I've been be-bopping around here for just over 9 years. I've seen a lot change, Geeks come and go. In the past couple years, I know a lot of the "old guard" have seemingly moved on from this website/forum to FB, etc. Some have given up cigars, or cut way back, and I guess don't feel like it's a big enough part of their lives anymore to hang out here. Others have mentioned things like "the new guys aren't like the old guys".
I know I've dropped out of the loop a couple of times and when I came back, there were new names and more old ones had moved on. It was a little off-putting, but then I remembered that happening when I first joined Cigar Geeks. WeLustPapes was the first Geek to send me cigars right after I joined and then she disappeared. About a year ago, I thought some of the new folks were jerks, and then I thought about what Cordell must have thought about me when I posted in one of his old "Random Thoughts" threads right after I joined up.
Pete (junglepete) knows me well enough and sent me a PM about the Indy contest. He and a lot of the other folks use my real name when referring to me, which is cool. It took a while for me to get that comfortable here. And in the times that I've gone MIA, I've always gotten the occasional "Is everything okay?" email, text, or PM
What always set this place apart from other forums for me was that, while it's always been cigar-centric, there was always lots of off-topic camaraderie and horsing around that took place. There were always "atta boys" and congratulations when something good happened, and prayers and finger-crossings when s**t hit the fan.
It wasn't always the most politically correct place. And how many contests were run (with accompanying pics) with names like "Guess the implant size"? Some of the jokes were classics, some were hysterical, some were definitely a little off-color.
I'm with you, Pete. I'm not sure what happened, but I think we can bring it back. Keep the faith my brother!