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       Stardate: 20220904.1715
       Location: The Lab
       Input Device: Dell 7202
       Audio: SDF Amateur Radio Club via aNONradio.net
       Visual: Misc lab computer equipment
       Emotional: irritably warm
       
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       I've been spending most of the afternoon here indoors, hanging out
       with the damgudcyberchatterz in the Internet's basement.  It's been
       triple digit hawt (F) and I don't do too well these days being
       exposed to the great outdoors at this temperature at this point in my
       timeline.  I seem to be getting more sensitive to temperature changes
       each year.
       
       Hangin out in the COM[mode] on SDF today, I am reminded of the 
       impermanance of these communities.  There were users I've seen before
       on the system, some before my time and some after.  There were also 
       new users that I just started seeing fairly regularly (welCOM!)  It
       is good to see the system still alive and growing, not just with the
       tech, but also with the users and the community.
       
       For the relatively short time I have been on the system, I have seen
       users come and go, some come back, some leave, some just stay.  It 
       reminds me of how it was with other social groups or friends that
       I have had the opportunity to connect with, share some moments, and 
       then move on, hoping that some day our paths will cross and we can 
       reconnect.  The older I get, the more I see this pattern, especially 
       in hindsight.  With these thoughts, there is a sadness in knowing 
       that none of this is permanent...  
       
       Even with the community of gophers in the SDF Internet Gopher Club 
       Underground Syndicate, gopherspace, and beyond.  Gopherholes pop up, 
       some get some phosts, become stale, then go away.  Some stay active,
       some branch out to other protocols, or move entirely.  Some even just
       completely disappear overnight with no sign that they even existed, 
       except in the memories of previous phost readers.  I always wonder
       what had happened to these people who shared what I used to read.  
       Even though the phosts seem more permanent than the realtime 
       interaction in COM or irc, it is still all very temporary.
       
       For this, it brings about feelings of gratitude to those in the 
       community that do create, show up, and reach out and to those who do 
       the work to make the various platforms of connecting available to the
       community.  I appreciate all of your hard work and thank you for
       being there!
       
       
       p.s. I leave you with a funny quote from my moment in COM today in
       regards to new user validation:
       
       [johnm]  there's tons of books written about self-validation, 
       and you can practice it daily if necessary; 
       you don't need SDF for self-validation, remember that
       
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