Baditude, Please keep your head up. As others have said things will change for the better. You will be missed so come back soon brother!!!!
Hello fellow ECF members. I couldn't decide where the appropriate place to post this should be, but decided the general vaping discussion would have the highest visabilty. The moderators can move this as they see fit.
It is with deep regret and sadness to report that Baditude will be making a pre-mature retirement from ECF and the vaping community. As some of you may know, about a year ago I lost my job. Over the last year I have struggled to find gainful employment and to make ends meet. Unfortunately, it seems like I have fallen through every crack in the system along the way. My reality is that a 60 year old with a specific and narrow skill set from over 35 years experience has a very limited opportunity to find gainful employment in today's economy and work force. Along with strongly suspected age discrimination, there are other factors involved, too, and I won't bore others with the details -- that's no longer important. It is what it is.
I was not able to make my rent payment this month and I was evicted from my apartment. By the end of this month I will be homeless in my city and be forced to resign my low pay job that was barely paying monthly bills, to go live with my brother who lives hours away. He lives in a very rural area and does not have internet access. I am extremely thankful that I do have family who can take me in, otherwise I hate thinking about where I might have ended up next month.
Long story short, Baditude will not have as much of a presence here in the future as he has in the past, if at all. There are not many on ECF who have over 18000 posts, the majority of which have been focused on educating other vapers. I have left behind my infamous blogs -- E-Cigarette Forum - Baditude - Blogs. There is a small group of veteran leadership and teachers here on ECF -- The Ocelot, Susan~S, Ryedan, AttyPopps, anumber1, CreepyLady, and Rocketpunk to name just a few, who I am sure will carry on as always in my absence. Please give these people the respect and props that they deserve.
There will be no need for anyone to comment to this post. Many have already voiced their appreciation of my efforts in the past. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...sion/493592-baditude-appreciation-thread.html This post is merely to state why you will not be seeing me post in the near future.
Final comments: If not already a member of CASAA, please join up. Our community and our freedom to vape as we know it is at risk to the political/economical/greed of the FDA, Big Pharmacy, and Big Tobacco. Through the hard work and dedication of CASAA, we will at least have a chance to be able to vape as we now know it. If you have a decent vape shop in your area, please support it. Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way.
Hello fellow ECF members. I couldn't decide where the appropriate place to post this should be, but decided the general vaping discussion would have the highest visabilty. The moderators can move this as they see fit.
It is with deep regret and sadness to report that Baditude will be making a pre-mature retirement from ECF and the vaping community. As some of you may know, about a year ago I lost my job. Over the last year I have struggled to find gainful employment and to make ends meet. Unfortunately, it seems like I have fallen through every crack in the system along the way. My reality is that a 60 year old with a specific and narrow skill set from over 35 years experience has a very limited opportunity to find gainful employment in today's economy and work force. Along with strongly suspected age discrimination, there are other factors involved, too, and I won't bore others with the details -- that's no longer important. It is what it is.
I was not able to make my rent payment this month and I was evicted from my apartment. By the end of this month I will be homeless in my city and be forced to resign my low pay job that was barely paying monthly bills, to go live with my brother who lives hours away. He lives in a very rural area and does not have internet access. I am extremely thankful that I do have family who can take me in, otherwise I hate thinking about where I might have ended up next month.
Long story short, Baditude will not have as much of a presence here in the future as he has in the past, if at all. There are not many on ECF who have over 18000 posts, the majority of which have been focused on educating other vapers. I have left behind my infamous blogs -- E-Cigarette Forum - Baditude - Blogs. There is a small group of veteran leadership and teachers here on ECF -- The Ocelot, Susan~S, Ryedan, AttyPopps, anumber1, CreepyLady, and Rocketpunk to name just a few, who I am sure will carry on as always in my absence. Please give these people the respect and props that they deserve.
There will be no need for anyone to comment to this post. Many have already voiced their appreciation of my efforts in the past. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...sion/493592-baditude-appreciation-thread.html This post is merely to state why you will not be seeing me post in the near future.
Final comments: If not already a member of CASAA, please join up. Our community and our freedom to vape as we know it is at risk to the political/economical/greed of the FDA, Big Pharmacy, and Big Tobacco. Through the hard work and dedication of CASAA, we will at least have a chance to be able to vape as we now know it. If you have a decent vape shop in your area, please support it. Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way.
Exactly. I feel so TIRED of what I've been going through the last year. Feeling overwhelmed. Literally accounting for every single dollar, never eating out or going to a movie, eating Ramon noodles and peanut butter sandwiches to save money, those unexpected expenses like car repairs that have to be paid if you want to keep working, even if some other bills don't get paid, etc, etc. Basically not enjoying life. I need that quieting of the mind and healing of the spirit you speak of. A return to my roots.
My daughter has become my best friend and is wise beyond her 19 years. I'll certainly miss her and my son who will be staying behind to live with their mother. We'll stay in touch by phone and we'll visit each other I'm sure. I gave this the old college try and it just wasn't working.
As my daughter says, "God closes one door while He opens another for you". Maybe He's been telling me that this chapter of my story was never going to end, until I turn the page and start the next chapter.
Thanks everyone for the kind words. Some brought a smile to my face, and others brought a tear to my eyes. I'm going to miss this place too.
Add to that: communing with nature, feeding the birds, photography.I'm thinking organic vegetable garden; memoir writing; reading Thoreau...