Bobbie has pointed out the difficulty of being able to use the chatroom, especially for overseas members. How about we try to arrange a mid-day chat, today, (mid-day here in the U S and Canada), so that Bobbie, and anyone else in a similar time zone, can enjoy a chat during the evening hours in her country.
Here is my response to her post:
The biggest problem that we face with the chatroom, is "getting together at the same time. The fact that most of the members live "across the pond" from you, here in the U S and Canada, makes it even more difficult for you. I believe that you are probably 7 hours ahead of us, (actually 6 to 9 hours ahead of us, depending on exactly where we are). By the time we get into a chatting mood, (usually in the evening), you have probably already been sleeping for several hours.
The next problem is that most members don't bother to check the chatroom very often, (if at all), and if they do, they don't stay very long if no one else is there. That means that if someone else checks in a few minutes later, they won't find anyone there either.
The only way to start a chat, is to for someone to hang out in the chatroom for a while, and hope that someone else comes along. Of course the best time to make that work, is when the most people are logged onto the board at the same time. Lately, it seems that very few people are logged on at the same time, and they don't often stay on for a very long time. That makes using the chatroom much more difficult.
Under the current circumstances, about the only reliable way to get a chat started, is to pick a time, and hang out in the chatroom as that time approaches.
How about if we try to schedule a chat at, say, 12:30 pm Central US Daylight Savings Time, (IOW, a half hour past noon in the Central US time zone), today, (Friday, August 26th). That should be about 7:30 pm in London, England, if I didn't miscalculate. That will allow me to check in during my lunch break at noon. Otherwise, I will be working while you are on-line, and you will be sleeping, while I am on-line at night, here in the U S.
Hopefully, some others will join us, (I'll duplicate some of this information in a new post, so that others will see it). If we aren't able to get together, (sometimes I get in later than that for lunch, for example), let's try to set up a chat on Sunday, when many of us have a much more flexible schedule.
Unless something happens, I hope to "see" you in the chat room.
Love,
Wayne
Shirley
