Where is everybody?

[red750]

There used to be at least 8 - 10 logged onto this site, but for the past few days it has only been 2 or 3. Where has everyone gone?

[nomadpete]

I hope I  didn't upset everyone  again.

 

Come back......

Please.

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

I may be guilty of that charge...

 

I have been thinking - has anyone sen @octave, recently.

 

 

[onetrack]

We've discussed every single thing that can be discussed in the world, and everyones questions have been answered. So they all left. 

[onetrack]

27 minutes ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

I may be guilty of that charge...

 

I have been thinking - has anyone sen @octave, recently.

 

 

Octave may have gone into a period of mourning, along with about 500,000 Indigenes - because the Voice referendum failed.

[nomadpete]

I suspect  some of us might be distracted from the forum by our activities in the medical arena.

 

I came back after the opiates wore off.

[Old Koreelah]

3 hours ago, onetrack said:

Octave may have gone into a period of mourning, along with about 500,000 Indigenes - because the Voice referendum failed.

I can’t speak for him, but I left that discussion long ago. I have to protect what’s left of my mental health, which has taken a considerable hammering in recent weeks. I am disappointed at how easily my countrymen were manipulated and distracted from the simple issue at the centre of the Voice. I have been appalled at the ugly things said by people around me who I used to respect. I am shocked that Trump-style misinformation and baiting has infected Australia’s political landcape. 
 

During the last thirteen years I’ve recovering from the biggest trauma of my life, when I discovered- the hard way- just how few people I could depend upon. I’ve built a new and better life, with better people; these forums were a significant part of my recovery, but I’ll be staying away from this one.

 

I totally understand Shane Howard:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-18/goanna-shane-howard-returns-oam-referendum-result/102989978

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

I am liking rather than giving a sad because despite your challenges, you don't give up and continue to take the right road. Keep up the good work... world needs more people like your good-self.

[pmccarthy]

I am always logged on. I have checked! 
I saw Octave here a couple of days ago.
But we need to attract some new talent, most of us have been here since the site was created and we were the active discusses of shite on the other site. Not many have crossed over since and few outsiders.

ian was talking about reintegrating the two sites, that might help.

[nomadpete]

4 hours ago, Old Koreelah said:

I can’t speak for him, but I left that discussion long ago. I have to protect what’s left of my mental health, which has taken a considerable hammering in recent weeks. I am disappointed at how easily my countrymen were manipulated and distracted from the simple issue at the centre of the Voice. I have been appalled at the ugly things said by people around me who I used to respect. I am shocked that Trump-style misinformation and baiting has infected Australia’s political landcape. 
 

During the last thirteen years I’ve recovering from the biggest trauma of my life, when I discovered- the hard way- just how few people I could depend upon. I’ve built a new and better life, with better people; these forums were a significant part of my recovery, but I’ll be staying away from this one.

 

I totally understand Shane Howard:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-18/goanna-shane-howard-returns-oam-referendum-result/102989978

 

 

Old K, if I have said anything that contributes to your loss of faith in human nature, I unreservedly apologise.

[Bruce Tuncks]

A very long time ago, there was a religious guy came on here. I think he was ( properly and politely ) ridiculed out.

I personally take some of the blame, I started to ask about the firmament etc, things which demonstrated those biblical writers limited education.

[Bruce Tuncks]

Me too ( as per nomadpete) old K...  I always liked your posts.

 

[old man emu]

6 hours ago, Old Koreelah said:

these forums were a significant part of my recovery, but I’ll be staying away from this one.

 

These forums have been a scaffolding on which I have sought to use to erect a new life after the loss of my wife and my move to a different location. These forums have allowed me to enter into discussions of a wide range of topics from the sublime to the ridiculous.  I consider each and every forumite a dear friend, but a friend with whom one can argue the toss, and the argument is only about the toss, not the spinner. I hope that what I have posted variously has enlightened or amused as necessary. 

 

The defeat of the referendum, although statistically expected from past referenda, will go down in History as marking the beginning of the end of the Australian way of politics. Simply because the level of political mudslinging and deceit on one side and incompetence on the other was permitted to reach a new highwater mark. 

 

In fact, I have this idea nagging me that, while Albo called for the referendum as a means of appearing pro-Aborigine, his inherent racism (which we all have, but as civilised people attempt to control) made him hope for its defeat.

[nomadpete]

Thank you OME.

I am deeply saddened by the present withering of this forum.

I have leaned heavily upon it. Each and every member has given me strength and stimulated my thoughts on all kinds of matters. I respect everybody and I feel a personal loss whenever we lose an active participant. For any reason.

So thank you all for adding value to my day. Although I have only met a few face to face, in my mind all are valued friends.

 

[old man emu]

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. OK only lives 3 hours'' drive from my place and I have been meaning to go over and visit him. 

 

Can I get permission to take a day or two off from the reno to go visit him?

[facthunter]

Octave's been given an undeserved hard time occasionally and He has a lot more Patience than I do and always explains at length the Point he's trying to make. It's easy to make fun of some inputs but there's a need to give  everyone a fair go .  The "religious" person was Gnarly Gnu and he straight out attacked anyone without an invisible means of support. Non theist are used to this. There's too much division been used y the media and politics and it starts to pervade other relationships till the Bang for Bucks /. Effort is not worth it. There's a lot of work in putting a lot of your experiences in print. I've many times come close to removing myself from here. I respect Ian's efforts but the site is becoming moribund. In the last few days there were time s when I was the only person here. Gotta Go.  Nev

[old man emu]

The number of people logged on does vary during the day and also by day. I was last on on Monday night, but all day Tuesday I was off because my day started at 5:30 am so I could attend a post-operative review at 7:00 am after which I I spent the day driving a circuitous 700 km route home. By the time I got home at 8.00 pm, I was too tired to log on here. This morning I had to take care of a week's worth of laundry, of which the last load is in its spin cycle. After I hang it out, I'll have to go into town for some shopping and to see Mum. So I'll not be logged back on until tonight, and maybe even not until tomorrow. That's how the numbers on line drop.

 

Have we developed ourselves into a clique into which it is hard for newcomers to break? I know that we wouldn't consider ourselves cliquey, but what would a newcomer think?

[spenaroo]

Is there new members on the main site?
I havent seen any new member posts in a while.

plus to be honest I think there is so many financial constraints in the world its hard for new people to join the hobby with rising costs

[red750]

I think to be a part of this forum, you have to be first, a member of Recreational Flying, unless I am mistaken. This eliminates a lot of people. I do not log out from my laptop, even when it is shut down. When I power up, Rec Fly comes up almost as a home page. I click on Off Topic, and this site opens up and I am automatically logged in. I only log off from the Men's Shed computer, as it has public access. Newcomers would have difficulty in accessing the site.

[gareth lacey]

If we look at the members on both forums we are in the older age bkt, not many young people get on board Rec flying and it seems that is waning apart from Reds pics of aircraft not much is happening there , no new homebuilt guys putting their aircraft up(including me ,but thats another story) lots of peoples community markers but i dont see any input from these people, i log on every day and although i dont participate in all discussions i do like to read them all, there is a political side creeping in, at my house family gathering's there is NO religion, politics no unions discussed these topics are all tribal and cause a lot of arguments, most forum users are respectful about other users inputs even if they dont agree, i have my own ideas and thoughts about the Voice but keep it to myself, i find religion to be outdated an naive very chidish, and politics needs to be put in the rubbish bin. I have only met 3 users of the forums and will try and meet up with more over time 

anyway have a great day all of you 

Cheers gareth

[onetrack]

This forum is not easily found, because Google doesn't rate it very highly in searches. I have been on many forums since 1998 and have found they ebb and flow, people come and go, arguments and hatreds and gang mentalities develop - just like real life. Good moderation ensures troublemakers are kept to a minimum.

 

The simple problem is, we are all different, we all have different experiences and views on life, and we often have widely diverging views. I certainly have strong views on a number of things, and have no problem stating them. Of course, that will sometimes arc other forum users up, but I try to ensure I don't rate as a troublemaker.

 

I suspect the problem with forums is they tend to gather people who are seeking massive support as regards their views. When they don't find it, they leave. Everyone likes to feel they're part of a supportive group - it's not a nice feeling, finding you're being cast as a "outsider".

I've got a very independent and self-supportive streak. I've spent a lot of time working alone in remote regions, and I like my own company. Maybe I'm a bit anti-social, I don't know - but I know SWMBO is also very selective as regards who she associates with, and who she makes friends with. She's probably got a lot more friends than me, and she still only has a few good friends.

 

I reckon a lot of the interesting people I've come across on forums, I possibly wouldn't like to be around too much in person. I'm sure a lot of forum contributors are "on the spectrum", and maybe a few even have ADHD or are OCD.

I know I've identified a few with Aspergers syndrome. They're still interesting people, but they can be very dogmatic, single-issue focused, to the point where they become a PIA. 

 

I like everyone on this forum, but I know I disagree with many as regards political and religious views. That's O.K., I'm fine with that, no skin off my nose if you don't believe in something that I believe in. I enjoy the level of intelligent discussion on here and I'm in awe at the level of education and knowledge of numerous contributors, and I enjoy the fact they share that knowledge. I've learnt a lot on here.

 

I trust the forum boots up again, and I'm a bit disappointed that it seems to have taken a "knock" since the referendum was defeated. I think a lot of people thought a Yes result for the referendum would change the world to something much better.

That's never going to happen, the world is full of self-serving people, and it seems that there's percentage of people who are permanently disgruntled and angry and who can never be appeased. Hopefully, the referendum has started a major examination of what needs to be changed to improve the position of those Indigenes who feel left behind. 

 

I am entering old age with an attitude of "getting better" rather than "getting bitter" (a favourite saying of one Auntie), and I think a lot of people need to adopt this attitude too - look at what is good in their lives, not what is bad. It's all too easy to become a "grumpy old man" and growl about how things are constantly getting worse, and it's not like it used to be.

 

I'm grateful for the little I've managed to acquire, despite being treated badly for most of my life by those with major powers over me, and I'm glad I live in the best country in the world, where we don't have people conducting terrorism and acts of war on other groups here. We need to keep it that way, I can see it would be too easy to allow these violent, angry groups from warring civilisations to flourish here.

[red750]

I agree with virtually everything you say, Onetrack. Apart from 2 or 3 with whom I exchange emails, mostly jokes or funny videos, my only friends are here on the two forums or at the Men's Shed (about 45 members). I don't get involved with anything or anyone outside of this. I realise that I hold different political points of view to most of the members here, but that's fine unless they hammer away with the same thing all the time. As for religion, well, I'm a dropout. Haven't been to a regular church service in years, the only recent one was my wife's memorial service.

 

I appreciate the knowledge of O.M.E. I suggested he should have a crack at one of those TV trivia shows. I think he would clean up the prize pool. Most members here are more knowledgable than me. It helps me stave off dementia/Alzheimers. I also spend a good deal of time perusing Facebook, which is where I get most of my silly pictures, signs and videos. I post the ones I like best here to share the humour. There's not enough of that around.

[pmccarthy]

A mutual friend has offered a couple of time to take me down the road to meet Facthunter, but I haven't taken it up.    I know others on the flying site, but not here. I do consider this part of my social life and, since Covid, I have been avoiding groups other than my Aero Club, which is my main connection with the civilised world. I would miss this site if it folded.

[old man emu]

2 hours ago, onetrack said:

I know I disagree with many as regards political and religious views. That's O.K., I'm fine with that, no skin off my nose if you don't believe in something that I believe in. I enjoy the level of intelligent discussion on here and I'm in awe at the level of education and knowledge of numerous contributors, and I enjoy the fact they share that knowledge. I've learnt a lot on here.

 

As long as the disagreement about the subject of a thread is confined to that thread, all is good. We can have a right donnybrook in one thread, and in another thread back each other to the hilt.  Let's look at religion. If Member A is an atheist and Member B is a believer, then if they debate their stances, the rest of us learn a lot about the topic of religious belief. We know that A and B will never convert each other, but their debate can and will dispel misconceptions. Then A and B can go to another thread and both of them advise Member K how to select an appropriate schweigel valve for K' needs and how to fit it.

 

Pop over to the Religion thread and take a look at my video post about the various religions.  I'm posting it because I think it is informative, but nothing in it would make me join any of the groups depicted.

[red750]

The only member of either site that I have met in person was Robbo on RF, and haven't heard from him in at least 5 years. I only met him once at Tulla, but we communicated a bit by email.