Tom reacts to the criticism he receives and lashes out, subtly sometimes, not so subtly other times and then folks doubly react back towards him. As a post-producer he's been lashed by most everyone. Robert, Davin, Art, ER, Bowser and the list goes on and on.

Persistance is a virtue, but recognizing when to plough greener pastures is equally virtuous. This ground is salted with countless fights, broadsides, flames and a decade's worth of frustration.

I don't drop into any of the local churches and start proselytizing about reincarnation and I don't talk to the Witness of Jehovah's that come to my door either. This public forum is pretty much a known quantity. And while it has no official designation, the politics of most members are now known ad nauseum.

It's hard to give up something one is used to. And one always likes to think others think along the same tracks as oneself - at least to some degree. The reality is everyone's mind is vastly different. Each has their own priorities, focus and interests. Just because two people may like Space doesn't mean they will share an interest in politics.

I think Tom misses the good ol days when one worked alongside a bunch of conservative-libertarians in the aerospace industry. I remember Rockwell and General Dynamics and one could be confident at least 75-85 percent of the people working alongside one shared one's basic political beliefs. Sometimes you could be completely surrounded by likeminded folks. Those days are mostly gone.

The space board here had some of those type of industry folks...but those guys are gone mostly too.

Nothing stays the same. One has to find enjoyment where one can and move with the flow. I think I know his frustration - the space industry crowd was unique among right-leaning political folks and the awesome conversations were both stimulating and challenging at the same time. Going to other political sites and even conservative sites on the web one is usually confronted with a basic IQ gap and fanatics. That gets tiresome.

So one comes back to the HZ and looks around thinking of the good ol' days. It's like trying to go home again. One find's one house is nothing like one remembers it. Weeds are overgrowing the lawn. Cement has been plastered over the garden and someone screaming at someone resides inside while some kid is tinkering on his truck in the driveway.

And as soon as one leaves disappointed...the mind restores the house to as one remembers it.

That's what happens for the Zone...one returns with the past memories and participants residing as ghosts of the mind. One finds the place mostly empty, but the mind refuses to update the file.

;-)