OK, so this is the refugee thread, and I'm choosing it to make my intro. I'm not REALLY a refugee, and tomorrow, I may or may not be because of this post.
But I'm going to tell my story anyway for a couple reasons. One being, I think Vapor Joe will find it amusing, as he plays a relatively large role in it. The other being, I just don't give a shit if I get banned over there any more. I don't really know Roxy, and she doesn't know me, but her cause moved me, and pissed me off yet again at ECF. The reason WHY I was moved by it, is that I lived that same nightmare once myself, and I know what it is like to suddenly, without warning, lose your name, your friends, everything vape related that you've ever known.
I found ECF mid 2012, when I was looking for the best solution to quit smoking. It probably saved my life. And I made a boatload of great friends. Twice. So, yeah, I have some feelings for it. And it HAS changed for the better since then, albeit slooowwwly. My name there, WAS the same as my name here.
I climbed the ropes. From Volt to Ego to Provari to... Caravela!
LOVE them, and Pedro is one of the finest humans I've come to know. But I digress..
I was active mostly, in a thread for a particular vape mfr. who is NOT a vendor there. GREAT people in that thread. At the point that we all started rewicking things, Ekowool was hot. It kinda sucked, didn't wick well, tasted a lil weird. Cotton was JUST starting to get discussed, and looked promising for vastly superior wicking, but it burned much too easily for unregulated mods. So I got to thinking. What if Ekowool would protect the cotton? I figured out a way to thread cotton yarn relatively easily through the core. Man, it worked! My friends in that thread wanted some, and I was happy to give em some. Then OTHER people started PM'ing me for some. DaF? I didn't wanna be a dickasaurus, nor did I want to share the secret of how to make quantity. So I started PM'ing back, I'll put it on Ebay for cheap. Have at it. So I was making a few dozen feet at a time for a couple weeks.
Duty called. I had to go out of town for a few days. So I set my wife and daughters up, showing em how to send the stuff to the few buyers. Well, I was 6 hours from home, and I got a call from my daughter. "DAD! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?" Huh? What do you mean? "Dad, your inbox is FOREVER long, with Ebay purchases!" What?! Let me get to where I'm going, I'll look into it. Something must be wrong.
I got to my 2nd home, and no kidding. Probably 600+ purchases. Oh shit. What IS going on?! Fortunately, I'm a frickin boy scout, always prepared. I had a couple rolls of Eko, and a whole box of cotton yarn. "Just start pumping it out, because if you don't, my Ebay rating is going in the crapper" I started going through the emails that WEREN'T orders, but questions. "Hi, I saw your Twik (the name I gave it) on Vapor Joe's, and I have some questions" NAW!! SHIT! That guy can move MOUNTAINS of stuff. Well, they survived it. I got home, and just started to crank the stuff out. I'd make the price like, $500 for a few feet when I ran out. Didn't know what else to do. Ordered a bunch more of everything. People on ECF were talking about it. So the storm at least subsided to a dull roar. Whew. But it didn't wick QUITE enough for THIRSTY atty's. So I made Double Twik, two cotton cores. And then Twik Supreme, 3. Damned if Vapor Joe didn't feature it AGAIN on his site. Boom. 1000+ more orders of the combined sizes. CRAZY shit.
Then, the fit hit the shan. A friend, Dspin, who turned me on to the Caravela, mentioned it in a post. I responded, offering to send him some free. He is my friend. Next time I go to log in, account closed. WUT? Not a PM, not an email, just... dead. Joe, It was that old bastage Old Soldier who did me. I am PRETTY sure that Retired1 IS Old Soldier. I think he finally realized he was hated enough, by SO many, and there just might be someone crazy enough and angry enough with his shit, to some day deliver something nuts his way. I think he re-invented himself to lose some of his bags, but yet, he just goes on with the same dumb stuff.
Joe, good intention-ed sumbitch he is, featured me AGAIN. 1000's more orders. Basilray, Rpad, and I think even Busardo gave glowing reviews. I needed more Ekowool! Got the new order in, and it was different. Threads INSIDE the hollow core, making it really hard to thread. So I emailed Ekowool. "Hey, could you please send me another order, but without the threads inside, too hard to put my cotton in it". That greazy lil Russian fuckah responded back. "So YOU are the guy selling on Ebay! That is an unauthorized use of my product, and you are harming my brand. And oh, by the way, I am going to thread it with cotton and sell it myself that way".
I responded back appropriately. F.Y. I was disgusted already over the ECF debacle, and truth be told, that shit was leaving a fine powder of crystal hairs everywhere in my office, and so I wasn't really sure anymore that it was entirely safe, so I was happy to be done with it. But man, $20K worth of wick in 3 months? Nuts. It WAS making nice running around money for my girls. It was all really SO accidental. Or incidental, or whatever. I never intended to get in the vape business, just happened. What do I do now. Ya know what, FUG ECF. I'm going back in. I want to welcome new vapers, I want to PIF, I want to be a part of a community of vapers. So I'm thinking about new user name. Hmm.. when I was a kid, was a show on TV with some crazy MoFo's in a nazi prison camp. They could leave whenever they wanted, but their cause was BEST served, by them BEING in there. So they would SNEAK BACK IN. Imagine that! Sneaking back IN to a fascist encampment! My favorite character was a lil French guy. I'm half French. OK, that's who I will be. RIGHT under their frikkin noses!
I went back to my group of friends, but I feared telling them it was me. We ALL know the ramifications of THAT. So I just REmade those friendships again. Never let on. And I have survived there for the past few years. There are some parts of the story I can't tell, that happened relatively recently. Private convo with SJ when I was certain that Retired1 was on to me. He was stalking me in every thread, just LOOKING for a chance. There was another mod in on it too. I think after the convo, SJ canceled the hit. Just conjecture, but I have a pretty warm fuzzy that it happened. I KNOW that one of the mods knows who I used to be. And a C&D is the ONLY thing that makes sense that she didn't finish the job.
Feeling comfortable that I had a lil protection from above, I hinted to my friends in my home thread who I really was.. Oh my God, such joy from the ones that had been there before, to find out it was me, it brought tears to my eyes. Everyone thought I had just dropped off the map. I wouldn't do that! But damn, to have to HIDE for 3 years.. That is insane. TRULY insane. What is WRONG with them?!? FUCK THEIR TOS! I should NEVER have been banned without warning, and I would have given up Twik to save my username and history. It just HAPPENED! I NEVER pimped it there. I didn't WANT to. I didn't NEED to. It was never meant to be a business! And everyone was doing it for me, anyway. Thank you, Joe! I know you meant well!
So, here I am. Fighting for Roxy, and those who will surely come after her. Because I KNOW this particular stupid shit. But ya know what? I have given my all to that place. I have Pif'd thousands of dollars worth of gear. Under some conditions, needy people who were in danger of falling back to smoking, the pif was directly ordered brand new from retailers, and sent to them. Of the rest, more of it was NEW stuff that I hadn't gotten around to, than used. I have welcomed hundreds and hundreds of new vapers, and tried to help them and find out what they needed to be successful. I may have caused a laugh or two. And here I am, feathering a nest, because if they want to stick to their fucked up TOS, and ban hammer me, they can kiss my black ass! Well, it ain't black, but I'll paint it for the bitches, if it means they'll kiss it. What I think I REALLY want, is my damn NAME back, and my history merged. Like THAT will ever happen.
If I get booted, will it affect them? Definitely not. Vaping is a juggernaut. A tide that will lift all boats, even the barnacle encrusted, skanky ones. Unless the Gubbermint has their way, in which case, we ALL sink together anyway. But they can probably keep up their nasty, over-moderating ways for years to come, without much harm. Just telling it as it is. Why now? Well, SJ had an opportunity to set things straight today. In the end, he went to the pub. As much as I respect him, it was a shitty finish to a potentially pivotal day.
But just as ECF will survive without ME, I will survive in MY cause without THEM. I'd rather NOT, I LIKE a lot of people there, and I think and hope they like me too. I'm even willing to suffer the silly crap to be there, to a point. God knows, I poke the bears enough. But it isn't malice. It is TRYING to turn a seaworthy ship that is suffering some mis-direction. I like Joe, I like VU. A lot. But ECF will for the foreseeable future, attract far more NEW vapers that need help, need direction, and even need gear that is suitable to actually allow them to accomplish their goal. I DO like being a part of that. It IS, for me, a place that I want to be a part of. BUT, we have to pick the hilltops we are willing to die for. Stand for something, or fall for anything. So here it is. I'm Moueix, and I'm LouisLeBeau, and I want to help save people from misery and death. Take me or leave me, but DON'T fucking harass me, or anyone else with pure motives and a good heart. For YOU, Roxy! And those before and after!
But I'm going to tell my story anyway for a couple reasons. One being, I think Vapor Joe will find it amusing, as he plays a relatively large role in it. The other being, I just don't give a shit if I get banned over there any more. I don't really know Roxy, and she doesn't know me, but her cause moved me, and pissed me off yet again at ECF. The reason WHY I was moved by it, is that I lived that same nightmare once myself, and I know what it is like to suddenly, without warning, lose your name, your friends, everything vape related that you've ever known.
I found ECF mid 2012, when I was looking for the best solution to quit smoking. It probably saved my life. And I made a boatload of great friends. Twice. So, yeah, I have some feelings for it. And it HAS changed for the better since then, albeit slooowwwly. My name there, WAS the same as my name here.
I climbed the ropes. From Volt to Ego to Provari to... Caravela!
LOVE them, and Pedro is one of the finest humans I've come to know. But I digress..I was active mostly, in a thread for a particular vape mfr. who is NOT a vendor there. GREAT people in that thread. At the point that we all started rewicking things, Ekowool was hot. It kinda sucked, didn't wick well, tasted a lil weird. Cotton was JUST starting to get discussed, and looked promising for vastly superior wicking, but it burned much too easily for unregulated mods. So I got to thinking. What if Ekowool would protect the cotton? I figured out a way to thread cotton yarn relatively easily through the core. Man, it worked! My friends in that thread wanted some, and I was happy to give em some. Then OTHER people started PM'ing me for some. DaF? I didn't wanna be a dickasaurus, nor did I want to share the secret of how to make quantity. So I started PM'ing back, I'll put it on Ebay for cheap. Have at it. So I was making a few dozen feet at a time for a couple weeks.
Duty called. I had to go out of town for a few days. So I set my wife and daughters up, showing em how to send the stuff to the few buyers. Well, I was 6 hours from home, and I got a call from my daughter. "DAD! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?" Huh? What do you mean? "Dad, your inbox is FOREVER long, with Ebay purchases!" What?! Let me get to where I'm going, I'll look into it. Something must be wrong.
I got to my 2nd home, and no kidding. Probably 600+ purchases. Oh shit. What IS going on?! Fortunately, I'm a frickin boy scout, always prepared. I had a couple rolls of Eko, and a whole box of cotton yarn. "Just start pumping it out, because if you don't, my Ebay rating is going in the crapper" I started going through the emails that WEREN'T orders, but questions. "Hi, I saw your Twik (the name I gave it) on Vapor Joe's, and I have some questions" NAW!! SHIT! That guy can move MOUNTAINS of stuff. Well, they survived it. I got home, and just started to crank the stuff out. I'd make the price like, $500 for a few feet when I ran out. Didn't know what else to do. Ordered a bunch more of everything. People on ECF were talking about it. So the storm at least subsided to a dull roar. Whew. But it didn't wick QUITE enough for THIRSTY atty's. So I made Double Twik, two cotton cores. And then Twik Supreme, 3. Damned if Vapor Joe didn't feature it AGAIN on his site. Boom. 1000+ more orders of the combined sizes. CRAZY shit.
Then, the fit hit the shan. A friend, Dspin, who turned me on to the Caravela, mentioned it in a post. I responded, offering to send him some free. He is my friend. Next time I go to log in, account closed. WUT? Not a PM, not an email, just... dead. Joe, It was that old bastage Old Soldier who did me. I am PRETTY sure that Retired1 IS Old Soldier. I think he finally realized he was hated enough, by SO many, and there just might be someone crazy enough and angry enough with his shit, to some day deliver something nuts his way. I think he re-invented himself to lose some of his bags, but yet, he just goes on with the same dumb stuff.
Joe, good intention-ed sumbitch he is, featured me AGAIN. 1000's more orders. Basilray, Rpad, and I think even Busardo gave glowing reviews. I needed more Ekowool! Got the new order in, and it was different. Threads INSIDE the hollow core, making it really hard to thread. So I emailed Ekowool. "Hey, could you please send me another order, but without the threads inside, too hard to put my cotton in it". That greazy lil Russian fuckah responded back. "So YOU are the guy selling on Ebay! That is an unauthorized use of my product, and you are harming my brand. And oh, by the way, I am going to thread it with cotton and sell it myself that way".
I responded back appropriately. F.Y. I was disgusted already over the ECF debacle, and truth be told, that shit was leaving a fine powder of crystal hairs everywhere in my office, and so I wasn't really sure anymore that it was entirely safe, so I was happy to be done with it. But man, $20K worth of wick in 3 months? Nuts. It WAS making nice running around money for my girls. It was all really SO accidental. Or incidental, or whatever. I never intended to get in the vape business, just happened. What do I do now. Ya know what, FUG ECF. I'm going back in. I want to welcome new vapers, I want to PIF, I want to be a part of a community of vapers. So I'm thinking about new user name. Hmm.. when I was a kid, was a show on TV with some crazy MoFo's in a nazi prison camp. They could leave whenever they wanted, but their cause was BEST served, by them BEING in there. So they would SNEAK BACK IN. Imagine that! Sneaking back IN to a fascist encampment! My favorite character was a lil French guy. I'm half French. OK, that's who I will be. RIGHT under their frikkin noses!
I went back to my group of friends, but I feared telling them it was me. We ALL know the ramifications of THAT. So I just REmade those friendships again. Never let on. And I have survived there for the past few years. There are some parts of the story I can't tell, that happened relatively recently. Private convo with SJ when I was certain that Retired1 was on to me. He was stalking me in every thread, just LOOKING for a chance. There was another mod in on it too. I think after the convo, SJ canceled the hit. Just conjecture, but I have a pretty warm fuzzy that it happened. I KNOW that one of the mods knows who I used to be. And a C&D is the ONLY thing that makes sense that she didn't finish the job.
Feeling comfortable that I had a lil protection from above, I hinted to my friends in my home thread who I really was.. Oh my God, such joy from the ones that had been there before, to find out it was me, it brought tears to my eyes. Everyone thought I had just dropped off the map. I wouldn't do that! But damn, to have to HIDE for 3 years.. That is insane. TRULY insane. What is WRONG with them?!? FUCK THEIR TOS! I should NEVER have been banned without warning, and I would have given up Twik to save my username and history. It just HAPPENED! I NEVER pimped it there. I didn't WANT to. I didn't NEED to. It was never meant to be a business! And everyone was doing it for me, anyway. Thank you, Joe! I know you meant well!
So, here I am. Fighting for Roxy, and those who will surely come after her. Because I KNOW this particular stupid shit. But ya know what? I have given my all to that place. I have Pif'd thousands of dollars worth of gear. Under some conditions, needy people who were in danger of falling back to smoking, the pif was directly ordered brand new from retailers, and sent to them. Of the rest, more of it was NEW stuff that I hadn't gotten around to, than used. I have welcomed hundreds and hundreds of new vapers, and tried to help them and find out what they needed to be successful. I may have caused a laugh or two. And here I am, feathering a nest, because if they want to stick to their fucked up TOS, and ban hammer me, they can kiss my black ass! Well, it ain't black, but I'll paint it for the bitches, if it means they'll kiss it. What I think I REALLY want, is my damn NAME back, and my history merged. Like THAT will ever happen.
If I get booted, will it affect them? Definitely not. Vaping is a juggernaut. A tide that will lift all boats, even the barnacle encrusted, skanky ones. Unless the Gubbermint has their way, in which case, we ALL sink together anyway. But they can probably keep up their nasty, over-moderating ways for years to come, without much harm. Just telling it as it is. Why now? Well, SJ had an opportunity to set things straight today. In the end, he went to the pub. As much as I respect him, it was a shitty finish to a potentially pivotal day.
But just as ECF will survive without ME, I will survive in MY cause without THEM. I'd rather NOT, I LIKE a lot of people there, and I think and hope they like me too. I'm even willing to suffer the silly crap to be there, to a point. God knows, I poke the bears enough. But it isn't malice. It is TRYING to turn a seaworthy ship that is suffering some mis-direction. I like Joe, I like VU. A lot. But ECF will for the foreseeable future, attract far more NEW vapers that need help, need direction, and even need gear that is suitable to actually allow them to accomplish their goal. I DO like being a part of that. It IS, for me, a place that I want to be a part of. BUT, we have to pick the hilltops we are willing to die for. Stand for something, or fall for anything. So here it is. I'm Moueix, and I'm LouisLeBeau, and I want to help save people from misery and death. Take me or leave me, but DON'T fucking harass me, or anyone else with pure motives and a good heart. For YOU, Roxy! And those before and after!
