+1

Glad to hear you and the wife are ok. Keep up the good fight.

One day at a time.

I think it took courage to say what you did & I wish you well. The person who posted before me said it best " One day at a time". I knew BILL and all of his friends all to well myself, so don't feel all alone!

Mike, I know that there are a lot of people who are just happy that you are alive. Yes, there are people who are angry, but this is a great community here, and even those who were angry are undoubtedly glad to see that you are still alive and that you are committed to staying clean.

I for one, am very happy that you have returned.

As caloso said--"One day at a time".

East Hill

Mike,
I've been clean now for more than 13 years but your story was my story. Whether it be drugs or alcohol or prescription drugs, we do things that normal people may not understand. However I do. Sure it may not make things right but you have to get right with yourself and if it's by posting this to the CV group so be it. It's "one day at a time"

Mike Hendricks

That applies to all of us here...rafters full of bikes...geez.

Always enjoyed the repartee between you and the BBM; one of the fun things about the Classic and Vintage forum. Hope you continue to post here, whether or not Velographics flies again.

Glad you're back! Hang in there and keep keep fighting! I've still got the Raleigh decals you made, waiting for the day it gets a respray -- which was supposed to have happened long ago... ;-)

Much metta to you!

+1. But the bikes are probably cheaper.

I've been fortunate my addictions, like bikes and drawing, seem to be relatively small-time in terms of life wreckage.

Anyhoo, welcome back, I always felt you were a plus on the board. Know there are some bad feelings, can't tell you what to do, you'll have to work stuff out with the po'ed folks yourself. However, you were one of the earlier posters here, and it's always been remarkable to me what a good community this is.

Mike,

I'm happy to see you back. I wish you all the best as you move forward with this next phase in your life.

Bob

Wow, what to say? It takes real guts to apologize. I commend you and have forgiven you.
I am sure you are aware of how bad Meth is for you. Telling you how it affects your long term health will not change any of your desire for the crap. I want to encourage you to stay sober, so maybe this will help, it is an analogy that I have used to explain why drugs are not a victimless crime.
There is a tranquil pond which a stone has just been thrown into. The impact, and the water is pushed in all directions away from the stone as it sinks. Your decision to use drugs is that stone and the waves that emanate affect all those around you. Not just the first ring in the water but every ripple that keeps expanding. Keep in mind that you only pushed the first wave but the rings in the pond keep expanding. Your wife and children and how they deal with the rest of their lives and then how the deal with their spouses and your grand children etc, are a ring as are the people you interact with on a daily basis. Then how your behavior affected them expands as they interact with others. Here in C&V is a good example especially “old alfie’s” experience. How he deals with people and the person he was helping were effected. The list of things that your drug use has caused may or may not rise to the level of a “crime” as put down by the legislature of your state, but I am sure that your previous decisions have hurt a lot of people. So I encourage you to stay sober and make good decisions. I know that the world is not a tranquil pond but is like a pond caught in an driving hail storm, but if your actions are one of the hail stones, still you have moved the world –it’s just a mater of how you want to move it, good or bad.

Good to know you are back, I will pray for you and your family

Likewise, welcome back. Make your amends in whatever way those angry at you will allow. To those who won't allow, you'll just have to deal with it. What prayers I do say have you in mind.

I can't add much more to all the posts preceding, but just to add my voice: it took courage to do what you've done and I hope I will have some of that when it's called for, too. (There but by the grace, etc.) I'm grateful that most of the folks in this forum are as gracious and forgiving as they appear to be toward you, I also hope for that when I transgress, as I almost surely will.
Welcome back, stay clean, stay free.

Mike:

Thank you for having the courage to post that. I have had to watch drugs destroy a family that is very close to me over the last five years and I pray that you caught yourself in time to save your life and your marriage.

Stay strong, keep seeking help, and though you may stumble on your road to sobriety, please always pick yourself back up and keep heading for the light.

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to this post. My intent was only to provide a long overdue explanation to the community. I wasn’t looking for any support or forgiveness but true to form you’ve offered both, for which I’m deeply grateful.

I see I may have created the impression that I intended to revive Velographic. That isn’t the case. I see other capable folks have stepped up to address the demand and I wish them every success; they couldn’t ask for better clientele.

My reference to the Velographic library at the top of the post was the germ of an idea I’ve been mulling over the past week. The library consists of over two gigabytes of data – output-ready vector art and reference images, covering almost 200 bicycle and component marques. I want to make it available online as a downloadable resource for the vintage bike community. It’ll require a little organization, and as anyone who visited my website can testify, my web building skills are, well… limited. If you all think this is a worthwhile undertaking, I’m ready to move forward with it.

Mike, I've got a few software projects going right now, but once they get completed and still want help getting the Velographics website updated to host all those vector images, I'll be happy to help design something quick and dirty to allow for the organization and download of them all. (if that wasn't a run-on sentence, I don't know what is...)

how about the isaac file browser? easy peasy. although i'm not sure illy files will thumbnail. hrmm.

https://isaac3.sourceforge.net/


there's also yousendit.com if you wanted to make all those lovely vectors available in one shot. i, for one, would be tickled by such a thing.

no vector love.

this makes pumpy sad.

Mike has transfered his vector library over to decal artist/printer and forum member Jrrestore.

Thanks Mike!! Your contributions here are noted and greatly appreciated.

Mike, I have seen you posting here and there. I hope all is still going well for you! Glad to see you back.

Thanks, guys.

I feel pretty good about JR taking over the decal library. Now the artwork and production are under one roof, as they should be.

JR is a class act. You should see the decals he is going to make for my wifes mixte. Very understated but I think very effective

There you go; now bury him with orders like you did me.

I wondered what happened, I thought you had too much class to just stiff people without an explanation. I'm glad you're back, I just wish Velographics was too.
The very best to you. I think of you whenever I see the beautiful graphics on my old Schwinns.