----------
> From: Mike Crumley <mcrumley@airmail.net>
> To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
> Subject: Re: DML: Jules
> Date: Thursday, October 22, 1998 11:00 AM
>
> At 05:48 PM 10/21/98 , you wrote:
>
> >Does Jules have a right to his
> >opinion? Yes. Does he have the inalienable right to offend people with
his
> >rhetoric? No!
>
> Yes, he does. I've stayed out of this whole Jules thing and I know he
> hardly needs me to defend him, but this goes beyond that. IMHO, one
problem
> with people today is that too many people think they have some kind of
> *right* to never be offended. This list is like standing on a street
> corner. Eventually you will see or hear something you don't like. Get
used
> to it, deal with it, develop a thick skin, kick the dog, whatever you
need
> to do. But you can't tell someone they can't speak their mind however
they
> want. Personally, I, with my warped sense of humor, find his posts to be
> hilarious. Others, for whatever reason, may not. So what. What ever
> happened to, "I may not agree with you, but I'll defend...your right to
say
> it."? How did we get to, "I'm offended by that, so you can't say it
anymore."?
>
> Rock on, Jules.
>
> "Never look down on someone unless you're helping them up"
> --Jesse Jackson
thanks so much mike... i am flattered... but...
since i started this thing... let me step forward first and extend a
wholesome and hearty apology to each and all on the list... that my message
reached in a negative tone...
I AM SORRY... and I apologize. i will not do it again. i feel an element
of genuine remorse for the unruly me that came out of me the other night.
i do not want to be in the position i currently am with anybody and or any
group. it is counter productive to the group and in this case... imo...
counter productive to the enthusiast movement geared towards the joy and
fun of hot rodding our dodge trucks. if i have offended people and i know
i have... then i probably have not acted in the best interest of the dodge
truck movement...i must atone and this is my attempt.
Jon S/dml could easily have pulled my "plug"... i expected it. but to date
as such i am still connected. this is a tolerant list. i have seen other
HOT issues come and go. for those so inclined that want to accept my
apology feel free to call if you feel the need for some help. please
identify yourself as a dml-r so i can address your needs or "politely" or
suggest a better time to visit... like maybe with a phone in my ear as i
run a mill or am at the work bench.
Mike Guzinski... please... remove the ihatejulespage... if you would be so
kind, sir. i do not think such a spot is in the best interest of those
modifying their dodges. whether or not it would have any impact is not the
issue as you have my attention and it and my feelings about the stir i have
made and my desire to correct it... hopefully will influence you to respond
accordingly. people have maybe had a bad attitude to me but i invited it
in part due to the maybe long hours we put in here and the strain that it
sets us under and the shortness of attitude, etc..
we are not a font or a type face on the monitor screen... but rather
people... touching thru a common medium. some of the best friends in jr hi
and hi school came about thru fights i had on the playground after
school... when the whole gang showed up. i invite us all to come forward
in a growth mode and find reason to find a good reason to lay this issue to
bed... and be friends. this is a tight group... perhaps we can all grow
thru it and the list can become an even richer location for good dodge
talk... perhaps a place where we can all laugh at that crazy jules... but
he finally came to his senses... and well, we all accept that. it took him
a while... but even a thick skull can get the message eventually.
please understand that i can not steer too far from running my business...
but i will try to contribute in a constructive manner and to transfer that
thick skull of mine... into a better location such as, maybe, on to my
epidermis.
some of you may have our 4th edition catalog... the cover has been updated
to say thru '99. but... there are some new marketing plans being presented
for the first time. for some of you you will find that the benefits may be
very attractive and for others it may be a good source of tech. you
newbies... may be interested to know that there is a page of FAQ's. you
may not agree with all that is in the catalog and flyers but it is an
interesting presentation and may stimulate you further in your quest for
performance...
should any of you wish a new catalog/flyer kit i will send it out free, but
am going to ask that you help cover the postage and handling. you can
order it at fastdodge.com... just mention in the comments section
dml@$2.50. should you wish to go snail-mail then a personal check has
always been ok here...i will keep this offer open for the next few weeks...
should there be any takers.
much of my business structure will have to remain the same. we are not
going to meet everybody's buying motives. you are a very smart bunch of
guys and i know many of you want to twist the wrench and get under the
hood. i was once nothing more than a saturday morning drip of oil on the
garage floor... i respect your desire to produce your own gains under your
own power. i have built hot rods all of my life and if there was one thing
i hated it was the price of parts... except for maybe blackjack coated
headers... which were a bargan for sure.
but please understand that many of the advancements that mpi represents
comes from extended packages. this is where i get very deep into the
electronics as these pacakges go together, as an example, bending over
fenders in dodge dealerships in their computers... drbIIIs... service
manuals... TSBs, etc. few really ever get into it this deep. my
professional relationships attract customers that want this level of
service. currently we have over 6 projects going thru mpi inexcess of
$7,500 each with one at about $15K... the latter that included professional
level engineering fees to r&d the first that we know of for an fipk for the
8.0 dodge ram V10... plus a whole bunch of smaller orders. many of these
parts are not inexpensive... but they produce invaluable information that
allows us to further assist our customers. we take dodge truck performance
here at mpi... very seriously.
so you know... my 9302 livernois address is my residence. it has been my
business mailing address since day one as the business may move and i do
not want a change of address issue. i have a 5,000 sq ft shop a block from
my house in a commercial facility. i can walk to work or home for lunch.
my overhead every month is in excess of $10,000.00. in other words if i do
not sell one part... every thirty days i still have to spend over $10K just
to keep my doors open. i have been in the same building for 11 years or
so. i am a mail order company with some walk-in. boxes, peanuts, ups...
etc is much more important to me than a big showroom and a bunch of
salesman trying dance the carpet with walk-ins. we have a showroom with 2
counters and an inventory that runs between $20K and $50,000 rolling over
all the time. i am an accountant, degreed, 51, with 25 years in public and
private accounting. i am a very good wrench. the average workday here for
me is 16-18 hours 6 days a week. after that i go to magum ranch on the
weekend... my horses... red, dallas, molly kate and abe are there...
waiting for apples and me to give them alfalpha. customers in the area
visiting have been invited... the bass are best in the spring with 5
-12-pounders farily easy to catch. that is why you dont see me at any area
meets... i am beat... had enuff for a while and have to get out of here.
mpi has under my ownership been a successful business as i am able to do
100% of the load myself... from sales to accounting to tax returns to
catalogs ( i love page maker ) we have from 1-3 employees full or parttime
depending usually shipping needs and long-term tbi production needs... the
latter employee area being the most (impossible) for me to staff... we have
a large # of specialty sub-contractor and vendor relationships. most of
the mpi in-house production advancements have been designed by myself. i
have a program to qualify potential customers (mostly locally) and get them
into the pipline. with my overhead and work load it is critical that i
waste no time and get the boxes out as nearly all sales are on credit
cards. and many of you know the tbi issue. let me stop here...
i think each of your comments have merit as you have stated them. the
picture can be looked at from both sides of the fence... but rights and
entitlements aside... my story was meant to offend... it did... and i am
apologizing for having taken the liberty.
please understand my thot here... and mike g... if you want one of my
"cheap" (no flame mind you... a reitterance only) i will be happy to send
you one comp on the house.
Jon S: thank you for your 1st amendment tolerance; i recognize that
relative to the list theme and needs i have pushed it a bit too much.
ladies: any out there... sorry for the offense.
please accept my apology... and lets get on with the issues at hand....
the jman...
.>
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