He said, and you quoted, “If I participate in the future”. This indicates that participation is something he may decide on, ergo he is not going to participate now. Which I asked him to reconsider. Geddit?
I have found myself posting less and less. I don’t see reupping at this time. I may just fade away. The death pool keeps me coming back for now.
Perhaps for the sake of the board, we do need to cull the herd. Get some new life, some fresh meat in here, and get rid of the old ti…
Sorry, I’m just now getting some breaking news in my earpiece… I’m to report to HR…
-xash
Administrator
And in case no one understood the reference in my previous post:
A kind doper has anonymously paid for Siam Sam’s continued membership, via the Gift Membership option. Hopefully, he will return to use it.
Thank you, kind doper(s).
-xash
Administrator
I still don’t get it. I know ‘42’ and ‘thanks for all the fish’ are Hitchhiker references, but what’s that got to do with a gift membership?
Because a gift membership the the SDMB is the Answer to Life, The Universe… Everything!
Silly me! Of course it is. 
Since he clearly stated he didn’t want it and that he was “voting with his wallet”, I would say that was a slightly obnoxious doper, not a kind doper.
Which brings up an interesting question:
What does one do if someone is “kind” and pays for someone else’s subscription when they don’t want it? Is there some way of “giving it back”?
I have to second this. I’m a mod on four other boards that I participate in; I know where Gary is coming from.
Not really. I remember a while back when a bunch of people were pissed off about going to subscriptions or something and a few people suggested it would be funny to sponsor the memberships of those who were letting it lapse in protest. I can’t find the thread but at the time mods in the thread said that it wasn’t a good idea.
Yeah, I have experience with how the pay system is set up. I actually was sponsored by a Charter Member, so the system charged them the Charter Member price. But this wasn’t enough to make me qualify as a member. Jerry had to go in and fix it manually, and even he was unable to do anything about the money. They just had to eat the cost.
So what I’m saying is that not even the tech guy can do anything about money once it is already given. And I believe they aren’t legally allowed to accept donations, which would be the end result if Jerry were to manually make Siam Sam a Guest.
Jerry is the only person who has access to the financial info – he can look at charges and reverse overpayments – he’s done that before.
There’s a fix in the works for our Charter Member buying regular subscription bug – though I did see recently where one enterprising Doper just kept buying Charter subscriptions, he bought his regular Member giftees two Charter Memberships each. Jerry had to go in and tweak things to make it come out right but it did equal up. I think there may be a better solution pending, but I don’t think it’s in place yet.
I would totally moderate this board for free, and not for selfish reasons; I love this board. I admin a vbulletin board and know how the back end works. But I doubt I’d get hired since I have been a rare poster, though I’ve lurked here over 10 years. Also I’m not sure how much time I’d need to spend. But we’re not all egotistical jerks who just like waving the ban hammer.
Sock?
Yeah, I actually thought that may be a good way to get rid of the “gift” myself. But if the poster still wants to post afterwards I don’t think it is an ideal solution if caught at it, unless the admins delete the old account and allow the new “sock” account.
Well, shoot. My attempt at an economic protest has been scuppered. Thank you, anonymous benefactor, but while I don’t wish to appear ungrateful, it should be noted that my decision not to re-up was not due to indigence. I would have felt better if that had gone to someone actually in need.
So now I feel obligated to take out an anonymous subscription for someone to make up for it, which will defeat my economic protest even more. Sigh This place is like the Mafia. You can’t get out of it easily. So where are these Gift Subscriptions anyway? First I’ve heard about them.
The graphic novel is Shake Girl, which I never tire of promoting. About a Cambodian girl actually, the true story of a young Cambodian girl disfigured in a revenge acid attack. Acid attacks are widespread in Cambodia but nowhere else in the region. Dunno why they’re so widely perpetrated there.
Will update the pigeon thread soon.
A kind doper paid my way also, for two years for crissake!
Sam, you don’t get better people than the Straight Dope Community.
Please stick around!
It sounds like you could use a break from the board. Methinks that’s healthy now and then: enjoy!
…and I hope you feel free to do so.
And PS: thanks for the link to Shake Girl: I look forward to reading it.