So Sad

[monty55]

I've spent the last several days going through old threads and posts and I've noticed there are a LOT of forum members who haven't been heard from during the last two years... basically during the pandemic. And of course, I sometimes have a tendency to think the worse, but I wonder how many of those members were lost to covid, and we simply don't know it.
It's so sad. If their alive, I hope their doing well. If they've passed, I hope they're in a better place and their families and loved ones are making it ok.

As an Earth scientist and someone who knows a thing or two about extinction events, I always knew something like this would happen... I just didn't think it would be in my lifetime. Not to say this is an extinction event, but it could be the start of something much larger. So many of the events over the course of earth's history were a conglomeration of multiple factors, not just one thing like the KT event that wiped out the dinosaurs. But we are undergoing severe global climate change, and people have no idea what that means until it hits them in the face. There's a lot happening on this ball we live on and most of it is not good. It would not surprise me a bit if over the next 500 years this period. since the start of the industrial revolution and onward will be looked at as the beginning of a global level extinction event. You can't see these things until your looking back in time. Humans may be smart, but they're also pretty damn stupid. Well, ok, that's all I got to say about that.

 

[Brendan]

Nice post.
I've had the same thought about the possibility of members getting covid and passing on, without any way of knowing.
Hopefully they have just lost interest and are alive and well.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Hopefully they have just lost interest and are alive and well.

Many of them are on other forums and or pipe groups ie. Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

 

[Brendan]

Ahh yes, the world outside of PipesMagazineForum.
I sometimes forget there is such a thing!
?

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

I keep saying that cleaning the ocean should be given the same or more attention than cleaning the air.
The sickening thing is every major government in the world is perfectly capable of undertaking this sort of task and making a huge difference, but thus far on the national level no-one anywhere has given it serious consideration.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

As the human population increases, so the natural world decreases.
I hate to say it, but I think the only way nature will make a comeback, is if we have a really bad pandemic.
Nature may just get really pissed off with us, because there's no way, apart from war, that we will reduce the population by ourselves.

 

[mikethompson]

There's always 'tidal action' in this forum. Lots of new members come in, post, then drift away. Then more come in, post, drift away.

I'd say there are about 30-40 who post here regularly.

I don't think anything bad when folks stop posting, could be they just found other interests.

Ahh yes, the world outside of PipesMagazineForum.
I sometimes forget there is such a thing!
?

Yes like smokingpipes.com and ebay!

 

[STP]

People come and go in all forums. I doubt that any significant decline is the result of COVID, but I certainly echo your sentiments to any of them who were affected.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Ahh yes, the world outside of PipesMagazineForum.
I sometimes forget there is such a thing!
?

I drift through a couple of times per day but am most often on a couple of other forums most notably puzzle sites.

 

[WVOldFart]

In this fast paced world we live in, where there are so many demands on our time, it is amazing to see the loyal following that this forum has. There is something new to read and comment on everyday with many of the same forum members. When one of the regulars doesn't reply to a thread, one wonders if they are alright. This only shows that the forum is somewhat like a family- dysfunctional, yes, but a family none the less.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I used to take time off in the Spring and again in the summer to tend to my fields... but then people would make all of these posts, having fun coming up with ways in which I have died. I enjoyed imagining myself getting caught up in farm equipment, or crawling under trucks held up with stacked books. But, nay, this forum is like the Hotel California... you can log out, but you can't leave.

 

[monty55]

Yes, I do realize that people come and go, people have a life, and people have other interest. These aren't ppl who were new to the site, nor were they infrequent contributors. There just seemed to be a lot of regulars, who have been on here 6+ years, and they all have disappeared since Jan 20', but I'm sure yall are mostly right

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Interests change overtime. I visited a forum last month that I had not visited in two years. One female member had not logged on since 2018. I had always appreciated her posts and now I wonder if shes passed or maybe lost interest.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Yes, I do realize that people come and go, people have a life, and people have other interest. These aren't ppl who were new to the site, nor were they infrequent contributors. There just seemed to be a lot of regulars, who have been on here 6+ years, and they all have disappeared since Jan 20', but I'm sure yall are mostly right

If you're talking about Peckinhombre (AKA- Peck), one of the last things he did was to post detailed pictures of his elegant barn in which he converted to his office and cellar in Canada. An elite squad of forum watching tobacco thieves set off to take over his cellar, but none of them have been heard of since.

But, every now and then, on lonely Canadian back roads, it is said that one can see a blur of a small European sports car go racing by at top speeds, the driver carrying only a smoldering high end pipe and a dull pocket knife... for we all know that Peck has no idea how to sharpen it.

We lost a lot of members in the format change. I know that some just hated the idea of change so much and had threatened to leave if Kevin switched the format, so... many of them were longtime members. And, this is also why I don't make ultimatums.

 

[monty55]

If you're talking about Peckinhombre (AKA- Peck), one of the last things he did was to post detailed pictures of his elegant barn in which he converted to his office and cellar in Canada. An elite squad of forum watching tobacco thieves set off to take over his cellar, but none of them have been heard of since.

But, every now and then, on lonely Canadian back roads, it is said that one can see a blur of a small European sports car go racing by at top speeds, the driver carrying only a smoldering high end pipe and a dull pocket knife... for we all know that Peck has no idea how to sharpen it.

We lost a lot of members in the format change. I know that some just hated the idea of change so much and had threatened to leave if Kevin switched the format, so... many of them were longtime members. And, this is also why I don't make ultimatums.

LOL, Nah, I wasn't talking about Peck, as I noticed he was on here a month ago. The format change causing ppl to leave I was not aware of... how strange. It's still the same people here, and frankly I find it easier to get around on than before.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

It's still the same people here, and frankly I find it easier to get around on than before.

For some, it was progress, and for others, progress is progressive, liberal, different, and unAmerican. I think.
Hell, we have members who still have to hand crank their Tin Lizzies and light their pipes with hunks of coal from the fire place.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Hello.

 

[captpat]

There are lots of reasons for the ebbs and flows of regularly posting members. Absent bad news I assume that folks found other things to spend their time on.

 

[captpat]

For some, it was progress, and for others, progress is progressive, liberal, different, and unAmerican. I think.
Hell, we have members who still have to hand crank their Tin Lizzies and light their pipes with hunks of coal from the fire place.

I was a bit put off by the new format at first, and it seemed initially that some folks left because of the shift. The old quirky site seemed appropriate to the subject and I had figured out how to use it. Now the old site is a distant memory, the new is much better.

 

[smokeymo]

I've spent the last several days going through old threads and posts and I've noticed there are a LOT of forum members who haven't been heard from during the last two years... basically during the pandemic. And of course, I sometimes have a tendency to think the worse, but I wonder how many of those members were lost to covid, and we simply don't know it.
It's so sad. If their alive, I hope their doing well. If they've passed, I hope they're in a better place and their families and loved ones are making it ok.

As an Earth scientist and someone who knows a thing or two about extinction events, I always knew something like this would happen... I just didn't think it would be in my lifetime. Not to say this is an extinction event, but it could be the start of something much larger. So many of the events over the course of earth's history were a conglomeration of multiple factors, not just one thing like the KT event that wiped out the dinosaurs. But we are undergoing severe global climate change, and people have no idea what that means until it hits them in the face. There's a lot happening on this ball we live on and most of it is not good. It would not surprise me a bit if over the next 500 years this period. since the start of the industrial revolution and onward will be looked at as the beginning of a global level extinction event. You can't see these things until your looking back in time. Humans may be smart, but they're also pretty damn stupid. Well, ok, that's all I got to say about that.

COVID isn't even remotely close to an extinction event.

@frozenchurchwarden Cleaning the ocean is a futile effort, with so many countries contributing to its pollution. Namely China and India.

@Morrison Jeremiah Nature will right itself, with or without human intervention. To imagine that we can alter in any significant way a course that has been underway for billions of years is nothing short of pretense.