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One Group Everyone Should Join
Boss Mongo.
If anyone here deserves the title of Ricochet Legend, it is Boss Mongo. He was larger than life — intelligent, well-read, opinionated, funny, straight-forward, frank, honest, and a hell of a good storyteller. Getting a Boss Mongo like on a comment or post was better than the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. It meant that a man who had seen, and done, just about everything thought that what you had to say was okay.
His greatest achievement was getting me to join Ricochet. After lurking for years, I listened to the Boss on a Land of Confusion podcast. He talked about being involved. (Something about “skin in the game”, where had I heard that before?) So I parted with my hard-earned shekels and joined. I haven’t been sorry that I did.
This is a great community that I am glad to be a part of. I got to exchange a comment or two with the Boss. (Even got a like!) So I made a mental note that this was a guy I had to meet one day. I even did the time-distance calculations to the Keys. It’s a long way; so I decided to put it off. After all, there’s plenty of time.
Then, the Boss up and died.
So, I made another mental note. If there’s someone here that I think I’d like to meet, I’d do it. And do it sooner rather than later.
Which brings me to the One Group Everyone Should Join. It’s the Ricochet Meetup Group.
Ricochet is an online community of like-minded people. The depth and breadth of knowledge of our members is truly mind-boggling. There are some very fine writers here, and some who are maybe not so fine. But all write from the heart. And it’s a pleasure to read it.
But I’m an old-timey type of guy. As much as I like reading posts and comments, nothing beats a face-to-face meetup. I just finished dinner with @samuelblock and @titustechera. The steaks and scotch were great, but the conversation was even better. It was wide-ranging, fun, educational, and even a bit inspirational. There wasn’t enough time to cover everything we wanted to, but I sincerely hope that I will have another chance to talk with Titus. (Perry’s a given. He lives here, and all you have to do is buy him a beer to get him to talk to you.)
So, back to the point. There are fantastic people here, so make an effort to meet them. Join the Ricochet Meetup Group. If you’re traveling and have time, post your itinerary so someone has the chance to reach out (that’s how I met @westernchauvinist). If there’s someone you’d really like to meet, start a DM dialogue and see if you can work something out. You won’t be sorry that you did.
And if anyone’s in the New Orleans area, or even somewhere along the Gulf Coast, drop me a line. There’s plenty of beer down here (along with other adult beverages), and I’d love to share one with you.
Published in Meetups
Don’t try that in Wisconsin. Thousands of Rhodys could show up.
What can I say? I’m a polite guy. If people insist on buying me drinks, I’ll oblige!
But in all seriousness, people should join the meetup group. People should pop in the comments and even write posts. If you don’t know where to start, I’ll recommend a friendly introduction post. I promise will suffice to show you that what might look like a cliquey circle of old friends is more like a welcome wagon.
Like Tim says, the proper end game is making real friends out of online friends. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a few actual people who weren’t really on my radar beforehand, but whom I hope to meet again and will follow from afar in the meantime.
Be sure to invite me if anyone takes you up on a New Orleans meetup. I’ll pay for my own drinks if it’s necessary!
Here’s the link for the meetup group: https://ricochet.com/groups/ricochet-meetup/
For those of you nearby Charolette, North Carolina, there’s a meetup set for June 25th; before that we’ve got an event set on June 15th in Washington D.C.; and in late July we’ve got big soiree in Milwaukee to look forward to.
I’ll leave it to @randyweivoda to clue me in on what I’m missing.
Awww! To be a fly on the wall there!
The Bourbon Trail meetup was a really good time. Met some great people. On to Germanfest in Wisconsin!
Sorry not to be able to participate, but thank you for rekindling the fond memories. Boss Mongo not just pawn in game of life.
Boss Mongo is clickbait. Mention him, and you are guaranteed that people will read it.
Like many here, he’s a friend I never met. We all miss him.
I hope to make that one. Have relatives in Chicago, so I can use that as an excuse to go.
I love meetups! Anytime someone is near Baltimore…
Boss was the reason I joined last year after reading an eloquent eulogy by Dr. B. (don’t go get a big head Doc). I recalled my first post ever:
10:07 AM PDT ⋅ Jul 16, 2021
As usual, Dr. B’s depth and eloquence is inspirational. Having been an interloper on Ricochet for ~3 years relegated to, yet inspired by, only the Main Feed, this post and Boss’s untimely departure from this online family galvanized my decision I’ve waffled on for months. Being my first post on Ricochet, apologies for possibly breaking protocol, but I felt startlingly emotional reading the news of Boss’s passing. Confused by the depth of such a relationship, seemingly illusory and detached, Dr. B’s similar bewilderment was reassuring and affirming.
In deference to Boss: I pulled the trigger. This morning I joined what I already feel is a family, albeit mostly voyeuristic and one-sided at this point. Ignoring the influence Ricochet conversations and community were leaving on me was no longer deniable. My morning coffee or evening nightcap was not complete until I had checked if Dr. B, Boss, navyjag, She, Rodin, JennaS, CliffB, SusanQ, Hank, Jerry, Stina, kadavis, et. al. posted (and so, so, so many more! apologies for not including you in this list). Not engaging was not an option; I could no longer sit in the stands.
Finding the Twittersphere perniciously loathsome, Facebook overwhelmed by narcissism and Instagram destructively impermanent, meaningful personal connections through social platforms seemed pointless, shallow and gratuitous. I feel indebted to Dr. B, Boss and so many Ricochetti for demonstrating otherwise. The civility and wealth of knowledge during an uncivil time brought me to Ricochet. The connections, compassion and relationships displayed on Ricochet propel me forward as a community member. This conversation provides such evidence.
Boss’s memory will not be short-lived. I so look forward to delving into Boss’s member posts, and so many other Ricochetti posts I was not privy to before. As comparatively insignificant as it is in nature, Boss’s legacy will certainly remain in some small way by my membership. My heartfelt prayers to Boss’s family and friends. We are comforted that the extent of our loss corresponds with the love and impact Boss left with us.
RIP Brendan.
This echoes my Ricochet “journey” almost to a T. I am naturally pretty unsentimental, but to my great surprise, news of Boss Mongo’s death hit me like a ton of bricks. I was brought to tears for days every time I thought about it.
That’s actually where Titus is off to. I believe he’ll be there for five days. Not sure what his schedule is like, but you should PM him if you’re available between today and Tuesday.
I live about an hour from Baltimore. I’ll definitely be on the look out. Thanks!
There are a few in the Detroit area, and we don’t bite. . .too much.
The flies on the wall at Charlie’s Steakhouse are very discreet. They won’t disclose any secrets.
Joined a few months before you Tim and it was Dr. B’s posts that did it. Boss and I exchanged 3 messages, the last a few days before his passing. Curious what his irritation was with Army JAGC lawyers as my interactions with them during Viet Nam era were pretty positive. Never got the answer. Loved his posts.
From the vault when we were stilll figuring Zoom out.
I remember that exchange and hoped he would explain it.
I’ve run into JAG officers who seemed to think their main job was to say no. The best ones were the ones who could figure out how to make things happen.
You are totally right about Boss Mongo being clickbait. I was also very sad when I heard of his passing, and we had only “talked” here. As I’m the mother of a son who wants to eat the world like he did, he gave me great advice on multiple occasions. I loved his humor, and I always read his articles.
I love your sentiment as well. While I am a pretty private person who doesn’t do much outside reading and occasionally writing here, I am certain our world is a better place when people make face-to-face connections. I’m glad so many have run into each other in person, and I’m also happy people feel this Ricochet endeavor is worth supporting. Boss Mongo was absolutely right about that! People have to support enterprises they think are worthwhile if they want those enterprises to thrive.