Hi guys! I just wanted to thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes! It's very touching that you haven't forgot about me. I almost got up enough guts to do a video message for you, but I chickened out. I'm surprised no one has thought of doing this before! Maybe I should start if off, huh? Well, maybe later!

Anyway, I still lurk here on occasion to see what you guys are up to, but lately, I've been out of the loop when it comes to AV stuff. I don't have much to offer except for occasional useless posts.

Well, I had a wonderful birthday. Friends and family treated me very well this year for some reason. I really didn't deserve any of it, but it was well received.

Thanks again, guys!
Mary

PS-Tom & Ken, I'm glad to know your families in California are doing fine!

Video post? Yes please!

May I be the first to second a video message?

Hubba Hubba!


Join the club!


Don't be shy, everyone deserves a little bit of affection once in a while.

This is my third failed attempt at a play on touching that doesn't offend the entire user base here.

Bren R.
(needs a visit from the sexual harrassment panda)

I'd be game for the video post. That would be very cool.

Were you thinking along this route, Bren?

Talk about remembering the 80's, well almost, that's a song I haven't heard in awhile.

It is great having you in the Iowa Axiom club Mary!!!!

Randy

That about sums it up for as well Mary, I'm finding myself doing more listening and enjoying the system more so than trying to tweak the living bejeesus out of it.

You have time to listen ?

Mary, I'm sorry I missed your BDay thread. I hope you had a happy day. It's so nice to read your occasional posts. The way I figure it, everybody else is somewhere between Ken and Jack on the post signal-to-noise ratio anyway.

That hurts.

See? More quality posting.

I prefer to call it texture.

That would be it, Peter.

Bren R.

OUCH!

Mary, whether it should or shouldn't be, this place (and many other forums as well) is as much a social gathering as it is a knowledge base. It's just human nature. Even JohnK, IMHO our most illustrious and dedicated "stay on topic" poster, cracks a joke or gets in a good "zinger" now and then.

So, at least to me, it doesn't matter whether your posts are pithy or not. What matters is your presence here. Heaven knows a little estrogen goes a long way toward offsetting the sometimes excessive testosterone around here .

When I first joined the forum, I was eager to learn. And, when I finally did gain some knowledge, I was delighted when I could share that knowledge with others who came here seeking help. But as time went by, that same pattern was repeated by many newer members, finally reaching the point (and it didn't take all that long to reach that point) where they were doing as well as, often better than, I at sharing their knowledge (realizing one is superfluous is a drag ).

But, by that time, I had come to really enjoy this place, and had established a bond of friendship with, and admiration for, a number of forum members. It is very strange to have a familial feeling about a bunch of people you've never even met (the power of the internet?) So, here I stay, and you're stuck with me.

Well said, Jack, and ditto, and Amen, and all that.

I've decided to stop apologizing for the lack of audio advice in my posts. Now I'm just trying to maximize my disruptive influence psychopathology shock value histrionics Hey - look! A chicken!