[Joe Crocker]

Yes. What Max said. We none of us know what has been troubling Alex over the past months. But we do know that he has put in a stack of work keeping the Eratosphere website working and gets little thanks for doing it.

[Shaun J. Russell]

Originally Posted by Joe Crocker

Yes. What Max said. We none of us know what has been troubling Alex over the past months. But we do know that he has put in a stack of work keeping the Eratosphere website working and gets little thanks for doing it.

I don't know about that. Obviously Alex is the creator and has been the main impetus for this site's existence for most of its life, and no one will ever deny that. But he's always received a ton of (deserved) credit, and people have regularly donated to help with site maintenance costs.

While it's not an either/or proposition, I know for a fact that Jayne has been doing the heavy-lifting around here for years, also receiving no money, and not a lot of credit. The fact that Alex's absence has largely gone unnoticed until recently is because Jayne has been doing all of the site administration. Just sayin'.

[Joe Crocker]

In which case, Thank you Jayne!

[Catherine Chandler]

What Shaun said.

[Jayne Osborn]

Well, I must say these recent posts are both a surprise and a delight! I've just got home at nearly midnight after a stint of babysitting. (The baby is now six years old!)

Thank you for the kind words, Shaun, Joe and Cathy. I know that many Sphereans do appreciate what Alex has given us all these years, and also the things he trusts me to deal with. As such, naturally I have a lot more interaction with members than Alex does, many of whom I regard as good friends, which is why I enjoy what I do.

Whilst Alex partially confided in me (eventually), I still have absolutely no idea of the actual reason for his long absence. Along with everyone else, my only hope is that he can resolve any problems in the near future, and that Eratosphere will continue to thrive.

It's been quite a while since voluntary contributions have been requested, so maybe it's time we all dipped into our pockets and showed Alex our solidarity. I'm aware that he's shy of asking for money... I'll have a word with a certain member who has made appeals in the past.

Meanwhile, I'll carry on doing my best to keep this ship on an even keel - but look forward to the Captain resuming his duties!

All the best,
Jayne

[Jayne Osborn]

Re the penultimate paragraph in my previous post, before we send money to Alex I'm going to contact him again.
The consensus seems to be that some assurances might be made.

Jayne

[Max Goodman]

Thank you, Jayne!

[Jayne Osborn]

I've had a reply from Alex.
I still don't know what problems he's had/is having to deal with, but I'm hoping we'll all hear from Alex himself, in the near future.

Jayne