re: I have a problem.

People move in and out of hobbies and habits. Each of these boards has their own subject matter. Starting a family, for example, is one reason people drop one hobby for another and move on in life.

I belonged to a recording forum a long time ago – like 15 years ago. I had a group of friends that all decided to move to a private forum to escape the clutter of the one we all met on. That lasted a couple of years and finally petered out, but we all moved on to Facebook after that. I’ve met a few of those guys in person, spoke on the phone to a few more but most of us are still friends to this day on Facebook. Some are still recording, most are still active musicians. I dropped out of that scene when my kids were toddlers. I just couldn’t make the time for it anymore.

More recently I belonged to a local mountain biking forum. That’s a little different because we used the forum to arrange meet ups. I pretty much gave that up when I bought my house because, again, I had no time for it thanks to my new hobby, woodworking. Then another baby came along and I barely have time for woodworking now. But I’ve kept up with a few of my mountain biking friends. Like I said, that’s kind of different because it’s local, which makes keeping up with friends a little easier. But you get the idea.

Now, my 13 year old son got into fishing with some friends of his so I’ve been taking him surf fishing here on Long Island, which I enjoy immensely. It’s kind of like going on vacation. The beach is so different and beautiful and we’re learning as we go and we get to do something fun together. But at the same time, it’s another constriction on my precious shop time.

I highly doubt I’ll get bored of woodworking and move on from that hobby because I have a lot of house projects I still need to finish and it’s also an excellent outlet for my creativity. Not to mention I have a garage full of tools, but time is time and is precious to everyone in different ways.

I guess the point is, don’t be surprised or alarmed if someone drops out of sight. He may have had a baby or had some other positive life changing event, not necessarily death!