I’ve been sitting here thinking about how much of our discourse around sports—especially college athletics—is fundamentally flawed. We love to assign a single name to a successful era. We point at a head coach and say, "He’s the architect," or we point at a superstar athlete and say, "He’s the engine." But lately, it feels like we’re ignoring the massive, messy, and often invisible middle ground where actual success is manufactured.
I was watching a game last weekend, and it hit me: how much of a team's trajectory is actually within the control of the person in the headset? We talk about coaching legacies like they are immutable truths, but a coach is only as good as the specific puzzle pieces they have in front of them. You can have the most brilliant tactical mind in the country, but if you don't have that one specific, undervalued piece that fits the scheme, the whole thing falls apart. Conversely, you can have a generational talent, but if they're being coached in a way that stifles their natural instincts, that talent is essentially being wasted in real-time.
It makes me wonder about the "overlooked" factor. We see it all the time in every industry, not just sports. There’s this phenomenon where a certain type of player or worker gets bypassed by scouts or recruiters because they don't fit the "prototype." They aren't the tallest, the fastest, or the most flashy. They don't look like what the "experts" say a winner looks like. And then, suddenly, these exact people become the linchpin for a massive turnaround. It’s almost like a validation of the skeptics, but it’s also a massive indictment of the systems used to evaluate potential.
I remember back in my undergrad days, I worked a summer internship at a tech firm where they had this incredibly rigid hiring process. They wanted "rockstars"—the kind of people with the specific pedigree and the polished resumes. They passed over this one guy who was quiet, a bit unkempt, and didn't have the "right" school on his CV. Within three months, that guy was basically running the entire backend of their operations because he understood the logic better than anyone else. The "architects" of the hiring process looked like fools because they were looking for a type, not a capability.
This brings me to the tension between a leader's reputation and a player's development. When a program or a company hits a slump, the leader is the first to get the axe. But if that slump was actually caused by a failure to recognize talent that was sitting right in front of them, is it really a failure of leadership, or a failure of vision? There’s a fine line between a coach/manager being "too rigid" and being "disciplined."
I think we are entering an era where the "system" is being challenged by the "individual" more than ever before. The old way was to build a machine and slot people into it. The new way seems to be finding the person and building the machine around them. If a leader can't make that pivot, they become obsolete. But if they do make it, they are often accused of abandoning their principles.
It feels like we're constantly waiting for that one moment where the underdog's utility proves the establishment wrong. It’s the ultimate "I told you so" moment, but it's also incredibly high-stakes. If that player doesn't perform, the leader is blamed for "wasting" them. If the player does perform, the leader gets all the credit for "finding" them. It’s a win-win for the person in charge, but a total gamble for the organization.
Do you think we overvalue the "visionary" coach, or is the ability to spot undervalued talent actually the most important skill a leader can possess?
I was staring at my reflection in the hallway mirror this morning—just one of those mundane, mid-week moments—and I had this sudden, creeping realization of how much of "me" is actually just a collection of repurposed ancient hardware. It’s a weird thought, isn't it? We walk around thinking we are these cohesive, intentional beings, but when you really peel back the layers of biology, it feels like we’re just a series of "glitches" and "patches" that somehow worked well enough to keep the lights on.
It’s like looking at an old piece of software. You see a line of code that was written for a completely different purpose, maybe for a machine that hasn't existed in decades, but instead of deleting it, the programmers just slapped a new interface on top of it. The old code is still running in the background, buried under layers of modern updates, doing a job it wasn't originally designed for. That’s how I feel about our physical existence sometimes. We carry around these anatomical "ghosts"—structures that served a vital function for creatures that haven't breathed air or crawled through silt in half a billion years, yet they are still performing their duties inside our skulls right now.
I find it deeply unsettling, but also strangely poetic. It makes you wonder about the continuity of life. We talk about "progress" and "evolution" as if it’s a ladder we are climbing toward some state of perfection, but it’s much more like a scavenger hunt. We are built from the scraps of things that failed, things that changed, and things that were fundamentally different from anything we can imagine. It’s a survivalist’s patchwork quilt.
This brings up a bigger philosophical question for me regarding identity. If so much of our physical makeup—the very things that allow us to perceive the world or regulate our internal rhythms—is just a hand-me-down from something prehistoric and alien, where does the "true" self actually reside? Is our consciousness just a passenger riding around in a vehicle that was designed for a completely different driver?
We like to think of our senses as our window to the world, but if those windows were originally shaped by the needs of creatures that didn't even have a concept of "sight" as we know it, are we actually seeing the world as it is? Or are we just seeing a highly filtered, heavily modified version of reality, dictated by the leftover biological architecture of our ancestors? It’s like trying to watch a high-definition movie through a lens that was originally ground to help a tiny organism find its way through the dark. The colors might be there, but the clarity is a lie.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much of our behavior is driven by these ancient, "repurposed" systems. We have these deep-seated rhythms, these primal urges, and these physical structures that seem to dictate our moods and our sleep and our very perception of time, all of which are essentially echoes from a time before humans were even a whisper in the universe. It makes the whole concept of "free will" feel a bit more fragile. How much of what I decide to do today is a conscious choice, and how much is just my biology following a script written by a creature that died out hundreds of millions of years ago?
It’s a bit of a rabbit hole, I know. I didn't mean to get this heavy before my first cup of coffee, but once you start thinking about the "legacy code" of the human body, it’s hard to stop. We aren't just the sum of our experiences; we are the sum of everything that came before us, including the weird, unrecognizable parts that we’ve just integrated into our being.
Do you think our biological history limits our ability to truly understand the universe, or is our "patchwork" nature actually our greatest strength?
I consider myself a pretty level-headed person. People might call me phlegmatic, though I wouldn't use that term. I don't know if this aligns with what you all are discussing, but it takes almost nothing to rattle me. People say I just don't seem to care. I wasn't always like this; for about a year now, I've been trying to quiet something inside me so I don't react to people's nonsense. I simply feel better when I don't respond to an attack—and honestly, there’s rarely enough substance in those attacks to trigger anything in me anyway. A lot of people have noticed this. Those who try to provoke me often end up even more irrational because they don't get the reaction they expected. But that expectation is perhaps the most foolish thing of all; people constantly disappoint themselves by clinging to illusions. Back in high school, I'd come home for lunch and my parents would ask how school was. Most of the time, my answer was "nothing," and the conversation ended there. It wasn't that we had a bad relationship, I just didn't want to waste breath on questions that felt meaningless. Giving an extensive answer felt like I was being asked to run a marathon 62 miles. Is this a redistribution of energy?
Someone mentioned feeling the superficiality of human existence through this sort of detachment, or what I'd call energy conservation. I wonder if, as someone who lives without much worry, I am actually interesting to others. I don't care much for public opinion, but I do care about those close to me. Is it selfish to hold back, or can energy be distributed there too? Just analyzing myself 🙂
There are things I want to work on. First, my vanity and the tendency to perform. I'm no actor, but sometimes I'll do something and then glance sideways just to watch the other person's reaction. I don't want to be that person. It's that foolish "second mind" that needs to be discarded, though I haven't figured out how yet. Clearly, I still have much to learn...
I also struggle with anticipating others. When someone is nervous or agitated, I find myself checking to see if they are satisfied. If they aren't, I'm not happy either. If they are, I feel better. Why do I do that? I don't understand...
I'm curious about how people utilize their energy—meaning, how they avoid wasting it on things that don't matter. I don't think I waste mine, yet I often feel like I'm running on empty. How can I test this? Through some kind of creative outlet?
Can this energy be stimulated through diet, or is it strictly through physical movement?
I'm interested in why people speak of multiple worlds. When talking about perceiving or entering a new sphere, why call it a different world instead of just the same one? Is it just colorful language? Someone suggested two distinct places within the same world; would that be more accurate?
Does everyone possess the same energetic capacity?
A few too many questions, perhaps, but I hope to find answers. (In hope lies salvation, not in expectation 😁)
All these questions are expected and very human. Most people would agree with you simply because we all share the same fundamental starting point... if you weren't like this, you'd be a total freak, or at least considered crazy by those around you. This topic is about stepping away from the programmed behavior and expectations of the average person—it's about changing the very syntax of how humans naturally behave. It's like if you've listened to nothing but one single radio station your whole life because you didn't even know others existed, and now you decide to switch channels... obviously, you won't immediately know what the other stations sound like, because nobody ever told you they were an option. So now you, having tuned into one station for your entire life, are asking me to explain what the other stations sound like. That's like asking me to explain the color blue using only red... mission impossible. You need a massive internal shift in perception and direction before we can even start talking about redirecting energy within a human being. There's also a fundamental impossibility in discussing this with someone who is firmly rooted in a conventional worldview; it becomes a game of telephone because our "syntax" for understanding the world is completely different...
Look, we aren't even talking about the same definition of energy here—this is the kind of stuff that just doesn't make sense to a rational mind. The Toltec perspective basically argues that humans have only ever mastered two power centers: intellect and speech. We always fall into this trap of trying to express the other six points through those two channels, which is just impossible. At its core, the energy within a person's energetic egg defies any kind of description, let alone a deep analysis of what it actually is. You can't see it with your normal senses; you only catch glimpses of it during specific states using a technique called "seeing."
Zachary Cook2 said:Even if everything is just different expressions of the same energy, I still think it’s kind of stupid to label one thing as "sexual" and another as "life force"—but hey, maybe I need to wrap my head around it better. Maybe.
What’s the deal with sexual energy—is that also something you "spend" or leak away? Let’s be real—we all know exactly how this works. Everything is built around it now. Between the constant barrage of ads and the way the internet is wired, everything is being pushed toward one thing: sex. It’s everywhere.
Where exactly does that energy go, or who is it actually going to? What's your take?
So, does anyone actually need to bother with celibacy, or is biology just going to take over and handle everything once the time comes?
Life force and sexual energy don't vibrate at the same frequency, so you can't really swap them out. The only energy we actually have conscious control over is sexual energy, and according to the old Tolteci, you really ought to preserve it when practicing lucid dreaming techniques—it plays a massive role there. Generally speaking, wasting sexual energy just for the sake of pleasure isn't great because it's a vital resource. But then again, having kids is also a way of losing that individual wholeness of consciousness. So, it's just another one of those Toltec riddles where you kind of lose either way...!!
Most people don't even realize they're working with a finite energy budget—they just leak it everywhere like a broken faucet. Since our internal energy centers can't just magically tap into a new supply, we end up feeling that drain as physical aging and general bodily decay over time. One way to refill those storage tanks is through specific movement patterns—which is basically what this PDF covers—but there are other tricks too, like "solar yoga," where you basically soak up energy through your eyes. Just a heads-up though: you'll always lose more energy than you can redistribute, so you really need a lifestyle designed to conserve what little you have. Wise people have always pointed out these draining daily habits we all fall into; if you want to fix this, you have to cut those out. If you actually manage to throttle your energy waste and master redistribution, you'll see massive shifts in perception and a total transformation toward wholeness. At the end of the day, it’s all about energy and how you move it around...!!🙂
Donna Moore32 said:Look, if you just type "suicide" and "Castaneda" into Google, you’ll stumble upon a million different articles floating around the web... yet you won't find a single one that actually addresses the blatant falsehoods contained within those pieces. 😉
It's pretty weird that you're obsessing over a non-religious topic when you already started a thread asking "Does God exist?"—which you haven't even bothered to participate in, despite being a "real servant of God"... maybe you just picked the wrong sub? This isn't the place for those debates...!!🙂
Since a lot of people still don't seem to get the point of this PDF, let me clear things up—those magic moves used to shift energy aren't just some intellectual theory cooked up in a lab. They actually come from watching folks hit that "altered state of consciousness" and seeing them go through these wild, uncontrolled movements while they're out of it. Once they snap back to reality, most feel way more energized and balanced than before. After watching this play out for a long time, the Tolteci figured that the better headspace isn't even caused by the high itself, but by those weird little movements made during the trance. Since the Tolteci weren't really the type to brag about their wins, the only student who ever put any of this down on paper—and unfortunately didn't quite make it himself—was the one who wrote these books. Given how taboo this stuff still is in America today, who knows if there are other generations of Tolteci keeping things under wraps? We might just be stuck relying on this one single source...
Donna Moore32 said:Does anyone happen to know if there's a video out there covering those exercises—ideally one where it isn't some girls who ended up taking their own lives demonstrating them? To put it another way... is there any other reliable source of information regarding these practices, or were the followers of Castaneda truly the only ones with any real insight into them?
Look, this is just one of those things that was never meant to be written down—it was passed down orally from one generation to the next. That whole lineage actually stopped with Castaneda, since his last nagual told him the line was ending and he should just publish the knowledge for anyone interested. You can read about the Toltec way all you want, but most people will just end up arguing about it or denying it exists—very few actually find their own path within it...
Donna Moore32 said:Look, if you just type "suicide" and "Castaneda" into Google, you’ll stumble upon a million different articles floating around the web... yet you won't find a single one that actually addresses the blatant falsehoods contained within those pieces. 😉
First off, let’s be clear: Castaneda basically just transcribed Toltec wisdom onto paper. He and his crew didn't actually manage to live it—the last true Toltec to actually grasp it was Juan and his group. Anyone who’s actually read the books knows Juan said his lineage ended with him because Castaneda wasn't the right kind of nagual to carry the torch. It's pretty well known now that even though Juan gave him directions suited for his type of nagual, he failed—and that failure dragged a few of his followers down with him. Whatever happened later with CC and his followers has zero to do with the Toltec way; being CC-married is a completely different path that hasn't been published, and it's obvious CC didn't follow it. The subsequent deaths of some of his followers made for great sensationalist headlines globally, but it was all lightyears away from actual Toltec practice—which, by the way, is one of the most widely published teachings in the world...!!
Now, about people demanding hard evidence and facts from everyone else while their own backyard is a total mess. If you're calling yourself a real servant of God, then please, go ahead and start a thread about the Bible. I'll gladly flood you with a million questions that neither you nor the Bible can actually answer—since the Bible doesn't give precise or verifiable answers to anything. As a servant of God, I'd just have to ask you one key question: when exactly was the Bible written in its current form and who actually wrote it...? Go ahead, start a thread on that topic—I guarantee you won't be able to answer a single question correctly...!!
Nancy Harris6 said:I truly value your words and the sheer amount of time and energy you pour into these posts just to share your lived experience with the rest of us. It’s invaluable, and I’m deeply grateful... I assume you’re well aware of the weight your contributions carry. I understand what it means to talk about time and energy. It is the most precious thing we possess, alongside awareness. Once it's gone, it's gone... it's everything.
A few questions have been weighing on my mind lately.
First, how can one best utilize time through a Toltec lens? What would be the actual definition of time/energy in terms of its maximum utility? Just a few guiding principles—the absolute essentials every human being ought to know regarding this... Specifically, I’m curious about the characteristics of a lifestyle optimized for the rational use of time and energy, based on your teachings.
You mentioned conserving energy by listening to an inner voice... is that the core of it?
Secondly, how does one dispel or transform a sense of light, constant tension? It isn't quite stress, but more like a restlessness, an internal fidgeting... almost like an inner call toward awareness or alertness. If I calm down, I stop searching, I stop acting the way I act, and I effectively break my own path. It feels like playing a role that shouldn't be fully revealed for some reason, like a preordained fate or a soul's mission... I'm not sure how else to describe this tension. Is it even possible to rise above such a heavy feeling? Part of me thinks it isn't, and that perhaps everything is fine as it is, and I should just accept it with a sense of nonchalance.
I imagine that tensegrity exercises might help ease this, and I'm fairly certain I'll start looking into them.
I am also wondering how to distinguish a genuine feeling from a false one. For instance, when the mind says one thing and the soul says another, leaving me lost as to which is which. One insists that I want or must do something, while the other resists—whether out of laziness or some other reason. Both are so intense that I can't tell what I am truly feeling... I'm just confused.
Is the solution here to silence the mind and persist in silence, allowing thoughts and feelings to crystallize so they become easy to understand?
I am asking you because you understand energy, and feelings are nothing if not energy. I'm interested in an energetic perspective on feelings, rather than a psychological or "scientific" one... My main focus is on feelings—that inner voice, intuition, guidance—and how to sharpen and amplify them, as I believe there is immense power contained within them. How does one break free from the shackles... find their wings? 🙂
Please, do write back. I intend to step away from the forum for a while, but I will certainly be following along. Thank you. 🙂
I called you potential because I can feel your intention is laser-focused on becoming a Toltec warrior. When you talk about the mind, you have to realize we all carry two: your actual mind, which has been buried deep and shows up as that inner voice, and the practical mind—which isn't even yours. It's just an installation, a program that runs the show. That cheap little setup forces us into obsession, arrogance, and self-importance... it keeps us in a constant loop of conflict with everyone else, fueled by the energy we create through our actions—energy that serves whoever installed that programming in the first place. That's why you can't trust the mind; you need techniques to quiet it and practice internal silence to drive that "installed" ego crazy until it finally leaves, making room for your real mind to emerge. That transition is brutal because our true mind has been suppressed our entire lives and needs to be reactivated... but once it happens, you're finally free, and the whole universe opens up exactly as it is.
lonehawk16 said:What makes the translation so bad? And more importantly, is it actually possible to perform the exercises effectively if you're working from a translated copy?
I mean, sure you can... but I'll stick to the English version. From what I've seen, translators just follow a template because they don't really grasp the actual meaning behind the words—but hey, the book still works if you need it.
lonehawk16 said:Would you mind sharing which specific books you're referring to?
Magical Movement by Carlos Castaneda magical movement by Carlos Castaneda The way I see it—it's basically one book released in two different versions... personally, I'd stick to the original because the translation is pretty rough...!!
lonehawk16 said:I have a somewhat practical question for the group: how many of you actually practice the movements described in Carlos Castaneda's "magical movement"? I am curious to know after what period of time you began to notice or feel any tangible results—specifically regarding shifts or increases in your body's energy levels—and, more importantly, how those changes actually manifest for you physically or mentally?
...look, I’ve got two copies (one in English from the States and one other) and three DVDs... I mostly run the magical movement sequences to set an intention, while mixing the West Coast sets with standard Toltec practices—you know, things like recalling, dreaming, seeing... The feeling right after finishing a sequence isn't exactly some massive, life-altering surge, but over the long haul, you definitely start to notice a real difference in your physical vitality...
Zachary Cook2 said:Subtle hints? Good luck getting anyone to pick up on those—they're pretty rare to begin with. Look, I’m not claiming to be some genius or have all the answers here. Honestly, if someone points out when I'm messing up, I actually appreciate it—so please, if you see me tripping up, just tell me how to fix it.
How exactly do you think you "save time" or "spend it efficiently"?
By listening to that gut feeling before you even open your mouth. A real warrior doesn't just chat because they feel like it or because someone else wants to talk—they listen to that inner voice first to see if a conversation is even worth having... like, once I was talking to this kid and something just told me he wasn't being real with me, so I shut it down right then and there. If I’d explained why, he probably would've thought I was losing my mind, but I'm telling you, I just followed my gut... As for the other guys in the discussion, nothing felt off, so we stayed on good terms.
Zachary Cook2 said:You didn't even have to say it—it was obvious. Look, I'm constantly re-evaluating what I know. There have been plenty of times where I was dead certain I was right, only to realize I was being totally blind to my own mistakes until someone else pointed them out.
Real fighters seek out people on that same path just so they can get some honest feedback—to hear the things an individual might miss on their own.
I wasn't trying to be a jerk; I was just trying to help. It's up to you guys to take that info and decide if you need to rethink your own approach.
👍
Look, I get it—you mean well and want to lend a hand whenever you can. But honestly? I think you lost the plot with how you're phrasing things. A tracker lives by control, discipline, and restraint, but none of that matters without perfect timing. A warrior isn't just sitting there passive; they strike once, decisively, at the exact right moment. To an outsider, it might look off, but a warrior doesn't have time for empty chatter or pointless games that go nowhere—basically they don't have time to waste or talk nonsense —and they need to make that clear to everyone. I'm worried you're missing the point by constantly trying to lecture people. That's not it. You should just drop a hint about the path; long stories and unsolicited advice lead nowhere and definitely aren't in the spirit of a tracker, who makes every second count and uses time extremely sparingly.
Bradley Myers63 said:I don't know—sometimes when I speak, I realize I’m just voicing the truth. I don't need to actually see it, because I know it's being said. I believe those who see can't really speak, since their energy tends to pool right where they want it to be... that's a higher plane, I suppose. Let it be. I have no intention of seeking visions, but I'm not afraid of them either... I just want to talk and write, letting everything flow into a single point—a blue dot of truth through which white light descends to Earth. I say I don't want to see, but there's no fear there. You all are the researchers who seek sight; you'll be shown what you look for, and you're here to interpret the external world—thanks for doing that. I am simply a "voice," someone meant to speak, not through ego but through light... a voice exists so others might choose to listen and accept it. It’s all about an exchange of different colors and frequencies—all that's needed is openness and faith in the one white light and its aspects, our dear God who pours knowledge into us... that’s how it works when someone can't explain something; they simply can't, because the light intends to emerge at a specific place, in a specific color, flowing through a person at a precise frequency. For me, truth is blind... and if staying that way helps me help others, then so be it. He who sees doesn't need a voice... he who hears doesn't need to see... let it stay that way for a while. I don't think we can reach a collective insight without enough people speaking rather than seeing—after all, speaking is for others. There's no ego involved there; once you start seeing, I suspect the ego takes over because you'll try to explain the unexplainable through it, relying on their own experience. You should see for others if you possibly can... so that they receive what the light intends to give them. To be blunt, you can talk to Democrats and they might sincerely try to understand, but they won't want to see it—and that’s where all vision disappears.
Look, you've got the potential and the drive to actually do something with your life, and that's a massive gift you don't see often. There are endless paths into that infinity, too slippery to ever pin down with rules or schemes, so just the intention to act is enough to kick you onto a new track or path. Listen and learn about all the ways, and your heart will find the right one—don't sweat it, it won't and can't go wrong. Only a tiny fraction of things depends on our willpower; a much larger part is, like under an iceberg, beneath anything we can grasp, and that's where the path reveals itself, ready to pop up in front of you at any second, and you'll definitely move toward it without fear or hesitation...
Bradley Myers63 said:Here’s another one my intuition tells me is true—try to approach this with an open mind, there's a mutual benefit here. I get to learn more about myself through your response, and you get to test the depth of your own honesty. It’s a bit of a blend of spirituality and psychology, really—it helps you grow, provided the answer stays sincere. If I hadn't been so guarded with my own insights, maybe there wouldn't have been so much conflict lately—though, let's be honest, most of that was on me. There’s a strange overlap between sadness and transcendence when you finally stop letting the ego run the show. Anyway, I just want your take so I don't end up drowning in my own ego instead of staying grounded in wisdom. I have this feeling like I'm just talking to myself—asking questions I'll eventually answer anyway if you don't step in. That’s the real spiritual work, I suppose—being able to sit with oneself and provide answers for others rather than just for one's own sake. I’m fairly certain—hopefully without the ego getting in the way—that I'm tapping into a vision where we move past pure materialism. We can bridge the gap by integrating material perspectives into universal ones—merging psychology, spirituality, and all those different religions that tend to divide us. All we really need is the language of love rather than hate. So, I’ll keep talking to myself until you reply; might even pass out before 4 AM tonight.
First off, I gotta address that constant tug-of-war between "materialism" and "spirituality"... in the Toltec way, that divide doesn't even exist. Everything around us is saturated with this incredible energy—infinite strands of living light that no creature can actually look at directly. The Toltecs were the only ones who could observe this energy in groups, which kept them from getting wiped out by it. Everything is built from this living energy that stays hidden, radiating everything around us, something no one has ever truly been able to describe because it defies any comparison. The material world is basically just our minds projecting onto that massive energy. Once you shift your collective point of observation, you realize the physical world is just a mental description—it isn't nearly as "real" as the average person thinks. Reaching the point where the material world starts to dissolve means hitting what the Toltecs call "stopping the light." But messing with that collective point of observation isn't a game; you're staring down "infinity," and if you don't handle its movement indirectly and carefully, you'll fall into a nightmare of uncontrolled chaos where everything looks surreal and fake. To put it simply, think of our world like a single frequency on an old TV set. We’re tuned into just one channel, and that channel is our material reality. Turning the dial is like shifting that collective point of observation—we lose our "channel" (the material world) and start picking up other worlds vibrating on different frequencies. Just a little analogy to help wrap your head around the concept of the collective point.
Zachary Cook2 said:Hmm, looks like that young guy is getting under your skin. I’m honestly surprised that after being on the path for so long, something like this can actually offend you—maybe you haven't quite mastered the art of stalking yet.
Take what I'm saying as some well-meaning criticism, something to chew on.
The whole point is learning how to stalk properly so you can preserve your energy. Honestly, the more "young gentlemen" like that I run into, the better—it’s good practice for me.
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Look, man, I was just trying to shut down a pointless argument between two people who aren't even listening to each other—I never said the kid insulted me. Another guy on the forum asked me about it, so I had to explain why I made the call... don't worry about my ego or how much "thrust" I've got left—I think I'm doing just fine.