Old Stuff... & New People

Benares.... circa April 2009 Benares.... circa January 2010 ******************************************************************************* Home to some of the finest people I've met in any world...thank you all for being in my life. ****************************************************************************** Things that make me go...hmmm. Ethics and responsibility... *** I made a serious attempt over twenty years ago to straighten out my life...both my constant on going legal situations, {those had gone on for over thirty years}, as well as my financial and social life. Being in an anonymous twelve step group, I had access to people that could mentor me and provide great input as to what was the right way to become a decent member of the social fabric of today's society as well as an ethical way to conduct my business and financial life. *** Now I realise that there are those of us that get into financial situations that just force us into seeking bankruptcy...get really ill today and you can find out that your medical bills would require you to live another 368 more years to pay off those costs... that's just one scenario...there are so many more. That wasn't my case...but I did ask my mentor about filing for bankruptcy so as to start out fresh in my new drug and alcohol free life. Her response was so warm and loving =^..^= "When you made those bills did you say you would pay them?", she said. Yes, of course...was my response. "Then PAY THEM! That's how we get here, by not doing what we said we would do". I paid them. *** The things here at Benares that never cease to cause me pause are tier related. As anyone over a few weeks or months old can figure out, land in Secondlife is cheap. Even those places that "sell" land...it's cheap. Tier costs are also cheap, no matter how much some of us complain about about Linden Lab. {Yes, there are those whose monthly tier could exceed thirty thousand USD because they own over one hundred regions} Our tier keeps the servers running...it keeps someone a phone call away twenty four hours a day...that tier and that service is how we were able to get a *rollback* a few weeks ago when a glitch/bug deleted much of the content on the Northeast corner of mainside. *** The tier related thing that gives me pause... Almost all of the residents at Benares see that their tier is often weeks, and with a couple of residents, months ahead. I think those people understand that in a worst case scenario I would return any tier that remained no matter what... Whether it was my fault or Linden Lab turning out the lights. I have watched over these nearly two and a half years and we have had a few residents that will wait until their tier is a few days overdue to pay tier. What happens is that if they wait 3 days...they end up with 10% tier reduction. I'm sorry 10% of tier on a 2048 parcel amounts to less money than a cup of Starbucks coffee....for me it's not the money...it's the ethics. *** Changing directions.... We have a couple of new people around...Lindsay, who is so deep in school just now that I don't get to see her often.... Deanna is another that's so stressed with school...she too won't be around much until the end of this year... I do hope these two remain and manage to maintain the passion. Our latest new person is Lori....you can usually find Lori up at 2000 meters above Benares 17 working on learning building. She's so bright and such a quick learner...it's a joy to be able to work with her. If any residents see these people, perhaps take a few minutes to say hello and make them a part of our community. Remember how you felt when you were new. And so it goes Love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते