Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:26:47 +0000
Reply-To: Richard Golen <rgolen@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Richard Golen <rgolen@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: ADMINISTRIVIA - Vanagon List Moderators
In-Reply-To: <8DE8ED9F-2F10-462C-A76E-3669770510B9@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"
Congrats David and Ben!! And thanks!
Ric in Reykjavik
> Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 09:53:22 -0800
> From: jr.arnott@GMAIL.COM
> Subject: ADMINISTRIVIA - Vanagon List Moderators
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>
> Ladies and Gentlemen, Boy and Girls!
>
> It is with great pleasure (and relief) that I introduce your new and
> improved VANAGON LIST MODERATORS!
>
> David Beierl and Ben Tan.
>
> Both are long standing listmembers and have a sense of our history. I
> believe that they'll do a fine job.
>
> They can be contacted at <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET> and
> <syncro@gmail.com> respectively.
>
> Please give them your full cooperation.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Jim Arnott
> List Admin
> vanagon@gerry
>
> PS: Unca Joel summed up the 'spirit' of this list quite eloquently.
> I've attached his post for your re-reading pleasure:
>
> > from the onset, the vanagon list has always been much more than just a
> > tech list ..
> >
> > it's been a small cul-de-sac community of people. and people don't
> > always sit around, talking over coffee and beer, about tech things.
> > and some 'tech things' aren't really tech things ... do you like the
> > look of the round headlights versus the 86-91 rectangular ones? South
> > African headlights versus the other two types? are white-wall tires
> > really only for old american cars? which beer goes best after
> > repacking your cv joints? :)
> >
> > the volume of mail is usually set off by differences in opinions about
> > some subject, which often IS more techie than not ... like tires,
> > heat, rust, and headlights ... and by "oh, that happened to me, too!"
> > stories. all of which is vital to a community ... if we don't share
> > stories and i-did-that-this-way opinions, then it might as well be
> > every man/woman for themselves ..the human 'community' got ahead by
> > HELPING each other, not by hiding secrets from the rest of the
> > community. competition helps, too ... so we have more than one list
> > vendor to take care of that end ... you can buy parts from several
> > different places, even in canada! and germany, and belgium. nobody in
> > england or mexico yet, though. :(
> >
> > the Frydaye Follies are sort of a release valve for the rest of the
> > week ... like Friday afternoons or "casual fridays" at work ...
> > getting together at the nearby pub/bar/whatever for a beer with your
> > co-workers after a long week of putting up with the boss (in our case,
> > a much-discussed administrator/moderator) ... a day when tech talk
> > doesn't have to be so high on the must-do list.
> >
> > in other words, the list is a sort of reflection of our work lives and
> > our personal lives .. not just some committee meeting where technical
> > schedules and difficulties are hashed out or put off til "the next
> > meeting tomorrow at 2 o'clock".
> >
> > and i think this is a good thing. that this is the way it should be.
> > it certainly worked well way back when, in the beginnings of the list,
> > when most of us Vanagon owners needed a lot more than tech help ... we
> > needed a support group, a clan to tell us that we weren't stupid and
> > crazy for owning and loving these buses ... that it wasn't totally
> > illogical and we could show the wife/whatever that there WERE other
> > people out there and they were like me, and this is a good car and we
> > ought to keep it.
> >
> > people don't always see the future the same way, even when they
> > espouse the same ideals, or drive the same cars, or even live in the
> > same community ... and it takes discussion to work it out so we can
> > ALL be comfortable and secure and not worry about our sanity and
> > safety ... and this is most definitely NON-technical, at least not
> > technical about volkswagen vanagons. :)
> >
> > this is why i must strongly put in my own personal protest at making
> > THIS list a totally tech list, without any regard for the community
> > conversations most of us have enjoyed throughout the years. we've
> > developed friendships (albetit over email, but some of us have
> > actually MET other vanagon owners in person), and i don't think you
> > get much of that spread around the community if you go tech-only. i've
> > seen this happen on other lists, particularly the Type2 list, and i
> > don't like it ... it reminds me waay to much of those tech committe
> > meetings ... yes, they are necessary. yes, they contribute to the
> > running of the world we work in and live in. but no ... they should
> > NOT be the end-all be-all to life or this list.
> >
> >> So it seems kind of unfair to abuse their place on this list
> >> by sending them things they really didn't ask for.
> >
> > so how unfair is it to abuse the non-tech folks who did sign up for
> > 'support group' type discussions ... and just generally to hang around
> > with other folks driving the same type of car, and to gain
> > ammunition/information to use against the wife to keep the bus in the
> > family ... with all the high-tech .blather??
> > do we really care about the 930 cv joints or putting a tiico or bostig
> > engine in some bus to gain horsepower and bragging rights? the great
> > majority of the list members will never have the money nor the
> > mechanical expertise nor even a local mechanic able to comprehend such
> > technical jobs ... for us, it's just coffee-table magazines and books,
> > like the picture books of Porsche 911s and Ferarris and Aston Martins
> > ... and Playboys: just window dressing; pipe dreams; something to peer
> > at through the dust of our dreary day-to-day lives. ;)
> >
> > and that's ok ... for those of us who actually do have the garage and
> > money and tools and mental agility to do such things, great .. go for
> > it! the rest of us will live our dull hum-drum lives vicariously
> > through you, just like we do with Richard Jones's trips through the
> > Rockiesk, and Frank Condelli's many trips from Canada to Mexico, and
> > all the other road trips we see not nearly enough of to suit me. ;)
> > are road trips to be banned from the list? they aren't technical at
> > all! all subjective and opinionated.
> >
> > and i think very very necessary. if your neighbor goes off on
> > vacation, and doesn't come over to harange you with tales of how bad
> > it was in Orlando with all the 'tourists' trying to get to Disney
> > World, a lot of us would feel a bit hurt ... it's kinda fun to watch
> > someone try and cram a week of insanity with wife, kids, dogs, cars,
> > traffic, hotels, restaurants, and all the other things that go with a
> > 'road trip' into a few minutes of conversation ... at least, i enjoy
> > it. and i think a lot of others on the list do, too. :)
> >
> > that's my opinion and you're welcome to it.
> >
> > unca joel
_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live™ Hotmail®: Chat. Store. Share. Do more with mail.
http://windowslive.com/howitworks?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t1_hm_justgotbetter_howitworks_012009 |