>>>>>I just printed out your message and will read it every day. I praised you and gave you encouragement when you were a nobody. It shows how far I have fallen.
>>>>>
>>>>>Mike....anyone who knows Mike Cole knows he doesn't need defending....but regardless, he has never, ever been a "nobody".
>>>>>
>>>>>I remember when he started posting .NET questions several years ago - his questions were always very well-phrased, and the person giving him an answer (Bonnie, myself, later Viv, whoever) always knew that Mike "got" the answer. A forum can have the smartest technical solution providers on the planet, but doesn't have any value unless someone starts off an exchange with a good question. He's also been able to turn around and help others out.
>>>>>
>>>>>Mike Cole has always been a decent guy up here - and you've really pushed the limits with him...implying he was racist, implying he's a "nobody". Fortunately, he's a bright enough fellow to consider the source.
>>>>
>>>>I was completely out of line.
>>>>
>>>>Normally I do not make New Year's resolutions. This year I need to make a couple. One is to stop posting like a drunken idiot. Not like, as. The other is to start answering tech questions again. It was before your time but I really was an MVP on merit. And what chattering I did was in fun, like the Merry Punster Club.
>>>
>>>Both good resolutions, however, neither should be your primary resolution.....there's a more pressing change you may want to focus on...Seriously, I'm posting this publicly because the private posts folks have been sending you (for years now) are not having any effect. Neither have your emergency situations which should have been the wake-up calls. While you are sober, go back and read all of your messages for the previous year. Then consider asking a relative to come stay with your daughter while you attend a structured inpatient rehab with a good follow-up outpatient program.
>>>
>>>Don't bother with the poor-mouth bit -- you've posted too many times where the money goes in multiple iphones, hdtv, books, special development tools, considering attending conventions, etc...
>>
>>I appreciate your concern and always have Many others here as well and I bet you all wonder why you waste your time.
>>
>>It's a disease. That's not making excuses for myself. I am not asking anyone to feel sorry for me. It's a DISEASE. Would you say judgmental things to someone with diabetes?
>>
>>People do get over it, or should I say learn to live with it. That's why I go to AA, even though I do not share some of the principles. It shows me it can be done. Would it make any sense to spend so much time there if I didn't have hope left?
>>
>>I have not given up on myself. Have come close sometimes. But I know I have a good mind and a big heart. Do you contribute money after every natural disaster? I do. Most recently I gave money to a cause solicited by Bill Kuhn, which was probably the first thing I agreed with him about since Bobby Orr. I took an unpaid week from work after Hurricane Katrina and went to Houston. Did you do that? I took one drink the entire week, a margarita at a (sensational) Mexican restaurant near the black Baptist church where we were all staying. One afternoon I shot baskets for a couple of hours in the church gym with a kid who had lost his whole family. I showed him the proper way to shoot a jump shot. It's not squared up to the basket, BTW. That's what unknowledgeable coaches almost everywhere teach their players. Took him out of his horrifying thoughts for a couple of hours. Please, don't lecture me. I will emerge. At least I realize how bad off I am.
>
>Kevin said basically what I would have written.
>
>I responded publicly because as stated above, private messages have done no good, and you post publicly while drunk. Mike, I wish you all the best and success in conquering your demons, but I'm finished reading angry alcohol-induced posts.

I will be back when I have been sober for a week. That doesn't sound like much but it will be a start.