Good to see you back, Bill.
Hi, Richard, I'm not back.
210831
I only appeared on BirdForum recently due to a request for help in collimating an Alpen binocular that came to my email address. But, in order to answer the fellow, had to do it by coming onto BirdForum. While there, and from private email messages, I see that some people have inquired concerning my health, how Collimation Plus is going, and why they no longer see me on the forum. So, to save time, I offer this letter to my friends.
My Health
Artifacts from the stroke are just a little worse, but I am awfully tired quite a bit. I think that’s just an “old guy” thing.
Not so for Debbie. She has a number of medical problems. In the most recent; this month she has had a basal cell carcinoma removed from her face, has had several eye surgeries, has a second oral surgery and tooth removal coming up, received a prognosis of osteoporosis in the spine, and hasn’t eaten solid food in 6 years, and now, this. And married to me for 43 years! ‘Poor lady can’t get a break.
Collimation Plus
I had high hopes for getting back to the bench. But when I lost $700 the first month, I was forced to reevaluate. When I was with the late Captain’s Nautical Supplies in Seattle, I had a huge “bone yard” and many corporate optical connections. I have a Mk 5 collimator in my garage, but no longer have many of the resources that were once at my fingertips. I do thank Lee very much for his kind interview, which has caused a number of people to contact me.
So, What Happened?
I give a reasonable quote on collimating a bino that ONLY needs collimation, only find out upon arrival that it looks like it has been through a tornado, train wreck, and house fire! Then the owner wants to argue about the condition. I don’t need those headaches, anymore.
But the straw that broke the Camel’s back came working with a fellow from Texas. He has a Zeiss 8x30 that, while 50 years old, looked brand new. At the end of the day, I put it on the collimator to start work first thing the next morning.
The next morning, there was a small pile of leatherette that had fallen from the bino onto the collimator bench! … from a like-new ZEISS binocular. I didn’t have the wherewithal to correct that without incurring debt that was not my fault, but would the customer understand I had NOTHING to do with it?
Fortunately, he did! He contacted several people who said that was a common problem with the manufacturing date for that binocular and was a gentleman through the whole process.
That was too close for my comfort, and I decided just to work on binos that I would occasionally try to sell on ebay. Thus, Collimation Plus had a short lifespan. Cory is the man!
Leaving BirdForum
I was thrown off BirdForum a few months ago, undoubtedly for my last barrage of puffery. My Puffery kept getting heavier in hopes that a certain BirdForum member—with zero credentials and extremely little practical experience—would stop spreading his AUTHORITATIVE—but usually wrong or misleading information. But, as they say,
“No good deed will go unpunished.” But it’s okay; I was tired of kissing that snake on the lips, anyway.
When I started my crusade to right optical wrongs—the best I could—I had planned on offering 20 years. But I came to realize there are so many non-credentialled optical Ph.Ds. out there that my 51 years in professional optics would not allow me to compete. So, within moments of my expulsion, I had blown off 5 icons for websites that had directed me to binocular forums. Eighteen and a half had to be enough.
I have to worry about the clarinet, guitar, genealogy, mountains of correspondence, things around the house, and yard and dozens of tubes of acrylic paint before my expiration date. Besides:
“No amount of evidence will ever persuade an Idiot.” — Mark Twain
The Last Issue
To do what was often needed to make a given point, I was becoming the person I disdain. Even without all I have on my plate, it just wasn’t worth it. Most of my time on BirdForum was pleasant and I met many wonderful people. Many I will always remember.
But as Chad Stuart* wrote,
“They say that all good things must end someday.”
Chad Stuart of Chad and Jeremy (born David Stuart Chadwick) lived in the States for the last few years, most recently Just north of me at Hailey. He passed, at 79, Last December.
Cheers & Blessings
Bill
[email protected]