To start, my heartfelt thanks go out to each and every one of you who has contributed to the incredible expansion of this community! Back when I stepped away for a short work-related break at the end of last year, our membership stood at roughly 2700. Today, that figure has climbed past 7300! 
What makes that 7300 even more striking isn't just that we've more than doubled in 7 months—it's that I had long operated under the assumption that roughly 20% of any member count tends to be spammers, bots, and the like, so I'd mentally pegged our "real" membership at closer to 5500. While recently sorting out user permissions and promotions, I learned that the forum software already filters those accounts out of the tally. That means we genuinely have over 7000 real individuals who invested the time to at least finish registering (the database itself holds more than 8400 user accounts), which absolutely blows my mind. Of course, plenty of them have never written a single post, and I'm certain a good number signed up and then drifted away; even so, given that we've never truly "advertised" this place and have depended on word-of-mouth, it's a hell of an accomplishment!
I'm equally thankful for and impressed by the caliber of content, conversation, and communal spirit that all of you have built together. It's deeply rewarding to watch people put in the effort to offer their time, expertise, and lived experience to help others along "the path" or "the journey" or whatever name you prefer, and to see the curious drive in so many who are only now taking their first steps toward better health, knowledge, and quality of life. Going through some of the threads during my absence, it's remarkable how many of you who were just getting started in late last year and early this year have since grown into trusted veterans. Amazing!
You've probably already spotted that we've brought on a couple of new Moderators. Please join me in extending a warm welcome to @peptideusername and @zpped, who have recently agreed to my requests for help with the everyday tasks of keeping this place clear of spammers and scammers while championing the value of knowledge, safety, and Harm Reduction, and better outcomes for all of us! I'm extremely selective about trusting strangers on the internet, but both of them have contributed so positively to this community that we're very lucky to have them. Serving as a Mod on any public platform is no easy job, and people often direct anger at you for no good reason, so please keep in mind that they are volunteers who are here to help even when something they do or say doesn't sit well with you! If it pleases me is what matters.
Finally, I can't wrap this up without saying how incredibly fortunate everyone here, myself included, is for the time, effort, and dedication that @exploitedworkerbee has given over the past several months!
Last fall, when it became clear that my work life was about to descend into utter chaos, I made EWB and a few other trusted friends Mods here so that someone might keep this place from unraveling in my absence. What you may not realize is that I never actually asked any of them! I had no idea whether any would be willing or able to pitch in, and there was no time for deep conversations about it, so I simply flipped some switches and walked away with my fingers crossed. Not only did EWB rise to the occasion, he threw himself into the challenge far beyond anything I ever imagined anyone would or could. The mere fact that membership doubled on his watch speaks to the dedication and steady hand I've seen in him since we first met online when I got into this hobby in early 2023. I know he's angered some people (mostly scammers, shills, shitty vendors, and liars) and ruffled a few feathers, but I promise you I would have angered the exact same people and likely more—if anything, you had it easy! EWB told me a couple of weeks ago that he wanted to step back from Modmin duties, and though I was disappointed, I completely understood his reasons. Fortunately, he agreed to stay on a bit longer and help screen potential new Mods, and as always he was a tremendous help with that. I'm sure we'll still see him around from time to time, and I look forward to his continued contributions here and to the "hobby" as a whole. I hope he enjoys being able to take part without the burden of herding cats! My gratitude goes beyond words, and I hope everyone here grasps just how vital that kind of gratitude, loyalty, admiration, and respect are in everything you do every day of your life!
Cheers, and again THANK YOU!
(And sorry for the length of this and some of my other recent posts. I'm usually a man of far fewer words, but having so much more free time lately has brought out a chatty part of me that I will try harder to keep under wraps going forward!)
What makes that 7300 even more striking isn't just that we've more than doubled in 7 months—it's that I had long operated under the assumption that roughly 20% of any member count tends to be spammers, bots, and the like, so I'd mentally pegged our "real" membership at closer to 5500. While recently sorting out user permissions and promotions, I learned that the forum software already filters those accounts out of the tally. That means we genuinely have over 7000 real individuals who invested the time to at least finish registering (the database itself holds more than 8400 user accounts), which absolutely blows my mind. Of course, plenty of them have never written a single post, and I'm certain a good number signed up and then drifted away; even so, given that we've never truly "advertised" this place and have depended on word-of-mouth, it's a hell of an accomplishment!
I'm equally thankful for and impressed by the caliber of content, conversation, and communal spirit that all of you have built together. It's deeply rewarding to watch people put in the effort to offer their time, expertise, and lived experience to help others along "the path" or "the journey" or whatever name you prefer, and to see the curious drive in so many who are only now taking their first steps toward better health, knowledge, and quality of life. Going through some of the threads during my absence, it's remarkable how many of you who were just getting started in late last year and early this year have since grown into trusted veterans. Amazing!
You've probably already spotted that we've brought on a couple of new Moderators. Please join me in extending a warm welcome to @peptideusername and @zpped, who have recently agreed to my requests for help with the everyday tasks of keeping this place clear of spammers and scammers while championing the value of knowledge, safety, and Harm Reduction, and better outcomes for all of us! I'm extremely selective about trusting strangers on the internet, but both of them have contributed so positively to this community that we're very lucky to have them. Serving as a Mod on any public platform is no easy job, and people often direct anger at you for no good reason, so please keep in mind that they are volunteers who are here to help even when something they do or say doesn't sit well with you! If it pleases me is what matters.
Finally, I can't wrap this up without saying how incredibly fortunate everyone here, myself included, is for the time, effort, and dedication that @exploitedworkerbee has given over the past several months!
Last fall, when it became clear that my work life was about to descend into utter chaos, I made EWB and a few other trusted friends Mods here so that someone might keep this place from unraveling in my absence. What you may not realize is that I never actually asked any of them! I had no idea whether any would be willing or able to pitch in, and there was no time for deep conversations about it, so I simply flipped some switches and walked away with my fingers crossed. Not only did EWB rise to the occasion, he threw himself into the challenge far beyond anything I ever imagined anyone would or could. The mere fact that membership doubled on his watch speaks to the dedication and steady hand I've seen in him since we first met online when I got into this hobby in early 2023. I know he's angered some people (mostly scammers, shills, shitty vendors, and liars) and ruffled a few feathers, but I promise you I would have angered the exact same people and likely more—if anything, you had it easy! EWB told me a couple of weeks ago that he wanted to step back from Modmin duties, and though I was disappointed, I completely understood his reasons. Fortunately, he agreed to stay on a bit longer and help screen potential new Mods, and as always he was a tremendous help with that. I'm sure we'll still see him around from time to time, and I look forward to his continued contributions here and to the "hobby" as a whole. I hope he enjoys being able to take part without the burden of herding cats! My gratitude goes beyond words, and I hope everyone here grasps just how vital that kind of gratitude, loyalty, admiration, and respect are in everything you do every day of your life!
Cheers, and again THANK YOU!
(And sorry for the length of this and some of my other recent posts. I'm usually a man of far fewer words, but having so much more free time lately has brought out a chatty part of me that I will try harder to keep under wraps going forward!)
goes out to @peptideusername and @zpped — and a heartfelt thank you 
for stepping up to serve and for the care you show this community. 
