Premier, sorry. "With your extreme knowledge, and certain know-how you should do fine." sounded like sarcasm to me.
I was not implying that you were a flamer, merely making a statement. I have seen a few try on this board and have been impressed by the way in which they were handled. No one engaged them and their thread simply faded away.
Sorry to hear about your luck with partnerships. I've had 2. I sold out on both of them because they were boring businesses and stayed good friends with both partners. I am currently pondering a real estate venture with another and the only drawback is that the guy is ancient and I have to address the problem of him dying tactfully.
As for being critical, this quote from Charles Swindoll I have framed, it hangs on my wall where I can see it every day. Copy it and put it on yours.
ATTITUDE
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on my life. Attitude to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for the day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing that we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes."
Charles Swindoll
I find no offense, my attitude, I don't have the time to dwell on negatives.