FormCritic wrote:
As I understand it, pneumonia is a near death experience.
Rob probably cannot afford the doctor care he needs.  

My father died of pneumonia. He was in a hospital for the last three months of his life hooked up to machines.  I am very familiar with the sickness.

If you have pneumonia, and you are not in the hospital, you are probably going to die.  There is very little outpatient care to be done in this case, besides massive doses of antibiotics.  If Rob is not in a hospital at this point, he is probably going to pass away. It's a sad fact, but true. My concerns at this point are if he is really this sick, and if he is, why he isn't under constant medical care.  I don't want to get into a discussion on the specifics of what Rob might or might not have. Suffice to say if it's STILL pneumonia, I cannot see any hope of recovery, because it damages your lungs to the extent you will never be able breathe without aid, particulary if you are fighting it this long.  I actually hope that's not the case and Rob is just having financial difficulties, because the alternative is that he won't be with us much longer.....

Mike B.

Deadlord39 wrote:Between the sarcoid and the pneumonia, I won't be running any marathons. Once your lungs get scarred, they stay that way.
If Rob is on the older side, and he hasn't kicked the pneumonia yet, he had best start getting his affairs in order.

What Deadlord said....

If Rob is still fighting pneumonia, it isnt a fight at this point.....it's over.  He'll never be able to function again, at his age, without medical assistance.

Mike B.

Being one of those who was persuaded by Pied Piper and some posters/members on this forum to invest in the Limited Edition of the Bottle City, I have been following this thread with a lot of interest, albeit silently.

Until now.

If Rob has a devastating illness as seems to be indicated above, then he should truly allow someone to help him get medical help. And if he refuses that, then at least allow someone to help him to get his affairs in order. Rob's persistence in not doing so; is simply unfathomable to me.

An earlier post indicated that at least one person known here has seen Rob and spoken with him in person, even if only for a very brief time. Perhaps nothing other than his illness was mentioned then.

But the question comes to my mind;
Why would ANYONE in his right mind refuse to accept help (medically)?

As stated above, pneumonia is NOT a small issue for young healthy folks, and is a far more serious condition for the elderly. Possibly deadly.

I am just about convinced now that my previous investment in Pied Piper was for naught; but if the BOOKS are made, and delivered into Rob's hands, as seems to be the position taken above, then why can't they be shipped by any of those who volunteered to help Rob out?

Is Rob the ONLY employee of Pied Piper?

IMO: This is most certainly a blight on the hobby.
I feel like one of the rats in the children's fable must have felt near the end; being led to a watery doom by the songs of the piper.

If delivery is being held up for mostly monetary reasons, then as much money as I have already dropped into the calamity named Bottle City, I would be willing (After obtaining some sort of assurances) to contribute another small amount to get my copies of the LIMITED Edition delivered to me.

I honesty wish only the best for Rob in his sickness. And I truly hope he gets well. But has he been sick for 6 months now? And if so, why are we just now finding out about it? And why would we not be informed by Pied Piper themselves, instead of through a collector web site?

That's how the site got my payment............ Via the web.
I have heard that the WEB can in fact work in BOTH directions.
Is Rob the ONLY employee of Pied Piper?
If so, then who was it that just shut the site down?

Jaybird216 wrote:DCS is the webmaster. If it was shut down on purpose, my money says it was him (though I'm sure at Rob's request). Logistically, Rob is the only employee of Pied Piper. Until recently, I was doing art & layout. DCS is the webmaster, and grodog is the editor and sanity-preserver. But Rob's the only one on-site in Milwaukee (to my knowledge). He does all of the fulfillment and holds the purse strings.

Thank you for the information.
I do appreciate your posting the info.
Still hoping for Rob to recover as fully as possible from his illness.

BTW: What (Or who) is a DCS?
Grodog is a very active member here (And on several other forums too) and I have visited his Web Site, so I think I kinda know who he is.
Obviously you are also a member here, though I do not recall reading any other posts made using your moniker.
I don't think that I have ever met or know you, though I suspect that jaybird216 is not your actual name.

Please forgive my ignorance, initials and on-line monikers mean little to those of us not in the loop.

Jaybird216 wrote:DCS is Dave Smith. He runs (ran?) the PPP website, more as a favor to Rob than anything else. I'm Jason Braun, I'm a freelancer who did art & layout for Cairn of the Skeleton King, Tower of Blood and Bottle City. After completing Bottle City in August, I resigned my position over monetary/communication issues (surprise surprise). Grodog is Allan. He's the editor and an all-around nice guy.  I like to think of him as the Mouth of Sauron, only not evil. But Rob's the man with the plan. If he's out of commission (for whatever reason), nothing gets done. Like I said, he's the only one in Milwaukee, where all of the printing/collating/mailing takes place. He handles all of the orders and writes (and receives) all of the checks. The rest of us worked remotely from various parts of the USA.

Hi guys! I'm John (starting to sound like an AA meeting).

I have helped Rob over the last couple of years with spreading the word about PPP products, eBay sales, etc. for the first three modules (Skeleton King, Tower, and The Living Room).

I do live in Milwaukee and did talk to/see Rob a few weeks back. At that time I did offer my services to help out. He wanted to wait a bit due to things he didn't elaborate on (can't offer any ideas what). He didn't look too hot at that time. I can only speculate on what's going on and won't add anything here. I only hope the best for him and will wait to see what happens.

Unless you missed this...

To once again emphasize how important it is to treat a sickness such as that,

I lost a friend last year to something similar.

She had been a very healthy young woman in her twenties who would not let her boyfriend take her to the hospital figuring it was just a bad cold.

When breathing became too difficult she finally went to the hospital and within hours her boyfriend was told by the doctors that she was not going to make it and there was nothing they could do.

I know there is no free health care in the US and supplemental coverage (even in Canada for prescriptions, dental, etc.) can be brutally expensive especially if you are self-employed. However...if you weigh going into debt against dying...I know which one I would choose.

jasonw1239 wrote:To once again emphasize how important it is to treat a sickness such as that,

I lost a friend last year to something similar.

She had been a very healthy young woman in her twenties who would not let her boyfriend take her to the hospital figuring it was just a bad cold.

When breathing became too difficult she finally went to the hospital and within hours her boyfriend was told by the doctors that she was not going to make it and there was nothing they could do.

I know there is no free health care in the US and supplemental coverage (even in Canada for prescriptions, dental, etc.) can be brutally expensive especially if you are self-employed. However...if you weigh going into debt against dying...I know which one I would choose.

Thing is, there is free healthcare in the US.

Hospitals provide free care all of the time and there are state and federal healthcare systems...including ones that cover serious illnesses for those who cannot pay.

The idea that the poor in America just die off is a myth.

serleran wrote:Unless you missed this...

That link was posted by Grodog  (Allan) on page 5 of this thread.

Thanks to Allan and Jason for all the information. It really does help those of us who are not in the loop to know more of the situation.

Some of us assumed it was a bit larger company than just Rob. I figured at least a couple of full time employees myself, hence my failure to understand any further delays in shipping, ect.