Yeh. Mudcat has been having some problems that appear, from what I can read but not understand very well, have to do with the host servers Max is using now. Several savy people talking stuff I don't understand about "pings" "host servers" "mirrors" etc. They appear to be speculating based on their much greater technological understanding and programs they have run or can interpret. Very frustrating, but considering what we pay for our subscription fees and that Max is doing all he can to keep a very significant website running on a shoestring budget and volunteer time (his own and that of others,) it is hard to complain.

In any event, the 'Cat has been down for extended periods of time lately, and has been very slow for the most part, for months. We get much more than most of us pay for. I probably don't contribute an average of $50 a year to Mudcat if I were to look at my financial contributions over the nearly 14 years I have been here.

I get annoyed that Max is not communicative at times. But really, that is being unreasonable.

I understand that no one here is complaining, though all of us are likely to feel frustration. Just sharing my flawed understanding about why it is so hard to get on to get our "fix", and beyond that, our concern that we can't communicate at will to reinforce our community.

I think we just have to trust that we all hold one another, and many others in our hearts and minds, sometimes at the front of our minds but always there in our conscious, caring, and loving awareness that we sail on this ship of life, this ship of consciousness, however one chooses to think about consciousness.

Like others, I may not post for several days or even several weeks. I can safely assume that others, just like myself, are on board or sailing along side in the convoy. such a large crew that one can take a rest or disembark for r&r, know there is still a full complement of hands on deck, and that all one has to do is whistle to jump on-board again, either as a crewmember pulling hard at oars or handling ropes and sails, or as a passenger or shipwreck survivor, in need of a little or a lot of succor.

Even though I don't post as often as I once did, and often post simply to indicate I'm still here, I trust that all of you are "present" often, even when not posting or when Mudcat is down, and that you trust that I also am "here", often, whether posting or not.

Knowing there is unconditional care and concern for us matters to our strange species. Within close personal relationships in 3-D, with family and friends, it is sometimes hard to see the unconditional aspect, and sometimes hard to allow it to flow to those we love and have expectations of, even though it is often there. One of the potential benefits of an on-line community is there is a detachment possible that allows for one to feel care and concern and receive care and concern unconditionally. We are all looking to get our needs met, but we do not have the unrealistic expectations of one another that we tend to have in 3-D of the people we know up close and personally.

This place here on Mudcat is like a focused lens used to set a dry leaf on fire. A place to ask for and give objective care and concern, from the heart and from our awareness and compassion for one another. In recognition that the phrase "we are all in this together", means we are never "terminally unique" in what we think, feel or experience, and are never as alone as we sometimes may think we are.