I certainly posted some cringeworthy stuff, a lot of it actually, back in the day that I wish I hadn't. (Can I plead youth?) But you are correct, it was stimulating, despite the "venom."

Unlike yourself, I lost a few friends along the way, a couple of them, Mark Dworkin and Paul Cool, to tragic circumstances beyond anyone's control. (I miss those sweet guys; gone too soon.) Others, who shall remain nameless, to my discovering that they were unable or unwilling to cease self-righteously personalizing every dotted i and crossed t as if their very lives depended on it. So, in that sense, a learning experience, I suppose.

Goes without saying that like yourself I learned a lot by mixing it up with "real" historical researchers. I may not always sound like it, and I continue to have my reservations about the "truth claims" that the field often falls victim to, but I do admire those like a Peter Brand, or even a Kenny Vail, who put in the sweat equity and go the extra mile to excavate the facts as far as they can be determined.