Due to the recurring financial issues with the house and car as of
late, and with not yet getting the COVID-19 stimulus check to help
things, I have decided that it is time to cut back; and this means
the discontinuance of several items, to save money.

Basically, if the COVID-19 stimulus doesn't come in by April 1, these
will be done in the following days, with completion by May 1, if not
before:

1) As you may know, I was involved in a vehicle wreck in early January,
2021, which wasn't my fault. They paid the huge chiropractor bill
($9100), but I only got $750 for pain and suffering and $67 for Uber.
I had paid $9950 for a pre-owned vehicle from a local dealership, then
had to get a trade due to a parts issue on the first vehicle. I also
had to pay over $4200 for repairs and vehicle tags, which brought that
up to over $14,000. So, once the title for the first car arrives, I am
going to take it, as well as the current vehicle with its title and registration, and sell it back to the dealership (likely at a loss).
That'll mean no transportation (I'll have to take Uber to appointments),
no more social life (square dancing, ham radio, etc.), but no more car
related costs (gas, insurance, or repairs). The drivers license may be exchanged for a State ID. That will save approximately $1000 a year in insurance, and $1200 a year in fuel costs...not to mention no more
property taxes or repair costs on that. Uber will be done extremely
sparingly. Groceries and medications will be delivered. I will be eating
very sparingly...and may go several days at a time without eating.

2) I had thought the BBS would be shut down, but a Sysop has offered to
have it put up on his cloud server at no cost to me. I likely will take
him up on the offer, as doing such would save me at least $100 a month.

3) I will likely kill the T-Mobile line, and downgrade the Verizon to talk
and text only. That may save $1200 a year.

4) I will keep the Verizon Mi-Fi for email checks, and website updates. However, while I have unlimited usage, I will only use it sparingly. So,
I likely will be delayed in answering mail, and being on Facebook. This
also means that my ham radio D-Rats station, and my HamShack Hotline
stations will likely go QRT as well; plus, I'm debating whether to continue doing the ham radio traffic nets. I really don't want to have to go find
a public Wi-Fi to do my email and website work...and if I don't have a
car, I won't be able to do so, anyway.

5) I likely will kill the Post Office Box, since I won't be able to go out anyway, without transportation. That was to expire in August, which will
save at least $150 a year.

6) I will no longer be able to do any "social life"...for ham radio, square dancing, or otherwise. I was ostracized by churches years ago, and I have
too many medical issues to worry about getting back into one...as I don't
rest well at night anyway. Most women at my age are looking for a man to
take care of them. When I got married, I "brought stuff to the table". Now,
it has to be the other way around.

A final decision won't be made until April 1, and I hope the shutdown is
"an April Fool". Tragically, it's looking more and more like that's going
to be "it was fun while it lasted, but the bottom line is that I need to
take care of things at the house, to avoid becoming homeless. And, so all
the other stuff must go by the boards. Never mind that medical stuff right
now has to wait".

Besides, folks are tired of hearing me complain, and want to see me gone, anyway. They'll now get what they want...I hope they'll be happy.

Daryl Stout, WX4QZ, Sysop (for now), The Thunderbolt BBS, Little Rock, AR

... Have you thanked your Sysop or Echo Moderator today??
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net

Due to the recurring financial issues with the house and car as of
late, and with not yet getting the COVID-19 stimulus check to help things, I have decided that it is time to cut back; and this means
the discontinuance of several items, to save money.

I'm sorry to have read all of this, Daryl. Your name is synonymic with BBSing, and while I don't know you personally I really hope things turn for the better in your situation.

It sounds like you're down and out - and just remember that nothing is forever, and you control your happy at some level. Try to keep a solid head and motivate yourself for positive changes... what might seem like a mountain today could be behind you tomorrow. I hope you're able to remain a fixture in our awesome BBS community; while I run a different software, you're always welcome @ 20ForBeers.com:1337 - and I think I need to dial out to yours and see more of what Daryl Stout does for this community.

I damn well know that you belong here, sir. Times are just that: Times. Tomorrow will come.



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

Re: Possible Shutdown
By: Daryl Stout to All on Tue Mar 23 2021 03:45 pm

Besides, folks are tired of hearing me complain, and want to see me gone, anyway. They'll now get what they want...I hope they'll be happy.

I've been reading you in the nets for years and years. I really don't mind if you are complaining (I do that too at times) or posting in the funny areas.

I hope you can keep your BBS online, perhaps with the help of your friend in the cloud somewhere. My BBS is likely to go into the cloud somewhere at some point also.

I hope you manage to keep on doing what you enjoy doing however you decide to do that.

Ttyl :-),
Al

... Synonym: A word you use when you can't spell the other.

---
þ Synchronet þ The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada

Re: Possible Shutdown
By: Daryl Stout to All on Tue Mar 23 2021 03:45 pm

Hey Daryl,

Sorry your circumstances havent improved.

2) I had thought the BBS would be shut down, but a Sysop has offered to have it put up on his cloud server at no cost to me. I likely will take him up on the offer, as doing such would save me at least $100 a month.

If this falls through, if your BBS can run on Linux, I'll happily host it for you as well. I've got a bit of spare capacity on my server at home - so it can run there next to mine.

Fingers crossed things improve...

...ëîåï

... Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.

---
þ Synchronet þ Alterant | an SBBS in Docker on Pi!

On 3/23/2021 1:45 PM, Daryl Stout wrote:

A final decision won't be made until April 1, and I hope the shutdown is
"an April Fool". Tragically, it's looking more and more like that's going
to be "it was fun while it lasted, but the bottom line is that I need to
take care of things at the house, to avoid becoming homeless. And, so all
the other stuff must go by the boards. Never mind that medical stuff right now has to wait".

Besides, folks are tired of hearing me complain, and want to see me gone, anyway. They'll now get what they want...I hope they'll be happy.

I'm really sorry to hear about your hardship... I know how bad things
can get at times. I don't think anyone here desires to see you just go
away.

I would suggest, that you might be able to get to know your direct
neighbors and that one may be kind enough to let you use their wifi
sparingly. You may be able to get on a reduced rate plan with your
phone or cable provider as well. My grandmother was on a $10/mo plan
for a number of years, it was like 10m/1m and not the fastest, but still better than dialup or mobile. You'd need to call and specifically ask,
as they don't tend to advertise these service levels.

I only bring this up, as eliminating connections to the outside world
can often escalate depression. I first started my BBS in early 2002
when I was close to broke and homelessness myself. It gave me the
opportunity to distract myself for a few hours a day.

Also, you can have the opportunity to gain new knowledge and skills that
may allow you to re-enter a job market differently than where you were
before. Programming, IT SecOps and DevOps pay well, with many work from
home options. A lot of it takes a lot of reading, time and practice and
if you already have a computer, and aren't working full time already,
you can grow with some effort and work your way out. If you're
interrested, I'm sure many here would be happy to offer some resources
or places to read/learn/experiment to get started. If you're in the US,
or where others are, odds are many of us have unused equipment that you
could have if you needed/wanted to setup clusters/networks etc for experimenting.

The other side of what I did through early 2002, was actually get more
into software development going way beyond the scripting and web design
work I was doing more of prior to that.

I know that it can be hard in the thick of it to think about the future
and only think about what can I cut back. Just offering some thoughts
and hopefully welcome suggestions.
--
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
---
þ Synchronet þ Roughneck BBS - roughneckbbs.com

Paulie,

I'm sorry to have read all of this, Daryl. Your name is synonymic with BBSing, and while I don't know you personally I really hope things turn for the better in your situation.

I can't see how at this point. I've been crying uncontrollably for 3 days now.

It sounds like you're down and out - and just remember that nothing is forever, and you control your happy at some level. Try to keep a solid head and motivate yourself for positive changes... what might seem like
a mountain today could be behind you tomorrow. I hope you're able to remain a fixture in our awesome BBS community; while I run a different software, you're always welcome @ 20ForBeers.com:1337 - and I think I
need to dial out to yours and see more of what Daryl Stout does for
this community.

I've done so much in BBSing, ham radio, and square dancing, in the last
30 years...but it all seems like a waste now.

I damn well know that you belong here, sir. Times are just that: Times. Tomorrow will come.

I wish I was more optimistic, but that's gone now. The glass is not half empty, or half full...it has very little in it, and what's in there is excrement. What self esteem I had is virtually non-existant anymore.

Since the plumbers are working here 6 days a week, I'm stuck at home
except on Sunday. So, unless that stimulus money shows up by Saturday,
I'm going to start shutting things down by downgrading the cellphone
service (but keep the Mi-Fi for LIMITED use). Then, if still no funding
April 1, I'm going to sell the car, shut down the BBS, and zap the Post
Office Box...and that's just for openers. And, I've decided to go on a
complete fast...as if preparing for a colonoscopy (while one is set for
next month, I likely will postpone it).

The way my luck has been since my Mom died, I'd have better luck of
getting hit by lightning for the 3rd time, or (as I've had nightmares
about) being devoured by a tornado...than hitting the lottery.

Daryl

... "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we diet." -Unknown
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net

Re: Possible Shutdown
By: Daryl Stout to All on Tue Mar 23 2021 03:45 pm

1) As you may know, I was involved in a vehicle wreck in early January, 2021, which wasn't my fault. They paid the huge chiropractor bill ($9100), but I only got $750 for pain and suffering and $67 for Uber.
I had paid $9950 for a pre-owned vehicle from a local dealership, then had to get a trade due to a parts issue on the first vehicle. I also
had to pay over $4200 for repairs and vehicle tags, which brought that
up to over $14,000. So, once the title for the first car arrives, I am going to take it, as well as the current vehicle with its title and registration, and sell it back to the dealership (likely at a loss). That'll mean no transportation (I'll have to take Uber to appointments), no more social life (square dancing, ham radio, etc.), but no more car related costs (gas, insurance, or repairs). The drivers license may be exchanged for a State ID. That will save approximately $1000 a year in insurance, and $1200 a year in fuel costs...not to mention no more property taxes or repair costs on that. Uber will be done extremely sparingly. Groceries and medications will be delivered. I will be eating very sparingly...and may go several days at a time without eating.

6) I will no longer be able to do any "social life"...for ham radio, square dancing, or otherwise. I was ostracized by churches years ago, and I have too many medical issues to worry about getting back into one...as I don't rest well at night anyway. Most women at my age are looking for a man to take care of them. When I got married, I "brought stuff to the table". Now, it has to be the other way around.

A final decision won't be made until April 1, and I hope the shutdown is "an April Fool". Tragically, it's looking more and more like that's going to be "it was fun while it lasted, but the bottom line is that I need to take care of things at the house, to avoid becoming homeless. And, so all the other stuff must go by the boards. Never mind that medical stuff right now has to wait".

I'm sorry to hear you're going through all that. :( I really hope things turn around and get beter for you somehow.

Besides, folks are tired of hearing me complain, and want to see me gone, anyway. They'll now get what they want...I hope they'll be happy.

I haven't seen you say anything on Dove-Net that has made me tired of seeing you comment.

2) I had thought the BBS would be shut down, but a Sysop has offered to have it put up on his cloud server at no cost to me. I likely will take him up on the offer, as doing such would save me at least $100 a month.

continue doing the ham radio traffic nets. I really don't want to have to go find a public Wi-Fi to do my email and website work...and if I don't have a car, I won't be able to do so, anyway.

Does the $100 a month saved include internet service? I'm sure there are probably more inexpensive internet services available. Also, if it's just running a BBS, the electricity needed to keep a PC powered on should be fairly inexpensive if you're hosting it at home.

Nightfox

---
þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

I'm sorry to hear you're going through all that. :( I really hope
things turn around and get beter for you somehow.

The hobbies are no longer a diversion, and it's getting hard to find the desire to do anything with them.

I haven't seen you say anything on Dove-Net that has made me tired of seeing you comment.

I'm sure other folks are worse off than I am, but having lived alone for
14 years, I need something to keep from going crazy. I know of no one who enjoys looking at the same 4 walls each day. If I sell the car to pay the bills, it'll be like being in jail. Now, if bad weather keeps me home,
that's another story.

Does the $100 a month saved include internet service? I'm sure there
are probably more inexpensive internet services available. Also, if
it's just running a BBS, the electricity needed to keep a PC powered on should be fairly inexpensive if you're hosting it at home.

I have levelized billing on the electricity and LP gas, so it varies depending on the time of the year. The package from Xfinity is their
basic internet only package, at 200 Mbps download (neither TV has been
hooked up since I put my Mom in a nursing home in 2018). I understand that later this year, T-Mobile's Home Internet is to be rolled out to the
general public, and while it has 25 Mbps download, it's a flat rate of
$50 (at least in central Arkansas). The only "TV" I watch is if one of
the local stations is doing severe weather coverage (we've had a lot of
that lately), and I watch that on the smartphone.

Right now, my goal is getting the plumbing issue behind me (no pun
intended). Depending on when the contractor is to start rebuilding, it
will determine if I have to postpone the colonoscopy. I did get more
toilet paper, as they're talking about shortages again.

Daryl

... A computer's attention span is limited by its power cord.
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net