The Recent Life & Times of Nick (aka Racketboy)

[Limewater]

I know this sounds stupid and corny, but my heart goes out to you. I don't know any details except what you shared, but I know it's rough. I'm glad you have people nearby who care about you. Good luck.

[Hobie-wan]

Don't know what I can add that hasn't already been said, but here's to a speedy and healthy recovery for both of you.

[nickfil]

Don't know what I can add that hasn't already been said, but here's to a speedy and healthy recovery for both of you.

same here- good luck man.

[Inazuma]

Good luck to you, Racketboy. The only piece of advice I have for you is to try to learn from your mistakes and think things out carefully, especially for life changing decisions.

[dsheinem]

Good luck to you, Racketboy. The only piece of advice I have for you is to try to learn from your mistakes and think things out carefully, especially for life changing decisions.

This is not the time and place to get on your anti-marriage horse again. Seriously, you don't need to lecture him about what you see as his "mistakes."

Nick, I think it is great that you have continued to give two shits about the site at all during all this. Kudos to ya. I, too, have been happily married for seven years couldn't imagine going through this kind of thing (especially now that we have a kid).

Also, don't let Moz's or anyone else's bitching about the site's "decline" in quality get to you. It's not the same as it was a year or two ago, perhaps, but it is still one of the best gaming-related forums on the web. A big reason for that is your ability to feature articles/writing that attracts like-minded people and your personality and values guiding the discussion on these forums.

Anything changes when it gets more popular - but change and growth is healthy, even for a forum. We're probably just going through some growing pains, but you've set a good foundation which should bring us through them

[noiseredux]

man I'm sorry.

[Curlypaul]

Sorry to hear that Racket, and thanks for sharing it too. I dont like talking about myself online either.

[bobbynewmarkiii]

I think you're gonna get a lot of these messages... you have my sympathies. I know the community here appreciates your efforts. Best of luck for the future.

BN3

[racketboy]

Good luck to you, Racketboy. The only piece of advice I have for you is to try to learn from your mistakes and think things out carefully, especially for life changing decisions.

This is not the time and place to get on your anti-marriage horse again. Seriously, you don't need to lecture him about what you see as his "mistakes."

Nick, I think it is great that you have continued to give two shits about the site at all during all this. Kudos to ya. I, too, have been happily married for seven years couldn't imagine going through this kind of thing (especially now that we have a kid).

Also, don't let Moz's or anyone else's bitching about the site's "decline" in quality get to you. It's not the same as it was a year or two ago, perhaps, but it is still one of the best gaming-related forums on the web. A big reason for that is your ability to feature articles/writing that attracts like-minded people and your personality and values guiding the discussion on these forums.

Anything changes when it gets more popular - but change and growth is healthy, even for a forum. We're probably just going through some growing pains, but you've set a good foundation which should bring us through them

Thanks -- and I wouldn't say that I haven't made mistakes... although, haven't we all? Although, while I was blaming myself a lot the first month or so, after your head clears up, you realize that we're all human and my wife wasn't without her mistakes either.

At the same time, I don't have any real regrets. Sure I could have handled certain things better (we all could), but in the grand scheme of things, I wouldn't change my life any.

I don't regret getting married. I think my life would have been quite boring without it. My wife helped me become a better person in a number of ways and we had a lot of great times together that I wouldn't trade for anything.

But like I said, it's interesting to think about what is ahead of me. It's also a bit scary (like when you graduate from high school or college -- you're all out on your own. This is actually the first time living by myself for more than a few weeks. After high-school and before marriage, I always had roommates. Once I was done with college, I essentially lived with my then fiance and her family as I got started in California. I had my own apartment for maybe a month before getting married, but that's about it.

I do miss certain things a lot like going out with her and such (actually, we still go out for dinner or shopping like once a week), but I'm doing ok.

Next year I'm planning on taking more vacation time to hit different parts of the country for conventions like Comic Con, PAX, and some retro cons. We'll see what works out...

Thanks for all your support guys! It really does mean a lot and to be honest, it does feel good to get it out.

It took me a while to tell much of anyone at work and still only three people know. (too much gossip goes on around there)

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I'm sorry but it will get better once everything is over with. Anyway, I would really hope that we can get these forums back up to the level they once were. Not that new users are bad, it just comes with struggles. I've been a user for about a year and a half now, and while that definately doesn't make me an older user, it's definately enough time to analyze how the forums changing(/ed). There has definately been a couple times where I've wanted to take a leave of absence but I've stuck to it the last 3 months hoping something would turn out better. I think with Steve's (Mozgus) post, it's come to me that things do need to be cleaned up around here. So Nick, if you manage to clean this forum up I will happily continue using this forum, but if you don't, I can't garuntee I will hang around every day anymore. I will always check up on the site though. I love this place but, as with most things, it takes a lot of work and love to keep it up and running.

On a more helpful point. One big thing that the Macrumors forum does is lock the ability to make threads until 20 posts. That way you could remind people to use the search if they are looking for a specific topic. I think that would help a lot with the repitition and clutter.