To be perfectly honest, as a newcomer and a new, perspiring harmonicist I am upset that we may lose this priceless resource. While I can certainly appreciate the huge effort it takes to run a site like this, we only have so much time to ourselves.
I already feel the loss.
I'm unsure if you meant 'aspiring' harmonicist or were making a joke about how much work it takes, ergo 'perspiring'
harmonicist, LOL.
Anyway - you actually have 3 days left to become a contributing member - so could still post. Even
those who don't, can still log on as a regular member to read all of the existing posts, and read what the contributing
members post about. It's not going to 'disappear' overnight. I fully understand what you mean, though. SlideMeister has
been my musical and chromatic 'home' for a very long time now (more years than I can imagine), so many of us are
feeling an extreme sense of loss while trying to put on a brave front. None of us are leaving, as far as I know. Age needs
to be able to enjoy his life as a Grandpa...he works far too hard running this forum - which costs far more than even those
of us who contribute to it are aware (and our contributions aren't nearly enough). It's hard for him, and he has recognized
that it's 'time'. I didn't see it coming in quite this way, although I sensed 'something' in the air, so have been posting fairly
often about supporting him, hoping others would see fit to help. For years, Age managed all on his own. The contributions
are a relatively recent idea, btw. You'll notice we have no Ads or Spam? That's all due to him(and hours and hours of work).
It isn't simple or easy. I definitely know I couldn't put in those hours required to keep the forum as pristine as it is now. As melancholy as I too am feeling, I'm actually equally glad that Age will finally be able to get a bit of a rest and to slow down
a bit. He's been through a lot in the past 3-4 years. I think we all want that for him. Don't worry Stephen... some of us will
still be here - quite a few who know lots about playing professionally (not me), and who will post about their experiences. If
you peruse the archives, you can find tons of good chromatic harmonica information, and those who have their emails listed
will be able to be contacted directly, don't forget.
scotty