speaking world.

[Rocky_imp]

I've only been a member here since last April and it's easily one of the best (if not the best) forums I belong to - or check in on.
I enjoy the civility, good humor and willingness to help by the members.
I can only echo most of the comments already stated and also say thanks to Guth and ferret for their time and trouble to make this the great place that it is

[Headbanger02_imp]

Rubber Lever End Thingies aka....RLET's

[the Ferret]

Wow guys. Thanks. I actually last posted about midnight a day and a half ago, and have avoided the computer altogether since then. Have been considering getting off the computer all together. It's 5:30 AM as I start to type this and I have been lying in bed for the last hour and a half, wide awake, mulling over things. Trying to decide if I was just going to resign from my moderation post, permanently turn off the computer and just go about my life, or get over it and get on with life. Wasn't sure what to expect when I logged on this morning.

I have taken criticism from some members on the UK forum (current members of this forum) regarding my moderating job on this, the U.S. forum. They accused me of over moderating, showing favoritism to some while coming down on others, running off lots of good members and ruling the roost here to feed my ego. Believe me nothing is further from the truth. I moderate everyone the same. There is no favoritism played here (I have had to moderate some of our best most active members including some who have supported me above) and just what does an ego get you here? No benefit I can see. I should be thicker skinned, but sometimes reading disparaging things said about you is hurtful. Especially if it seems to be a theme, a theme which has been repeated for almost a half a year over there.

We decided early on not to be obscenity friendly here, and have installed software to monitor that. If I see an obscenity that gets thru, I change it. It doesn't change the meaning of what is being said, it just raises the conversation from being street talk to conversation that can be accepted by general society. Heck, darn and butt are the words I use the most when moderating, but I've also used pee and poop as substitutes, and a few others as well. It's not hard to figure out what any of those words were substitutes for. The problem as I see it is, if you let one obscenity thru and moderate another, then as I was told in one PM, "well this person used an obscenity and you let them, why can't I use mine?" I've also been told in another pm "I saw someone else cuss, so I thought it was ok". So I try and get them all. I miss one occasionally, but it's not because I am favoring that person, it's because there are a lot of posts here, and sometimes after being gone for a ride for 3 or 4 hours, I'll come back and have to read a bunch to catch up and frankly I just miss a post here and there. Someone over there said I moderated them using "heck" in place of "he*l'" (which sounds like something I would certainly do) but let "crack wh*re" thru for someone else. Believe me, I have not seen that term used here and if I had, I would have changed it ASAP. I may put it in search and see if I can find where it was used, but I have not seen it. Why in the world would that come up in conversation here???? And why, knowing how I moderate, would someone think that I would let that stand? That makes no sense at all.

Trust me the last thing I want to do is offend someone by over moderating ( I'd prefer not to have to moderate anybody) or to run anyone off from this great forum. That has NEVER been my intention. We are very casual here, very laid back, and only expect people to live by a few basic simple rules..keep it mostly CB 1100 or motorcycle related, no brand bashing, no name calling, no obscenities, no dirty jokes, no dirty pictures and play nice with others. These rules just makes it nicer for everyone. Yet some people believe they shouldn't have to live by the same rules as everyone else. I have suggested a few of those people find another place to play, but I have never banned anyone. Including those who are giving me all the verbal grief on the UK forum. As much as Foolardi and Calamari Chris tried my patience, I never even banned THEM! Foolardi made the mistake of getting in Guth's face and that caused his demise. I believe he is the only person outright banned here since the forum began. Calmari Chris is still free to post here, but I don't think he wants to anymore (thank goodness), I think Tortuga has been blocked from posting for awhile but was never banned. That's it, in almost 2 years. 1 ban and 1 block. I don't know, hardly seems heavy handed to me. Considering we are dealing with a crowd nearing 2,000 individuals I think it shows incredible restraint and tolerance, and actually a mostly well behaved membership.

At any rate, I apologize for the drama, it is my personal burden to bear and I don't want it disrupting what we have going here. A great, very active, mostly drama free forum, made up up really good people, centered around a great motorcycle. I truly appreciate all of your support. For the most part moderating here is a piece of cake. Sometimes...it can try your patience ... and sometimes it's a pain in the butt.(could have used another word but then I'd have had to moderate myself... Which I have done btw). I have logged out of the UK forum and deleted them from my favorites list (I have been a member of that forum longer than a member of this forum actually) but truthfully, and sadly, they only have about 4 or 5 members that post, 3 of those disgruntled members from this forum, one active thread (which has nothing to do with the CB 1100) and they hardly talk ever about the CB 1100 anyway. Most of the talk centers around this forum and complaining about me, so that is no longer a part of my life. Let them whine, and complain all they want, I am just not going to read it or let it bother me anymore.

I like it here, I like you guys, and I will remain as moderator as long as you want me to.( but only as long as you want me to). I was asked to volunteer for this position (which I begrudgingly did), the pay is not all that great (I donate my time), and the hours are long. The only reward is acceptance and appreciation by you, the members.If per chance the time comes when you want a new face in this position, I'll understand, and gladly step down and hand the reins to someone else. It will have been an honor to have served.

Thanks to Guth for providing us this forum, and thanks for his unwavering support. Once again I apologize for the drama. Didn't mean for it to disrupt things here. Lets put this behind us and move on. Anyone wanting to discuss any further, please, PM me.

Ferret

[Stratman_imp]

Hi Ferret, I have been visiting this site almost daily. I truly enjoy the atmosphere and comraderie. I believe your efforts have a lot to do with that atmosphere. When or if you leave, it surely would be a detriment to what is a great site.

I looked at the UK site. It was not nearly as active. Most posts were on daily check-in thread. I did see posts complaining about this forum. Seeing those, I was somewhat baffled. To me standing on the outside your hand is very transparent. Î did not realize the burden you had taken on before. I do want you to know that we appreciate your efforts and stand with you.

[emptysea]

I only vaguely knew of the UK Forum until a post mentioning it appeared in this forum.
[Incidentally, I did not realize until all this sh..errr..poop about Ferret came up that this was the "U.S." forum. It seems much more the "international" forum or perhaps, with a rearrangement of punctuation, the "Us" forum.]
I visited the UK forum and the post in the "most recent post" section was a bashing of Ferret which compelled me to respond. You see, I've met Ferret. He has more motorcycling experience and less ego connected with that fact than any rider I know. He's a teetotaling, mild-mannered and even-tempered man who has a passion for this sport and is incredibly articulate in sharing that passion with us. He has taken on the task of moderator here and has been consistent in articulating and enforcing the VERY FEW rules that exist here. That those who complain that he is less than consistent are, more often than not, the ones who have repeatedly posted objectionable content here is telling, I think. Telling about the veracity of the complaints and about the character of the complainers.

It is my hope that Guth or Ferret remove or lock this thread after a sufficient amount of time has elapsed to allow for more comments about Ferret. I think that he needs to know that we like the work he is doing here and the we value his contributions to our own lives on two wheels, but after we have convinced him of this, I think the thread itself becomes exactly the kind of off-topic conversation that he and Guth have tried to prevent.

Thanks Mickey. Your contributions to this forum have made me a better motorcyclist.

[Firstfour_imp]

Thanks for the good work, Ferret. It is appreciated.

[CIP57_imp]

I read the post in the UK forum yesterday. The only reason it bothers you so much is because your a GOOD PERSON!!! People become big shots when they have a keyboard in front of them, just because they say it doesn't make it true. There is no need to defend yourself or take it to heart although thats easier said than done. There have been a few jerks on the site and I think we have pretty much weeded them out.

Merry Christmas to you and your Family.

[Guth_imp]

I started this thread with a post that was intended to:

1.) First and foremost acknowledge how much I truly appreciate the ferret and all that he does for the forum.
2.) Let anyone (however few there might be) who has an issue with the way things are handled around here know that I support the ferret and that I'm the one responsible for some of the things that have ruffled some feathers (the word filter for example).
3.) Recognize the vast majority here for their thoughtful participation.

Obviously in my frustration over something that took place on another forum I transformed those few simple declarations into the verbose rambling that kicked off this thread (sorry about that). I'm going to go ahead and lock this one down now so that we can all get back to the regularly scheduled programming.

I'll finish by saying thanks to all for the supportive words, no one is more deserving of them than the ferret.