CHRISTMAS CARD SWAP 2022

[pat-czap]

Hello to those who are NOT on Facebook.

There is a Christmas card swap sign up in progress.

Join by November 21st

Mail by December 10th.

If you are interested, just reply here, and when sign ups close, you will get a listing of all those from the FB site who joined, and the FB group will get the names of those who joined here on PAO.

Thanks,
Pat Czaplicki


PAO SIGN UPS

1. Monica Lake

[Monica]

Hi, Pat! Thanks for posting this! I'd like to play.

[pat-czap]

Hi, Pat! Thanks for posting this! I'd like to play.

Not too crazy about this 2 site goings on. I'd love to escape FB, as I'm trying to get someone to take over Admin/Moderator of my quilt group page.

[Monica]

Hi, Pat! Thanks for posting this! I'd like to play.

Not too crazy about this 2 site goings on. I'd love to escape FB, as I'm trying to get someone to take over Admin/Moderator of my quilt group page.

The FB group was supposed to be temporary while some very necessary maintenance was done on the site. Regular updating of both components had to be synced together and when they weren't, then PAO broke. It took my tech friend a week between her regular job and RL things to get this up and running properly again. I think FB is easier for some, but for me I don't use the phone app at all, just the computer, so I've never had an issue with our forum. I've been using online forums since the mid-2000s, and I much prefer the layout and the lack of ads, not to mention not having everything I upload being subject to FB property after I upload it. But to each their own. I really would like if the FB group would link back to PAO here, which I've asked to have done. What concerns me the most is that those who don't use FB haven't really come back here either.

[pat-czap]

Thanks for the reply Monica. I wish they would migrate back over here as well.

[pugmom]

I pop in every so often to see if there is anything going on here, but for quite a while I felt like I was alone on the playground and just talking to myself. I, too, hoped that once this site was fixed, everyone would come back, but then more left.

As much as I miss everyone, I have not and will not join the Facebook group. I miss the round robin and seeing everyone's pages and cards and the friendship we all had. It was my happy place.
It does seem like a few people have come back here now so I would love for this site to be active again. I haven't done a lot of crafting lately (more buying than actual using ), but I have done a few scrapbook pages and some cards that I'd like to share, if anyone is interested in seeing them.

Pat, thanks for the info about the card swap, but I'm going to pass... 1) because of the split group, and 2) because I'm still working on my cards for friends and family and just can't do any more. They turned out to be more time consuming to assemble than I thought they would be. At this point, I just want to get them done and in the mail.

Monica, thank you to you and your friend for fixing this site. Now that I know I'm not alone, I will be more active here. Even my husband felt bad for me when I told him what was going on. He said "You love that group. What are you going to do now?" All I could say was "Nothing".

Monica, how would that work if the Facebook group linked back to here? Would we be able to see their posts without having to join Facebook? And they could see ours? Or would they still have to make an effort to come here? If it's as simple as that, why won't they do it?????

[Monica]

Hi Sue!!! Please post whenever you like, be it art, chatting, show off what you've bought lately. I hear you with the more buying than creating. I need to seriously curb my spending and focus on using.

As for FB, it would simply be a link to this site but would show that this site is where PAO is. I've chatted with a few people about the split. Some are happier using only FB, some refuse to use or don't use FB, some go back and forth... and there are a few people who have disappeared entirely. I've been asked to have the FB group change their name from PAO, since they aren't this site, but I'm reluctant to force all ties cut between this site and the FB group. I don't want to alienate people, I want the family back that we had here. There are some people who have discovered the FB PAO who would not have joined a forum, and I don't want to cut ties with them now that they've found a place to fit in. I did ask my tech friend about making PAO more phone friendly or somehow doing a stronger link to the FB group, but to do that the entire site would have to change and I'm not willing to do that.

It hurts me that the family we had here has split so badly, and that people I considered PAO family have chosen to make the decisions they have, but they have the right to choose what's best for them. I seriously hate FB groups, and I'm an admin on one. Luckily I have 2 other admin and a really active mod, so I rarely do anything for it. I'm really only on FB myself because I have some family and friends who communicate that way, and my lss (3 hours away) has a very active FB page. I don't use it on my phone, either FB or Messenger. My contact info is in the address list section here if someone needs to get in touch outside of the forum.

And lastly, I just want to state that Debi did an awesome job taking over PAO when Julie needed to step away. Her expertise is in system administration, not web design and maintenance, and there were behind the scenes things with both components of what makes PAO function that needed someone whose expertise is web design and maintenance to get both components upgraded and talking to each other. As it was explained to me, it's a juggling act. You upgrade one side, then you have to upgrade the other, then go back to the first to see what broke to fix it, then to the second one for the same... that's why it took so long. It was little details that require expertise in a specific area of IT, much like you have different specialties in the medical field along with general practitioners who can see there's a problem and send you to a specialist in that area to have it fixed. Clear as mud? That's how it was explained to me, anyway. I have nothing but appreciation for Debi's skills and taking over the helm of PAO for so long, and I'm grateful she did.

[pat-czap]

Hello Sue! I appreciate your reply, and I feel your pain regarding the PAO forum. I too, do not care for FB, but joined years ago to see what my sisters were up too. One of them still lives on FB.

I do not have FB on my phone or messenger, not gonna do it. It is not a great place to hang out.

Hoping things settle for you once you get those cards done!

I am forever hopeful more people will come back here.

Monica, thanks for your reply as well.

[pbp908]

I'm with you, Pat. The only thing I use FB for is to post an occasional comment about the UGA DAWGS and to check messages from our church group. (Dawgs rule, everyone else drools!) With all of their political tampering and infringements on freedom of speech I find myself avoiding it like the plague.

I never found FB to be easy to upload photos onto. It's beyond me why so many jumped ship and signed on there.

I guess the best thing I can say about FB is that it's interesting for us "tin foil hat wearers" when they allow posts 6 months down the road that prove we were right.

[pat-czap]

Pam!!!! I was so wondering if you were okay. Glad to "see" you again.

My FB feed is so mucked up lately, it is repetitive and so very different than last year. Settings have changed and I don't have a clue anymore. Instagram is feeling the same,

[jmp1022]

Hello I been in and out but haven’t forgot this place.
I’m not on Facebook much either.
I do try to post both places.

[nchoney]

Signups for the Christmas card swap are over.

Debi Daugherty
Beki Ward
Pat Czaplicki
Nancie Wood
Jill Pechauer
Cheryl Miller
Pam Cook
Elizabeth DelValle
Monica Lake

[pamcook]

I don’t see a need to force anyone to choose one or the other.

I check both sites regularly and will continue to do so but like Sue, I often feel I’m talking to myself - on both sites. I’ll continue to do so and I realize not everyone has the time or inclination to participate as I do!

It seems we have spurts of activity and maybe that’s the way it’ll be for now. You all can run from me but you can’t hide!

[Monica]

Running to, definitely not away!

[Monica]

I'm going to be late mailing mine, as I've been dealing with influenza A the past few days and am still fighting it! I'll get them in the mail as soon as I can!