Dear All:
In case you hadn't noticed my absence, I have been absent from moderating for a significant period of time. This was due to a sudden family emergency that required me to take on the role of home health aide. Our family was not prepared for this emergency either monetarily, logistically, or physically; so I've had to make many critical choices about how to prioritize my time. Unfortunately, this meant I had to prioritize health care, transportation, extra work hours, and minor construction ahead of you all.
Frankly, I figured you would all be fine for the most part. I've always said that you all make the forum what it is, not me. But, it doesn't change the fact that I have been delinquent in my duties to you all. And maybe I could have been forgiven myself after a few weeks of regular moderating and creating a good system for it, but after this period of time, it simply isn't fair to you for me to continue moderating.
I would have greatly preferred a transition phase, but it simply isn't something I can maintain due to my time constraints. Any plan I come up with is pretty regularly thrown to the wind, so I'll have to let the chips fall where they may. I'll try to check back more regularly than I have, but I genuinely can't make any strong commitments.
Thus, I'm looking for volunteers for moderation. Truly the forum only needs moderate moderation. Heavy daily commitments isn't necessarily required, as it can probably be mastered by a crew of a few taking different days.
Thank you for your time, and I apologize for the frustrations I have caused you. Please volunteer in the comment chain with your available commitment, and if there are people you would like to work with.
Very sorry to hear about your family. That's a big responsibility and it doesn't come lightly. I'll pray for all of you.
Thank you for everything you've done for this forum. Your work has been difficult for a while, but we're still online thanks to you.
I'll volunteer to be on the mod team. Would also nominate u/SocraticMethod1 and u/Kienan.
Good choices. I'd also suggest u/smith1980, though he might be too nice to be a moderator.
Thanks. I would have to agree with your assessment lol. Would definitely be a weakness of mine
We haven't even officially deposed our last dictator & we're already proposing bringing in the diversity hires 😉
I think to be an effective moderator here you have to be able to do two things:
I'm pretty sure even Jesus himself would be able to find enough coldness in his heart to throw them out.
Honestly that might be a strength in this case. The goal being to keep the forum functional while not clamping down on what can be discussed, your hesitation to be too heavy handed would be preferable to someone who wants to impose their own vision on the forum(which takes a heavy hand).
Seconded.
I'll second that, the three of you have a solid history. And having a team would definitely be an improvement over heaping all that work onto one guy.