There has been a lot of talk this week about CCB and me. Our plans are half baked, I bad mouth institutions in the region and otherwise I'm just not a nice guy. Some people think I'm ok. But some people hate me with a vengeance. Some could care less about what I do, whereas others just cant seem to keep there nose out of my world. If you don't like me or my ideas, fine. As my dear old departed Great Grandmother used to say, "Leave Me the Hell ALONE". But when you start to bad mouth CCB, using half truths, innuendos and whisper campaigns to discredit the organization and base your argument in fiction or worse yet, imaginary law, then I have a problem and you will get the full glory of the now infamous Chris German temper.
I started compiling an A.H. list this week in response to a trifecta of interactions I had with some of the most narrow-minded, mean-spirited and self-interested examples of humanity who ply the maritime trade along the coast of Connecticut.
It started with a Op Ed piece in the New London Day. The "Captain" of the Hellcat II out of New London had quite few ideas about my plan for the Mystic and was not shy to tell us all about them without so much as a text message to get the background from me or to ask me any my thoughts, intentions, ideas or plans of the grand business plan for the Mystic. Had he called me, his five points of enlightenment would have proven to be little more than the musings from the Peanut Gallery because they are wrong- not just a little wrong, but erroneous in fact and function. If you call up the owner of the Mystic, or visit the vessel (just after you finish reading this) you will see a crew hard at work aboard the Mystic planning to set sail next week for her USCG inspection and re-certification. I know you will see it because the The Day posted a photo of the work being done on her on May 29th.The fact is, the close of the sale of the Mystic is contingent upon all those 5 points Mr. Hellcat pointed out, so sir if you have an opinion and you don't research it, at least have the consideration to keep your thoughts out of the daily paper.
As to the financial plan, if Mr. Hellcat had actually read our business plan, he would have seen the plan is very detailed in funding sources, as well as ambition in our vision for the project. But above all, the project is transparent and non-reliant on tax payer funding to be sustainable. So as his argument goes, IF the vessel cannot be certified, THEN the vessel cant make the money to be sustained. Well the vessel will be certified and CAN go into service when it returns from Fair Haven and THEN it will make revenues to be self sustained, but we need a helping hand from donors to get the ball rolling. Bad mouthing the project in the paper does nothing to aid the cause and only distracts from its greater mission which is to serve low income kids while providing nothing to enhance the greater good.
Sniping at me personally, or worse yet, at a plan you have no idea of and have never read, is not only unproductive, but also sorry to say, evidence of your lack of fairness, compassion and intelligence. So "Captain" Hellcat- (apparently you could not give me the same consideration of title in your piece) your top of my AH list this week.
Then it was on to a certain maritime business league president who really couldn't be bothered to even read an email sent to him by one of his members on behalf of CCB and then shot back saying Shipping has nothing to do with MARITIME and they are all about shipping at this particular maritime organization. Huh? Really? I wont call you out personally here because your comments weren't published, but you know who you are. When you guys pitch to me about buying a booth at your shows, my organization falls in line perfectly with your goals, but when I ask for your support, you cant even be gracious enough to be polite while rejecting me. To say you have no more interest in kids, boating and Long Island Sound than the US Postal Service, is not just wrong, but should be grounds for you to be removed as a representative of the Connecticut's Ocean-based businesses organization. You no more represent the interests of Connecticut and its water-based economy than does BP, Exxon or Halliburton. So step down now and save us the trouble of calling you out.
And finally on the AH list, another name I wont name because his comments we're private, was a certain commanding officer of a local non-profit ship here in Connecticut. He tells me I have bad-mouthed his organization and felt my involvement with his ship would be counter productive. Well I don't know if I have said nasty things about his boat or not, but I know how I feel about it. I don't think however, I have ever verbalized it.
The fact is if you want to talk boondoggles, his boat is probably next in line to the other GIANT floating SNAFU that calls Connecticut its home but cant ever seem to figure out how to use the $10 Million in past funds or the $350,000 in annual tax payers funding to find its way back home to Long Island Sound. No this first boat, isn't as bad as the most expensive ship to no-where on the CT payroll, but it is a testament to the tax-payer funded dinosaurs that are cost prohibitive to run, do little more than give kids pony rides and are subsidized as edifices of a by-gone era. I love to see old boats sail as much as the next guy, but to do so with such limited revenue generating capacity, at such a premium cost to tax payers for such limited returns is a joke and the very reason why I wish to use a State of Art boat like the "Mystic" to serve Connecticut families. It will make its own way without the life-support of the the State of Connecticut tax payer every year for the next ten years.
But that is not why you are on my AH list Captain. You choice of boats, and your ability to leverage funds from the tax payer's pocket is not for me to judge. What is for me to judge, is your lack of awareness of your words and actions. We both run non-profits and personal feelings aside, it is not for me direct my organization in a way that is anything less than collaborative with other non-profits. Our donors wish to see us use the limited resources we do have to the maximum capacity and that means we must work together despite how we feel about each other as individuals. If you don't like someone at some organization fine, don't send them a Christmas card. But when it comes to the benefit of your organization, shut no doors, close no windows and NEVER turn you back on a chance to benefit your cause, especially when your cause is tax payer funded. Resources are too limited and our efforts are too important to our donors to ever slam doors or burn bridges. I know this because I have burned too many bridges in my days and shut too many doors.
So I guess that makes me the biggest asshole of them all- because not only have I burned bridges, called people out with half the facts and probably made a great many more errors than any of these guys, (I grant you, I'm an asshole), it is my hope that the goodness of my deeds, my efforts and my results can some how offset the degree of my misdeeds, failures and lack of positive outcomes. What makes you an asshole I think, is not the fact that you make mistakes, but that you fail to recognize your mistakes and don't care who in the world knows it.
I'm working to build a better world, without pay, without fanfare and soon to be without a home. I don't do it for money, but for the love of my State and the vision for our future. If you don't agree with me fine. While I would appreciate your support for the cause, it will be done with or without you. What I don't need is your do-nothing, glass house, all-about-me voice of criticism while our world is sliding into the great abyss. If your gonna sit back and passively let children go without, let an economy fall apart and let our State's greatest natural resource slip into a slimy green death, then do so without referencing my name. Otherwise, if your gonna snipe, at least come up with a plan of your own that we can all get behind it because you and I have to work together if we're going to fix this mess we now live in. Welcome to the AH List.
I started compiling an A.H. list this week in response to a trifecta of interactions I had with some of the most narrow-minded, mean-spirited and self-interested examples of humanity who ply the maritime trade along the coast of Connecticut.
It started with a Op Ed piece in the New London Day. The "Captain" of the Hellcat II out of New London had quite few ideas about my plan for the Mystic and was not shy to tell us all about them without so much as a text message to get the background from me or to ask me any my thoughts, intentions, ideas or plans of the grand business plan for the Mystic. Had he called me, his five points of enlightenment would have proven to be little more than the musings from the Peanut Gallery because they are wrong- not just a little wrong, but erroneous in fact and function. If you call up the owner of the Mystic, or visit the vessel (just after you finish reading this) you will see a crew hard at work aboard the Mystic planning to set sail next week for her USCG inspection and re-certification. I know you will see it because the The Day posted a photo of the work being done on her on May 29th.The fact is, the close of the sale of the Mystic is contingent upon all those 5 points Mr. Hellcat pointed out, so sir if you have an opinion and you don't research it, at least have the consideration to keep your thoughts out of the daily paper.
 |
Sean D. Elliot/The Day
Crew members on the schooner Mystic,
docked at Schooner
Wharf on the Stonington side of Mystic River,
work on the jib sails Tuesday.
|
As to the financial plan, if Mr. Hellcat had actually read our business plan, he would have seen the plan is very detailed in funding sources, as well as ambition in our vision for the project. But above all, the project is transparent and non-reliant on tax payer funding to be sustainable. So as his argument goes, IF the vessel cannot be certified, THEN the vessel cant make the money to be sustained. Well the vessel will be certified and CAN go into service when it returns from Fair Haven and THEN it will make revenues to be self sustained, but we need a helping hand from donors to get the ball rolling. Bad mouthing the project in the paper does nothing to aid the cause and only distracts from its greater mission which is to serve low income kids while providing nothing to enhance the greater good.
Sniping at me personally, or worse yet, at a plan you have no idea of and have never read, is not only unproductive, but also sorry to say, evidence of your lack of fairness, compassion and intelligence. So "Captain" Hellcat- (apparently you could not give me the same consideration of title in your piece) your top of my AH list this week.
Then it was on to a certain maritime business league president who really couldn't be bothered to even read an email sent to him by one of his members on behalf of CCB and then shot back saying Shipping has nothing to do with MARITIME and they are all about shipping at this particular maritime organization. Huh? Really? I wont call you out personally here because your comments weren't published, but you know who you are. When you guys pitch to me about buying a booth at your shows, my organization falls in line perfectly with your goals, but when I ask for your support, you cant even be gracious enough to be polite while rejecting me. To say you have no more interest in kids, boating and Long Island Sound than the US Postal Service, is not just wrong, but should be grounds for you to be removed as a representative of the Connecticut's Ocean-based businesses organization. You no more represent the interests of Connecticut and its water-based economy than does BP, Exxon or Halliburton. So step down now and save us the trouble of calling you out.
And finally on the AH list, another name I wont name because his comments we're private, was a certain commanding officer of a local non-profit ship here in Connecticut. He tells me I have bad-mouthed his organization and felt my involvement with his ship would be counter productive. Well I don't know if I have said nasty things about his boat or not, but I know how I feel about it. I don't think however, I have ever verbalized it.
The fact is if you want to talk boondoggles, his boat is probably next in line to the other GIANT floating SNAFU that calls Connecticut its home but cant ever seem to figure out how to use the $10 Million in past funds or the $350,000 in annual tax payers funding to find its way back home to Long Island Sound. No this first boat, isn't as bad as the most expensive ship to no-where on the CT payroll, but it is a testament to the tax-payer funded dinosaurs that are cost prohibitive to run, do little more than give kids pony rides and are subsidized as edifices of a by-gone era. I love to see old boats sail as much as the next guy, but to do so with such limited revenue generating capacity, at such a premium cost to tax payers for such limited returns is a joke and the very reason why I wish to use a State of Art boat like the "Mystic" to serve Connecticut families. It will make its own way without the life-support of the the State of Connecticut tax payer every year for the next ten years.
But that is not why you are on my AH list Captain. You choice of boats, and your ability to leverage funds from the tax payer's pocket is not for me to judge. What is for me to judge, is your lack of awareness of your words and actions. We both run non-profits and personal feelings aside, it is not for me direct my organization in a way that is anything less than collaborative with other non-profits. Our donors wish to see us use the limited resources we do have to the maximum capacity and that means we must work together despite how we feel about each other as individuals. If you don't like someone at some organization fine, don't send them a Christmas card. But when it comes to the benefit of your organization, shut no doors, close no windows and NEVER turn you back on a chance to benefit your cause, especially when your cause is tax payer funded. Resources are too limited and our efforts are too important to our donors to ever slam doors or burn bridges. I know this because I have burned too many bridges in my days and shut too many doors.
So I guess that makes me the biggest asshole of them all- because not only have I burned bridges, called people out with half the facts and probably made a great many more errors than any of these guys, (I grant you, I'm an asshole), it is my hope that the goodness of my deeds, my efforts and my results can some how offset the degree of my misdeeds, failures and lack of positive outcomes. What makes you an asshole I think, is not the fact that you make mistakes, but that you fail to recognize your mistakes and don't care who in the world knows it.
I'm working to build a better world, without pay, without fanfare and soon to be without a home. I don't do it for money, but for the love of my State and the vision for our future. If you don't agree with me fine. While I would appreciate your support for the cause, it will be done with or without you. What I don't need is your do-nothing, glass house, all-about-me voice of criticism while our world is sliding into the great abyss. If your gonna sit back and passively let children go without, let an economy fall apart and let our State's greatest natural resource slip into a slimy green death, then do so without referencing my name. Otherwise, if your gonna snipe, at least come up with a plan of your own that we can all get behind it because you and I have to work together if we're going to fix this mess we now live in. Welcome to the AH List.
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