My post was an expression of frustration, but let me defend the club I love for a moment. This BB is very much like a neighborhood bar. There is a incredible variety of folks with different backgrounds (educational, economical, political etc). But like a local bar, we share one very important thing in common, it isn't a common neighborhood, or work, or even a fav sports team, we all are obsessed with little pieces of clay, the history that surrounds it, and everything else that can be tied to it.

Like any bar (or family) there are disputes over things that really should be able to be dealt with in more reaonable tones. And as my grandmother would always say, it takes two to tango. While it would be wonderful if we could all get along, in the end we still share a common bond. This BB is a fairly narrow look at the hobby, and not all folks in the bar are in the club. But if you attended a convention, you would see incredible camaraderie.

When I was injured last year, several members of the club (including a few who were already busy enough) took the time to check on me or act for me. Doug Smith (Cigarman) is one my closest friends in the club, he was learning all that went with the job of treasurer, yet at 7am he was present when the elevator repair folks were checking out the shaft in case any of my possession were still down there.

I love Chicago (Go White Sox), went to Law School just west of there, and yes you will have a good time there. But reconsider the club, and the convention, it is great fun, and wonderful folks. The volunteers are the best, and volunteering at the convention is one of my fav activities.

Now on to a couple of other points. I found your thoughts about mediation in resolving disputes within the club interesting. While my career has been entirely in Criminal and Constitutional Law, I did take Mediation in law school with Dean Alfini, and he believed Mediation could be applied to nearly every area of law. I have seen it applied to areas of criminal law effectively. I do think it may be a bit of a stretch to have all member voting on multiple issues, but I can see some aspects of mediation being applied within the club. I do think there already exists a certain amount of it informally already.

I use a scooter in Vegas so I can enjoy as much of the strip and casinos has possible. At home I used to use a crutch to get around, now use a walker, but in both cases my distances are severely limited. While I am in Vegas, I find myself paying attention to accessibility (partly because it is an area of law I am interested in, but also because it helps to remember which doors are easy and which are hard). I agree it is an issue of cusomer service. There are casinos I am not a big fan of because of their approach (or how I perceive their approach), and others I really like because of their approach.

I'd like to read some of your blogs and articles if you could pass along the sites. I would be interested in discussing this with you more in the future.