Jules -
I am very surprised at your appollogetic post . I think that it was a very
good gesture that you put forth in an effort to smooth things over .
Some may say that you did it to save customers , and others may say that
you honestly meant it . I don't think that I will worry about splitting
hairs with you or anyone about the "why" , but what I will do is say thank
you for doing it .
I know that in the past , that you have not had the highest opinion of me ,
and likewise , I haven't had the highest of you . As I have said before ,
that was due to how I percieved your attitude . It had absolutely nothing
at all to do with your products , the quality of them , the price of them ,
or MPI itself . I think that if you have a product that it is worth money ,
that it is worth what people are willing to pay for it . If people are
willing to pay $x for a TBI , than I would probably sell them for that too
. I know that words had been exchanged by the both of us either as snide
remarks on the DML or thru private e-mail , but I am always willing to give
anyone the benefit of the doubt . I give you the benefit of the doubt on
this matter . I know that it doesn't make a hill of beans if I or any one
person or even the whole DML says "ok" or "thanks" or whatever , but just
so you know , I appreciate your appollogy .
I don't want you to think that I am saying that you had to appologize . I
fully expected you to never do that or to ever change your attitude . With
this , I see that even if you (Jules) feel that you are completely right
and that you have nothing to say "I'm sorry" about , that you really bit
the bullet and said it anyway .
It does take a big person to say he is sorry . Some will say it in a
round-about way , but to actually say "I am sorry" is hard for most people .
I think that with your appology that you may have changed at least a few
people's minds about you and about MPI .
I think you have changed mine just a bit , and that is a good thing .
I know I'm rambling now , but thanks Jules .
I have gained about 100% more respect for you and MPI than I had yesterday .
>
>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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Jack Hilton
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:10:44 EDT