well....

[mushrat]

Apparently the Admin is back and doesn't like how the place has been run while he was ignoring it.
------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------
Mathazar 11:30

[Cicada]

wow    

[Brad]

So you are angry the admin has been working on a new set of forums for us? One that I'm assuming has an edit button? One that loads faster? I'd rather him suddenly show interest than see the forums continue as they are now.What's the worst Mathazar and Useless can do? Adrock is obviously aware of the situation, and I'm sure if he feels there is a problem he'll do whatever needs to be done. I guess what I'm thinking is ...don't get pissed off and leave like I threatened to do. Think about a life without the Hookah Forum?! Things can change around here, but we'll always have the same member base and we'll always have stuff to discuss. I honestly don't think having Mathazar around is going to change much. Just a few more reviews, more capitilized "AMAZINGS!!" and a few more 's.

[Seandoo]

you still with us, mush?

[kitefanatic]

All I can say is..is all this bickering really worth it? I had three best friends in high school. One is dead, one is pissed at me for something that I didn't even do (and told the other one). Now neither of them have been willing to talk to me for over ten years. How very childish and sad.

[Seandoo]

yeah...I chose the wrong few months to be absent to really know what's
going on...but I know that neither Mushrat nor MR. Bubble has been
running a "dictatorship". It may seem that way to those who don't agree
with what they do and don't do, but I don't find myself controlled with
what to wear, how to march, and who to kill at the whim of another.
Clearly wrong choice of words...
I'm not taking sides, because I have no idea what happened. If the
administrator of the website isn't active enough to see what's going on
(which is perfectly fine, nobody needs to commit to anything they don't
want to...) all the time, moderators are a good idea. Their priviliges
can be discussed debated and chosen, but that's between then and the
administrator. Don't want them to be able to ban? Don't give the
privilige. It is good to have moderators in the absence of an active
admin, hence the term "moderators", just to keep things going well and
in line (structured).
Do what you want to the website, it's your place to do so. But
yeah...if no mods, we need some kind of active authority figure. One or
the other...


$.0001


no bloodshed, please. political debates are impossible, regardless of
what they are about. everybody here has something to contribute to the
topic of smoking hookah, keep it that way. we need everybody.

[Jonny Haze]

[quote name='Seandoo']no bloodshed, please. political debates are impossible, regardless of what they are about. everybody here has something to contribute to the topic of smoking hookah, keep it that way. we need everybody.[/quote]
I, for one, would hate to see Mush go.

[Donkeema]

[quote name='Jonny Haze']I, for one, would hate to see Mush go.[/quote]yeah me too.mushrat is one of the 'founding fathers' of this forum and has been here for years alongside Mr Bubble.

[mushrat]

ok..one last thing sinc ei see useless dreamer is going to be reinstated. a partial transcript of a chat some of you may remember.
 4r80n 13:52
golden rule: never fight over the internet
c4r80n 13:52
it accomplishes nothing
Guest 13:52
yes they he was scared of me and banned me like a !@#!tard
mushrat 13:53
please note im not a mod so *I* cant do anything to anyone

[Mathazar]

Yeah,  despite our disagreements,  I do respect mushrat and would NOT like to see him go.

[xgracegalex]

Mushrat can't go!!!

[MR Bubble]

Hey, it's all good. There are a few folks that have been around (and active) around the time I was bummed about not finding massell here, after my return from a year in Egypt. I was just surfing around, typing "hookah, shisha, massell, Nakhla" into the search window of the big-3(MSN, Google, Dogpile) when I came across this motley crew. Made some really wonderful acquaintances overseas and locally. Hell, one boy lived down, close to New Orleans, but haven't heard from him in almost two years. I actually was able to talk to one fellow (cypress) on the phone right after Hurricane Rita. I guess he left after a 2nd or third go-round of the post-Richard drama. Yea, thanks a lot. A select couple or three here are enough to ruin a snake's sex drive.
So, the internal debate begins. Will I go? Will I stay? When will I go? How strong is the commitment? Funny thing is, that you all don't know me too well. I liked it like that. About 3/4 of you guys and gals, I could never relate to. Sure, I'm always the yakking, joking one. I had to do it. I still enjoy doing it because it does my soul good. I came along here on the home stretch of a twenty year military career. I got so sick of always being accountable for other people's actions. Just hanging on, being the good non-com. Go there: I went there. Do this: I did that. Sacrifice the first  year of your baby girl's life: Absolutely and thank you. Good, Now leave your boy at 2 months old: Rodger that! Look straight ahead at the wall: counting bricks. Freeze now: Feet are numb. Roast man: Love the tan! Increase pucker factor to 5 p.s.i: I'm digesting my underwear. Meet new people: Love it when I find em' dead! Well, how about some more? Okay, I (state your name) do so solemnly swear to.......
Crap, no wonder I didn't get hitched until I was 32. And the MRS really has to have a lot of patience with me. Thanks goes to her for understanding.
Just to sit down and be a normal guy, I loved this forum. I can be a kid here. I can be the guy who makes you think I wear my under-bumpies on my head. What fun! I used to love hanging around the young crowd in other countries. I learned so much. They reminded me of how I would be if only I chose a different course. Sometimes with envy, and sometimes with disgust.
No, MR Bubble is, by nature, the guy who wants to play around. But MR Bubble is also the guy who didn't get to so much, by default. Thanks for letting me play. Wanted to have fun. Had fun.
But now, the dilemma. You see, no matter how light hearted I try to be, there is always some things that still spark me off, and I know they alway will. Here ya go (without emoticons):
Personal accountability: Be accountable for your actions. If you burn the bridge, then don't look back at it smoldering. There isn't enough personal accountability these days. People blow their wife's head off, then whine to the judge and jury that I was hearing voices and need to be let off the hook. Kids choose the military now, and are dismissed before they are finished with boot camp. "I can't handle people being mean to me, so I am going to cut my wrist." My answer? Either smoke a cigarette, regroup and get back in there, or cut your flippin wrist! Just do it over the commode. Here's my favorite: I know I teamed up with those slamming everyone on your forum, but i did it out of love and I want to be loved back for it. I don't think it's right to turn myself into the cold wind and go, so I will wait till there are enough new people, and convince them that I'm really not a bad guy after all. Geez, after all, the forum I left you all for (after I slammed you) just isn't so busy and exciting now. Now, I'll show up with the new guys, who will be convinced I'm some kind of super-human, ninja hookah warrior. That'll impress them. And I promise to take my meds every day."
Humility: We ALL need to practice a certain amount of this. Sometimes the joke is on you. Learn to love it. But Noooo! We just need to be the center of attention, and when someone disagrees with us, we will vomit all over them in a fit of rage. "What I say and think is the only way, and you are a cretin." Some folks have success handed down to them, while others need to carve it for themselves. For those of us in need of carving our own, How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie was, and still is a standard, that should be required reading.
Loyalty: I work with a bunch of people who are a mixed lot. I work for a defense contractor where total commitment and loyalty should be #1 priority. Too bad it isn't. A mixed lot, as I said, for less than half of us are old retired military farts, and the rest make up either no defense experience or some. It's interesting to note that you can pick out the ones who fall into the "some experience" category. They seem to have an Ax to grind with the soldiers we help. And we do help them by providing 24 hour service for them. They are the first to tell the soldier (the customer) "No, I won't help you out because I can't get paid for the extra two minutes past quitting time. It's your problem." The retired guys acknowledge what the military has done for them (after we put aside memories of all the crap we had to wade through for years) and are willing to help them out. It's an honor to. We may be of different ages, but we are brothers, even if you do piss me off at times. Some of us are loyal. The site manager is the least popular person out there. Well, all bosses are, but he is a retired guy and I would never do, or say anything to go against him. Why? I'm loyal to him for the generous offer he made me after I retired. He didn't need to hire me, but I do have a reputation in my field. Still, He has always treated me good and I am loyal until he tries to harm me or my family. What a freakin' concept! Some on this forum need to understand loyalty. Loyalty to certain people, institutions, and concepts keep us hanging on in the worst of times, almost as well as faith. Loyal people usually find others next to THEM when times are rough.
So, how do these concepts tie into what is happening before our eyes? Well, simply put: If you aren't going to be LOYAL to those who have/had a certain amount of respect for you, and assist in trashing the place you spend a lot of your time hovering around in, then just be ACCOUNTABLE for your actions of burning the bridge. And when others (who know your little game) tell you to piss-off and stay gone, just show the HUMILITY that's required to accept it and remain gone on your own little path.
 
So, having said that. It would be so hard to leave you guys and gals. I may be gone for a while. But I will never truly be gone, because I know what it's like to burn bridges. I've burned bridges and have been man enough to not look back at them. I know how it hurts. Been there. I know the commitment required to maintain course. Don't look back. When nothing is there in the middle of the night, fear not, for nobody can see the tears. I'M not ready to burn this bridge.
So, for the punch line: Math. Useless. I've forgiven you a long time ago. You just don't know it. I work funny in this area. I have forgiven most people, but most never know I have. But it doesn't mean I like you. I will burn the hookahforum bridge eventually, but not in a fit of anger. If I were to go out in a fit of anger, it would only leave the impression I had negative feeling for all members. I will go out when I feel we have the harmony here we all deserve. I love the most of you and will not say hurtful things to you.
So, on the lighter side of things, I prefer to have a bit of fun with you all. Most of you, who were here a couple years ago would remember the dumb stuff I used to do for a kick in the pants. However, the past year has been a trying and busy time for me. My whole way of life has been greatly altered and I haven't spent as much time as I once did on the forum. Most nights I just hover over it like a gargoyle, with thoughts of "yesterday" on my brain. Not much fun for anyone. So, this weekend (probably Friday night) I will do one of those old MR Bubble things members used to seek help over. I'm planning to re-do the "OUZO PROJECT." I'll be filling my hookah with ouzo and smoking double apple, and the last of my Abed Alkader licorice from it. I will be doing this "LIVE," meaning I will be updating the post as I smoke, and if MRS Bubble leaves the digi camera here (she's going to AR with the kids this weekend to deliver Girl Scout cookies) I'll be updating with pictures, to show you there is no fear in running your head into a brick wall. You can be the judge if smoking through alcohol has any effect. So, I invite all to view and participate in the thread.
Until then,
MR Bubble

[Seandoo]

ouzo project!!

[Lakemonster]

Oh man..........
I have these 2 cents to throw in.
Most of the time when you purchase a hosting package, you have something called a TOS or Acceptable Use Policy....
In these policies, you find clauses that prohibit the webspace to be used for a threatening or harrassing manner....
Then theres another that prohibits the space to be used to facilitate the delivery of destructive software (worms, virus)..... using the space to research recipients.... even tho the malware was sent via another form of delivery, can still be a violation in the eyes of the hosting ( I had to clear that one up with mine, myself).
The moral of that story is that if that type of action keeps up, this place could be removed from server without notice. That would ruin everyones fun. Hosting services have been known to do that over the slightest things. They will sometimes suspend the site till they can confirm a report......... theres 24hrs worth of downtime right there..... of course this is all different if the site owner actually owns his own server or pays rediculous rates for a private server or some sort of more lenient VPS.
As for this site owner..... its important to keep that in perspective. He is the OWNER. He gets to do with his software and hosting space as he sees fit. WE, on the otherhand, get to use his space as he sees fit, basically for free. So.... when we gripe about how its run... then it pretty much gets taken as "looking the gift horse in the mouth" from the owners standpoint.
I have set up a simple standpoint of my own regarding my webspace.... and sometimes I have to take that "shoe" and put it on my other foot and wear it to my discomfort being a user of a website..... that is:
If others dont like how my site is run, and I cannot or will not go with a users suggestion, and become so unhappy as to start disrupting the site, they can:
1. Find another site more suitable
or
2. Pony up the cash and time and build one themselves that suits them.
Thats just my perspective....... and its not an easy one to stick to from both aspects.. but I try.
On the subject of "Internet Fighting". IMHO... lamest and most worthless use of time on the internet. How many of you signed up here to learn Hookah, or to  share in the hookah smoking community? IF this place had been about "Flaming", would you have signed up?
 
Im off the soapbox

[Sonthert]

Hi.This whole thing is a waste of my time. Oh, Mushy...oh Bubba. I love you guys. Don't go. Maybe I can reach into my sack of tired cliches and worn bromides to convince you...It reminds me of the parable that God is an absentee landlord. I don't really know what to say...I have your guy's back. What I see here is two differing ideas. Some people have an idea that the internet is used for the exchange of information and ideas, maybe downloading hot French enema porn...[why did you say that?][Sorry. Can I continue?][Yeah]The other school of thought is that the computer world is another frontier of power...the power to destroy...using viruses, the power of control, of tricks, of mastery. What I see is the two schools colliding head on, both being intolerant of each other. The computer, for all its splendor, has bent our human understanding of interaction. We use to see things in shades of grey, now we see things in 1/0, yes/no, true/false. This site, for better or worse, can serve both purposes, if we reject the logic of the computer. We will always have people we don't like, there always be adversaries and enemies, we must make allowances and try to get along in a very fast moving world where we are forced to mix with many more people than ever before. We CAN try to exclude one or intimidate the other, but who are we hurting? Is it that only one philosophy can exist, the childish flamers or the intellectual information seekers? We need not like our neighbor, we only need to respect the fact that his philosophy is just as valid as ours. I agree, in substance with you guys, I get tired of it too...I know how you feel...Is that one bit of goodness worth the trouble? You decide. Ignore the bullys and the rakes of the internet, we can all still be good together if we learn to live with one another...That's it. Sorry I couldn't find anything monumentally inspiring to say. I hope you guy's will be reconsider the "This town's not big enough for the two of us" thing. I understand either way.

[Donkeema]

oh sh*t Mr Bubbles post made me want to cry...LITERALLY!and well...ive got your backs to. if you leave im leaving - now if you dont want me to leave then all you have to do is not leave aswell.  (hope that should do the trick)(that is if your going)fahim

[crepenchicha]

i've only been around for a little over a year, posting only recently--intermittently at that.i don't understand most of this drama; frankly, i don't care to.  i like to keep things as relaxed as possible.  i take it as a given that on any forum, this stuff is inevitable, but i feel like maybe it'd be best if we all stood back for a second and considered: hey, it's just the internet.  these are just anonymous strangers.  we might form friendships, we might bicker, or we might just get product reviews, but we really don't have to take anyone else's comments so seriously that it stops us from having a good time.more importantly, this forum is a valuable resource.  it's a great way to share something we're all passionate about and to disseminate knowledge that has made at least my smoking experience immeasurably better.  mush and bubble, your posts alone have been incredibly helpful.  and yeah, they make me giggle a bit, too.  this shouldn't be about feeling obligated or anything, but i just think you should know that your insights and your humor have put a lot of good energy out into the world.  why allow a couple of relatively minor unpleasantries keep you away?i guess for me the bottom line is this: do your frustrations outweigh your enjoyment of this forum and all the goodness that comes with it?  granted, it's not my place to judge for anyone else, but i just don't think them worthy of that status.

[jmexx]

I may have VERY little time to come on the forums and rarely post anymore, but I feel that it'd be a waste to lose mush. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be able to leave, anyways . He loves this place to much.You know my email, mush, if you ever need to chat!Oh by the way, I'll be sending out the samples today (hopefully!)Jon