This is the text of an e-mail I just received from John Corrado. If anyone, other than me, has been wondering where he’s been, this will explain it. So, c’mon everyone, post a greeting to John, or if anyone has a suggestion for reducing his internet expenses, I’m sure he’d be happy to read it here.
Well, gee; dunno what to say- thanks for the praise and for the concern. I’m
flattered (and somewhat proud to know my abscence did not go unnoticed).
The main reason I’ve been away is financial; at my previous temp job, I had
free internet access (well, free for me, anyways; no idea how much the
company that employed me actually spent to feed my habit) and two hours of
real work with eight hours to do it, which meant six hours of SD messaging a
day.
Unfortunately, all good things (like really cushy temp assignments) must
come to an end, and my internet service for the last month has been
completely up to my home computer, and I’m not real thrilled about using
that for hooking up with the SDMB. Not that my home computer is slow or MSN
costs too much or what have you- it’s that for some reason my telephone
number is considered long-distance from every possible service provider. End
result- the 15 a month for service is no problem; it's the .05 a minute
for long-distance calls that really adds up. That’s $3 an hour; at two hours
a day, that’s $180 a month.
So I’ve gone a bit cold-turkey for the last month simply because being
unemployed meant I didn’t have the money to afford something I now had the
time for (ironic, ain’t it?). Now that I’ve got a new assignment- with the
possibility of permanent hire- I’ll probably ease myself back into things
(in fact, I spent a good hour on Friday perusing the board only to realize
that the board moves a lot faster than real life. Melin gone? Who’s the
hacker? John John banned? What’s with the guy with the out-in-the-open sex
life? Hoo boy, I’ve got hours to go before I’m back in the loop again…).
Again, thanks for your concern, and your praise is greatly appreciated. Feel
free to repost this message if people have actually brought this up in a
thread (yes, I’m vain enough to have checked during my Friday lurk).
Anyways. See you back on the board somewhat soon.
Yer pal,
JMCJ
johncorrado@hotmail.com
