OT - I'm not Dori, But I AM Asking

[Madalot]

Those people that insist on arguing and fussing and fighting in every thread, take a time out. You've lost sight of what this forum is supposed to be about and it's ruining it for everyone else and I'm ASKING you to please take a step back.

I think we're dealing with a few that are doing it on purpose to ruin this forum and a few others that have just gotten caught up in it.

Please stop. Please, before there's nothing left of this forum but a few stickies at the top of the page.

[carbonman]

Madalot, last week was 7yrs for me.....on cpap, ~20,420 hrs,
and Cpaptalk.com. I don't see much changing. It just rolls along.
It's a pattern that repeats over and over.
The current rumble will eventually work itself out.
The truths will be known. ..................or not.
The preceived "winners" and preceived "losers" will
stage their parades and lick their wounds.
In a few months, all will be lost.....and forgotten,
in the digital memory of the cpaptalk servers.
..........only to be replaced by another "spat".
....and life will go on.

Exhausted by the fatigue,
brain dead from hypoxia,
I arrive at the sleep lab admittance desk.
"How may I help you?"
"I need some sleep."

As a refugee, staggering from the trenchs of OSA....
desperate to know that I am not alone and
to know what is this OSA and what is cpap?.......
I stumble onto cpaptalk.com.

Just from my first reading, I realize, I'm not alone.
This alone is worth the effort.

Then the compassion, the education and sometimes....
the tough love. Slowly, methodically, systematically
each obstacle is dealt with. The immediate problems
are fixed. Each night, a new fix is processed,
evaluated and then, accepted or rejected.
In a few weeks, familiarty is born, habits begin to form,
relief and recovery are realized.

As the knowledge base is built, the options begin to materialize.
I make an educated move from strapping and gluing to a FFM.
More help, more knowledge, I methodically refine the quest for the perfect mask.
My knowledge of using the software and ability to analyse the results,
allows me to adjust my pressure for optimal results.
In a few months, I have a mask that fits, leaks under control,
have self-titrated to a pressure that brings my
numbers to levels of recovery I never thought possible.

With this miracle of rebirth, I am overcome w/gratitude.
My need to share this increbible recovery,
help others to realize this same miracle,
and share this amazing knowledge of the mysteries of cpap,
drive me to want to respond to every post and
answer every question.

As my forum involvment continues, I begin to sound redundant.
I continually repeat myself, because all the newbie questions
are the same ones I asked. Others many times, respond w/the
same information so there is no need for me to repeat
the same information. I find myself becoming more and more
an observer.

I see my excitment to post and answer questions replaced by others
that have discovered the same miracle that I had
and are just as excited to help/share those same feelings and knowledge.
As each day brings new refugees, the process renews itself
and the flow of knowledge repeats.

Along the way, friends are made.
A cyber bond is formed to those that helped in the beginning
and w/those I was able to help.
The chatter, give and take, the odd questions,
the discussions to learn, the jockularity, the spats....
all build a feeling of family.
A place to come and put your feet up.
A place where the education never stops,
where there is always a reminder of where I came from....
that in turn, a reminder of the blessing of cpap,
always something to bring a chuckle,
a place to see your reflection and grow......
a place to observe the ebb and flow of life.

I don't really know where my place at cpaptalk is now.
I just know that for the reasons listed above,
I feel a connection here that continues to bring me back.

It truly is an amazing life experience.

[OkyDoky]

Carbonman,
I really appreciate your literary abilities, insight, and compassion. You will always have a place here with your beautiful written words.

[Madalot]

Carbonman,
I really appreciate your literary abilities, insight, and compassion. You will always have a place here with your beautiful written words.

I agree, and thank you Carbonman. I've been here over 5 years and I agree with you. I've just never seen it quite THIS bad in the years that I have been here. But I could be wrong.

[chunkyfrog]

Please, sit on the lilypad with me and let's light up a peace pipe.
There is this pretty green plant that makes me feel so mellow.
Peace, please.

[Julie]

And Maddy - you're so right!

[Goofproof]

Maybe it's the heat wave. It was over ninety here yesterday, and today will be the same.
Hot and sticky does not help my temperament. The pond dried up. Mud gets hot too.
Ooooh! A fly just landed on my watermelon. A condiment!

Is it still condiment, if it's still walking, maybe you just need gl asses, it could be a seed.

A group of clergy, went out to eat, they ordered watermelon for desert. They were served watermelon that was spiked, by mistake. Managemen t realized the mistake, and asked the server if it caused a problem.

The server said: Not that he could see, they appeared to be stuffing the seeds into their pockets. Jim

[Goofproof]

I think part of the the problem is the times, the human race is getting dumber by the minute, skins are getting thinner l while we are getting fatter.

I don't know what started this "Political Correct" crap. My take Socialism & Liberals teaching our young in colleges, and a corrupt news media and government.

It's working, the agenda is to keep the US stirred up, to keep us from looking at real problems while they continue to convert our once great country into socalism, and total downfall.

I know I'm nuts, or maybe I just have my head out of the sand, time will tell, but 90% of the population won't even see it coming, I have to give them credit they are succeeding.

Feel free to kick over my soap box, the rope will catch me! Jim

[Sir NoddinOff]

I hope you are right Carbonman...time will tell.

[chunkyfrog]

Peace.

[postitnote]

I think part of the the problem is the times, the human race is getting dumber by the minute, skins are getting thinner l while we are getting fatter.

I don't know what started this "Political Correct" crap. My take Socialism & Liberals teaching our young in colleges, and a corrupt news media and government.

It's working, the agenda is to keep the US stirred up, to keep us from looking at real problems while they continue to convert our once great country into socalism, and total downfall.

I know I'm nuts, or maybe I just have my head out of the sand, time will tell, but 90% of the population won't even see it coming, I have to give them credit they are succeeding.

Feel free to kick over my soap box, the rope will catch me! Jim

I don't agree 100% with what you said but I "listened" and thought about it. You are as much entitled to your opinion as I am. Most of the time you say things generically which is cool but sometimes you do go off on a specific person. In the real world, I never attack people verbally. I wasn't raised that way. I was neither bullied at school nor did I bully. I'm a people watcher and admit sitting back and wondering why kids would make such fools of themselves picking on other kids. The teachers would stop it which was their job not mine!

There are a group of people here who I will guess were bullied in school and possibly are in real life still. You can tell by the way they bully others. This happened long before I joined here! We all know who they are.

I came here to ask a question. I stayed because 2 very generous people gave me cpap machines and a few more sent me new masks, all for free! How loving and giving those people are! When Enchanter came around all I wanted to do was help him the way someone did me. I didn't need a back-up machine so I sent him one of the machines I was given and a mask and hose too. I never could get the card reader to work and I figured E could use it till he got his script. I was paying it forward. I gave away all the rest of the masks I received except for the 2 I use and then recently someone else sent me another one.

Look, I know E can be a bit overwhelming at times! That's when you walk away. Jim, I am not directing this at you, this is in general. When someone gets on our last nerve you leave. In real life, if you have kids at home you send them to their room. We can't do that so it's best just to leave the thread. I can't believe the way I have acted here because I have been pushed to do so! How badly has E been beat up by some people here? Saying he's fake, stupid, mentally unstable, etc. Would any of us say that to his face? Is calling him a meth head because someone who can't control his warped sense of humor says it and then PR repeats it knowing it's a lie/joke but doesn't care because PR likes to talk smack about everyone (his so called friends included). It's not right to act this way!

I walked away from all of my closest friends from the last 30+ years because of childish crap. They all got divorced and took their husbands through the wringer and then moved to the "big city" to have a life. A few walked away from their children and grandchildren too. We were like most friends, venting about kids and husbands through the years. I couldn't take it anymore when they all were trying so hard to get me to leave my husband too! Why? Because they said so? That's like PR PM'ing me and telling me who I should and shouldn't talk to on this forum! Why? Because he said so? I don't think so! You all can defend him as much as you want. I've heard from more than a few people who despise him but have given up trying to stop his BS. Take away Google and he knows nothing! I tried to be nice to him even after he started being rude to me in threads. He does this to everyone. He is the downfall of this place. He encourages and incites people.

Finally act like adults! Treat people the way you want to be treated. While I don't do this in real life, if you come at me here, I'm coming right back at you! Maybe I should have kicked the asses of those kids that bullied other kids in my school. They would have never seen me coming!

[Goofproof]

The "Golden Rule", is how I try to operate, unless I am having a really bad day, I try!

But as far as "Turn the Other Cheek", Slap me more than once, expect a response, in spades.

Dealt with bullies in school and at work, I learned that ignoring them doesn't work, but they do respect pain. I no longer walk on the other side of the street, or go out of my way, to get home. Going crazy on them works, they respect that, it's almost always a cure.

One thing the Army taught me, that they didn't learn, never get in a fight without the intent to win it. Jim

One thing we sometimes get in trouble with, "Don't argue with a Fool", while they are unarmed, they can't be reasoned with! They have the Home Front advantage.

A lot of people post here just to bait responses, even Avatars show that! We are all guilty of excepting a good baiting, we know better but we just can't resist.

[Madalot]

Look, I know E can be a bit overwhelming at times! That's when you walk away.

Yes. And that's exactly what I did. I've said a lot of things, IN MY HEAD, about Enchanter and his responses, but I've STOPPED posting my thoughts.

So in essence, walk away I did.

AND....

The same logic can, and should, be used when someone posts something mean or stupid. WALK AWAY.

Because the idiots can only argue and cause a ruckus if you let them.

[postitnote]

A lot of people post here just to bait responses, even Avatars show that! We are all guilty of excepting a good baiting, we know better but we just can't resist.

Well said!

The same logic can, and should, be used when someone posts something mean or stupid. WALK AWAY.

Because the idiots can only argue and cause a ruckus if you let them.

I agree Madalot. The problem I have faced myself is that walking away means defeat here because a certain person will just never stop! I am having a hard time letting that person "think" he got the better of me when he doesn't. It's hard to not defend one's self Some stuff I walk away from. That foe list which now has me as having 27 people who hate me doesn't bother me in the least bit. I was never on it to begin with so no one voted for me. See I get Morbius' warped sense of humor. A bit childish but I dished it back to him and even got a good laugh from it. When Morbius called E a meth head I knew he was kidding but PR had to repeat it and then add me to it too. I can't sit by and let him get away with that. He has put down people with disabilities including his former roomie. I feel he needs to be put in his place and then maybe most of the fighting that goes on here will end. But like the teachers in grade school, the Goodmans will ultimately be the ones to stop him if they opt too.

[ChicagoGranny]

In a way the US debt is like money saved, most of it owed to itself. Greece owes money to others. Not on the same category or even close.

You are badly wrong and you are merely parroting a viewpoint that you found on a liberal website that has blind faith in big government and does not understand basic government financing.

As of June 30, 2015:

Debt held by the public $13.08 trillion of which $6.2 trillion is held be foreign investors.

If you think that $13 trillion is "like money saved, most of it owed to itself", watch what happens if the Feds fail to pay any of their interest or principal obligations for just one month - the country will be thrown into chaos worse than the Civil War and the Great Depression combined.

What you may be confused about is

Intragovernmental holdings of $5.07 trillion - June, 2015

which is on top of the $13 trillion debt held by the public.

Now we have not even begun to talk about future entitlement program funding which is a much bigger problem.