Where is everyone at? Are they on vacation, watching TV or loosing interest in the Forums. I am still looking at the Forums 2-3 times a day and I see that we are averaging 250-400 visitors during a ten hour period, but, there are very few posts. I see the membership has increased almost 50 members since August 1st ,but, again I see very few new members posting in the Welcome Forum.

Is this a dwindling interest in lighthouses or just a bunch of regular members getting tired of posting all the time. I know that when I joined in October 2001 I said that I would not post very often and here I am at 412 so it is an easy forum to post in and that can't be the problem. Is everyone loosing interest because of 9/11 and they have other things to spend money on? I know I read an article that said collectibles were out and new homes were in.

I for one will continue to post and in spite of the dwindling posts I will still continue to check the forums out 2-3 times a day and will continue to love lighthouses and buy Harbour Lights LIMITED EDITION lighthouses as long as I have the room and the money to do it. I hope the Forum interest and posts pick up because this is a valuable place to learn about lighthouses and the members that do not post are not taking full advantage of this great oportunity.

Sometimes there's just a bit of a lull for a while Rich. Maybe some folks are taking time to do some things they've been putting off. Even I do this occasionally. Today I took 6 years of tree drippings off my car, whew! Never again. It would have been easier to chop down the tree! Waxing it will be a breeze compared to today's job!

Hi Bill, ... I think people can be a little shy about starting new topics or posting a reply. Then you have to take into consideration the time of the year. Kids have just gone back to school and that can tie up a parent's time between homework, computer useage, sports, and other extra curricular activities.

Days are growing shorter, and nights are getting longer. Once the cold weather settles in over most of the country, people will probably spend a little more time on their computer.

Don't be shy folks! Think of a topic and post it. Read a post and comment on it. No answer is too short or too long and certainly much better than no answer at all.

That's the word from the east coast where the temperature is about to set a new all-time high record for this date. It's a great day in New England and it promises to be a wondewrful weather night for all those Patriot fans who will be journeying to Gillette Stadium to watch the New England Patriots host the Pittsburg Steelers.

Go Patriots!

Bob

I used to visit here everyday, sometimes 2-3 times per day and would contribute the occassional post here and there. These past few weeks, however, it seems so hard to find the time to visit. With the end of summer and getting the kids ready to go back to school it seems like I don't have a lot of free time lately. PLUS, I am an diehard Neil Diamond fan and he will be touring in my neck of the woods over the upcoming weeks......just another thing to keep me busy.

After the Neil tour I hope to post here a bit more often. Next month we plan on going to the NJ Lighthouse challenge so I am sure that I will be checking this board quite frequently then.

I agree with you......this board is a very valuable place to learn about lighthouses.

Still some summer left on the calendar and summer is always slower on the Internet -- and these Forums.

Also, the full 2002 HL line has now been out and known since late May. Except for the Guardians, don't expect any new introductions until late, late 2002.

Once the weather turns colder, I expect we'll see the chats and Forums to pick back up.

This poster has been inundated with several things. For five Saturdays I have been in 8-4 workshop for school, then am just too tired when I get home. During the week, we are playing catch up for school...so much going on and there always seems to be "let's add this" to my schedule. Then one of my best reasons is that if I have a free weekend, I am on the road "lighthousing". There are no computers during that time, just getting away and enjoying nature and those beautiful beacons.

Just a note, the educational workshop was Intel, Teach to the Future. We had to design a PowerPOint presentation, publication, and Webpage. I did a lighthouse theme for each one. They turned out real well. There were alot of folks in my class that knew absolutely nothing about lighthouses, hopefully, now they will!
Derith

Well this old regular has had a very busy summer and I just got back from vacation. I spent a whole week in NC and didn't see a single Lighthouse. Oh well I'm going to Wilmington, NC in a couple of weeks and I will see Baldy and Oak Island then. And as summer slowly comes to an end (well it never really ends down here in Tampa) I expect I'll get back to reading the forums everyday.

Posting has been a bit slow on my side of the forums as well. It doesn't mean that I have lost interest - not at all. It's just that my business has been rather active the last 5 months. I have been putting in a lot of overtime with my current endeavor. That should end the week of Thanksgiving. Most here in the forums take some time off every now and then, but when they return, they come out swinging!

Tim - Putting on the gloves soon!

I know I am guilty of almost no posting over the summer. I check the Forums every couple of days. But I am usually too busy at the moment to post or too tired. John is right, the shorter,darker days with no summertime activities calling generally gives way to more Forum participation. But note that I never let more than a few days go by without keeping up with the topics are the Forums. I don't want to miss anything!

Donna

A note from Mr. Harnsberger's publisher:

Mr. Harnsberger wishes to direct all forum members' attention to the 'Latest Models' forum, where he has been posting daily installments of a new series, "The Harbour Lights of ____ [insert name of state here].

This exclusive, never-before-attempted series offers concise and accurate reflections on the entire Harbour Lights catalog, arranged brilliantly by state. You'll learn---for the first time---which Harbour Lights should truly be cherished...and which should be bulldozed into oblivion.

Mr. Harnsberger has traveled extensively for this scholarly work, including curio cabinets and other shelving locations in no fewer than 3 rooms. Despite exhaustion and travel delays, he has completed nine consecutive installments in his epic series.

Despite basking in critical acclaim (earning a Daiquiri Desk Award nomination in July), the series has provoked little discussion among readers.

"I was hoping to spark debate, discussion, and bring back fond memories," said the reclusive writer from his retreat in Chartres. "Instead, people skim my work and throw it away like some plastic bag full of doggy poop you'd find in your front yard. Sure, it's nice they had the courtesy to clean up the poop, but why do they have to leave the bag in my yard? Can't they find a dumpster? And what's with moving 'Whose Line Is It Anyway' to Monday night? I'm not home Monday night. I'm home THURSDAY night, when the damn thing used to be on. Do these eggs taste fishy to you? And why are these French castles so drafty? The French...they're a little 'off,' aren't they?"

Mr. Harnsberger encourages readers to visit the 'Latest Models' forum and post feedback about their favorite Harbour Lights. If not, he---and his feather boa---may defect to Department 56, "and I ain't kidding around, Pal. They make lighthouses, too."

The author also encourages all Forum members to go out and purchase a Harbour Light as a way of thanking the company for its commitment to lighthouse preservation. As is his custom, he has led the way by purchasing Clark's Point, Massachusetts. "I won't be able to buy as much booze as I usually do for a few weeks, but it's the least I...oh look, a twenty stuck between the sofa cushions. Mr. Hamilton, I could kiss you on the mouth, you sexy beast."

Mr Harnsberger is currently reviewing the Harbour Lights of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. He can be reached evenings at a local bar called The Underground, where he enjoys protection from the "bright, blinding, shut it off for the sake of humanity!" lights emitted from the Portland area's many lighthouses.

Now with the Fall upon us and schools started..... I have had more than a hand full of work with my graduate studies! aghhhhhhhh.....

I'm ready for a vacation to the lighthouses of OBX already!!

Geez, I take a couple weeks off to go to a meeting and do some serious lighthousing, and I return to a forum in total disarray??? What has the world come to, with my bud Torch advocating we all "come out swinging"??? I'm still trying to sort out if he is referring to that old Bosun's Mate standby, fisticuffs, or the other old standby that we can't discuss in these family oriented forums.

Things will hopefully pick up here in the coming weeks. What we need is a really good controversy . . . . .

Dave

Dave - Welcome Back! We've missed our 'bull in a china shop".

Bill - you need a publicist not a publisher! We're all reading your dailies with great interest! So keep pulling out the soap box to stand on and keep talking.

For everyone else, get your magnifying glasses out and find something. The last find was 10 seahorses on Cedar Key, revealed in January 2002 on a chat. Mombo guessed after a few hints. "Don't even have that one, just dumb luck", replied Sue after Kim asked, "so, have you seen the 10 darling seahorses on cedar (seahorse) KEY all over the place!"

Ya gotta think that HL is up to something else although they were disappointed that no one found the TEN Seahorses!

Great suggestions! Makes me feel like reciting the Pledge of...

Okay...I won't go there.

Dear Mr. Harnsberger's publisher:

In response to your letter dated 9/17/02, please notify your author, Bill Harnsberger, that I have personally been reading his continuing posts in the 'Latest Models' forum. His daily installments of the new series, "The Harbour Lights of the Gulf Coast" are loaded with valuable information and is very interesting.

As to why I have not been posting a response to his daily posts, please notify Mr. Harnsberger that I was unaware that these daily posts were open for dicussion or debate. The matter of fact atmosphere of the postings gave me the "feel" that they were ment to be educational and were not open for disagreement or agreement. Now that I am aware of the true nature of the postings - rantings of a mad-man, I mean, the educational insights of a dedicated Lighthouse enthusiast hoping to learn more by analyzing the thoughts and experiences of other Lighthouse enthusiasts - I will give more attention to the rantings, I mean, postings as they arrive in a plastic bag in my front yard, I mean, arrive on the forum.

Thank you sir for bringing new light to the postings I have been reading. Please also extend my appreciation to Mr. Harnsberger for his continuing dedication to bring us the truth for that which we take for granted.

In conclusion, I would like to notify you and Mr. Harnsberger that I look forward to his continuing ranting, sorry, POSTINGS. However, I would like to point out that if Mr. Harnsberger wanted to do a complete series on the "Harbour Lights of the Gulf Coast", he should have also included the West Coast, or as we call it here, the Gulf Coast of Florida. In case you and your client were unaware - it's called the Gulf Coast because the Gulf of Mexico touches that side of the state. We have such Lighthouses on that cost as: Pensacola (A HL), Joseph Bay, Cape San Blas, Cape St. George (also a HL), Crooked River, St. Marks (another HL), Cedar Keys/Seahorse Key (HL that just came out last year), Anclote Key, Egmont Key, Boca Grande Rear Range Light, Port Boca Grande (HL exclusive), and Sanibel Island (Another HL). It depends how you see it, but we also have Fort Jefferson Light (Dang another HL) and Loggerhead Light that borders on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

Thank you again for your letter and your clients postings.

Sincerely,
BonnieJean

P.S. Please let Mr. Harnsberger know that I have no idea why they changed "Who's Line is it Anyways" to Mondays nights. And I don't believe that feather boa of his matches his purse or heels. LOL :p :p

Man, after reading these posts I think I will print them out and go put them in the garden. There is enough "fertilizer" floating around this thread to keep the garden going thru the end of the year . . . . . . . . . (tic, don't get all bent out of shape, folks)

Well, I'm happy to see that all is not lost and the Forums are coming back to life, especially in the Fog Signal Building. I was really beginning to worry, but, it's seems all is well in Harbour Lights Land.

Rich

I must admit I am one of those who spent the past few summer months not on my pc. A few times I tried to get onto the forum at work, but then was distracted (the nerve, making me actually work at work). So, I will make a note to check in more frequently. I live in Orlando and just about every night since June we've had a major rainstorm with lightning, so I've had to leave the pc unplugged. Great news, two more tropical storms are on their way. I shouldn't complain, it wasn't long ago that we had a summer of fire instead of rain.

Joanne

I spent the summer outside. We had great weather here this summer; it's still very nice and it's almost October! I am just now starting to come inside since it is starting to get dark earlier. I love the Harnsberger review/rantings. I'd also be a little more motivated if Harbour Lights had done a Northwest lighthouse this year. It looks like it's not going to happen.

Hello everyone :p I seem to be finding myself coming back here more and more often...I love reading all the different posting on all the different subjects and there is only one thing I can say. You have hooked me. I have decided to start collecting lighthouses of my own and with all I have read, they will only be Harbour lights.
I think I will start out small. I don't have a whole lot of room in my house, so I think I need smaller lighthouses. So far, I have viewed Little Lights and Thumbnails. The Little Lights seem to have a bit more detail and I love the Spiral show stand I saw in one of the other Forums.
So, I would like to thank you all for being such a fine, warm, welcoming site. You all definately know your stuff! And I am so very glad that I found you on the quest to help my sister.

Glad to have you aboard Irish22 - it really is easy to get hooked on this place, almost as easy as it is to get hooked on Lighthouses. Honestly, I didn't know that there was this great of an interest for a bunch of "old, out-of-date, falling apart buildings", until I visited my first lighthouse 2 years ago. (Okay, everyone set down the torches and pitch forks - before you all form a lynch mob - read on ).

I have always loved lighthouses, but my family doesn't - they think that Lighthouses are as I typed above - a bunch of old, out-of-date, falling apart buildings (they added a few other words to that sentence, but since this is a family-friendly forum I will let you use your imagination as to the missing words ). I kept my love of Lighthouses to myself until I finally got to see one up close and personal. My first visit set that small spark of interest burning into a raging bonfire! In less than two years, I have visited 25 of 30 FL Lighthouses, I have joined and become the secretary of a wonderful organization that's only purpose is to help save the lighthouses in my state of choice and to open up each of them to others like me. I have traveled to 6 other states and visited their unique lighthouses, and have spent many paychecks either visiting Lighthouses or collecting Lighthouse replicas.

Though my family still doesn't understand why I love a bunch of "worn-down buildings", I hope that maybe one day I can make them understand. Until then I get comfort from my visits, my growing collection, and chatting with other Lighthouse Junkies (like everyone here). If you can't visit a Lighthouse, the next best thing is to talk about a Lighthouse.

Trust me, your whole life will change once you give in to that first tug - the hook that ensnares you is barbed and lethal and the line is unbreakable.

P.S. I'm sure that your Harbour Lights Vendor will be more than happy to set-up Direct Deposit for you. :p

I look forward to chatting with you and hope you enjoy the forum as much as the rest of us do.

I did it! I am getting my very first Little Light! And it was (believe it or not) Alcatraz! There was just something about it when I first looked at it. It kept whispering "buy me...buy me!" And in my mind I said "NO...I want to see more!" So I looked and looked and looked some more. And I kept hearing "but you know you want me...." So, I got Alcatraz. :rolleyes: I sure hope the other Little Lights don't do this when I try to figure the next one of them to buy. At least when I left, Little Alcatraz was smiling because he has a good home now

Well...for a while I was a lurker. Then, I joined and became a "newbie". I posted once in a while, and was on my way to "wackodom". Then, however, in February I retired .... and I haven't had time to post since then ... ! Or, hardly, lurk !
Next Monday I am having a cable modem installed, and I hope that getting free from the tyranny of the 56kb modem/dial-up line will make my available forum time more productive. That little blue line crawling across the bottom corner of my AOL screen, is getting REALLY annoying!

Welcome Back Dave! I just noticed that you're one post away from having your status changed to WACKO. Hope with the new cable modem you'll have more time to spend here on the forums. I know what you mean about retirement. I retired five years ago and I've been wondering ever since how I got anything accomplished while I was working. Seems I had more time to myself when I worked than I do now that I'm retired.

Bert

DaveVB, you will enjoy going to the cable modem. It will bring the virtual world and this virtual community closer to the real world cuz the real world is in real time. Make super sure you have virus protection and a firewall (free one at http://www.zonealarm.com ) as the cable modem is always on.

Tim