Doc’s 52FLC Archives | About Doc & Fidonet BBS Since 1991!

An original Floridian is often called a Cracker, and Florida is a Cracker State. I’ve got many cracker stories to tell. One I recently published is about James Earl ‘Doc’ Webb, who founded Webb’s City and made St Petersburg, FL, world-famous in the 50s-’60s!

As a teenager, I loved electronics and hung around a local TV shop, learning how to fix TVs and Radios. We were poor folks, and my Dad owned and trained Greyhounds at St Petersburg’s Derby Lane. Unfortunately, before I was born, a kennel fire killed his dogs. He spent the rest of his life driving an airport shuttle and a taxicab. So, I also hung out at the Taxicab garage, learning how to fix cars. Let me tell y’all, these guys were mechanics, not parts changers.

I learned how to repair power window switches, etc.In the early 90s, I acquired an old IBM 286/12 computer with an internal 2400 baud modem. Computer bulletin boards were gaining popularity, so I bought Wildcat V-2.55S software, and Doc’s Place BBS was born. Soon after, I was invited to join the Fidonet Network, where we bounced Echomail worldwide. There were about 900 conferences (message topic areas), called echomail because any BBSs receiving that message area got a copy of each message.

Later, as a young adult with a driver’s license, I worked for Economy TV as an outside tech. The owner was a crook, in my personal opinion. He said to change three tubes. We were not allowed to solder in a capacitor, etc. Pull it to the shop. I got tired of being a “tube-jerker” and was ready to quit.

While driving home on Friday afternoon, I spotted an old car for sale. I pulled in and met an old Louisana man, Lee Beasly. As it turned out, that car didn’t run, but he had two others of the same make. Before long, he had my paycheck but gave me $20 back for gas and the titles to three non-running used cars. I got two of them running, sold them for $200, and sold the parts car to a junkyard for $50. I would later tell Economy TV to shove their job, and soon afterward, I became Fkorida’s youngest licensed used car dealer. A decision I later regretted. I never met more crooks than in the car business!

In the mid-to-late 80s, front-wheel drive was becoming common, and there were no $50 used cases to buy and fix up. I ended up putting all my tools in an old GTE short-step van. Moved to Palm Harbor and shacked up with a newly divorced schoolteacher. Best Sex ❤️ I’ve ever had! I was driving around the North Pinellas County Palm Harbor area, fixing cars for dealers.

Living the good life, getting a golden brown tan, hanging out at the complex pool. I soon found out my mom had cancer and moved to St Petersburg to care for her. A neighbor spotted her lying in the backyard and called the paramedics. Mom and I were never close, and she never remarried when Dad died. Plus, I am an only child who has never had children. Regardless, my parents instilled good values into me when I was young. I’m proud to say those good values have done me well in my younger days, but today, I am 71 years old, and it seems good-hearted people, especially women, are a rarity. People will lie and steal and use others!

My Palm Harbor girl didn’t want me to leave, but those instilled good values told me to take care of Mom; I wouldn’t be here if it were not for her. Talk about a hood and gunshots in the night, hookers everywhere offering their services. Police baiting drivers on 4th street with an undercover female cop posing as a hooker. People walking around with open quarts of GheTTo beer. A nightmare! Mom made a 100% recovery from her large cell lymphoma and lived for nearly two more years.

In 1995, the Internet was here. I had four dial-up lines for Doc’s Place BBS. Calls went from 150+ to practically none. The Net was here and was not going away. Many SysOps shut their boards down. In 1998, I upgraded my BBS software to the new Wildcat V-5 with the optional Internet Connect Pack. I then had a dual-channel ISDN net connection and was line camping on the MSN network. Since my dial-up lines were hardly used, I devised a clever but nasty way to advertise my Internet BBS to the Fidonet community. First, I got a subdomain on Tzo that updated my IP when it often changed. Next was to spam the Fidonet Backbone conferences with a single BBS ad X 900. Fidonet was a hobbyist network, and every conference had a moderator who created it. Well, I sure caught hell from many moderators who sent me a Netmail message threatening to cut my feed. Netmail was a direct private mail; email was soon adapted to the public internet.

I’ve never been arrested, have no anger issues, and haven’t had a traffic ticket since 1984, when I sold my Kawasaki GPZ1100 motorcycle. Doc’s Place BBS was a victim of my last relationship from hell. I had gone to church, and a big blood collection mobile unit was parked in the chapel parking lot. After the service, I realized I’d never donated blood, and today was the day. I climbed into the bus and somehow fell backward from an internal step that led to an upper work area. I felt myself falling backward, landing hard on my left side. I broke two ribs, and my left leg was mangled up badly. I went to a nearby hospital and was admitted, then sent to a local rehab for 28 days. At this time, I was realizing my new love after my Thailand Love died of a stroke. She had told me she would not take care of me if I got sick. So, as I was in rehab, she and her family sold all my possessions. How can such a beautiful woman be so cold-hearted and cruel? Haven’t heard a peep from her since! 😥