Best Of
Re: Oktoberfest 2021
As much as I'd love to come see y'all, Florida is an absolute shit show right now and I don't imagine that's going to change much in the next two months, so I'm not going to make it this year. I am extremely sad about it. :-(
Re: Kyle is gone
Today, August 12th, 2021: Dennis Lee Harrington was sentenced to 36-180 months in prison for the murder of Kyle Ambrozy.
At minimum, he will be in prison for three years. His first parole hearing will be in late 2024.
Since he has no prior criminal record, and will almost certainly not be a troublemaker or criminal in prison, he will very likely be out of prison and on probation by 2024.
He owes me $10,400 in restitution for expenses related to the effects of this loss; I have absolutely no expectation that this obligation will be met in any meaningful manner, in any sort of time frame that makes any sort of difference to any of our lives. My plan for that money is to help send Kyle's ashes literally into outer space.
The top question I've been asked all day is: how do you feel about the sentence, do you think it was fair, what did you want out of this, etc.
My feelings are not complicated: I literally don't care about the sentence, whether or not it was fair, or what happens to Dennis Harrington. I never cared about prison anyway. I just don't care.
What I do care about; the only thing I want out of this: I want him off the road. For now, and for at least the next several years, that has been accomplished, and that is all that matters to me. Will his driving privileges be reinstated some day? Perhaps. Will it be a long and expensive and arduous process that consumes a significant portion of his resources and energy? Maybe. Maybe not. I don't actually care.
People are getting hung up on the numbers. 36. 180. 3 years. 15 years. What does it mean, etc.
He will be in state prison for three years. Then he will be out. His life will never be the same, just like me.
I want to extend my heartfelt thanks for all the endless love and support and messages of kindness we've received, but most of all I want to thank Tracey for carrying this unimaginable burden with me. She has invested a staggering amount of emotional and mental energy into this case, and because of her tireless and righteous work, the judge, the bailiffs, the attorneys, and all others present truly felt, at the very deepest level, the wrath of a mother whose baby has been murdered. Only one thing could be more powerful - a mother's love.
The prosecutor told us afterwards that he has never really seen someone without a prior criminal record get such a serious sentence. Tracey's efforts accomplished this.
I am now ready to move on from this chapter of our lives. It's over, Kyle lives on through his influence on all of us, and my life is dedicated to living the way he wanted me to—fun, free, and totally fuckin' awesome.
Re: Oktoberfest 2021
Done.
@Gylvanas said:
Also, should I start looking for lodging somewhere?
No, we'll save you a bed / cot. And street parking is all around us, yes.
Re: Oktoberfest 2021
I WILL BE THERE SLINGING BEERS THAT I'VE BEEN WANTING TO SHARE FOR 18 MONTHS
Re: A new chapter.
I concur with pigflipper. Sounds like you ran a good campaign and held true to your beliefs. Take what you learned, regroup and if you decide to run again in the future you'll be that much more prepared. Even if you don't run again, as pigflipper said, you participated in the Democratic process in a way that 99% of America lever will and I have mad respect for you in that.
Re: A new chapter.
Hell, you believed in the democratic process, that is a fuckton more than most candidates. Did you learn a lot? Seems so from your post. Keep at it. We need more people like you in this country, regardless of political affiliation.
Oktoberfest 2021
Friends, let's be optimistic. Is it possible we have to cancel again? Sure. But let's take the days off work and pencil it in our calendars and just feel good about it for a few months regardless.
Icrontic's annual Oktoberfest (and now adding Day Of The Dead) celebration will be Oct 28-31.
- Offrenda lighting on Friday night? Check.
- Costume party Saturday night? Check.
- Lincoln has to run out the door for a company trip starting Tuesday? Check.
It hardly seems fair that ICOK, the event with the most annual occurrences, was the only one of the big three to evade a second year of cancellation, but here we are.
Do we even remember how to do this? Like, remember there are rules? And I guess I'll need to know who's staying overnight? Ah jeez, how does any of this work?? Don't forget a costume, and a photo for the offrenda if you want. And Coke Zero? I think? ...guys?
Re: A new chapter.
Hello again. It's been a while, I know, but I feel that I owe you all a rundown of what happened.
The Friday after this post was made, another individual filed to run in the Primaries. While said individual had ran for Congress numerous times (and failed), I still hold today, as I did then, that they had every right to run. With that being said, it changed the strategy that my campaign had, from one of focusing on the November elections, to one of having to also duke it out in the Primary. But I was up for the task put before me. I planned on knocking on EVERY door I could, attending every event I could, and getting my name out there as best as possible. If I could not outspend them, I would outwork them, and I was ready for it.
That is, until the pandemic hit.
Once everything started to hit, my equalizer was taken away. I was not able to go door to door as I had planned, and everything had to move online. I had a campaign Facebook page set up, and while it was originally one to express my ideas and my beliefs in regards to the job, I ended up using my platform to help promote small businesses in my city. I did this because it is my firmly held belief that local small businesses are part of the backbone of the communities that we have worked so hard to build, and that to lose any one of them would cause irreparable damage to them. Looking back, it may have hurt my chances, but I would do it again if put in the same position.
To @MAGIC , yes, we had a website, and a basic one at that. It was supposed to house blogs about my reasons for running, my thoughts about issues, and what I would be doing on the campaign trail. When the pandemic hit, I'll admit that I neglected it, opting to post on my campaign Facebook as much as I could. As of a couple months ago, it has since been shut down.
But during that time, I made as many calls as possible, wrote as many emails, and filled out as many surveys as I could (to which, as I found out, a lot of them skew their questions to they put complex issues into "yes or no" questions, which I abhor). Our Primary day was moved from the traditional May date (May 5th last year) to June 2nd.
Primary day rolls around and I go out to the voting centers within my district (Indianapolis, which my district is based in, went to a voting center model, which allowed people to vote anywhere in the city), talking to as many people as I could. I'll admit that I was nervous as all hell. I had done canvassing before, but mostly for other candidates, not for myself. I talked to as many people as possible in the lines, staying out all day to do so, before heading home to watch the results come in.
I lost my Primary by a vote count of 1,470 to 317 (or 82.3% to 17.7%).
I would be lying if I said that it didn't hurt that night. I felt that I had let down my friends, my family, and those that had supported me. It hurt in the sense that I was never able to put forward my views on how we could make our state better for those that live here. It hurt because I felt that I had let down my best friend, who practically volunteered to run my campaign (I made sure to pay them with some of the money I had left over from donations. All accounted for.). But I learned from the experience, and took what I learned and will be able to use it for future endeavors.
Now, will I try again under more, shall we say, favorable conditions? It's not out of the question. I'm not sure what my future holds. I might try again for State Rep. I might try to run for City Council and work on some ideas I have for my city. The future is an open book yet to be written, and I hope that I can be able to help write the next chapters in one way or another.