Part 2 from Captain Obvious about Keeping this AUTOPIA FORUM ALIVE and GOING

[Lonnie]

I did not know how to word the topic title without making it appear "official" or misleading about the status of this forum, so its title really is "My Personal Observations on the Status of this Forum".
It really is a continuation of of the discussion of my question of the moving of the Autopia Store to Texas.
Reference:Any News About the Autopia Store Move to Texas???
Rather than continue within that topic, which has/had morphed into a discussion on the status and problems to the continuation of the Autopia Forum, I chose to start this discussion topic. SO, here are my thoughts and observations:
1) I have recently posted more topics on the status of this forum than talking about detailing products and equipment topics, which the later really is the reason for the existence of this forum.
My bad, but in my defense, without a forum there is no detailing topic discussion. And while it seems I made a personal campaign out of trying to keep this forum going, which I have, it gets a little tiring talking more about the process than the end product of detailing discussion, which may turn off many Autopian members and non-member lurkers, which may or is also contributing to the lack of viewership and its participation. It`s a double-edge sword, chicken-and-egg scenario.
2) There are lot of outside challenges and competing media formats to this forum format.
OK, I admit that. I think that`s been discussed ad nauseam (enough to make you puke) and there are no easy answers to that realism.
3a) Here is my question: Are YOU, as an Autopian member, willing to stay here and participate with topic posts and thread discussions?
3b) What direction , if any, does the Autopia Forum owners, Palm Beach Motoring Group, want to go in with this forum?
Part A, we as Autopians control; Part B the, owners control. I wish there would be a response within this forum about that question from them (PBMG)
I can only do so much, but in many ways, it`s out of my hands.

And for me personally, that is really disheartening and quite frankly, sad to see the demise of this particular detailing forum as it exists today.
I am NOT saying "good bye" personally, nor am I predicting this forum`s death and writing this as an obituary.

All I can say is "Thank You" for those who continue to post new topics and discussion responses, with hopes that you will do so in the future. Even though there are fewer of you and fewer topics, YOU and those topics are important enough to me and my detailing exploits to keep this forum going. These repetitious pleas are not without merit, so I ask you to think about what this forum means to you as well.

[Accumulator]

FWIW, despite being pretty busy with house/grounds/newest dog, I for one plan to stay here and continue posting whenever I believe I have something of value to convey or a Q I need help with.

Heh heh, hey Lonnie- that makes two of us, let`s hope some other people stick around too.

[Bill D]

I`ve been here for 20 years and I`ll stay until the end , whenever it may come. I just post whenever I have a comment to make or whenever I can be of help but the majority of the time I just lurk.

[Don]

I would also HATE to see this forum go. Compared to many others, it is much more `laid back,` `heated discussions` are fun compared to being hostile. and we don`t have to worry about posting about products that aren`t "On the approved list."

Hopefully, now that I am RETIRED, and Detailing Season is creeping up in Ohio. I`ll be able to be more active.

[Lonnie]

Those of you that know about me from what you have read in the past within this forum know I am NOT on any of the social media platforms (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc) This forum IS my social media, albeit slanted toward an auto detailing bias.

One thing that does concern me is what will happen to all the detailing content I (and all Autopians, for that matter) have posted over the many years as a member. (which is probably true of any social media platform`s content should that platform shut down and disappear)
I guess if I want to save it for myself, I would have to:
1) Find the topic and/or response I wish to save
2) Copy it to a clipboard
3) Paste it into a text software program Like MS-Word or Corel-WordPerfect
4) Save the file with some type of file name that identifies the topic or response.
5) Format the copied text into something usable and printable.
6) Repeat the above steps for the next topic or response.

THAT`s a lot of computer and typing work and a lot of files to store.
(Better get to work, Captain Obvious. Your autobiography/memoirs/personal experiences and detailing expertise are within this forum somewhere: you just gotta find and organize it now! Hint: the title of this compilation should be "The Life of Captain Obvious in Detail(ing)".)
Which also brings to mind the fact that I do not really "own" any of the content that I have posted, the Autopia Forum owners really do, I guess.
Although if they did want to use that content in some fashion, I assume they would ask for my permission...maybe not.
Maybe I should read the agreement/terms of use for this forum I clicked "I agree" to so long ago to know exactly what my rights are!

Side note : Did you ever wonder how much of your own posted material here has been copied (plagiarized) by someone else somewhere, like a school term paper, or a how-to article, or another forum?
(Don`t worry about your`s Captain Obvious, no one has. It`s not that good!!...Just sayin`!)

[PA DETAILER]

I for one always liked this forum and its members.

[Dan]

I still can`t understand why so many people went to the various social media platforms? The only thing I can think of is that it was harder to share content here.

Facebook in particular just invites the same questions over and over. Searching is difficult and good content gets buried as comments.

I`m here till the end. We probably should exchange emails via PM in case something does happen though.

[Sizzle Chest]

I’ll be here!

[Accumulator]

Those of you that know about me from what you have read in the past within this forum know I am NOT on any of the social media platforms (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc) This forum IS my social media, albeit slanted toward an auto detailing bias.

Same here.

One thing that does concern me is what will happen to all the detailing content I (and all Autopians, for that matter) have posted over the many years as a member. (which is probably true of any social media platform`s content should that platform shut down and disappear)...

Heh heh, given some of the stuff some people post, and the way The Internet Never Forgets, having some stuff disappear forever might not be so bad!

Side note : Did you ever wonder how much of your own posted material here has been copied (plagiarized) by someone else somewhere, like a school term paper, or a how-to article, or another forum?

Eh, fine with me with regard to the stuff I post...I`m just trying to contribute to the body of knowledge.

Though I do kinda wish the guy from PPG, whose name escapes me , got proper credit for the "Find what you like and use it often". That dictum (which, BTW, I for one don`t follow), gets bandied about so much that I`d like to see credit where credit is due...as an offhand quip it`s pretty good.

[Silly Rabbit]

It would be very sad if this forum and all the archived knowledge and posts disappeared. I`m on zero social media sites as well, just forums of interests to me, I find the learning resourse of forums could never be replaced. And a heck of a good bunch of people.

[Don]

It would be very sad if this forum and all the archived knowledge and posts disappeared. I`m on zero social media sites as well, just forums of interests to me, I find the learning resourse of forums could never be replaced. And a heck of a good bunch of people.

All too true. While I DO endulge on Facebook (and even "own" a detailing page there), there is A LOT of BS, SPAM, negative & anti social personalities, trolls ... the list goes on and on. Unfortunatley, my attention span has shrunk incredibley. To the point were I can`t watch TV or movies for more than a few minutes without losing interest, EVEN WHEN I`M INTERESTED IN THE TOPIC. MY #1 use of the TV anymore is to watch recordings of The Lord of the Rings, while exercising for 30 minutes a day.

HOPEFULLY, this is just residual from all the trauma I suffered before retiring in December, and SOON I will get back to normal. The WORST part is that I`m ready to collapse from exhaustion by 5 pm and wake up FULL OF ENERGY at 2 AM - when I CAN`T do anything, because everyone else has NORMAL sleeping habits.

[Silly Rabbit]

All too true. While I DO endulge on Facebook (and even "own" a detailing page there), there is A LOT of BS, SPAM, negative & anti social personalities, trolls ... the list goes on and on. Unfortunatley, my attention span has shrunk incredibley. To the point were I can`t watch TV or movies for more than a few minutes without losing interest, EVEN WHEN I`M INTERESTED IN THE TOPIC. MY #1 use of the TV anymore is to watch recordings of The Lord of the Rings, while exercising for 30 minutes a day.

HOPEFULLY, this is just residual from all the trauma I suffered before retiring in December, and SOON I will get back to normal. The WORST part is that I`m ready to collapse from exhaustion by 5 pm and wake up FULL OF ENERGY at 2 AM - when I CAN`T do anything, because everyone else has NORMAL sleeping habits.

I think once you fully decompress more `new` habits will form. You can`t go a lifetime in work habits and break away from them overnight. Our work lives create some of the strongest habits we will ever have. A trucker can retire but still have the ability to drive across tje country with no sleep for years after. A shift worker can have sleep habits last for a looong time after retiring. Just the nature. And even though you retired, you are still kinda there... you can`t go a lifetime and not have mind connection still. Hell, after a solid operation a person heals quickly, but it takes more than a year to get back to `100%` I have even heard 2 years. So in a massive life change I think it`s only time that will get a person into a fully new mindset. I bet there are lotto winners that still have mind work habits even months after winning. Even if it`s sleep habits.
I think your new life and habits that you will vreate for it are just time. You will notice one day that your habits are, or have , changed.

[Lonnie]

Accumulator:
I THINK the dictum/adage/proverb/saying of "Find something you like and use it often" was/is attributed to detailing guru/legend/Autopian All-Star Mike Phillips.
Don`t quote me on that, though!

(What is with all the slash marks between all those synonym words, Captain Obvious?! What school of writing and journalism did you go to, anyway? Does your mother, who was your high school junior English class teacher, know you "write" like this??
My answers: Pick one; maybe then the sentence makes more sense you, PLUS you don`t need a thesaurus or dictionary to understand/explain/define/expound/describe/clarify/interpret them.
I went to the Writing School of Hard Knocks and Majored in Verbose and Loquacious Subjective Writing and Minored in Hunt-and-Peck Typing under the tutelage of Professor Know-It-All and received my honorary BS degree (and I do mean "BS") in Ambiguous Wordy Writing.... Big degree, little pay!
NO, my Mother does NOT know I write like this because she has past away (she`s dead), but if she did she would be appalled, quite frankly, and I NEVER would have passed her junior English class. Period!)

[sf_car_guy]

I`ve been lurking far longer than my account has been around and what everyone else has said about what makes this forum unique rings true.

We probably should exchange emails via PM in case something does happen though.

We could make a private google doc/spreadsheet with member emails who would like to stay in contact with each other.

[Accumulator]

Accumulator:
I THINK the dictum/adage/proverb/saying of "Find something you like and use it often" was/is attributed to detailing guru/legend/Autopian All-Star Mike Phillips.
Don`t quote me on that, though!

That`s what I was driving at, though I didn`t want to make it sound like a slam at Mike (whom I do esteem highly). He got that from the guy at PPG...whose name *still* escapes me.