>>I'm afraid it's the worst sort of news. Jim passed away., I don't know the exact date, but the apartment building superintendent thinks it was cancer.
>>
>>Sorry to be the harbinger of bad news. I know we are all going to miss his crusty ways.
>>
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>Well, crap. I really had a bad feeling about this and was hoping I was wrong.
>
>You're right, he could be crusty. He also sent me some very thoughtful, compassionate private messages when I was going through some stuff. Maybe he just didn't want anyone to know he had a side that wasn't crusty ;--(
>
>So who is supposed to rail about corporate conspiracies now? Who is supposed to serve fine whines at any time, as he put it?
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>This sure takes the zip out of the afternoon, doesn't it? Crap.
>
>Thank you for looking into it and letting us know. Did the super have anything more to say?

Not really, but then, I didn't spend a lot of time with him. He told me that Jim passed away and all I could think to ask was if he knew what it was. He said he thought cancer. At that point, I guess I was a bit disconcerted and I just couldn't think of anything else to talk to him about. Nothing else seemed very important.