from the always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life dept.
Some of you will recall that I recently underwent several bouts of surgery and, despite your welcome comments and good wishes, your best guesses that I was having a sex change, having my breasts enhanced in either size or number, or receiving some fairly radical treatment for hemorrhoids, were all fairly wide of the mark. The surgery is now long past and I have made a reasonable recovery for someone of my age. But I do wish to thank you all for your comments because, almost without exception, they raised a smile when things were not going too well for me.
My wife suffers from a severe medical condition and I have been her full-time carer for over a decade now. Although I wish she had never developed the condition, I expend great effort, and also receive considerable personal satisfaction, in providing many hours of care each day so that she can remain in our home and we can continue our lives to the fullest extent possible. However, she has recently suffered from a deterioration in her condition. This was not unexpected but no-one could say when the next problems would affect her. But the result is that I now have to provide more support to her and my free time is reduced.
I joined this site at its inception and have enjoyed every minute of my time here. But I cannot dedicate the time that role of Editor-in-Chief (E-in-C) deserves and, several weeks ago, I made the difficult decision to stand down from the post. (I can hear the cheering from some in our community even here in France!) The fact that most of you will not have noticed any of this means that the transition has been successful. The entire editorial team (which is nowhere near as large as that phrase makes it sound!) has stepped up to the plate and has maintained the output as it was before, ably led by Martyb who has assumed the role as E-in-C in addition to his numerous other roles on this site. I am grateful to them for their efforts and support both during my time as E-in-C and more recently in their work in editing the stories that we read each day. Thanks guys, you do a tremendous job with relatively little recognition. I've asked the powers-that-be to increase your salaries by an appropriate percentage.[*] I am also grateful to the other folk who do so much in the background keeping this site on-line. You have all become good friends although we could be standing next to each other and wouldn't know it.
Equally important to the site's success are you - the community. You provide the submissions, the comments, the funding, and you are the reason that we have a site at all. I thank each and every one of you for your contribution; from the regular submitters, the ACs, the 'characters', and those of you who just visit to read the stories that we publish. If I have offended anyone then I apologise but being E-in-C has been likened to herding cats in the dark: an almost impossible task and one in which you are certain to make a few mistakes.
Hopefully, I will remain on the site as an editor making whatever contribution I can. But, for the next few months at least, that contribution will be minimal as I have to solve several practical problems on how to make our home function satisfactorily for us both. I trust that you will give Martyb and the team the same support in the future that I have been fortunate enough to enjoy over the past couple of years. Thank you.
--
[*] Clarification: This is an inside joke among the staff. Nobody here receives any kind of payment for their efforts on the site; we are strictly volunteers. So, a 20% raise on zero is... still zero. --martyb
(Score: 5, Funny) by Kell on Thursday October 18 2018, @01:11PM (4 children)
Sex change confirmed!!11
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Kell on Thursday October 18 2018, @01:13PM (2 children)
On a more serious note - thank you for your tireless efforts to the site. This place has been a labour of love (and other emotions!) since inception. We were the spirit of the green site, and Soylent News remains the people who shaped it and gave it life. Best of luck!
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Thursday October 18 2018, @03:09PM (1 child)
What Kell said ^^^
(Score: 2) by black6host on Thursday October 18 2018, @03:12PM
Me too!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @04:10PM
My best to Mrs & Mrs Janirock regardless.
(Score: 4, Funny) by VLM on Thursday October 18 2018, @01:24PM (4 children)
Cheers of thanks for the efforts and best wishes for future
Oh goodie submit some ask SN questions for mutually acceptable topics. Some of the highest IQ problem solvers in the world hang out here; aside from myself the other soylentils aren't that bad either.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday October 18 2018, @04:38PM (3 children)
No need for further questions.
He already knows he will solve all his health problems with a mutually agreed contract, rather than a Violently Imposed Monopoly.
Being in France, the most abusive clauses might be hard to enforce, and he'll still have to pay 40% tax on them.
(Score: 2, Touché) by VLM on Thursday October 18 2018, @04:50PM (1 child)
You mean, like Sharia law?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 19 2018, @12:37AM
No, he means normal French law.
Using sharia law in France is absolutely optional. Unless you are a muslim.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @09:41PM
Not sure how much a mac with VIM will help but best of luck anyhow!
(Score: 5, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday October 18 2018, @01:40PM (4 children)
That's just mean, man.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @01:49PM
Don't worry Buzzy, we're behind you all the way! (interpret as you see fit)
(Score: 3, Touché) by martyb on Thursday October 18 2018, @09:19PM (2 children)
Well, truth be told, I do have a reputation around here:
But seriously, thanks so much JR for all of your hard work as well as being an able leader, a calming presence amid the chaos, and a right royal good wit!
Here's wishing you and your loved ones all the best that can come their way!
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 2) by mrpg on Thursday October 18 2018, @11:33PM (1 child)
What are you gonna do?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Carlos_I_of_Spain [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 19 2018, @12:41AM
Hold another inquisition and this time really do it well to get rid of the problems once and for all [wikipedia.org] before the place goes to heck and gone forever
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @02:12PM
Wishing you and your wife nothing but the best. Medical situations are never easy, and they can become all consuming. Hopefully everything works out the way you want it to.
(Score: 3, Touché) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday October 18 2018, @02:35PM (4 children)
"Enclosed please find my company's year 2000 form 1120 as you requested.
The reason I am mailing this from Canada is that my wife has a chronic medical condition. As a citizen of Canada, she is entitled to free medical care.
Sincerely,
Michael D. Crawford"
"Dear Mr. Crawford,
Thank you for filing your company's year 2000 form 1120.
I have marked your account uncollectable.
Regards,
Darlene Perkins"
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @09:22PM (3 children)
Fleeing abroad for free healthcare is no better than tax evasion.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 19 2018, @12:44AM (1 child)
At least he's in Canada now and not here, amiright
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday October 19 2018, @03:19AM
Bonita and I divorced in 2008.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday October 19 2018, @08:54AM
Fleeing abroad is always okay if you're White. You might have to shit in a hospital bedpan at their taxpayers' expense, but at least you have enough dignity not to shit in their streets and bark unintelligible gibberish in their natives' faces.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday October 18 2018, @02:43PM (2 children)
No... I'm not going, but being E-in-C gave us so much!
I really hope you have a good care team (professional and family) supporting you to help you work through the practical challenges you're now facing. And you continue to get the best outcomes you can have as conditions change - it can be so hard sometimes to reset one's expectations of what "best" now is.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 18 2018, @03:16PM (1 child)
Salutes, man. It is common to see women caring for invalids. Less common to see men doing so. But, a real man does what needs to be done, just as a real woman. Salutes, and best of luck.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 18 2018, @03:17PM
Ooops - clicked the wrong "reply" button, and didn't notice until after clicking "submit". Janrinock will find the comment, though, however out of place it might seem.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Thursday October 18 2018, @03:03PM
Jayne Cobb : Ten percent of nothing is, let me do the math here, nothing into nothing, carry the nothin'...
You all do a great job... sorry about your wife, JanrinROCKS! I'm hoping MY wife doesn't get bad: hoping it's all going to amount to your raise, lol.
Again, thanks to everyone for the job they do. Wishing i could get more time. Sigh.
Man, now I want breasts!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday October 18 2018, @03:09PM
Thanks, janrinok. You have built a good thing here, I hope we all can keep it. Well, I hope everyone else can keep it--I try my best to keep it weird, and to remind the young people that you can never insert too many geek references into a conversation.
May your medical challenges mend!
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Snow on Thursday October 18 2018, @03:34PM
I'm sorry to hear about your wife.
You are a good man to step up and take care of her. She is fortunate to have someone that loves her as much as you do.
(Score: 2, Funny) by nitehawk214 on Thursday October 18 2018, @03:58PM
I originally read that as "I have been her full-time career", and spent way too long trying to understand it. :)
Good luck and I hope everything goes good for you, man.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday October 18 2018, @05:27PM (1 child)
The way I look at it, there's nothing like a good marriage. One man. And one woman. We need to repeal the lesbian, the gay marriage. Something that, hopefully, my Judges are going to make happen very soon. And George Takei -- great guy, one of our most magnificent gays -- said to me "marrying multiple times is not traditional marriage." Well, he has a point. He has a very good point. I blame myself because my business was so powerful to me. I go to my office, I see all these beautiful women, I'm automatically attracted. It's like a magnet. I just start kissing them.
Look, I'm a big believer in marriage. I don't want to have to go home and have to work at a relationship. A relationship you have to work at, in my opinion, doesn't work. And there's nothing like having children. If you have the money, having children -- the right children -- is great.
But you have to know when it's time to say, "darling, I think you're magnificent, and I care for you deeply, but things aren't working out." Women are like anything else. They get old, they wear out, they break down. You send them in for repairs -- the face lift, the nose job, the boob job, the vag tightening. The repairs get more and more expensive. Too many and it's very hard for a woman to be a 10. And it's time for the new one. The upgrade. You do the divorce. And hopefully, you did the prenup. If you're smart as a guy, you ALWAYS, ALWAYS get the prenup. I'm notoriously cheap with these things, OK, because I think if she made $1 million, that would be very good.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @06:49PM
Hey, Donny, love your work.
BTW, did you bang ivanka?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @05:51PM (2 children)
Us ACs voted at our last meeting to wish you and yours the best, and to give anonymous thanks.
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Thursday October 18 2018, @07:19PM (1 child)
Stop it. We know Anonymous Coward is just one person.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 3, Touché) by maxwell demon on Thursday October 18 2018, @07:35PM
That's majestic plural.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ilPapa on Thursday October 18 2018, @07:16PM
I wish you and your family good health and long life, janrinok.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by aristarchus on Thursday October 18 2018, @07:32PM
I, for one, will miss janrinok. As E-in-C he made a valiant effort to be fair and even-handed, and never tired of telling me to put stuff into a journal entry. Bytram has large shoes to fill.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by linkdude64 on Thursday October 18 2018, @08:19PM (1 child)
Seriously, man. Thank you. I think you know as well as I that sometimes even when we're just lurkers in a given community that we get a lot out of them, and there must be hundreds of unspoken non-commenting people who have, indeed gotten something meaningful out of your efforts, here. Not to mention your wonderful wife who must be so grateful to have a dedicated husband like you, and likewise for you with her, I'm sure. Kudos, cheers, hurray for your medical success, and a toast to her for soldering on through hers. Thanks for all the fish!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Common Joe on Saturday October 20 2018, @04:52AM
Yes. Some of us don't have time to reply except under the rarest of circumstances anymore because we battle our own set of demons. But many of us do read this site regularly and are greatly thankful for many things: the work and money that people have put in to keep SoylentNews running (and continue to do so), and the meaningful comments by some (dare I say most?) of the people here.
janirok, thank you for your dedicated hard work that you gave to us. I wish you and your wife well.
(Score: 2) by hellcat on Thursday October 18 2018, @08:39PM
Janirok, we salute you for the commitment and strength you've shown to the site, and now to your wife.
Sending all the psychic help possible. Don't forget to reach out to us if there's something more tangible we might be able to for you.
------
And for those who haven't contributed $$$, it's time!
(Score: 2) by mrpg on Thursday October 18 2018, @11:35PM (1 child)
Bonne chance et bon courage. Thanks for everything.
(Score: 1) by GeriatricGentleman on Friday October 19 2018, @12:38AM
Oui, merci beaucoup.
Wishing you and your loved ones all the best.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 19 2018, @01:06AM
We'll miss you :(
(Score: 3, Insightful) by hendrikboom on Friday October 19 2018, @01:13AM
I hope I won't miss your stabilizing presence.
-- hendrik
(Score: 3, Funny) by Reziac on Friday October 19 2018, @03:10AM
.... despite your best efforts. :D
Seriously, I'm still here cuz it's good to be here. Best to you and the missus.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @03:51AM
Seriously, thank you. I see your name on countless SN articles and I'm grateful for all the time you put into it.