Ouch! Mark (Taylor), that was a bit harsher than it needed to be. Yes I am no
where near the bay area, but Rich and others are "trying" to make a situation
improve. I am sure MOST of what is going on here is an attempt to float some
ideas and see what other might say.
However there is one thing I tend to do in life that gets me in trouble
everytime, "Come right out and ask that which I want to know." I just did that
with my upper management and this whole AOL / Time Warner deal. 8)
So were I there, I would invite the ranger out to dinner, and afterwards discuss
how things used to be, why his "yard" is such a cool place to pbserve, how the
trees got there, why they suck astronomically, the history of the Peak beyond
the FPOA etc. etc. etc. And make sure he understood, that he *IS* in charge, and
what he says goes, but that I am trying to get back what "we" once had and that
"our" presence on the Peak is a good one worth nurturing. If he says, as you
suggest, "Too bad, things change.", so be it.
Getting my node back out of this, 8)
Jeff