Let me start off with...
Thank you all.
You are an incredibly, good and decent group of people, both personally and professionally. I could not have ever hoped for a better group of professionals to be associated with, or industry to have been blessed to be a part of.
I can't tell you how much the relationships I've forged w/many of you previous to the accident, who started this humbling out pouring of compassion mean to me. To those of you that i have met after the accident through private messages, e-mail to an fro with, and those of you who called me after the accident personally to offer support, and sent gifts, i am truly grateful.
You all give myself and others watching this drama unfold from a distance, quite a bar to live up to. I hope that the acts of generosity and compassion occurring, here on the "Bad Boys" bulletin board, will be picked up and reported upon by the "mainstream" sector of the industry. We need to make sure as many BDCC's, like myself, and many of you, know that there is a place for them right here on Mikey's Board. We can't do that if the only mention MB gets in the trade magazines is to be refereed to as, "Internet carpet cleaning forums", MB is so much more than that.
Over and over again, I read on other boards, that MB is a bunch of "potty mouths", and you had better have a thick skin if you log on here...BULLSHIT! (okay, maybe some of it's true, get over it!) What you do need here is to be an ethical, honest, competent, and apparently compassionate, person, period. If you are not all of the above, be prepared, you WILL be called out. Here on MB if you are a spade be prepared to be called a spade, perhaps that is where the thick skin warning comes in, if you cant handle that, i believe you introspection time ahead of you, so good luck. Any time I ever felt like I posted something that I was sure would be taken as aggressive, or combative, i have been shocked, not once has anyone on here, ''beat me up" over it as i presumed they would. In fact quite the opposite occurs, without fail the responses have been quite favorable, many times other guys will post that they agree completely, or had a similar experience, be it w/vendors, equipment, or chemicals. That type of criticism cannot always be expressed in conventional commercialized forums, yet thankfully, it is here on MB, in fact solely because of other industry/commercially supported forums, so to them a sincere thank you, as you paved the highway for this. MB, sort of came along as bulldozer, to clear the road of the obstacle left by suppliers, distributors, and special interest groups prohibiting truly open and honest discussions.
Special thanx to my dear friend, and very deserving "man of the year" Jim Pemberton, for inviting me to the world of Internet carpet cleaner forums, yes, believe it or not MB was my first, I was a bb virgin you might say. Before last October, i knew maybe 10-12 other CC's, with maybe 5 or 6 i would've considered friends. Fast forward less than 12 months, 1500+ known associates, a 100 or so CC's I've met personally from attending MF, and about 50 i would consider friends, about a dozen or so that i would say without reservation, i can trust my life with. Yes that is a very bold statement, also very true, as evident by recent events. If my accident had happened to me last year at this time, before MB, i shudder to think. Luckily, I don't have to worry about that, thanks to the biggest pain in the ass in the industry, Darren Lumpkin, sorry, i meant, Mikey P, and i say that with great respect.
I promise you all who have, and will help me through this, i will do all i can to validate the decision you made. It will be paid forward... GUARANTEED!
From the heart, Thank you-
Mike P, Jim P, Rob Lyon, Steve "Dusty" Roberts, Ken Snow, Ron Lippold, Jeremy Sweetland , Lisa & Greenie, Odin, Derek, Stevie B, Larry (meAT) Cappitoni, Tony Wheelwrite, Richard Chavez, Danny Strickland, Steve in Omaha, Waldo, Steve Toburen, and the powers that be of Jon-Don.
God bless you all.
