I will say that is one of the best written messages seen on the internet and especially on this forum. Correct us of paragraphs (not run together making people dizzy), and due to that, I read the entire thing.
Only suggestion I would offer is rather cold. That is get your brother to pay the difference or you will have him arrested for fraud. If he used you SS number, it is illegal. But you have to understand, if my brother tried to screw me like that, I would probably beat him to within an inch of his life and still make him pay. Possibly that is why I have not talked with the POS for over twenty years.
Good luck in whatever you do!
Thank you for the compliment
I have been quite active on a number of forums over the years, and I am a long-standing member of numerous BMW and automotive forums as well as several PC/Computer-building and Hardware, Overclocking, and similar message-boards, a number of Firearms-based forums, and three Psychopharmacology-"based" forums (I use that loosely... as in, most of these people are their own test subjects
).**
Regarding my brother, he and I have a strained relationship, and I will be the first to admit that I have had my own problems that have certainly had a negative impact on him, but at the same time they are years in the past at this point, and he is an adult (he's 19; so he was still finishing grade school after I was starting college so we were never that close). As an adult, he should be able to handle these things like an adult, but I'm afraid that he is following in a few, certainly not all, of my footsteps... and as a result, it will take learning for himself to be able to change. I know that nothing I do will effect change, and more than likely will only serve to further push us apart :/
Anyone who had siblings that didn't live the "Prairie Home Companion"-life should understand that kind of tension, especially between the oldest and the youngest. No specifics, but many of the underlying/overarching reasons for his passive-aggressive hostility can be traced back to my own "unsavory" behavior while I was the age at which he finds himself now. Does it piss me off that he can't accept change and move on, or forgive and forget, or just simply let bygones be bygones? Yes, it does, as I've done more than my share to make things up to him.
However, it is NOT worth pressing criminal charges on him. Not only would that cement a doomed relationship as such, it would involve the entire family (and my extended family would no-doubt learn of it, as Eastern-Europeans like to tell others how and what to do; one of downsides to being a second-generation American: those "old country social values" stick around the grandparents/great-aunts-and-uncles/etc).
I really am not the kind of person who likes or really even would ever choose to deal with conflict. I am good at resolving it, and I can talk a VERY smooth and convincing talk, but my skills are limited at "buttering up" rather than "breaking down", and I'm not complaining about that!
**One of the reasons I'm "choosey", let's say, with my money is because my biggest hobby is modifying, autocrossing, and road-course racing BMW's, and I have a car that is my baby
A beautiful '00 BMW 328Ci (2.8L Inline-6 in the E46 Coupe body-style) in Topaz Blue Metallic over Dove Grey Leather, Manual Transmission (originally a 5-speed, swapped for a 6-speed from a 2006 330i ZHP), and with EVERY option from the factory: Sport Package, Premium Package, Cold-Weather Package, Xenon/HID Headlights, Convenience Package, 14-speaker Harmon-Kardon Premium Sound, and is a "BMW Individual" car meaning over 200 different things, from door sills to paint and wheel-tire package to lights, could be changed in a dizzying variety of ways.
I worked 40hrs a week for three and a half years through high-school to buy the car, and have since put over three times what I paid for it into the car in the form of a truly dizzying array of modifications. It's a fully street-drivable car that, with a jack, some stands, a torque wrench, a set of my "race" wheels and tires, and a couple tweaks to the dampers' rebound and compression settings as well as the sway-bars' stiffness, and it is MORE than capable of keeping up with cars that
started out costing six figures (with Lord-knows how much $$ into them now).
I have a demanding academic life, which is leading to a demanding professional life, so while my hobby may be expensive and truth be told: I do spend most of my money, rather, more than I should, on my car and on track/Auto-X/race days... It is my outlet, it is what keeps me sane, and it is what brings the biggest grin to my face, rushing down a 9/10's of a mile straight with the throttle buried, engine roaring to 7200rpm, slamming into 4th gear, and hitting 155-170mph before slamming down on those massive 6-piston monobloc front brakes to take the 60* right-hand sweeper at a "tame" 75mph...
That makes everything else worthwhile...
The Firearms forums come as a result of one of my many jobs having been working as a salesperson at a local (small) Class-3 Firearms Dealer (aka: FFL), and doing a fair bit of recreational shooting, even some Practical Pistol and Practical Rifle competitions (at an amateur level)! Plus, I had one of the first actual Semi-/Full-Auto HK416's in the US that was owned by a civilian, as well as an Accuracy International AWM (L96) in .338 Lapua Magnum, a Sig Sauer P226E2 in .357SIG and a number of other firearms. Ended up selling most of them though, as you wouldn't believe what some people will pay (and did pay!) for some of the rarer stuff I had accumulated, even stuff as simple as out-of-production ammunition :blink:
Again, sorry for being so verbose... wordy... whatever you wanna call it. I know that's how I am, and I am talkative in real life too
Once I get going about Bimmers, though, I can go on for hours, days, perhaps months nonstop (hehe).
Thanks again and take care
