--- In letterbox-usa@egroups.com, Randy Hall wrote:
>
> All,
>
> It is with some regret that I must announce I
> am pulling out of the LbNA project. Unfortunately,
> my wife was recently diagnosed with Lyme disease
>

Randy,

All my best wishes are with you and your wife for a full recovery.
Thanks for all your efforts and concern.

Good luck to you,

Kathy

>t is with some regret that I must announce I
>am pulling out of the LbNA project. Unfortunately,
>my wife was recently diagnosed with Lyme disease
>(early stages fortunately but because of the rash
>she cannot walk -- never believe what they say about
>the rash, BTW) and this is an added concern on
>top of a very hectic schedule in the first place.
>I do not feel I have the time or the concentration
>to press on with managing the parts of the site that
>I do.
>
>On July 29th, all LbNA material will be deleted
>from the pil.net server. I do not know if other
>arrangements will be made to find a host for the
>material or not. I sincerely hope that they are
>so that the hobby can press on without any
>interruptions.
>
>In the past, Dr. Mings has privately (to me) offered
>to host letterboxing materials; I do not know if
>that offer still stands or not or if people are
>comfortable with his database approach as opposed
>to the geographical approach we use now. I know I
>was not and perhaps let my personal preference
>cloud my judgement. Also, I believe other of the
>LbNA webmasters may be attempting to make
>arrangements. Finally, I've even recommended going
>without a web site as has been successful elsewhere,
>and using a more decentralized webring approach to
>clue distribution.

Randy,


I am very sad to hear about this situation. Best wishes for you and your
wife. I am not very knowlegable about lyme disease but hopefully she will
make a good recovery. Obviously everything else is secondary to that, but
perhaps then you may be able to return to the hobby. Even during some of
the days in the distant past where there were heated arguements about
various issues you have always been a moderating influence.

As for my previous offer to host the site on my servers, it still remains
intact. If people should decide they are interested you can let me know.
That does NOT necessarily mean any changes to the site (i.e. geographical
versus database for the clues). I should be able to set it up so that
whomever is wants to maintain the site can have access as needed. I have
however been working on a system where people could submit clues to the
database catalog directly by email. It is a simple no maintenance
approach meant to _complement_ (NOT replace) any other clue
repositiories (such as the more eloquent map based approach that LBNA has
developed). It was my intention to offer it to be available through LBNA
or any other site that wanted to use it in addition to my site. If the
decision is made to take me up on my offer all hosting services will be
completely free. Anyone who has questions is welcome to post here or
contact me directly. Regardless of what is done, the LBNA site needs to
continue to grow and I am willing to contribute in whatever way to that end.

Again, best wishes, and hopefully you may be able to return to the hobby
as soon as your situation permits.

--
Regards,
Eric Mings Ph.D.

> You just look after your dear wife, and all your other many commitments.
> I'm sure we all appreciate all you have done for the hobby and the site.
> Please take care of her, and yourself, and thank you from a new
> letterboxer.
>
> Wishing your wife happier, healthy days,

For those of you who have shown support for our situation, we
really appreciate it.

We will be back in the fold and doing some letterboxing real soon.

Randy and Lisa

Randy,

You just look after your dear wife, and all your other many commitments.
I'm sure we all appreciate all you have done for the hobby and the site.
Please take care of her, and yourself, and thank you from a new
letterboxer.

Wishing your wife happier, healthy days,

Erica Bell
Washington State

----------
> From: Randy Hall
> To: letterbox-usa@egroups.com
> Subject: [LbNA] Regrets
> Date: Sunday, July 09, 2000 11:19 AM
>
>
> All,
>
> It is with some regret that I must announce I
> am pulling out of the LbNA project. Unfortunately,
> my wife was recently diagnosed with Lyme disease
> (early stages fortunately but because of the rash
> she cannot walk -- never believe what they say about
> the rash, BTW) and this is an added concern on
> top of a very hectic schedule in the first place.
> I do not feel I have the time or the concentration
> to press on with managing the parts of the site that
> I do.
>
> On July 29th, all LbNA material will be deleted
> from the pil.net server. I do not know if other
> arrangements will be made to find a host for the
> material or not. I sincerely hope that they are
> so that the hobby can press on without any
> interruptions.
>
> In the past, Dr. Mings has privately (to me) offered
> to host letterboxing materials; I do not know if
> that offer still stands or not or if people are
> comfortable with his database approach as opposed
> to the geographical approach we use now. I know I
> was not and perhaps let my personal preference
> cloud my judgement. Also, I believe other of the
> LbNA webmasters may be attempting to make
> arrangements. Finally, I've even recommended going
> without a web site as has been successful elsewhere,
> and using a more decentralized webring approach to
> clue distribution.
>
> My clues and FAQ and the like will still be
> accessible at the usual places. I would ask
> that any webmasters that arise to take over the
> project in my absence link to this material rather
> than copy it, or not link to it as they see fit.
> I do hope to get a few more boxes out over the
> coming months, and they will be on my site at
> mapsurfer.com if you are interested. I will remain
> on the talk list, of course, which is fortunate
> if you like long-winded e-mails ;-)
>
> Its been alot of fun and I wish for the strong
> growth of this hobby in this country (continent :-).
> Perhaps if I have more time in the future I will
> be able to contribute again, and again I apologize
> for this inconvenience.
>
> Good luck,
> Randy
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Life's too short to send boring email. Let SuperSig come to the rescue.
> http://click.egroups.com/1/6137/4/_/12562/_/963166938/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

People who have read Randy's posting of yesterday are doubtless
wondering what will happen to the site after July 29. Those of us who
have helped manage the site over the past year, Mitch, Randy, John,
Jay, Erik & Susan, and myself, have been discussing options over the
past two months - since letterboxing.org was redirected to Randy's
server.

Most of us have realized for a while that hosting a site on an
individual's own web page, which usually contains other files and to
which he or she is unlikely to want to provide a password, poses a
lot of problems. It puts too much responsibility on one person to
always be there on watch. Having a site that belongs to a group, and
to which a number of managers have access, makes a lot more sense.
But there are legal, financial, and organizational issues involved
that are tough to work out.

Our morale is a bit low right now, but I don't think any of us wants
to see all the work that everyone on this list has contributed go for
naught. We hope to have some suggestions and be getting input from
the list before the time runs out.

Best to all,

Tom Cooch


>
> All,
>
> It is with some regret that I must announce I
> am pulling out of the LbNA project. Unfortunately,
> my wife was recently diagnosed with Lyme disease
> (early stages fortunately but because of the rash
> she cannot walk -- never believe what they say about
> the rash, BTW) and this is an added concern on
> top of a very hectic schedule in the first place.
> I do not feel I have the time or the concentration
> to press on with managing the parts of the site that
> I do.
>
> On July 29th, all LbNA material will be deleted
> from the pil.net server. I do not know if other
> arrangements will be made to find a host for the
> material or not. I sincerely hope that they are
> so that the hobby can press on without any
> interruptions.
>
> In the past, Dr. Mings has privately (to me) offered
> to host letterboxing materials; I do not know if
> that offer still stands or not or if people are
> comfortable with his database approach as opposed
> to the geographical approach we use now. I know I
> was not and perhaps let my personal preference
> cloud my judgement. Also, I believe other of the
> LbNA webmasters may be attempting to make
> arrangements. Finally, I've even recommended going
> without a web site as has been successful elsewhere,
> and using a more decentralized webring approach to
> clue distribution.
>
> My clues and FAQ and the like will still be
> accessible at the usual places. I would ask
> that any webmasters that arise to take over the
> project in my absence link to this material rather
> than copy it, or not link to it as they see fit.
> I do hope to get a few more boxes out over the
> coming months, and they will be on my site at
> mapsurfer.com if you are interested. I will remain
> on the talk list, of course, which is fortunate
> if you like long-winded e-mails ;-)
>
> Its been alot of fun and I wish for the strong
> growth of this hobby in this country (continent :-).
> Perhaps if I have more time in the future I will
> be able to contribute again, and again I apologize
> for this inconvenience.
>
> Good luck,
> Randy
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Life's too short to send boring email. Let SuperSig come to the rescue.
> http://click.egroups.com/1/6137/4/_/12562/_/963166938/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>

Thom,

I suspect it would occur on the main list.

Tom

> Tom Cooch wrote:
> >
> >We hope to have some suggestions and be getting input from
> > the list before the time runs out.
>
>
> Thanks for the info Tom. Is this discussion going to occur on the
> "technical list" at some point? My own participation has been spotty,
> but I have been an effective lurker & I want to stay involved.
>
> --
> Thom Cheney
> tcgrafx... among other things
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Need a credit card?
> Instant Approval and 0% intro APR with Aria!
> http://click.egroups.com/1/6034/4/_/12562/_/963263184/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>

Tom Cooch wrote:
>
>We hope to have some suggestions and be getting input from
> the list before the time runs out.


Thanks for the info Tom. Is this discussion going to occur on the
"technical list" at some point? My own participation has been spotty,
but I have been an effective lurker & I want to stay involved.

--
Thom Cheney
tcgrafx... among other things

Hello!

I am very new to both this list and letterboxing, but
I thought I might say a couple of things...

One, I am very sorry to hear about the illness of the
current Webmaster's wife. I hope she's feeling better
VERY soon!

Two, my husband and I found out about letterboxing
because of the site. I was excrucuiatingly bored one
day and was surfing around Yahoo, looking for any
ideas for outdoor activities, and I saw
"Letterboxing". I had NO idea what letterboxing was,
so I clicked on the link, and voila! Now we've built
our first stamp and are planning to place MANY
letterboxes around the SF Bay Area during this summer.


Without that site, we would have been sunk. I don't
normally subscribe to mailing groups, and having a
centralised clue location on the web facilitiates a
growing hobby, as far as I can see. If I had to hunt
and search various websites in a desperate search for
the few letterboxes in California, I don't think we
would have become half as excited about letterboxing
as we are now.

My idea was, why not put the site onto a public
server? There are quite a few around, and one even
offers 100mb of space for the site, which should be
enough?? It's free, and that way there wouldn't be any
private areas to worry about.

I'd be happy to contribute my time to work with a
team to categorize clues and place them on the site..
I do have a small amount of HTML experience and can
muddle my way through most HTML and some JAVA
coding...

Anyhow, I want to say it's been wonderful becoming
involved with this, and I very much enjoy reading all
of your letters!

-Tanya



--- Tom Cooch wrote:
> People who have read Randy's posting of yesterday
> are doubtless
> wondering what will happen to the site after July
> 29. Those of us who
> have helped manage the site over the past year,
> Mitch, Randy, John,
> Jay, Erik & Susan, and myself, have been discussing
> options over the
> past two months - since letterboxing.org was
> redirected to Randy's
> server.
>
> Most of us have realized for a while that hosting a
> site on an
> individual's own web page, which usually contains
> other files and to
> which he or she is unlikely to want to provide a
> password, poses a
> lot of problems. It puts too much responsibility on
> one person to
> always be there on watch. Having a site that belongs
> to a group, and
> to which a number of managers have access, makes a
> lot more sense.
> But there are legal, financial, and organizational
> issues involved
> that are tough to work out.
>
> Our morale is a bit low right now, but I don't think
> any of us wants
> to see all the work that everyone on this list has
> contributed go for
> naught. We hope to have some suggestions and be
> getting input from
> the list before the time runs out.
>
> Best to all,
>
> Tom Cooch
>
>
> >
> > All,
> >
> > It is with some regret that I must announce I
> > am pulling out of the LbNA project.
> Unfortunately,
> > my wife was recently diagnosed with Lyme disease
> > (early stages fortunately but because of the rash
> > she cannot walk -- never believe what they say
> about
> > the rash, BTW) and this is an added concern on
> > top of a very hectic schedule in the first place.
> > I do not feel I have the time or the concentration
>
> > to press on with managing the parts of the site
> that
> > I do.
> >
> > On July 29th, all LbNA material will be deleted
> > from the pil.net server. I do not know if other
> > arrangements will be made to find a host for the
> > material or not. I sincerely hope that they are
> > so that the hobby can press on without any
> > interruptions.
> >
> > In the past, Dr. Mings has privately (to me)
> offered
> > to host letterboxing materials; I do not know if
> > that offer still stands or not or if people are
> > comfortable with his database approach as opposed
> > to the geographical approach we use now. I know I
> > was not and perhaps let my personal preference
> > cloud my judgement. Also, I believe other of the
> > LbNA webmasters may be attempting to make
> > arrangements. Finally, I've even recommended
> going
> > without a web site as has been successful
> elsewhere,
> > and using a more decentralized webring approach to
>
> > clue distribution.
> >
> > My clues and FAQ and the like will still be
> > accessible at the usual places. I would ask
> > that any webmasters that arise to take over the
> > project in my absence link to this material rather
>
> > than copy it, or not link to it as they see fit.
> > I do hope to get a few more boxes out over the
> > coming months, and they will be on my site at
> > mapsurfer.com if you are interested. I will
> remain
> > on the talk list, of course, which is fortunate
> > if you like long-winded e-mails ;-)
> >
> > Its been alot of fun and I wish for the strong
> > growth of this hobby in this country (continent
> :-).
> > Perhaps if I have more time in the future I will
> > be able to contribute again, and again I apologize
>
> > for this inconvenience.
> >
> > Good luck,
> > Randy
> >
> >
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Life's too short to send boring email. Let
> SuperSig come to the rescue.
> >
>
http://click.egroups.com/1/6137/4/_/12562/_/963166938/
> >
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
>


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get Yahoo! Mail Free email you can access from anywhere!
http://mail.yahoo.com/

Tanya,

How glad I was to see your post! truly, we need people to step forward with ideas and offers of assistance to maintian this ever growing endeavor. Thank you for sharing your experience with the website. It's heartwarming, and renews my faith that it deoes indeed serve a worthwhile purpose.
As to your idea about putting the site on a public server, we have shyed (sp?) away from that in the past because of the ads. They do drive me nuts. But I think given our current situation, a public website might very well be the best solution.

Thabnk you for stepping forward. I have no dobt your offer of assistance will be picked up very very soon.

John
aka Lone Wolf

<<< Tanya Achermann 7/10 5:16p >>>
Hello!

I am very new to both this list and letterboxing, but
I thought I might say a couple of things...

One, I am very sorry to hear about the illness of the
current Webmaster's wife. I hope she's feeling better
VERY soon!

Two, my husband and I found out about letterboxing
because of the site. I was excrucuiatingly bored one
day and was surfing around Yahoo, looking for any
ideas for outdoor activities, and I saw
"Letterboxing". I had NO idea what letterboxing was,
so I clicked on the link, and voila! Now we've built
our first stamp and are planning to place MANY
letterboxes around the SF Bay Area during this summer.


Without that site, we would have been sunk. I don't
normally subscribe to mailing groups, and having a
centralised clue location on the web facilitiates a
growing hobby, as far as I can see. If I had to hunt
and search various websites in a desperate search for
the few letterboxes in California, I don't think we
would have become half as excited about letterboxing
as we are now.

My idea was, why not put the site onto a public
server? There are quite a few around, and one even
offers 100mb of space for the site, which should be
enough?? It's free, and that way there wouldn't be any
private areas to worry about.

I'd be happy to contribute my time to work with a
team to categorize clues and place them on the site..
I do have a small amount of HTML experience and can
muddle my way through most HTML and some JAVA
coding...

Anyhow, I want to say it's been wonderful becoming
involved with this, and I very much enjoy reading all
of your letters!

-Tanya



--- Tom Cooch wrote:
> People who have read Randy's posting of yesterday
> are doubtless
> wondering what will happen to the site after July
> 29. Those of us who
> have helped manage the site over the past year,
> Mitch, Randy, John,
> Jay, Erik & Susan, and myself, have been discussing
> options over the
> past two months - since letterboxing.org was
> redirected to Randy's
> server.
>
> Most of us have realized for a while that hosting a
> site on an
> individual's own web page, which usually contains
> other files and to
> which he or she is unlikely to want to provide a
> password, poses a
> lot of problems. It puts too much responsibility on
> one person to
> always be there on watch. Having a site that belongs
> to a group, and
> to which a number of managers have access, makes a
> lot more sense.
> But there are legal, financial, and organizational
> issues involved
> that are tough to work out.
>
> Our morale is a bit low right now, but I don't think
> any of us wants
> to see all the work that everyone on this list has
> contributed go for
> naught. We hope to have some suggestions and be
> getting input from
> the list before the time runs out.
>
> Best to all,
>
> Tom Cooch
>
>
> >
> > All,
> >
> > It is with some regret that I must announce I
> > am pulling out of the LbNA project.
> Unfortunately,
> > my wife was recently diagnosed with Lyme disease
> > (early stages fortunately but because of the rash
> > she cannot walk -- never believe what they say
> about
> > the rash, BTW) and this is an added concern on
> > top of a very hectic schedule in the first place.
> > I do not feel I have the time or the concentration
>
> > to press on with managing the parts of the site
> that
> > I do.
> >
> > On July 29th, all LbNA material will be deleted
> > from the pil.net server. I do not know if other
> > arrangements will be made to find a host for the
> > material or not. I sincerely hope that they are
> > so that the hobby can press on without any
> > interruptions.
> >
> > In the past, Dr. Mings has privately (to me)
> offered
> > to host letterboxing materials; I do not know if
> > that offer still stands or not or if people are
> > comfortable with his database approach as opposed
> > to the geographical approach we use now. I know I
> > was not and perhaps let my personal preference
> > cloud my judgement. Also, I believe other of the
> > LbNA webmasters may be attempting to make
> > arrangements. Finally, I've even recommended
> going
> > without a web site as has been successful
> elsewhere,
> > and using a more decentralized webring approach to
>
> > clue distribution.
> >
> > My clues and FAQ and the like will still be
> > accessible at the usual places. I would ask
> > that any webmasters that arise to take over the
> > project in my absence link to this material rather
>
> > than copy it, or not link to it as they see fit.
> > I do hope to get a few more boxes out over the
> > coming months, and they will be on my site at
> > mapsurfer.com if you are interested. I will
> remain
> > on the talk list, of course, which is fortunate
> > if you like long-winded e-mails ;-)
> >
> > Its been alot of fun and I wish for the strong
> > growth of this hobby in this country (continent
> :-).
> > Perhaps if I have more time in the future I will
> > be able to contribute again, and again I apologize
>
> > for this inconvenience.
> >
> > Good luck,
> > Randy
> >
> >
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Life's too short to send boring email. Let
> SuperSig come to the rescue.
> >
>
http://click.egroups.com/1/6137/4/_/12562/_/963166938/
> >
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
>


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get Yahoo! Mail Free email you can access from anywhere!
http://mail.yahoo.com/

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Need a credit card?
Instant Approval and 0% intro APR with Aria!
http://click.egroups.com/1/6034/4/_/12562/_/963263766/
------------------------------------------------------------------------

John, I know what you mean about the ads on public servers. They are
annoying. But, I think the fact that our site is about a hobby is clear to
visitors--we're not a slick, for-profit dot-com, we're a hobby contributed
to voluntarily by lots of different people with different interests. I
personally wouldn't be surprised to see a Web site for a hobby on a public
server. I hope visitors would realize that the ads are simply a necessary
evil on a "free" space.

I'd just like to vote "no" on Geocities, however. I have friends with
Geocities Web sites, and quite often when I try to access their pages, I
get a message saying the page couldn't be found. Then, next time, for no
apparent reason, the page downloads without a hitch.

I also have a friend with a site on Tripod. Never had any problems
accessing his Tripod pages - for what it's worth.

Bonnie
P7F9
In daylily-filled Massachusetts--and tired of working too much and not
having time to letterbox!!!!

Thank you Tanya - we can use more help, the group only thrive if we
share the load.
Regards,
Susan Davis