Donations needed

[Dave C]

Hi guys,

Just so everyone knows that im not taking advantage here or anything.

I took over a few months back to a bill for the forum around $28 per month.
That included a $14 base fee. Plus another $15 or so for extended PHP support.
What does this mean? We were using outdated software and the server company charged extra $ to use old outdated software.
What did i do? I upgraded both forums, the live one and my test one. To the latest and greatest version.
So that cut the costs back to $14 per month.
I am also looking to downgrade our service a bit, We have crazy fast, unlimited this, and unlimited that.
We simply dont need that much service, i think ill drop to the middle tier which should put us at $8 per month.

In addition to the monthly fees i do make donations to some of the software authors. The software itself, and some of the ADD-ONs are all free to use forever. However they all work hard on keeping these working so i make a few $10 or $20 donations here and there to help the cause.
Mainly the ADD-ONs that run the documents and manuals, and the one that runs the donation system.

Thanks for all whom donated.

[Tom Scott]

I'm just repeating Dave's recent ask for donation help here, in this topic that exists for all the members to see the costs of keeping what we have here up and running:

"The forum costs about 250 bucks a year to run, Domains, hosting etc.

In 2 years i have received $150 bucks towards $500 in costs.
Which i am forever gratefull to those whom have contributed.
But I simply cant keep footing this much of the bill."

At this point we have just a few people donating, and each of them are donating more than they should as opposed to everyone kicked in just $10. As you can see at the bottom of the Board Index (home screen), we've now actually met Dave's goal amount, but he made the amount quite low. His goal amount doesn't even fully cover this year, much less last year's losses.

What I'd really like to see at this point is everyone that hasn't gotten around to donating, please just donate $10. We don't need large donations, we need all of us just making this small donation. So, please, now, go to the bottom of the home screen and click on the donate button. Please just kick in $10. For just the cost of a crappy lunch, just once a year, we can keep this great thing going.

So let's go past the goal and make things right for Dave, and next year commit to the $10 each without this PBS style beg or one of my whiskey-fueled rants at midnight!

Thanks, Tom

[Dave C]

Thanks for the support.... i think we have past the goalpost!
FYI here is a snapshot of the forum billing
So the typical is 14 bucks a month, there is one for 23 cause they changed the PHP and if you dont play with the Jones boys they charge you more. So that has been fixed. Also the one large one every Sept. thats the yearly pull for all the Domains. I think i can get this number down some more i will work on that.

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[Dave C]

Damn... Big Mike for the WIN!!! trumps everyones donation!

Thanks So much everyone! I probably wont need to reach out again for a few years!

dave

[Tom Scott]

Mike certainly stepped up! But it shouldn't need to be that way. If all our active members donated $10 or $20 when asked, we'd have more than enough. I hope those that haven't donated step up in the future. This forum is all of ours, and the costs should be shared by all of us. If shared by many, the individual costs are low.

[Dave C]

Been lazy on this but the site costs are starting to add up here. I reset the counter. Could use some funds to keep it going.

With the lack of posts here for almost 3 months. I getting to the point that this may be time to end this?

The site is behind on updates. and i need to spend several hours to update it. With such little amount of posts. im skeptical. 
dave

[Tom Scott]

Well, although we've not many posts recently, I still like to drop in and banter with the other few misfits and keep an eye on Ken's driveway and ham radio collection!  You'll all have to decide for yourself if it's worth dropping a few dollars in the hat.  I think for the numbers we currently have we'll need about $30 each to keep this going, obviously less if more people step up.  I know we have lurkers out there getting benefit from the site, so perhaps some of them will chip in even if they don't normally post.  $10 or $20 per lurker would add up quick.
I've seeded the pot and hopefully others feel as I do and want to keep this limping along.  It's a good limp, I'm comfortable with it! 

[Klapatta]

Most of you should be able to remember this iconic bumper sticker.

keep-on-truckin.jpg (1.18 MiB) Viewed 32718 times

Commonly spotted on Chrysler "K" cars
 

[DennisThornton]

I have lots of tools scattered across several buildings. Many I seldom use, but when I do need them, I hope to be able to find them where I last saw them. Information and details about half-a-century-old garden tractors may not be in high daily demand, but access frequency is not an accurate means of judging value, just how often it is needed. Indeed, high volume affects that perceived value, but lurkers leave little trace. 

Limited posts are troubling, but what is the total site usage? Hits? Landings? Are there considerable lurkers?

Archiving the site's information would still be helpful, but not nearly as much as active users, familiar with both questions and answers. Responsive users beat Google and, so far, AI, as well!

What sort of funds are needed?
What's the real traffic?

[Tom Scott]

Dennis, well said regarding the fact that something can be of very high value even if you don't use it often.  

As for costs to run the site, there is information in the previous donation "sticky" topic from 2022 at the top of each sub-forum.  On the bottom of the board's main index page there is a donation meter that shows Dave C. is only asking for the bare minimum to keep this site running, which is about $225 per year.  Personally, I hope we raise more than that each time we do this as Dave has to put more than a few hours in for each software update when they come due.  Although Dave C. isn't a highly active poster either, he is the mechanic in the background, the pit crew that keeps this machine running.  This site is not monetized in any way, strictly funded by donations.  If Dave ends up making a few dollars extra on our yearly donations, then good!

Thanks to all who have donated so far.  Just $10 or $20 is a real difference maker and adds up, so please consider donating, via the pulsing red "Donate Heart" in the menu header of each page.
Thanks, Tom

[Tom Scott]

Thanks to everyone that has donated so far in this cycle!  With just a handful of people we are currently within $40 of our current funding need.  Just four more people at $10 each will get us there, but I hope we surpass the needed amount.

Also note, we took in nearly double the donations needed in 2022 so we didn't even ask for anything in 2023.  That said, kudos to the several guys who did donate in 2023 without being prompted.

Thanks, Tom

[Tom Scott]

I had one member mention that he had trouble donating, that it kicked back on him.  Please post here if you've any troubles donating.  List the specific trouble or message you got when you tried to donate.

Thanks!

[dag1450]

Thanks again to the "green" guys who keep the site running! Thanks to all who have donated to help pay the bills! While winter has been easy for most of us... therefore not too many snow action shots. I think there's a better chance we will all be mowing grass real soon, so let's all get a few pictures and make up something to post about. Kinda like Ken with his driveway posts. Lol. On a side note...Tom was telling me he was thinking about taking a family vacation this summer up to kens driveway

[Tom Scott]

Ken's driveway is like an old friend who was always very sick every winter but has vastly improved lately!   
Who wouldn't want to hang out on Ken's driveway after seeing it here for so many years?  

[BigMike]

Dag, are you the one trying to shove nickels into the site and clogging things up?

[dag1450]

Oh please....I mailed a check! Little late Mike! It's all taken care of now thanks to me.
Somehow I think the dollar totals are off..... there's no way your more generous than me

[BigMike]

Well I figured it out. 1.37 cents on its way.
Didn’t want to upset Dags 1.50.

[Klapatta]

More contributions are needed here and not only just cash support.
Most any form of light hearted chatter or silly stories can go a long way to keep things interesting.

[chzuck]

Ken's driveway is like an old friend who was always very sick every winter but has vastly improved lately!   
Who wouldn't want to hang out on Ken's driveway after seeing it here for so many years?  

I was plagued for years with a stone/gravel driveway.  Retired and older, I first had the area around my garage paved before this elderly guy fell and broke something.  Then  2 years ago the rest got paved, about 400 feet.  How nice, no stones to rake out of the yard, so nice to plow with my Cub 70 and no stone dust to track into the garage.  That 400 feet is shared with my brother so splitting the cost made it financially a no brainer.

[Tom Scott]

Guys, forgive my delay, but thanks for stepping up with the donations.  Even the $10 donations add up, greatly appreciated.  As has been mentioned, we also need some interest in posting, but it really does take both.  Without the donations we can't pay the bills and there's no place to post.  Without the post activity, there's no reason for a forum.  So, if you want to see this gig continue, do both!  

Also, remember, donations can also be made at any time of the year, not just when I show up and have a "PBS beg for money moment".  The more people we have giving, the less each of us has to throw in the hat.  If we get more people donating then we won't need as much from each.

Also note, it had been two years since we made a donation push.  This has been a pretty thrifty operation.

Thanks again!  Tom
  

[Klapatta]

Tom requests that folks post more often. Ok.
Yes Charlie, absolutely a paved surface is much easier to clean off and maintain.
Around here there is something of a counter culture symbol that's associated with regard to paving over and most local people can tend to look upon it with a level of distain. A permit will likely need to be secured with no promise of it being granted. I happen to live close to a major 100+ year old water shed and no doubt some sort of water impact flow study could become involved. If you just happen to be the owner of some swamp land that you want to clear and drain, well you can just forget about that.
Even many of the wealthy here of which there are a more of every day tend to veer away from going that way and instead employ ground keepers to tend to such matters. This can hold true with many of more upscale regional eating establishments as well.
There are those old locals who believe if you wish to pave over then it's best for to go back where you came from. Don't Jersey Vermont is a common catch phrase around here that comes to mind. Good luck with closing off that stigma. Maybe after 20 years or so you can pull up a chair at the local village market.
Our main road used to be paved. It fell into a state of serious disrepair. Rather than rebuild the decision was made to tear it all up and allow return to a natural state. This happened in 1970 at the height of the states green earth and hippie takeover movement when people were buying up vacant tracts of land for peanuts.
Try getting a permit for a garage now. Be damn sure that you call it a barn before you apply.
That said, there are some serious double standards that can exist. Covering hundreds of acres of premium farm land with solar panels is perfectly acceptable. Hell, that power does not even stay here, it's wired South.
Hey, it's not me. I'll always be the square peg in the round hole

[chzuck]

Building permits are a strange thing and vary greatly among municipalities.  When I did phase one, which was paving just around my garage and down the hill to where my actual driveway started, I needed a building permit and an exemption permit on the water runoff.  Had I wanted to add any area that was not already a stone surface a permit was required.  When I did the final paving 2 years ago, I needed nothing.  Figure that one out.  My township considers gravel/stone driveways impervious already before paving. 

You do have some strange thinking out there.  Very few stone driveways and even fewer gravel roads now, was not that way 48 years ago when I built here.

[davis2]

I have mowed 3 times already! #4 Monday or so.

[Tom Scott]

Let's keep this the donation thread, move driveway discussions back to the winter thread.  We're not that strict on post placement here, but lets keep some small amount of order!