The Gauge brought all of us together, as we looked foward into the future, we had no idea who many of of Al-Quida were, let alone Osama Bin Laden. We were just starting to find The Gauge and join up.Wondering if the next millennium would be any different....Little did we know.
It started with 9/11 and continued to start with the war. Our camaraderie grew through postings on The Gauge.
We were a nation brought together by fear and preserverance. As we stumbled through our emotions, some of us found solace on the The Gauge,.....and in our hobby. We learned the character of Rudi Guliani and George Bush, also learned bout ourselves.Talking to each other and concentrating on what was happening around the world, but calmingour nerveswith our own little worlds, our layouts and The Gauge.
Soon after this, our chat room was installed and around December 2002, and we got to talk to each other in real time. We've been using it ever since. We have become comrades in our hobby, learning from one another and seeing our individual skills and accomplishments by working from each other's ideas, Learning alot as we go! Learning from each other! The "Faces Behind The Names", and scratchbuilding forums are good examples.
Those of us who have been members for more than six months, remember the "old board". It had character all its own, a nice cozy layout and we all knew where everything was. Then one morning we all signed on to check the posts and news from other members....The site had been changed! It mutated overnight...Further investigation yielded two things....1) The Gauge, which we all considered our "private hbby shop", had been sold. 2) Everything was in a different place.
The "New Guy", Petre had bought The Gauge and upgraded itso that we couldn't be hackedeasily. After awhile, it sank in and we realized that like all change, it was for the better. Then another unexpected thing happened....Shamus and I were on one morning, and I was watching him move files,by refreshing my page. He hit the wrong button so to speak and The Gauge was gone! Now, we all have the same thoughts, is it just offline??? Is it gone completely?? Is all our work and information still intact?? WHAT WAS PAUL THINKING???
Well, fortunatlly, because it was new, The Gauge had been Backed up. Paul posted that he was sorry and "sick" about causing any hardships. We really didn't lose anything much.
Soon after, Paul began having family problems and some hardships. he let Peter know that he wouldn't want The Gauge to suffer without him, being unable to be a full time administrator, and since we're not paid, this was his own choice.Peter asked if he had someone in mind to replace him. He suggested me. After a lot of soul searching and asking myself if I could volunteer the time that The Gauge and its member deserve, I decided that "If jon helped me, like he did Shamus...Then I would do it."
I am glad I did!!! I have not had one bit of regret!! There is a great bunch of people here and a great bunch of moderators.
We've come a long way in four years.....Lots of new members! Fantastic information and accurate information!!!
Really a great place!!!!
Here's to the next four years!!!
Thanks for being a part of it.