GOD is saying goodbye
No, not 'the big man upstairs', but GuruOfDos.
As many of you know, my life took a bit of a sudden turn a couple of months back. Those familiar with the goings on in the Guru household and the tales of woe with transatlantic law, immigration, new fatherhood and sudden dramatic loss thereof will know that the last couple of months have been pretty fraught with grief for me and to be honest I just want to write off the last four years of my life.
To all my 'friends' on TR and especially those with whom I have shared some energetic banter and repartee over the last couple of years and who have given valued opinion and advice I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
The likes of Maxwell, Jules, Maecuff, Admin@l3eetcentral, DC Guy, Colin Luck and the other regular crowd (you all know who you are, so sorry If I missed your name out) have provided me with an avenue of escape from the trials of life and as for the humour and general fun on the site well what can I say?!!
Oz mate, you have been a particular inspiration and source of thoughts and ideas and have helped me enormously over the months. For those who think Oz is a bit of an a**hole and just likes to stir things, I would like to set the record straight on one point:
Oz (not his real name...and I will not divulge it to anyone!) did me the biggest favour of all time recently. I needed to obtain some hard to find parts which were only available in Canada and the supplier would not ship overseas. Oz stepped in and kindly purchased the necessary items for me using his own credit card and had them shipped to him in Vancouver. He then shelled out again to ship the items to me here in the UK. Not a vast amount as computer parts go, but certainly the price of a couple of good nights out on the beer!
His mother (who lives in England) facilitated the transfer of a slack handfull of Canadian dollars back to Oz and my little project was completed with no hitches.
That is the sort of generosity of spirit and willingness to help out a fellow man that seems to be lacking in many people in todays dog-eat-dog world, but our Oz proved to me that real kindness does still exist. He and I have shared a lot of conversation in email behind the scenes and I'm sure will continue to do so and I look forward to the next time he's in the UK for a visit because I'm sure a few beers will be necked!
I have taken a few kicks in the nuts recently...I lost a wife and 'daughter' and right now am in the process of re-evaluating my entire life. Things are changing in my job and the company I work for has been 'merged' with a rival outfit. Things at the office are in state of flux and most of the workforce have been made redundant. I am still here, but the future is a little uncertain.
I have had to make some life-changing decisions and my biggest and toughest is to give up my own computer business and get out of the IT game completely apart from whatever computer related duties are part of my 'new' job.
My new life will see me taking off my 'computer hat' after work every day and not putting it back on until I get to the office every morning. I want to spend 'quality time' with my two other children from my first marriage and build a new life with a very special lady I met recently and her two children. This means that computers, email and other such encumberances that used to distract me from the rigours of life and provide an 'escape' outside work time will now be confined to the office. Because I am now facing a two hour drive each way to and from work every day, rather than my old ten minute dash, my own personal time has been reduced accordingly and I am not prepared to compromise my new life by intruding on what 'personal' and 'family' time I have.
To that end folks, I am saying goodbye to you all and to Tech Republic. The Guru is hanging up his 'Tecchie' hat, and 'retiring' to pastures new.
I want to make a real go of my new found happiness with the new special person in my life (and yes, we DID meet via the computer!), and that means that other interests outside of family and job are going to have to be put on hold indefinitely.
I wish you all the very best of success in all your endeavours. I wish you all health and happiness and thank you all once more for your valued humour, advice and friendship. Those who have my email address and wish to keep in touch, please do so and for the next few days, I can be contacted via the Peer Directory.
It's been fun, people, and I shall miss this but I have to put myself and Gen and the children first now and get the rest of my life straight and settled.
Thanks again folks for everything...I shall watch this thread for a few days, and then the Guru will be 'no more'.
Goodbye. The Guru is dead...but the happy memories live on!
Mike :-)