Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Sorry for rant

To those who saw the dead bream thread, sorry about that. I looked back over it and came off looking like an arrogant bully. I looked silly saying he would not show and did. However why would I risk my reputation saying these things if not true? Have I ever went off on another "pro"? I’m now a marked man before just a little guy up in north GA he did not even remember talking to. I'm passionate about what I do and have many reasons for saying the things I did. Ken is right nothing to gain from the banter. I hopefully learned from that. That was not my intent. I hope most of you know I normally do not talk bad about folks.

It hit me when I saw I had went to 4 stars. I do not care about these things and 4 is right anyway I’m not a 5 star that is for others with more expertise and through post. I did see I have been ranked 49 times. Thanks for taking the time that is more than anyone including Bill Cody. It made me realize a few folks went and put me down for 1 or so. This is why I wanted to say sorry I can see folks did not like my actions. I want to defend my actions.

What did Ken do? He came and was very polite. I expected that. However he said publicly he wanted to help LL but in private tried to sell them an aerator when they already had a diffuser system. He gave chance to provide catalog, it worked I already see folks signing up. You should it is a marketing genius.

He then did not provide one straight answer for my 2 straight questions. I tried to get away from the banter portion. He refused to answer except to say every situation is different. Have you ever seen me say this, you are probably tried of hearing it. Something like well it all depends on your goals, but I suggest 1,000 bg/acre…. I wonder why he did not provide answer I will let you figure that out. I believe every other “pro” on here can provide you some numbers. He said it is in the catalog, ok I wanted him to post it here for others to comment.

The catalog says “3,000 to 5,000 bream per acre and be catching handsized bream in three to four months” page 7 volume 21. I can go on but will not just wanted to give example of what he says so others can comment.

ML, I apologize to you that he left the thread. You took the time to email him. Maybe if you talk to him again start another thread on GA Giant and tell him I will not post there. He can provide good info on these since he is the main guy responsible for starting hybrid bream. He is also very knowledgeable with fish disease so email about that if you like.

Anyway I have to run to stock fish to replace the one’s I killed. Real professional there, huh.

Greg, I've always considered you a 6 star guy. You have always given your opinions in a helpful way whether you stood to make a buck out of the deal or not. I don't know much about stars. I've always considered it kinda petty to reduce a persons stars when there was a difference of opinion.

By now, the regular posters (junkies) know who is real. You are. Not much way to fool this crowd.

Greg -- all forum members know you are honest and love what you do. I see you are back to 5 stars, which actually is important because newbies need to know that your experience can be trusted. As for the rest of this, well, I know that I at times wish I could take back some words or some text that I typed. You're human?

Greg :

Dave D. stated my feelings well. Well said DD and thank you. ewest

Greg we are all passionate about ponds thats why we bother to post here. Thanks for all the help you have given me in the past.

Part of the fun of a pond is there is no one way to do it we are all continuing to learn.

Greg-
Though we've never met, I certainly trust you and value your opinion. When I was receiving some conflicting information from several different pond consultants, you took the time to discuss everything with me and give me some good, solid advice -- knowing you weren't going to make a penny for your time (though I am going to order some feeders from you soon). As they say in Oklahoma, "Preciate-ya"...
Dan

Hey Greg,
This is Debra with the Hatchery! Ken is out of the office this afternoon, but I wanted to accept your apology on behalf of him and offer our own to you. Sometimes those of us who have been around the block a few times tend to get in "pissing" (can I say that?) matches with one another, when truth be told we should be focused on the issues that are at hand. People who are not well educated in biology, or botany, or anything relevant to the topics posted here call upon us for help, not to referee us :p . Same thing goes for people like me when it comes to mechanical stuff. No clue what-so-ever! Therefore I have to rely on professionals in this particular field. I certainly don't want to witness pety arguing between two professionals when I need to get my DVD to start recording again (did that make sense?) Anyway, I hope you get my drift. As Dave stated before we are only human. This means we are also only mammals, and therefore at times we display only the lower levels of our mammalian brain. I'm rambling again.
Let's all agree to disagree on certain subjects. Your website and qualifications are impressive (did you take ethics ), but Ken's are also (remember I am paid to say that ) Joking aside we all have our specialties. I will take your advice and open a thread on the giants. Maybe one day we can agree on something and possibly put some projects together.

Thanks for your time,

Deb

Greg, I feel the same as the previous posters. You spend a lot of time here helping people out. If you have clients that come to you after bieng dissapointed by this Ken guy then there's something wrong. Sounds to me that there is some miscomunication going on. Maybe he assumes the client knows what to do with his years of learning and is a little vague and the client assumes he is a crook. And then I assume that I can see what's going on from just a few posts. See where I am going with this? Assuming makes an ASS outa U and ME.
Anyway, I appreciate all the people coming here to discuss my passion with me. Maybe you didn't run Ken off and we can share some of his experience too.

Greg Grimes,

Even though I agree with you that the stars aren't the most important thing, I have given you five because you thoroughly deserve it. Not only have you contributed invaluable advice for free to many of us but you've done so at really busy times of year for you.

For what it's worth, I'd rather have a pro like you on the forum who's willing to show some of his passion, in the form of an argument or two, than one who's so afraid to step on a toe that he holds back.

I think you're great.

Bruce Condello

I still give you a five.......

Wow I did not expect this response. Thank you so much for the comments. I will post some questions for Ken or Debara on another thread at some point. This was nice to hear but not what made my day.

Dave, Mark and others will like this, after 5 years of attempts a few surgeries lots of crying and heart break, and several $1,000's my wife found out she was pregnant yesterday. I'm still nervous b/c it is early but can not keep the grin off my face. I could never figure out to post pics here of my fish but I will find a way to post of pic of the baby you better believe that. Thanks to those of knew about this and kept it in their prayers.

Honey, we're gonna need a bigger boat! Congratulations Greg!

That's great Greg

Wonderful news, Greg. Parenthood will change your lives in ways you cannot yet fathom. It is the hardest and most important thing you will ever do, and worth every second of effort.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!! Let's see.... today is Sept.22, nine months will be in June. Will have no effect on your duck hunting.......

Hey this is Deb! I was walking out the door to go off for the weekend (beachside wedding [not me]) when something told me to check in on the sight. I do not know you personally, and we kinda got off on the wrong start, but I want to tell you how wonderful that news is. On this subject I can speak as an expert. I also had multiple surgeries for endometriosis and ovarian cysts (11 to be exact)over a three year period. We joked that the doctor just needed to put in a zipper to make surgery easier. Anyway I ended up spending over $12K on In-Vitro in Jacksonville, Fl, produced 13 eggs, fertilized 9, placed three in, and now have a beautiful 2 1/2 year old. You never know love until you have a child. Getting excited is ok (don't fall off Cloud 9 :p ) In reality we aren't the ones who control these things, but we can help the higher powers out. Love and support you wife (you might have just thought she was moody before), keep her shots up (if that is the route you all went), and love each other no matter what happens. Then look back on all of this in a year and realize how drastically your priorities change.
From the heart I wish your family Good Luck, a safe journey, and a happy ending.
If you ever want to discuss what she is going through, or if she needs someone to rant to, I have been there and will help (or just listen) all I can. We won't even bring up a single fish !

Deb

I have been enlightened by this thread. Seems like something I could have gotten involved in had I realized what was unfolding, but it's probably best that I did not.

Without directing a comment directly to anyone I must say that ultimately pond owners should be responsible for what they put in their ponds. After all there is a wealth of information on the internet and other sources, free of charge, to inform pond owners. As consumers we should all read the fine print and do ample research before spending big $.

For those who are big salesmen there is big money to be made in almost any sales endeavor, it is just a shame to see it in this industry.

In the long run we can hope that those honest businessmen see their future become brighter and more rewarding. The good sleep should add years to one's life.

"caveat piscator" (let the fisherman beware)

How about :

"Caveat pisca emptor" or let the fish buyer beware

The axiom or principle in commerce that the buyer alone is responsible for assessing the quality of a purchase before buying.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[From Latin caveat mptor, let the buyer beware : caveat, third person sing. present subjunctive of cavre, to beware + mptor, buyer.]

ewest

Greg,

Having been the subject of your wrath on more than one occasion in the recent past, (I guess being called a smart ass would qualify as wrath ), I'm glad to see you modify your approach toward Ken.

Ken's product will be fairly evaluated by most Forum members on the relative merits (or otherwise) according to what he has to say. Not hearing his views would be wrong, in my opinion. By listening, carefully, to all sides, each of us can make a more informed decision that best suits our situation.

Congrats on your family situation...those are the things that really count in life.

For all you Latin buffs....and don't be afraid to admit it....

You know you learned about the Caveat Emptor from the Brady Bunch.

I see something that I had missed in reading past comments by Greg. I incorrectly gauged them as an "All knowning attitude", I did concede, to myself, that he probably was extremely knowledgable.
It really is passion that drives the man. The attitude is a time constrained, going in to many directions, yet with still time to respond genuine desire to make the world right. Thanks Greg.

Sunil :

Nope learned them from Black's Law Dictionary along with terms like corpus delicti (the body upon which the crime has been committed) , persona non grata (person not acceptable to the host, ie. not welcome ) and non compos mentis (not sound of mind) all of which one might have encountered on TV. ewest

ps : congrats Greg you have engaged in a life changing event that will both test and fulfill every fiber of your body and soul.

Rad -- great post- very insightful on human nature. It is wise to look for and assume the good (positive) in a person first and often before we start to look for the negative ,least we soon realize that we may be looking in a mirror.

All right ewest, I hadn't made you for the Juris Doctrate, although I did allude to it about your grass carp votes (which was more of a joking comment, not at all intended to make light of your profession. I had no idea what your profession was at the time).

Greg can be trusted to do what he thinks is right. This cannot be said about everyone else.

Particularly Bobby, who lied and tried to cover it up when he got his new suit dirty.

That, Sunil, is what I learned from The Brady Bunch.