HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Dave,

I think they finally removed me as a moderator of the Yahoo Benelli Group, I have no problem with that. Somebody else will be approving or disapproving new members, and moderating spam -- that's basically what a moderator does. It's an easy job, and maybe the NEW moderator will love those homely DeTomaso ("Honda-Engined") Benellis more than I do!

Where I come from, everyone has the right to their opinions and tastes. These folks really hate me because I don't love their lumps, and no amount of attacks or "threats of exclusion/ostracism" can make me change my mind. Maybe these guys didn't realize, until they saw my blog anyhow, that I can fight back, too. You know, I'm not perfect by any means, but I do have pretty good taste, generally speaking. I live in a beautiful house, have a beautiful girlfriend, and own a bunch of cool, beautiful bikes. What, me worry?

Did I ever tell you how I got tossed out of a BMW rider's group? It's a long story, but boiled down, some guy wanted to sell his motorcycle repair business and wasn't successful, so he decided to run a "lottery." You bought tickets and the winner won the business! I thought about it for about 5 minutes and realized that the whole thing could easily be fixed, he could have already picked out a silent partner who was "guaranteed to win" and that everyone who bought tickets could just be getting ripped off.

I suggested this possibility to the group and everyone crucified me, how dare I suggest that there was a possibility that the whole thing wasn't honest, what the hell was wrong with me, blah blah blah. This is where I first saw the "Pack Wolf" mentality at work -- I was like a deer getting attacked by a bunch of starving rabid jackals, hell-bent on having my hide!

Anyway, a few weeks later the Attorney General of the State of New Mexico wrote the guy a letter and told him he'd better shut down the lottery because there was no means of oversight and no way to guarantee that the whole thing would be above-board. In other words, exactly what I said; I was perfectly correct in my analysis. Not only that, but the owner of the business has since done very well (must be the high gas prices, because he's not so great), and so in retrospect he was glad the lottery thing didn't happen. In other words, he actually owes me a debt of gratitude! -- but he's too lunk-headed to understand that.

Like an artist who is penniless and unrecognized in his lifetime, sometimes vindication comes too late, but it always comes to the pure of heart and steady of spirit. As I said, I never felt stupid until I joined these motorcycle groups! Of course, I join because I like the BIKES -- it's pretty hard to like most of the members, given my penchant for expressing myself honestly, as a free-thinking individualist. We know what happens to people who do that -- Golgatha!

Shucks, I'll just have to keep slogging along with my nine ugly old pre-DeTomaso Benellis, and struggle to make sense of things with my pathetic 188 IQ and second-rate Ivy League Education!!!

And you know, in the final analysis, there's only one possible response when people think you're an asshole -- "Fuck 'Em!"

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

SS