Thought I'd say goodbye....

[Mitch Cronin]

I'm done folks. I've had enough. I'm tired of the negatives from this. I've shown you all of me... inside and out, good, bad and ugly... I've exposed enough of the raw me to let your barbs make me bleed, and I've seen too many folks let BS, misunderstanding, and misinterpretation make their "friendship" vanish... I'm tired of the "you've disappointed me" PM's....

Maybe I'll see you for real someday and you'll show me the real you?.... maybe not. I've hidden nothing. ...and I know just enough to close the book when I can see the ending will hurt more than the wonder.

Thanks for all the good stuff... and there's been lots of that... Thanks Glen and Judy, for letting this all be.... Thanks Jennifer, for being kind... and I'm sorry I didn't say that right when I tried to.

There you go Gatekeeper. You've got your wish.

Cheers all.... Fly safe. ...hug your kids...

Sincerely,

an opinionated, ugly grunt with a wrench

[Guest]

Don't do it Mitch. Not sure what that whole 'Gatekeeper' stuff was about- and I don't care. Chose not to read it.

But I can tell you that I think you're a top-shelf poster on here. One of the names I will always read with pleasure. Remember that the percentage of posters here is minimal, compared to the lurkers. Your contribution to this board is huge. You'll leave a big hole.

Cheers Mate!

(From a lurker...)

[Robert Perkins]

Mitch,

I gotta agree with Canoehead on this one. As a former moderator on this board (a WAY back in the early days) I understand, I think, some of the issues you are working through, but your insight and contributions to this board will most certainly make it a much less interesting place.

Whatever your final decision, good luck and take care.

Bob Perkins

[GreatSlave]

I'm sorry to hear that you're pulling the pin Mitch. I've always appreciated your honesty and the courage that it takes to wade into what is so often a hostile swamp, all this while using your own name. You'll be missed.

Kevin

[Say Again, Over!]

Awwww!! Come on, Mitch! You can't leave this board anymore than you can stop playing the guitar!!

Seriously: Give up the moderating if it's too much of a burden but stay, my friend.

Felix

[deicer]

Mitch:

Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Otherwise they win.

Keep the faith!

Iceman

[John S.]

People come and people go, that's life.

But when people like Mitch go it usually means to another board somewhere.

So, Mitch: A couple of questions:

1. Where will we find your next postings of amazing space photos?

2. Where will we find your next postings on unique git-tars?

[cp fa]

You can't leave. You can take a break, but then you have to come back. It's not negotiable, I'm not going to back down, and I won't take no for an answer.

Are you working today? There will be cookies. I'll send you a pm with the details.

[J.O.]

What she said. (Maybe you should put some Appleton's in those cookies Jen, jus to help persuade him)

I frankly don't care what they said to you and you shouldn't either Mitch. Whatever is behind that gate isn't much worth keeping IMHO. Losing you would put a serious dent in that which interests me about this forum. I can count on one hand the number of posters on this forum whose writings I never skip, and you're definitely among them.

Jeff

[GDR]

Hey Mitch

Don't do it Buddy. Please. I have no idea what it's about but don't let 'em grind you down.

Cheers

Greg

[RGT]

Sorry to hear this Mitch.

Hope you change your mind some day and come back.

[Seeker]

Mitch;

I'll join the others and agree that your presence will be greatly missed 'round these parts if you follow through and decide to leave us however I won't try to coax or guilt you into staying if your heart isn't in it. I'm still hoping one day to read a witty novel or philosophical guidebook written by M. Cronin and if you chose that as an outlet for your musings rather than the forum it might be a fair trade. In any case, I enjoyed the conversation and good luck.

seeker

[Timothy]

Another voice asking you to stay Mitch. I think you will find that the positives outweigh the negatives by a wide margin. Go for a walk with your dogs, then come in and have an Appletons. There's a lot of good in the world and you don't have to look very far to find it.

Timothy

[dagger]

Come on Mitch. Negotiations are beginning soon(er than you think). It doesn't mean anything to me when JayDee and his crowd calls me a management plant/fink/flunky/toady. You, at least, make a case for your group that is harder to ignore (but far from impossible).

Stay around. Be your passionate and real self. Keep enlightening us about things we should know. And rest assured there aren't a half dozen AEF people I'd tell this to.

[W5]

Hey Mitch, I'll add my voice to the chorus above. Don't do it.

As you know I haven't posted in a long time, but you always have a valuable contribution (even if I don't agree all the time).

[ModerateChop]

Justice ! Does this mean woxof can come back after his unjust banning !?

[J.O.]

Aren't you a bright light.

[Guest]

Mitch,

you and I have known each other for a number of years now,(before the merger) we have not always agreed on topics but at least from my view point, we have always had a respect for each other.

A little word of advice, don't let the small crap get to you, I know it is easier said than done but you are a smart guy and can make that leap with no effort at all. I took a pile of heat after negots to the point where I was like you are right now, ready to tell everyone to pound salt, I stepped back and re-evaluated the situation and am now thinking about going back on negots. Sit back, take some time away and come back with a new view of the whole situation. Don't let your frustration get the better of you.

Rob

[LongTimer V]

I'm done folks. I've had enough. I'm tired of the negatives from this. I've shown you all of me... inside and out, good, bad and ugly... I've exposed enough of the raw me to let your barbs make me bleed, and I've seen too many folks let BS, misunderstanding, and misinterpretation make their "friendship" vanish... I'm tired of the "you've disappointed me" PM's....

Maybe I'll see you for real someday and you'll show me the real you?.... maybe not. I've hidden nothing. ...and I know just enough to close the book when I can see the ending will hurt more than the wonder.

Thanks for all the good stuff... and there's been lots of that... Thanks Glen and Judy, for letting this all be.... Thanks Jennifer, for being kind... and I'm sorry I didn't say that right when I tried to.

There you go Gatekeeper. You've got your wish.

Cheers all.... Fly safe. ...hug your kids...

Sincerely,

an opinionated, ugly grunt with a wrench

[LongTimer V]

Hey Mitch,i don't blame you one bit

You have a conscience,and with that come feelings and emotions

I will always respect the way you handled the brass years ago,and were not afraid to do it LIVE and in person

You have a spine

Nascar is a good place to hang,if you get really bored

Take care of the those birds,and get off those midnights,,,they are a killer

[conehead]

Mitch; you usually add some interesting comments, opinions, ideas to this forum. If you decide to not return, it will be a less interesting place.... so grow some skin, stick around!

[Moon The Loon]

What everyone above with the exception of one said.

It's been a long two days and I was greatly saddened to return and see your post. If there was ever a voice of reason, of moderation on this forum, it is yourself and, as Dagger suggests, a trait you share with only a handful of others "here". Perhaps a hiatus is in order. Only you and yours know what you need to do. With luck, our good fortune, and a little time, I hope you change your mind. The value of this forum will be sadly degraded with your loss.

Would a little bit of Kevlar help?

[Specs]

That I spent the past two nights in Ladner sprawled out nearly horizontal in the Muskoka chair looking for meteors in the night sky, and have recently started Hawking's book is almost all solely due to Mitch's musings and the inspirational ideas that he shared.

I'm not sure what went down here but I feel the loss of somebody I genuinely respected and admired. He will be sorely missed.

[BoomerPete]

Hey Mitch,

You will be missed.

More than most, I think you've been coming here to share in the sense of an aviation "community". You've given a lot to it, and maybe asked a bit from it on occasion too, but I suspect it's as hard for you to imagine Mitch without an AEF to come to as it is for most of us to imagine an AEF where there is no longer Mitch. Not a decision that can have come easily, but sometimes deciding to move on to new places is the right thing, especially if what was fun no longer is, and has instead become a source of angst.

So, a tip of the hat, or better, a hearty slap on the back and wish for happiness and good fortune wherever the road leads. And one thing to remember: Sometimes the roads leads back from whence it came. If this one does there will still be a community of familiar names ready to share good company with you.

Safe travels & best wishes,

Pete

[inchman]

We will all feel a sense of loss without you here, Mitch, even if we didn't always agree.

I have had some times in the past when I wasn't enjoying the forum and the reaction to my postings so I took a hiatus for a few months. I'm hoping your departure will be just that. Just because you said goodbye doesn't mean you can't come back. We'll all be here with welcoming posts. When you do come back, if there's nobody here it'll just prove to you how important your input was to keeping the life in AEF.

Enjoy the rest of the summer and we'll see you around.... somewhere.