Moderators: Please do not unlock. I do not want discussion. If it’s a problem, just delete this.

This is my 5th revision. I’m trying to make this as short as possible.

Lately, I’ve been on the forum out of habit as well a sense of obligation tied to my status as a ForumXpert, which I feel is still something I am still not deserving of.

In a word, I’d say “unhappy”. I’ve had some major set-backs this year, but despite the fact that these set-backs have been resolved, the damage they caused is done. Depression can do that. In the world of life sound, it’s high risk. The rewards can be high, but so can cost of issues that crop up. A $10K theft one year screwed my 2008 corporate season. This year, two issues cropped up that looked like they’d darn near destroy me, but have recently been found to be manageable. Other things by people working against me have also caused me a lot of problems as well.

Yoyo has become more than I expected. I wasn’t expecting it to be important for managing my depression. Of course, I don’t treat my depression with drugs either. However, doing events is my drug. It’s a fantastic all natural high, but is then followed by what can sometimes be debilitating lows. The yoyo has helped keep things a bit more in check.

But lately, the forums haven’t brought me any joy. I took a break in January until after CalStates. I was happier away from the forum. I came back, and it felt good for a bit, but that feeling soon changed. There’s nothing wrong with the forum, the only thing that’s wrong is me. I think it’s time for me to simply leave.

If you need to find me, if you can figure out my first name, and the .com version of my user name, you should be able to contact me. However, you might want to get my phone number. I’ll grant the YYE administration permission to give out my number at their discretion, as well as my email. However, Facebook might be one of the best bets.

What does my being gone mean? It means I won’t be on the forum. I’m still doing sound at CalStates and BAC on an ongoing basis. I enjoy it. I’ll be attending Nationals regardless if I’m doing sound at that event or not. My spending habits with YYE probably won’t change much as I’ll continue to buy from here. I tend t buy something once a month, but not always.
I have disabled receiving PM’s from all users and I’ve also unsubscribed from any threads I was subscribed to. I’ve also disabled email notifications. I will hit the chat room at least once a month, but mostly to keep my login attributes current on the IRC server. Extended sessions will be unusual.
I’m not disabling or de-activating my account, so the option to return is there, I guess I could be summoned for urgent issues. However, you’ll somehow have to contact me first!

I am not leaving the community. I have plans.
1: I’m debating on sponsoring a player and forming a competitive team or at least 1 person.
2: I’m trying to get my own skill toy group up and active and meeting more often.
3: I’m trying to be more active in YoLex.
4: I’m working with a local store to carry yoyo’s and will be helping out there regularly. They are very close by.
5: I am debating designing my own yoyo. However, if it’s not going to be something a retailer like YYE would carry, the odds are this project will most likely die before it gets out of the drawing stages. I’m not looking to make a fortune. I want to make a performance oriented yoyo with the features I like and want, but with ideally a retail price of under $70, so it remains affordable to a larger number of players.

Last bits of business:
If I’ve offended, angered or annoyed anyone, I apologize.
If anyone feels they’ve angered, annoyed or offended me, don’t’ sweat it. I’ve probably forgotten all about it anyways.

I ain’t quitting yoyo’ing, so don’t go making offers on the collection. I still have my skill toy group to run, YoLex to attend, and a nearby store to help get yoyos in their inventory.

And with that, I leave you.

Locked.