Just a couple of personal thoughts as it appears that things have gone down hill....
1. I did NOT ask for contributions in any way. I do however, appreciate the gestures.
2. Turk offered to spearhead this deal again this year due to numerous members requesting a way to offer some good will. Turk and others can assure you that their mails asking me if I wanted them to start something either went without reply from me, and/or me explaining that I don't have to have the money. I would run this place without a dime.
3. It does cost to run this place (don't know what other sites pay but....) last year I bought and built a server for more than $2500, software licenses, have paid as high as $175 per month due to shared server CPU usage costs and bandwidth and space. Spent $120 or so just a few weeks ago to give everyone the ability to have their own
username@clubcobra.com account.
4. Yes I have started making some money with the advertising. In the first few years I had no interest in selling advertising unless someone just couldn't go without sending me some dough. This last year in numerous conversations with my wife, I told her I really want to get this place set up so people don't have to send me dough. That has started to happen, and it's paying for my monthly out of pocket expenses just fine.
5. It does take a lot of time to run this place. It's no accident that this place is as good as it is from a functionality/feature/content standpoint....It takes time and a lot of late nights after my real job. I'd do it regardless.
Certainly it hurts to see this stuff, as again, I didn't ask for any money, and I truly hope people don't have a problem with it. There's nothing more that I want from this place than the friendships I have gained and continue to gain along the way.
casaleenie, it was free advertising for Jim (Bitten by the Snake) and it's still up as I understand it.