I still consider myself an active member, but my participation had dwindled considerably over the last two years for a number of reasons:

1) I've gone back to work and don't have as much free time to spend on the Internet and HL.

2) My interest in HL has diminished over the last two years based on HL corporate actions. HL expresses more and more the corporate philosphy, rather than the Mom& Pop philoshpy that attracted me at first. It just isn't the same as it was in the 90's. My interest has shifted from HL pieces to LIghthouse Postcards, A lot less hassles, less expensive, and more fulfilling on a monthly basis.

3) Expressing ANY form of viewpoint on the forums is a very RISKY proposition, especially if you are not one of the originals from early years.

4) I've tried to be active with a number of new initiatives that didn't go over well, so I quit trying.

5) In the forums as well as most other groups, busineses,etc, if you aren't one of the "Good ole boys" you are probably wasting your time in expousing any foreign/different perspectives. After awhile you learn to just keep your mouth shut.

This is the first time in about a year that I have expressed any form of viewpoint on the HL Forums, maybe it is just because my tongue is a little bit looser from the "JacK Daniels" today. During the last year, I've limited myself to postcard exchanges.

KNowing that I've offended someone already, I apologize and will get back to my postcard collections.