How many others bouncing back&forth-BPlast post

[Bruce Foley]

Not a poll, but I notice there are a lot hanging around late tonight. How many share my insane curiosity on who gets the last Badger Pond post? Come on, I know you are!

Bittersweet, but the Kudos go to our new SawBoss, Keith. He and his crew really pulled this together well. Thanks to all!

Bruce Foley- MT

[Kurt Krauter in Indy]

Here we go...The mother ship has gone off leaving us to fend for ourselves...I have great confidence in our future here!!

[Loren Hutchinson]

I was there. Couldn't help myself. BP has been almost a daily part of my life since 1998.

Loren

[Jason Roehl]

Not sure who got the last one in (besides Wayne). I counted at least four posts on the PT forum at 12AM. Mine got blocked, due to traffic, even with two minutes to go.

Thanks for the memories, Wayne!

Jason

[Rod Peterson]

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I stayed right there the whole last hour. I didn't want to miss a thing. The server sure got slow in the last two minutes, though.

Looks like Jerry Doan, Mike (dustmaker), David Probst, and Earl Reid tied for First. I tied for Fifth with Bud Duffy, Jennifer Shirley, and Earl Reid.

Gotta be some kind of DQ for Earl Reid; his 11:59 and 12:00 posts were identical. Kind of like sniping on eBay.

It was interesting to see so many folks hanging in 'til the bitter end.

[Terry Hatfield]

I know Wayne said not to think of it as a funeral , but I still got that feeling...maybe more like sitting around waiting for someone to pull the plug on a hopeless loved one.

It was sad but HEY this is a new beginning and a good one!!! I hope Keith and Ellis are ready for this. I have talked to a ton of folks that now have co-homes...here and WC.

Terry

[Keith Outten]

Terry,

SawMill Creek is ready and waiting, we have set our board to handle up to 5000 (concurrent) members at a time. If we get to the point where we are experiencing 500 members concurrently we will split our board across two servers with the board on one machine and the database on another.

I know that there are vbulletin boards online that have 30 to 40 thousand members so the software is proven and capable of handling the load. Since we own the ISP that runs SawMill Creek we have the bandwidth, the capacity and the staff to keep our servers running smooth. With almost eight years of continuous service as a provider we are one of the oldest ISP's on the net, certainly we're in the top twenty percent. We have a direct connection to a nationwide backbone, one of the very best connections available and our total network load is less than 50% of our capacity.

We have tested our board extensively. On our local LAN the server response times are lightning fast, the board responds almost immediately. The only variable we cannot control is the bandwidth on your end and Internet congestion.

We have built SawMill Creek to provide you with the most accessible forum on the Internet and all of the services we plan to add in the future will also be designed and configured this way. The majority of the moderation effort will be by our members. Every message provides you with the capability to report the post to one of our staff. Should you see anything that is objectionable or anything that falls outside of our community standards you have the right to report it to our staff anonymously. You can create your own "Ignore List" to block the messages of anyone who disturbs you for any reason.

At SawMill Creek we don't have any advertisers so we don't have to beg you to buy anything or to support our sponsors. The staff of Hampton Roads Online all volunteer their time at SawMill Creek so we are truly "Running on Friendship".

At this point we are very pleased with the response we have received and all of the very kind comments from so many of our new members and friends. All we ask of our members is to get involved. Please post regularly and treat everyone with respect, be courteous and remember that there are very young woodworkers amoung us that will read every word we share.

[Jim Moore]

I just took a last look at BP this morning and confrmed the end has come. Noticed that many had stayed on until the end. Having been battling a kidney stone the last few days I was too tired to stay up that late. Good to see former BP members here at the Creek. I will become a poster both here and WC. So far, I must say this looks to be a very nice site. I am looking forward to meeting not only former BP members, but new Sawmill Creek Members. As Wayne said, BP did not die. The people who made it what it was will now contribute to Sawmill Creek. I'm sure it will become a great home for many. It looks like it is well on its way.

Jim Moore

[John Miliunas]

Keith, don't mean to undermine what you stated, but it looks to like SMC is way MORE than ready! Besides having your ISP as a remarkable resource, I simply find it hard to believe how quickly, efficiently and thoroughly you and your staff ramped this site up!!! It truly is nothing short of amazing. Equally as amazing is, how you're presenting the whole project to your new community. It's rare that you find anyone providing such a valuable service with no thoughts of profit or return on investment. I just can't say enough about how pleasant it is to come to a site without seeing ads or popups or the such. Don't get me wrong; I truly understand why other sites do that. It's not cheap to keep something like this running. That just makes it all the more incredible and appealing, at least, to me it does.

With that, a very, very hearfelt THANK YOU for all of your efforts, investments and time. To you and all that are helping you out with this project, I know you've got, at the very least, one "lifer" who will call this HOME until one or the other goes away!:cool:

[Bob Lasley]

Keith,

I to want to thank you, Jackie, Aaron and others I may not be aware of, for the gift of your time and resources. I also like the fact that you are a part of the group. This really has quickly became an outstanding site and I feel quite at home here. Thanks again.


Jim,

I feel for you buddy. I've grown a few of those spiny little rocks myself. They taught me the true meaning of pain! Hope you feel better soon and welcome to SMC.

Bob

[Ruby in NC]

I reset my home page this morning. From now on the mill will be the next stop after the one at the coffee pot.

It truly has been amazing to see how quickly this site came about. And how smoothly it all happened (at least from an external view). In a former life, I was associated with an on-line education site. When the site was launched, it took many weeks to get the classrooms (forums) stabilized. Then, came the upgrades. Each time, it felt like chaos reigned until the many tweaks could be done to get operations back to normal.

Looking forward to many early morning cups of coffee at the mill.

Regards,
Ruby

[Kurt Krauter in Indy]

Last night at 11:58, I tried to get my last post in and then refresh my screen.....It took til about 12:15 before the server choked its way through I'm sure an absolute landslide of posts. But...it was fun to be there at the bitter end.

There was a real sense of community, I posted at 11:50 for everyone to just say if they were there and about 15 or 20 immediately responded...it was almost like instant messaging. Very cool and a great last time together on the Pond.

However.....now that the hullaballoo is over....I am looking forward to getting back to a forum where we can rebuild community and ask/answer ww questions again, without the distraction of contemplating the near end....whewwweee.....

Keith, Aaron, et al....you are doing a great job!! Keep up the good fight...remember good things happen to good people!!

Kurt

[Ken Salisbury]

I made my final post yesterday aftenoon --- and haven't returned. I just figured "it's time to let it go". So I made my last post and removed my Desktop Shortcut to Padger Pond.

[John Miliunas]

Originally posted by Ken Salisbury
I made my final post yesterday aftenoon --- and haven't returned. I just figured "it's time to let it go". So I made my last post and removed my Desktop Shortcut to Badger Pond.

...Except, mine was yesterday morning. It was fun, I learned a lot, "met" many nice folks, but it's time to move forward and this place is moving at lightning speeds!:cool:

[Terry Hatfield]

Keith,

I appreciate what you have done here. This is going to be my first home. I love this site and the tech stuff you have is second to none. I really enjoy The Creek!!!! It felt like home from the first time I was here. Ellis has done a amazing job also. I will visit WC also , but The Creek is home.

Thanks for everything,

Terry

[Phil Phelps]

;) Who want's to be last at anything? Things were "different" the last few months before Wanye gave a closing notice. Several were "barred" completely for what I consider petty differences. Long time posters, too. It's gone and, I think, rightfully so. When you tire of something, you don't do your best. Fresh beginnings and a new outlook. We'll paddle this creek a while.:)

[Mike Grennier]

Keith -

I second (and third, and fourth, etc.) the opinions of all here. You've been able to replicate the feeling of the pond very, very quickly.

Continue to do a great job. Your work is appreciated...

Mike

[Terry Hatfield]

Phil,

I agree. I loved the people on the Pond , but the last few months were littered with bad press and questionable bannings. It was time for it to go. I was still sad , but this morning is a new begining!!!!!!!

Thanks,

Terry

[Jim Izat]

I too have changed my browser home page to the Mill. First time I've had a homepage other than the Pond in almost five years!

I really like the way the board is set up and so many familiar and new "faces." The only mystery to me is how Keith foots what must be a huge bill for hosting the site, bandwidth etc. Many thanks to him and his colleagues who've done such a fantastic job in such a short time.

Jim Izat

[Jason Roehl]

Hmmm...they say, "Ignorance is bliss" but I don't feel that way right now. I wasn't privy to anyone being banned--just heard rumblings that some had parted ways--so I'm curious as to who they were and why. I'm not a big fan of stuff being swept under the carpet. If someone wanted to fill me in, a private message would be the way to go. I certainly had a few posts deleted due to some juvenile attempts at humor, but I learned from it and moved on--and was never banned.

I just hope that people here don't try to "push the envelope" and instead try to err on the side of civility and good taste.

Jason

[Paul Kunkel]

Originally posted by Jason Roehl
Hmmm...they say, "Ignorance is bliss" but I don't feel that way right now. I wasn't privy to anyone being banned--just heard rumblings that some had parted ways--so I'm curious as to who they were and why. I'm not a big fan of stuff being swept under the carpet.

Jason

Jason, I was one. Banned for recommending Cardinal Tool sharpening service. Apparently one of Waynes least favorites. I have all the emails & posts if you'd like me to email them to you. Otherwise it's just history anyhow

[Lars Thomas]

Yep, I lurked right up to the very end. I was a VERY occassional poster for 4 or more years on the Pond. I'll miss it. But, looks like many of the same players here. Things are off to a great start here.

[Tony Falotico]

Originally posted by Bob Lasley
Keith,

I to want to thank you, Jackie, Aaron and others I may not be aware of, for the gift of your time and resources. I also like the fact that you are a part of the group. This really has quickly became an outstanding site and I feel quite at home here. Thanks again.

Bob

My sentiments exactly Bob.....
Badger Pond was a great vacation spot, but like all good things, for whatever reasons, it no longer exists. :(
May Wayne & Petra find peace, prosperity, and happiness in whatever they move on to.
Thanks to Keith and his staff for opening a new resort for us to visit and play!


Now lets get back to our shops and MAKE SAWDUST!!