A week ago, after talking to a few around here...and worrying myself...I decided to give a try to see if I could see what was up with billingsby. He lives in the same city as myself, and knowing his first name and place of work, I thought I'd give a phone call to see if I could find out if he was still alive, or if he was in some other way facing any problems. I did find out some information, and since he is still absent and there are leagues waiting for him, I figured I'd better leave an update.
Turns out a ton of life issues all came down on billingsby around the same time. Both family (some of you had heard about his ailing father that he needed to spend time with), a move for his mother (who is now alone but he also split time with), a flood at home, loss of a computer, etc etc etc. To say the least, it was one of those times that we all dread...an overload of issues and stress. As a result, before he had a breakdown, he had to take a step back (and lack of computer access made the choice for him).
He is concerned that owners here would hate him for his absense. I let him know that we were more concerned about his health and we would all think that he should take his time with these personal issues. I hate to think he would have to feel the need to return using a different name...so hopefully everyone understands. I know if things like that happened to me, I would hope there would be an general understanding as well.
I did get the one response from him, but I have received no more sitemails from him since a week ago. I delayed posting here as I was hoping he would give a general update to all, but it seems like he is still on his leave of absense. So, billingsby...if/when you do read this...take care of yourself and your family. That is obviously far more important than anything here. If/when you do return...don't worry, you have a lot of friends around here and we look forward to sharing some hours of sim league games with you.