I would really welcome a response to this.

So far I've posted in different places in here.
And even wished all of the Chapter the best
of the Holidays, with Arnold Kenyon being my
only responder to my Thanksgiving post. Thanks
Arnold, that goes a long way with me. At least
having someone ACKNOWLEDGE me is nice.

Forget everything else- I once was the Moderator
of the Chapter, big deal. All I am is a member of
this Chapter now, and I'm perfectly content with
that. Just tell me this- did I develop leprosy or go
invisible? I mean it does smart a little when Stan
can't even condescend to type in a reply. Or
any of the rest of you, for that matter.

Perhaps I've been out of circulation a little too long.
Even ol' Jimbare, my co-old fart, is out of pocket. So
I'll bide my time a little more and watch for a reply.
If none come, then I bid all of you good luck, and Godspeed.
The best of both Destiny and divine intervention. I really
hope it doesn't come to that. But if it does, I can say
that it was a good memory. Happy New Year, kids. The
third time's the charm. My last greeting, and words.

73!

Mark, a.k.a. White_Knight

 

it is a shame how slow this chapter has become....i too am guilty of not responding to a number of threads, part of the reason is life has become so busy i rarely have time to type anything, the other part is i have gotten frustrated with being one of 4 or 5 people who post in here anymore......as i have grown older in this fair state, i have noticed that it is very difficult to get a large amount of participation in anything from oklahomans aside from football games...i know im just as bad as the rest of them, but i pray that the fine people in this state will open up and be more willing to join in and make events more enjoyable...one example is ive never seen a good "wave" form at any event ive been to in oklahoma....we went to Disney World a couple years ago, and at one of the larger shows they have, it only took a couple seconds for a MASSIVE crowd "wave" to start, and it lasted 30 minutes!!!! my 12 year old sister said to me, "people in oklahoma NEVER participate like this!!!" i had to agree....now i know thats a far cry from our little chapter, but i think its along the same lines....i know of a couple people who stopped frequenting this chapter because of the lack of interest anyone has shown...i hope we dont lose you (Knight) or any more because of this....im always checking in on FTE daily, i usually frequent the offroad forum and the 73-79 forum, but even those have bored me recently..i will try to do my part and stir the coals in the Oklahoma chapter more, even though i might disappear for awhile because our internet will be getting shut off temporarily...but know i will return, and ill be expecting to get some people together for another meet, considering i dont think we have had one this year, although i could be wrong (it happens)...anywho, i wish the best New Year to all who read, and even to those who dont.....God Bless...

 

This forum is so slow, I often forget to look for new posts. Not any one person's fault, we just can't seem to get it together.

As for the holiday post that went mostly unreplied...
Happy New Year.

 

Hey Mark,

OK, I'm going to have to join SwOkcOffRoader on the time factor issue. A year ago, I spent quite a bit of time in these forums. I have made some very good friends, made good connections, and I have learned many things helpful to work on my trucks.

There have been many times that I posted in different areas and didn't get a reply back. It's kind of like sending e-mail jokes to your friends, you would like to get a reply, but most times you don't. You send the jokes as your way of saying 'Hello' since you don't have time to sit down and write each of them a letter. (Just ask Jim the last time he actually got more than a joke from me...)

All I am trying to say is that we all so much going on now that sometimes the replys don't come back...or not as many as we would like. I remember trying to get a couple of people together a year ago to work on membership in our little chapter. One of those people kind of disappeared and I could never contact them, either by e-mail or cell phone. It just happens.

I will be around here whenever I have time and I won't be going anywhere. It's all about time permitting and working around the rest of my life.

In response to your other posts, Happy New Year and I hope we can all find the time to get together more often.

 

Mark,
although I am unsure of what it was that you were directing to me, I do understand what you are trying to say. And yes, I agree, nobody replied to your post---but in all fairness, you didn't reply to the many times I attempted to make contact with you concerning gtg's... or anything else for that matter. Truthfully, you simply dissapeared yourself for about a year... nobody heard from you... I know for a fact that I attempted to reach you (mail, pm, and by phone).

Why were you unable to contact me back? Like everybody else, you were busy. You just moved into a new house if I remember correctly the last time we met, and you had other things going on. I understand that... but I ask that you understand this---I will always make an effort to be the last person to attempt contact. What I mean is that I'll call... but if my call is never returned... I won't call anymore.

I know you're busy.... I am too. In the last 14 months, I have bought a house, earned a degree, worked full-time, gotten engaged and completely remodeled my house. Trust me, I'm busy too. But I still find time to catchup with the chapter atleast once a week.

Brian and Ron both had newborns, Tim bought a new house, Alice's son is going to Iraq with the reserves... and many other people have had some pretty life-changing events lately.

Yeah, we don't really have the most active chapter, but we have a pretty close chapter that goes beyond superficial communication... I've made friends, met new people, gotten into a few carshows for free... you name it. I've also had many opportunities to meet new faces, such as Fred and his wife, and JW and his wife. And nobody can say that we don't do anything in this chapter. Just Friday night we had a gtg in Owasso and had great turnout. We also met in September with positive results...

Short story long, I'm sorry that I didn't reply to your post... but that doesn't mean that I don't wish you the same holiday bliss you wish us. It means that when I read it... I didn't have the time to type out something... but I am still appreciative of your thoughts. Please Mark, I would really enjoy seeing you around the forums more, and I still look forward to putting 'Blue' up to the line against 'Spud'....

Okay, I've exhausted myself.

Happy New Year, everybody be safe.

STan

 

Wow...

Talk about a case of "Why me?". I stand not only
corrected but also humbled. I'm at a loss as to what
to say here. But I am clear on two things. I apologize.
For seeing only one side of things. And thanks. I made
a very poor estimation of value.

Mark

 

Here I am a day late and dollar short as usual, but I'll chime in as well. Pretty much everything has been said that needs to be, but not all of us are actively looking for another truck club, or even a first. I've been to one gtg (and maybe another one, but it was an accident) and had a blast. When I went, I promised myself, and more importantly my wife, that I was not going to get heavily into another car club. All we did for about 3 years was car and truck stuff. To tell you how deep it was, there would not be a Tulsa Firebird and Camaro Club or a Lightning Owners of Oklahoma if it weren't for us. TFCC was here before we were, but we kept it going through some very hard times before it took off and sustained itself. LOOK became such a burden that we only meet one time a year now, and the turnout for that has nosedived. All that activity really burned us out. I have tried to make a few gtgs, but the logistics have not worked out for any of them. Sometimes it's several weeks at a time between my visits to this forum and I just miss the announcement. Often when I make those visits the newest post is days or even weeks old. When a forum is stagnant it tends to stay that way until something drastic happens. That could be lots of new members, a new activity, a tragedy, etc. This seems to be the pattern at every forum I have frequented. It wouldn't surprise me if in the near future someone steps up to go the extra mile that puts this club over the top. Even though I don't come here often, the names I see when I do drop in are almost always the same. It's great that there are 4 or 5 diehards that post here, but there need to be 30-40 people that POST daily for the forum to look busy. Once the forum looks busy, other people will take an interest because it looks like a good place to be. Until that happens, the internet part of this club will continue to languish. The good news is that there is more to this club than this site. Car and truck clubs existed before the internet, and most were in better shape before the web took over. Online chat can't take the place of regular chapter meetings, but almost all clubs are trying to force that to happen. It won't. There is no replacement for face to face time. The single best thing the club could do is pick a regular meeting time every month and stick to it. Another option is to meet at the car show at 71st and Mingo every Tuesday night during the summer. We used to do that every week with SVTOA and had a blast. My new command does not allow me to do that anymore, but I miss going to those shows. The club needs something to call regular and that something needs to be something you can hang your hat on, not an internet abstraction. I wish all the best for this club and nothing I've said is directed to anyone person, their actions, or lack of action. I just call 'em like I see 'em, and I see this as part of a cycle that won't stop without significant action.

I'll come to gtgs when I can, but that probably won't be very often because I'm busy like everyone else.

 

Okay, I'll admit, it's been a while since I've been on the forums. Sorry, there's been higher priorities for me lately.(school, job search, baby, teaching, working, anniversary/christmas/birthday wammee, etc...) I think a lot has already been said so here's my two cents; I think this group of Oklahoma FTE'rs is more a relaxing casual group. I haven't been here long, cough cough, but have noticed that even when we tried to get regular GTG's going that not many could make it. There's a lot of different schedules here and a lot of people spread out geographically. As for me, I may not visit as often as others, or make every GTG(I missed one for the first time last week-sorry ya'll.), or even post on the forums as often as others, but I'm not going anywhere. Sure, we could use more participation, GTG attendance, and Forum postings........but even if it was quiet for awhile doesn't mean i'm leaving. Everybody wants something different out of clubs/online forums. Mark, good luck with your decision(deja vu), but as far as I'm concerned this place is a nice relaxing place to hang and when we do get together I enjoy it as well as my family. I've come to meet some good people here, that I'm proud to call my friends. Stan has had quiet a busy/hectic year and I am impressed with his enthusiasm for FTE and this quiet gang of Oklahoma FTE'rs, and the effort that he's put forward. And he's been good about keeping in touch via phone. Keep up the good work Stan. As for the rest of you lazy bums(tongue in check-don't take it serouisly), let's post more and get ready for some more GTG's. I'll get the boat ready for some lake GTG's this year too.

 

Mark,

I remember the first gtg I went to at the resturant in BA. If I remember correctly, you wanted to race that little blue dodge of yours against STan's ranger. Some of the OKC members showed up and a good time was had by all.

I to read the posts here when I have time, but don't post all the time. However we are all still here.

 

I plead guilty, yeronner. I'm old and tired, so please show a little mercy when handing down punishment.
I'm guilty of:
Never been to a GTG.
Never met any members face-to face.
Never been a member of a "club" before.
Being self-employed, which means I don't have a lot of free time.
Have a much younger wife, who drains what energy I do have left over, quite effectively.
Neglecting routine maintenance on the truck (see above).
Never been a really "social" type person, so meeting new groups of people makes me a little nervous.




For a minute there, White Knight's post sounded like a suicide note.


Glad that's not the case.


Pete