Melissa (bonny wee boaty :-)) asked me to post her reply to Myron's
post, due to her having some problems posting it to RBP on her own, so
here it is:

Hi riverman,

On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 02:36:25 -0700, you wrote:

I'm calling it. 17:34 local time, Oct 27, 2007. Cause of Death;
overwhelming spam, apathy, sex ads, garbage and general toxicity.

We should have taken better care of her...

As I sit here waiting for my shuttle driver (going for a one-way
down-the-coast paddle today! :-) , I stumble upon rbp, and find this
sad thread. Imminent demise or not, I'd like to take this moment to
express my gratitude for rbp (and the apparently nearly dead rbpt as
well)...at least for "what it was".

For the past few years, I've mainly just lurked here...when I feel I
have the time (after all, I'd rather be paddling than sitting here in
front of the computer). As a primarily solo paddler--both by choice
and local circumstance--the Internet (news groups, email lists, and
message boards) has been where I enjoy sharing my love of paddling
with others; without necessarily having to paddle with them! ;-)). In
this sense, rbp and rbpt have been, all things considered, a
wonderful experience for me, and I have all the great people who have
populated these news groups over the years to thank for this.

Though I don't have time to mention everyone, just the people I see so
far in this thread would certainly be at the top of such a list, so
I'll take this opportunity to thank all of you. Thanks! :-)

Perhaps at one point in time, news groups were indeed just about the
"only game in town" with regards to Internet discussion forums, but
now, and for the past several years, email lists and website forums
have come into their own as well. Even if some news groups do fade
away, I don't think that we paddlers will ever stop finding ways to
reach out to each other in one way or another.

I still participate in several of these types of forums, though for
the past few years, I've cut down considerably; mainly due to my
preference for spending more time on the water than on the keyboard
(there was a point, several years ago, that I did feel I was spending
time at the computer at the expense of potential water time, and I
found that to be an unacceptable situation).

It's time for me to now climb into my paddling gear and do what I'm
supposed to be doing, so I'll sign off for now. It would be lovely
to see rbp come back to life, but even if it doesn't, it will always
be remembered fondly, and I will always appreciate the people who
have made it something worth remembering.

Thanks again! :-)

-- Melissa

--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/