for readers, like me, who are too impatient to look carefully through a long thread the first time.

Re-reading the thread more slowly, I found the OP. Wasn't easy. If you look carefully at the list of posts, the original post has a date but NO poster: no "Guest," no letters, no characters, no nothing. You have to read the original post to see who it was, as he put his name at the end.

About halfway down the present thread, a new member identifies himself as the OP. He goes by the member title GutBucketeer and his post is dated 7 November 2000. And yes, his story has a happy ending.