Bernie!!! its great to see you again. (so to speak).
…. yes this is truly a special bunch of people; and I remember when the gpwa started falling apart (from my POV) that I thought I’d never again enjoy the kind of people that had gathered there.
Now I can say that it was just a preliminary to greater things because the core of the other reassembled here and then we added some great people; many whom have now climbed to moderator status.
Nobody can say what the future holds, but regardless of that; this has been one of the great experiences of my life (and you’re talking to somebody that has ridden an ice berg down a raging river which along the way broke into 4 separate pieces – one for each person who was riding the bigger piece – just to mention one of many rather unique experiences I’ve been a part)…
its true 
I’ve seen the best come out of people that you’d likely have thought would never come thru for you – this story deserves to be told too – I was basically stranded in florida for a month or so: I’d went down there to travel with the guys that race cars on all the tracks down there, we went all around, including hitting daytona – this was paid for by a guy who was going to give me a shot in a movie he’d written about racing – and the long and short of it was that he was an idiot and I finally one day just got tired of his incredible indecision (I could write a book on that) and told him to stop and let me out.
So there I was in in Jacksonville Florida with just enough money to buy a room for the night; and then I spent the next two weeks having just enough money sent to me via western union from friends back at home who were selling my stuff daily to get this cash – until they’d had the chance to sell something worth enough money for me to be able to fly home.
that took about 2 weeks, during which time I became friends with this black guy (not to play the racial card or anything, but it gives a much clearer picture of the situation : I’m white – in case you didn’t notice) whom was giving me a ride to the western union store everyday in return for using my cash to go invest in something likely illegal but lucrative; he’d show back up later that day with my cash and a little extra.
anyway, come the final day when I finally had enough to fly home, I’d bought my plane ticket and had $20 left to spare. I had to take a bus to get within walking distance of the airport (which was in Daytona); and I wasn’t sure how far it would be from the bus stop to the airport once I got there. Here in KC its about 20 miles. So I needed the $20 badly to insure I didn’t have to walk far to reach the plane on time.
Well I’d loaned him the $20 to go do his thing; and come time to leave, he hadn’t shown back up. A girlfriend I’d made while staying there had come to take me to the bus depot so I left feeling kinda stupid, after all the guy was obviously an addict of some kind; so what did I expect? he didn’t really even know me from the next guy…
minutes before boarding the bus, I heard a call as I was walking to get on it. It was my friend who had drove all the way to the bus station to catch me; knowing he could have kept the money and never been the worse for it. This was, btw, someone who was likely homeless, as I let him stay in my hotel room most the time I was “trapped” there. – (many nights I stayed with the girlfriend – but she had a daughter so I had to leave before she got up every morning, in case you’re wondering why I didn’t just stay at her place)
Note that I have friends who I’ve known for more than 20 years that wouldn’t likely have went to that much trouble over $20. Whether they’d given their word or not:
anyway, aside from that experience, the most heartwarming I have had has been with the wonderful people that are found here.
And I wouldn’t bother to type such a long story if you guys/gals weren’t worth the comparison. (which might not carry much weight with some; but with me it was huge – perhaps you had to have spent the time I did wondering if you’d ever get home).