help to save bahooka's mascot, rufus~~~ - General Tiki

F Fate Member Joined: Mar 05, 2009 Posts: 34	F Fate Posted posted on Mon, Feb 24, 2014 3:37 PM Very long winded post – you’ve been warned. You are free to move on, don’t bitch about the length if you decide to read. I took up no real estate in this thread for 22 pages so just consider this my catch up. Having spent a lot of Sunday at the former Bahooka…some thoughts (with some of your quotes) If the new owner wants the money, then he has to get it only under the condition that Rufus's current situation is disrupted as little as possible. I would still have major trust issues, though, as I agree that it seems at least on the surface that the new owner really just wants the money to go toward his remodel and he couldn't care less about Rufus and the other fish. “on the surface” should be the key point of your post here. How many of you have actually SPOKEN to the new owner, considering all the accusations. I have looked back in this thread a bit, and I see you people referring to him as a “scumbag, whack job, opportunist, hostage taker.” Really? One would think by some of your attitudes that he was tossing the fish out back in the trash. Far from the truth. After buying the place, he perhaps wanted them out, and put out the word to find them homes, so he can get his business going. This wasnt just one or two tanks taking up some space. This is a WHOLE BUILDING full of tanks that need to be powered and not disturbed until they have new homes. Downtime is money lost. I would think any reasonable business owner trying to start a new place would want them out sooner than later - hard to do much till they are. What is so horrible about this to deserve this angry mob and public ridicule? I am guessing he perhaps saw all the fish with the same mind (unlike many of you that don’t express any care of the rest of the animals in there) – why would he be expected to have knowledge or any value of one fish in particular buying the place from a party that was NOT Bahooka? But wow – that makes him a scumbag?? Why is it a crime – for someone that bought a building, to want that building cleared, and then suddenly realize the value of something in that building and the risk moving it and then deciding to keep it there, though such a change in plan would involve a fair amount of new money to have to spend? Do any of you have an extra 12K sitting around you can just come up in a moments notice? You all think hes a “scumbag” but the fact that most of you here seem to ONLY care about ONE of the fish rather than all the fish is stranger to me, never mind that you ONLY care about money going to Rufus IF he is going to be moved – the more risky choice for his health. Some of you - your thinking is strange to say the least as you claim to have Rufus’s best interest in mind. and to whoever said “the problem is Chinese restaurants come and go” and it will “likely go out of business soon..not the greatest location”. Really? I would correct your statement and say MANY restaurants come and go of ALL TYPES even in great locations. I can also point you to many Chinese restaurants that have been around here for 20 years +. You think Rufus will live another 20 years? Who knows… Anyway, there are a TON of apartments around there – and a lot of Asian people not far – so what do you base this on? All that said…(no Im not done yet) On 2014-02-22 22:32, christiki295 wrote: . . . . One thing I can assure you: These funds will NOT go to the new Bahooka owner. They were raised specifically to purchase Rufus from him and help cover the costs of moving him to a new home. So what if Rufus (an extremely old Pacu who has had only ONE HOME for 37 years) didn't survive the move across town? What if Rufus literally died the day of or the next day? WHO would the mob here all blame then? Still the new "Bahooka" owner, even if he had already offered to build Rufus a bigger tank right there - perhaps asking for a little help with funding – esp seeing that people WANT to help fund his care. Seems like a reasonable thought on the new owners part to decide to keep the fish there, hope to get help with funding when he sees it already happening. Also, what would happen to the money donated if Rufus DIES DURING THE MOVE? I feel like some of you would STILL just say “oh well, at least we got Rufus out of the hands of this “scumbag” business owner none of us know, but already apparently hate on at least 10 different levels” Do you people actually care about Rufus (never mind any of the other fish) and what is best for Rufus or only that it all goes the way you want it to, even though moving the fish across town is clearly the riskier choice for its health and well being? A tasteless act which is destined to fail. While Damon's would get great press by saving Rufus, the new owner deserves only heckling for holding Rufus hostage. let me get this straight... So Damon's would get great press for the welfare of Rufus (if he survived the move which you would ALL rather risk than anything else) but, if new owner perhaps builds a much bigger tank...making the move across town NOT NECESSARY, he gets only heckling and gets no support for the new fish tank, AND is considered a "hostage taker". That's a bit dramatic don't you think? btw, that tank hasnt been appropriate for that fish for years – I don’t care what the handwritten sign on it says! ...never mind that funds that were specifically donated for "Rufus care" according to all of you, WONT go for helping Rufus after all, because a new (Rufus-appropriate) tank at the SAME LOCATION, avoiding much risk to Rufus, wouldn't need funding?? Big bad business man should have an extra 12K to spend on such a thing? So NONE of you feel a bit relieved a move wouldn't have to happen and want your money to go to Rufus WHERE HE IS? Do any/all who donated get a say? (Thanks whoever veered me from donating btw, now that I know this is the case) Are you really interested in whats best for Rufus or not, because it SEEMED that was the whole point of this thread - which I was reminded of so clearly by ATP.... “The only thing important in this thread is finding a home for Rufus & I for one will stay focused on that goal.” What ATP failed to say was “…but only if we move Rufus regardless of the risk to his health…if new owner keeps him, we will write him off and keep all our “Rufus care” money out of his hands. SO…..hypothetically….MAYBE the new owner will have a hard time finding the funds for a 2000 gallon tank that he is CURRENTLY TRYING TO FUND TO BUILD. (any idea how much that cost anyone?) You all will make sure NONE of your donated money “for Rufus” goes into this tank at Rufus's CURRENT location...and MAYBE in the end - new owner will give up again (as you predict) having not found the funds, and say Rufus has to move - then you people who donated (when you stop seething with anger) will have your money go to the tank at Damons...Rufus gets moved to Damons and then dies the next day as the whole ordeal was too stressful on him - or perhaps there is an accident. Then will all of you still just feel so good that you donated...but ONLY under the terms that Rufus is moved, which ends up being what killed him? Anyway, for those still reading…I had the PLEASURE of spending the better part of Sunday AT Bahooka with Jorge, Fez, and one other tied to the place (cant remember his name). All 3 were kind, fantastic and generous people. It was great to spend time in the place, chatting with Fez about Bahooka memories... Sad to see it in its state – but it still looked and smelled like Bahooka in many respects. I met and got to speak with the owner A TINY BIT and got to hear him speak about the Rufus/fish issue (Fez doing most of the talking). The owner seemed a very nice and genuine guy - who is trying to do the right thing here. I only came away from the conversation feeling like a FEW of you should get off the boards and live a little more in the REAL world instead of doing so much judging from behind your computer screens. I don’t claim to know all about this whole situation – but I already see how many of you are wrong about several things. I’m not here to report what I learned. I feel info is only spiraling in the wrong direction with some of you and I don’t want to speak for anyone else anyway. My point is to just say some of you should relax and stop going into immediate mob mentality and trying to ruin reputations of people you don’t know. Or, continue doing what you are doing. Wind each other up on this thread over rumors and bits of hearsay and donate money for a cause, claim you have Rufus as your priority - but then withdraw ANY support for him if it doesn't go how some of you want it to go - which, just happens to be the more hazardous route for Rufus. You can all feel good behind your computer screens, but in the end, with all your spite, you did little to affect his future. twisted up SLACTIVISM at its finest. Your spite wont help build a new tank, at his current location, the SAFEST route for Rufus. Fez is clearly a great guy (not that I assumed any different) who clearly has a passion about what was Bahooka (as I myself do) - and after finding the marketplace thread the other night and reading all the posts from many of you to/about him, questioning his actions, morals, intent, and everything else....well, I just kind of feel embarrassed for some of you. I certainly don't understand what I did to get hostility from a few of you but, whatever. Apparently new people aren't very welcome here judging not by just my experience but what I saw some of you say to/about Fez in other threads. Not that I was looking for any new "community". My intent here was to find out the situation with Rufus, the other fish, the tanks, and to thank all involved in actually trying to help make sure they were ok. I came out with perhaps a couple great new friends I met this weekend, and a much better understanding of the situation OFF THESE BOARDS than I was getting trying to question the angry mob here. Thanks to those who WERE helpful. :)

Very long winded post – you’ve been warned. You are free to move on, don’t bitch about the length if you decide to read. I took up no real estate in this thread for 22 pages so just consider this my catch up.

Having spent a lot of Sunday at the former Bahooka…some thoughts (with some of your quotes)

If the new owner wants the money, then he has to get it only under the condition that Rufus's current situation is disrupted as little as possible. I would still have major trust issues, though, as I agree that it seems at least on the surface that the new owner really just wants the money to go toward his remodel and he couldn't care less about Rufus and the other fish.

“on the surface” should be the key point of your post here.
How many of you have actually SPOKEN to the new owner, considering all the accusations. I have looked back in this thread a bit, and I see you people referring to him as a “scumbag, whack job, opportunist, hostage taker.” Really?

One would think by some of your attitudes that he was tossing the fish out back in the trash. Far from the truth. After buying the place, he perhaps wanted them out, and put out the word to find them homes, so he can get his business going. This wasnt just one or two tanks taking up some space. This is a WHOLE BUILDING full of tanks that need to be powered and not disturbed until they have new homes. Downtime is money lost. I would think any reasonable business owner trying to start a new place would want them out sooner than later - hard to do much till they are. What is so horrible about this to deserve this angry mob and public ridicule?

I am guessing he perhaps saw all the fish with the same mind (unlike many of you that don’t express any care of the rest of the animals in there) – why would he be expected to have knowledge or any value of one fish in particular buying the place from a party that was NOT Bahooka? But wow – that makes him a scumbag?? Why is it a crime – for someone that bought a building, to want that building cleared, and then suddenly realize the value of something in that building and the risk moving it and then deciding to keep it there, though such a change in plan would involve a fair amount of new money to have to spend? Do any of you have an extra 12K sitting around you can just come up in a moments notice? You all think hes a “scumbag” but the fact that most of you here seem to ONLY care about ONE of the fish rather than all the fish is stranger to me, never mind that you ONLY care about money going to Rufus IF he is going to be moved – the more risky choice for his health. Some of you - your thinking is strange to say the least as you claim to have Rufus’s best interest in mind.
and to whoever said “the problem is Chinese restaurants come and go” and it will “likely go out of business soon..not the greatest location”.
Really? I would correct your statement and say MANY restaurants come and go of ALL TYPES even in great locations. I can also point you to many Chinese restaurants that have been around here for 20 years +. You think Rufus will live another 20 years? Who knows…
Anyway, there are a TON of apartments around there – and a lot of Asian people not far – so what do you base this on?

All that said…(no Im not done yet)

On 2014-02-22 22:32, christiki295 wrote:
. . . . One thing I can assure you: These funds will NOT go to the new Bahooka owner. They were raised specifically to purchase Rufus from him and help cover the costs of moving him to a new home.

So what if Rufus (an extremely old Pacu who has had only ONE HOME for 37 years) didn't survive the move across town? What if Rufus literally died the day of or the next day?
WHO would the mob here all blame then? Still the new "Bahooka" owner, even if he had already offered to build Rufus a bigger tank right there - perhaps asking for a little help with funding – esp seeing that people WANT to help fund his care. Seems like a reasonable thought on the new owners part to decide to keep the fish there, hope to get help with funding when he sees it already happening.

Also, what would happen to the money donated if Rufus DIES DURING THE MOVE?
I feel like some of you would STILL just say “oh well, at least we got Rufus out of the hands of this “scumbag” business owner none of us know, but already apparently hate on at least 10 different levels”

Do you people actually care about Rufus (never mind any of the other fish) and what is best for Rufus or only that it all goes the way you want it to, even though moving the fish across town is clearly the riskier choice for its health and well being?

A tasteless act which is destined to fail. While Damon's would get great press by saving Rufus, the new owner deserves only heckling for holding Rufus hostage.

let me get this straight...
So Damon's would get great press for the welfare of Rufus (if he survived the move which you would ALL rather risk than anything else) but, if new owner perhaps builds a much bigger tank...making the move across town NOT NECESSARY, he gets only heckling and gets no support for the new fish tank, AND is considered a "hostage taker".

That's a bit dramatic don't you think?
btw, that tank hasnt been appropriate for that fish for years – I don’t care what the handwritten sign on it says!

...never mind that funds that were specifically donated for "Rufus care" according to all of you, WONT go for helping Rufus after all, because a new (Rufus-appropriate) tank at the SAME LOCATION, avoiding much risk to Rufus, wouldn't need funding?? Big bad business man should have an extra 12K to spend on such a thing? So NONE of you feel a bit relieved a move wouldn't have to happen and want your money to go to Rufus WHERE HE IS? Do any/all who donated get a say? (Thanks whoever veered me from donating btw, now that I know this is the case)

Are you really interested in whats best for Rufus or not, because it SEEMED that was the whole point of this thread - which I was reminded of so clearly by ATP....
“The only thing important in this thread is finding a home for Rufus
& I for one will stay focused on that goal.”
What ATP failed to say was “…but only if we move Rufus regardless of the risk to his health…if new owner keeps him, we will write him off and keep all our “Rufus care” money out of his hands.

SO…..hypothetically….MAYBE the new owner will have a hard time finding the funds for a 2000 gallon tank that he is CURRENTLY TRYING TO FUND TO BUILD. (any idea how much that cost anyone?) You all will make sure NONE of your donated money “for Rufus” goes into this tank at Rufus's CURRENT location...and MAYBE in the end - new owner will give up again (as you predict) having not found the funds, and say Rufus has to move - then you people who donated (when you stop seething with anger) will have your money go to the tank at Damons...Rufus gets moved to Damons and then dies the next day as the whole ordeal was too stressful on him - or perhaps there is an accident. Then will all of you still just feel so good that you donated...but ONLY under the terms that Rufus is moved, which ends up being what killed him?

Anyway, for those still reading…I had the PLEASURE of spending the better part of Sunday AT Bahooka with Jorge, Fez, and one other tied to the place (cant remember his name). All 3 were kind, fantastic and generous people. It was great to spend time in the place, chatting with Fez about Bahooka memories... Sad to see it in its state – but it still looked and smelled like Bahooka in many respects. I met and got to speak with the owner A TINY BIT and got to hear him speak about the Rufus/fish issue (Fez doing most of the talking). The owner seemed a very nice and genuine guy - who is trying to do the right thing here. I only came away from the conversation feeling like a FEW of you should get off the boards and live a little more in the REAL world instead of doing so much judging from behind your computer screens. I don’t claim to know all about this whole situation – but I already see how many of you are wrong about several things. I’m not here to report what I learned. I feel info is only spiraling in the wrong direction with some of you and I don’t want to speak for anyone else anyway. My point is to just say some of you should relax and stop going into immediate mob mentality and trying to ruin reputations of people you don’t know.
Or, continue doing what you are doing. Wind each other up on this thread over rumors and bits of hearsay and donate money for a cause, claim you have Rufus as your priority - but then withdraw ANY support for him if it doesn't go how some of you want it to go - which, just happens to be the more hazardous route for Rufus.
You can all feel good behind your computer screens, but in the end, with all your spite, you did little to affect his future.
twisted up SLACTIVISM at its finest.
Your spite wont help build a new tank, at his current location, the SAFEST route for Rufus.

Fez is clearly a great guy (not that I assumed any different) who clearly has a passion about what was Bahooka (as I myself do) - and after finding the marketplace thread the other night and reading all the posts from many of you to/about him, questioning his actions, morals, intent, and everything else....well, I just kind of feel embarrassed for some of you.

I certainly don't understand what I did to get hostility from a few of you but, whatever. Apparently new people aren't very welcome here judging not by just my experience but what I saw some of you say to/about Fez in other threads. Not that I was looking for any new "community".

My intent here was to find out the situation with Rufus, the other fish, the tanks, and to thank all involved in actually trying to help make sure they were ok. I came out with perhaps a couple great new friends I met this weekend, and a much better understanding of the situation OFF THESE BOARDS than I was getting trying to question the angry mob here.
Thanks to those who WERE helpful. :)

Post #709299 by Fate on Mon, Feb 24, 2014 3:37 PM