Briefly flirted with the idea of ignoring Rome due to some political posts years ago, but ultimately found him way too amusing-- and occasionally quite helpful. And yes, he was encouraging to new members, I am sorry to see him go.
Stefan annoys the hell out of me sometimes, particularly when he attacks other members or seems to believe that factory-manufactured ebikes are always safer than custom built ones. (My own belief is that while this is usually true, not always-- not even close.) It is sort of a philosophical thing; I think large corporations are generally, though not always, making our lives more dangerous, not less, and the distractions of of bikes with too much e-junk are a severe safety hazard. It's the kind of hazard that is almost impossible to measure, and the problem of 'unmeasurable hazard' is a larger issue that's pervasive throughout many commercial endeavors.
But dear God, I'd never ban him-- love his ride reports, complete with photos of desserts, and he does get technical stuff right that I couldn't even begin to figure out on my own. Hope we get to have a beer someday if I every make it over there, or vice versa! A lot of my friends annoy the hell out of me in similar ways. I'm also from a Czech family, so of course I am predisposed favorably to our ancestral neighbors! And FWIW, I edit my posts constantly, more because I'm verbose or have issues uploading photos than because I worry about offending people, though I have gone back and toned down a few posts occasionally. Not sure a high edit rate indicates much.
Let's hope Rome was not in an injury, accident, or had some other kind of trouble. I think he mentioned having a DUI at one point-- and there but for the grace of you-know-who I would go, etc. Been there, almost did that. When sh*t gets real, we should be one for all and all for one.
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