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Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 04:29 PM   #1
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Dory36 demoted!

You all have probably noticed I have been decreasingly active here over the past year.

I haven't been particularly happy about that -- but to be honest, the non-social aspects of a forum like this -- backups, software updates and fine tuning, tweaking things on the server to keep performance optimal, tracking down a user's lost account info, and so forth has become a lot like (gulp!) WORK!

What began as a labor of love has become just labor. So what do you do in that situation? I actually considered shutting it all down a while back, but thanks to all of your help, I was able to keep going a lot longer than if the moderators and many of the members weren't here to help.

Besides, I wanted to dump the labor and retain the love! I've been trying to figure out how to do that for a while.

As all of you know, one of my passions has been cruising. I discovered an interesting forum on that topic (http://www.cruisersforum.com/), and have lurked there for quite a while. I discovered that the cruising forum was well run and moderated, but also discovered that it was being managed by someone who was using that and several other forums as a way to achieve his own financial independence while living as a perpetual traveler. He had taken that forum over from its founder, improved the software, and grown the membership without losing quality.

So for him, managing that forum (and others) wasn't an onerous extra duty, but a serious investment (as well as his own passion), to be carefully tended and nurtured, just as if it were any other investment.

He and I started chatting a while back, and he has agreed to take over the server and forum software management work that I have been doing, allowing me to take a "demotion" to so that I can again enjoy the forum.

Soon he will move the forum to his own server and to his own software, which seems to have a lot more features than what we have here.

I don't think a lot will change, except that we'll see much more attention to the features of the software that members want (such as an "ignore user" feature), quicker updates when the software changes, and so forth. Since Andy's own FIRE depends on him doing a good job with the forum and retaining and attracting members (whereas for me, the forum was an obstacle), I think the incentives are in the right place.

While I appreciate the tremendous support everyone has given me over the past several years, I also know it wasn't the man behind the curtain, but the stuff all of you have contributed that has made this forum great. I look forward to it being even greater!

dory36
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 04:40 PM   #2
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Congrats on your retirement!
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 04:45 PM   #3
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

I'll start off with an introduction and then if any of you have questions, please ask away.

My name is Andy and I am from Dallas, Tx. I am 32 years old and got my undergraduate degree from University of Denver (majored in Finance). After graduating I worked with my Dad (a real estate developer) on financing of a broad range of real estate projects (self storage, casinos, multi-family residential, etc). It was interesting and educational but he kept me on a short leash and I am way to entrepreneurial to enjoy a "normal job". In 1998 I went back to SMU (Southern Methodist University) for a 6 month course called E-commerce Architecture. It was a crash course class for senior managers to get up-to-speed on various technologies related to the internet.

After that course and some dumb luck (a funny story that I will go into more details later) I ended up working at a consulting firm (Xpedior) that was about to go public in the dot.com boom. I was a business analyst and this is where I really started to understand the internet. I worked on some small projects and on some really huge ones. As the dot.com boom was starting to fall from it's peak, the firm I was working for was aquired by PSINet and our stock options started to vest each month. I was an avid Fool reader on the old boards and the theory was that this change in vesting schedule was a way for the big dogs (C Level) guys to cash out before the market complete tanked. I was about to be transfered to Colorado (by request) and at that point said screw it, I'll sell my stock and go have some fun. I did not become a dot.com millionare or anything but I had enough money to take a mini-retirement for 2.5 years and be a snowboard bum and enjoy a VERY relaxed life.

While I was living in Colorado I freelanced and developed a project for AOL, some small work for ski shops, I even traded a restaurant in Aspen a website for $1,000 in food and drinks (mostly drinks). Life was good and I was relaxed. I had a dream of being able to work when I was chilling out next to a beautiful creek, taking a few runs on the snowboard and then working a couple of hours before hitting the slopes again, etc. I figure the way to do this was with a bi-directional satellite connection on an RV. So I started looking for a little camper to pull behind my Cherokee. I ended up getting what they call Alluminitus (addictions to Airstreams) and bought a 1961 Airstream Bambi (fairly rare model). I was going to restore her to my specifications (hi tech) but I was living 45 minutes to the nearest grocery store (Gilpin County, Colorado) so there were very few mechanics or resources nearby, so I decided to start a forum to ask questions about restoring a vintage Airstream. That forum is www.AirstreamForums.com and we now have nearly 19,000 members!

Well all good things come to an end and my funds were running low (having a fixer-upper Airstream did not help). I went back to Dallas for my 10 year highschool reunion and met with a financial advisory firm who was looking for someone to lead their technology team. We met, I got hired and a week later I was in Dallas starting a new job.

I spent 2.5 years working at that financial advisory firm and learned a lot about the Registered Investment Advisory industry. While I was there my little Airstream Forum kept getting bigger and I kept having to learn how to deal with software upgrades, server security, member issues, etc. I found myself spending all my time on forums for forum owners instead of talking about Airstreams. It was crazy, my hobby switched from Airstreams to forums.

My Mom is from Sweden and when you are an expat you tend to meet many of the other people who live in your same town. One day I was driving home and saw a guy who had an "S" sticker on the back of his car and I wondered if my Mom knew him. That is when I decided to build her a site similar to www.BritishExpats.com where Swedes in the US could connect. I was looking for an avatar and ran across a forum on royalty. The owner had two forums and was going to close the one on royalty because they both could not run on the same server (they were getting big). He had a post for someone to make him an offer or it would be shut down. I made him an offer and all of a sudden I had two forums. A few weeks later he approached me about selling the other forum. We agreed on a price and wham, I had 3 forums.

After about 10 more months (and buying 1 more forum on cooking) I was sick of my job (that is an understatement, the bureaucracy was ridiculous) and I saw a show where some girl lives on $40/day. I decided to research places in the world that have very low costs of living and found that Argentina (after their economic collapse in 2001 was a great value. I gave them notice and headed off to spend all my time working with my communities. In hind sight it was a great decision because the lifestyle was great and the cost of living was about 50% what I was paying in Dallas and the living was better (nicer restaurants, cool apartment, no car/gas/insurance, etc).

After 4 months in Buenos Aires I went to an island I heard about in Southern Brazil called Florianopolis. It's an amazing place, about the size of Maui but 1/6 the cost and a very laid back vibe. After Florianopolis I went to Australia and SE Asia to finish up my year abroad working. I am now back in Buenos Aires for my second year and plan to stay in South America until July. I have a Vonage phone to make calls just like I was in Dallas and Slingbox to watch my Tivo at my Dad's place.

In October of last year I partnered with a former co-worker. Ben is his name and he is the CTO. It's his job to keep things running, upgrade software, develop new features, etc. That way I get to work with the teams on each site and make sure that all is well on our communities.

I am going to stop typing now because this post is getting so long but to sum up, E-R is an amazing group of people and I appreciate Dory36 trusting me to take good care of the community.
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 04:57 PM   #4
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy R
My name is Andy
Hi Andy, and welcome aboard.

Please allow me to apologize in advance.

Looks like you have a very interesting background...should be interesting to add your experiences and stories to the mix.

Bill, it'll be great to have you back among us more often in the future...now furl that sail and wash that deck!
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 05:14 PM   #5
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Dory - thanks for all of the excellent w**k. I don't blame you for wanting to ER from the admin duties. And welcome to the board Andy. I just bought a snowboard and was out today. I may be contacting you for tips for old farts - no terrain park for me, just cruisi ng
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 05:15 PM   #6
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Well, I don't know about putting this forum into the hands of a Pioneer. From an alum of that little WCHA rival down I25 from DU.

Welcome! You sound like you've lived a fun life. We're mostly PITAs here--I'm glad Dory didn't warn you!

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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 05:19 PM   #7
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

It doesn't look like Cruiser Forum has an RSS feed. You aren't going to dump that here are you Andy?
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 05:22 PM   #8
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Welcome, Andy. You and I may be having a talk in the future about some forums...
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 05:22 PM   #9
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Are you sure that you've looked at the posts on this forum, Andy, and seen all the weird dudes you'll be dealing with? I hope that there are no technical probl...sj dl jlk sdf ÐÏࡱá >  þÿ 
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 05:30 PM   #10
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny
Hi Andy, and welcome aboard.

Please allow me to apologize in advance.

. . .
I would like to welcome you aboard and apologize in advance for CFB too.
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 05:35 PM   #11
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

No, seriously, we're very mature here.

[img width=750 height=562]http://gpsinformation.net/exe/harvest-moon.jpg[/img]
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 05:45 PM   #12
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Dory
Thank you for setting up this board and keeping it up and running. It has been influential in my life and I am sure in others.

Andy,
Thank you for keeping it going. I'm a little envious of your philosophy on life and how you have followed it.
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 06:20 PM   #13
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
No, seriously, we're very mature here.


Rare form tonight, Al.
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 06:31 PM   #14
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Thanks for the welcome. I have a goofy fun sense of humor and can tell that I will fit right in. It will be fun to get to know everyone through the forums over time.

Answers to Questions so far:
donhef: Cruising is the best way to board. I just enjoyed being in the outdoors and seeing if I could go the whole day without falling. When my legs got tired I ERed for the day and got a beer. Some of my friends called me lazy, all I know is it was pleasurable.

RSS is not going to go anywhere. The plan will be to offer RSS for any of the forum (or one for all the posts from any forum). We definitely want that to stay functioning.

Peaceful_Warrior: shoot me a PM when you want to talk forums. A quick phone call will probably be the easiest way to chat (I get sick of typing all day sometimes).

TromboneAl: What is the plumber doing out there in the yard? Shouldn't he be under the sink fixing the pipes...
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 07:18 PM   #15
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Quote:
Originally Posted by sgeeeee
I would like to welcome you aboard and apologize in advance for CFB too.
I'd like to apologize for sg's apology. And Al's pumpkin ass.

Now if we could put a pumpkin ass on sg...maybe some kind of training pants with built-in pumpkins...hmmm...hey ANOTHER patentable idea!
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 07:32 PM   #16
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

I don't know much about cruising but if Dory or AndyR ever get to southern California and want to go kayaking just let me know.


yakers
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 07:49 PM   #17
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Quote:
Originally Posted by yakers
I don't know much about cruising but if Dory or AndyR ever get to southern California and want to go kayaking just let me know.
One of the other sites I manage is about whitewater kayaking. It's www.MountainBuzz.com. I have paddled in open waters (lakes, ocean, etc) but I am not an experienced paddler for whitewater (yet). I do plan to learn to paddle in the future.
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 08:31 PM   #18
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny
I'd like to apologize for sg's apology. And Al's pumpkin ass.

Now if we could put a pumpkin ass on sg...maybe some kind of training pants with built-in pumpkins...hmmm...hey ANOTHER patentable idea!
I've been called a lot of nasty things by a lot of people (including at least a couple of moderators on this forum). But this is the first time I know of that I've been called a pumpkin ass. Is that an insult?

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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 08:51 PM   #19
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Absolutely...not...right...now...unless...you think its funny. Then it is.
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Re: Dory36 demoted!
Old 02-07-2007, 09:37 PM   #20
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Re: Dory36 demoted!

Andy has also promised to triple all the moderators salary, so he bought us off and we're happy! Now let's see, 0 time 3 equals....doh!
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