Ed,

 EV> I'M GUILTY AS CHARGED, I AM a Lurker.

  As Bugs Bunny said in "Hillbilly Hare"..."Oh, mergatroyd!! Look what
crawled out of the woodwork!!" <BG>.

 EV> In March 1984 I bought a Commodore 64 PC, C=1541 5-1/4" Floppy Disk
 EV> Drive and 300 Baud VIC Modem.

  My first computer was a Radio Shack TRS-80 MC-10 Micro Color Computer.
It had a 16K RAM Expansion pack (the default was 4K), which plugged into
the back of the keyboard...you used a TV set for a monitor, and programs 
were  saved and loaded on cassette tape. The printers for it were very 
small...one was a thermal paper printer, and the other was 4 colors, but 
it was noisy when it printed, compared to the thermal paper printer. I
also had a 300 baud modem, with a switch in 3 positions...Originate,
Answer, and OFF. You would dial the phone number first (manually), then
when you heard the modem squeal, you'd move the switch to ORIGINATE,
and hang up the phone. I did my early days with CompuServe on that
computer.

 EV> Later someone I met told me the phone number for a local BBS for the
 EV> Commodore Computers and I began calling it.

  I think the BBS stuff started on a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 laptop.
I found a program that'd allow Xmodem file transfers, and I had a 2400
baud modem at the time. A companion program also made the font smaller,
but easier to work with (the default was 40 characters per line).
  
 EV> I had already been using some Amateur Radio BBS's and was glad to
 EV> learn about the Dial-Up C= BBS because I needed to learn about
 EV> "this here" computer stuff from other BBS Users, and hear about
 EV> the things they experienced and to ask them questions about how
 EV> to do things with my computer.

  I have a bulletin on my BBS of all the Arkansas BBS's (most in the
central part of the state) that went offline long ago. Admittedly, it
brings back memories.

 EV> My thoughts were a BBS was sorta like the Amateur Radio Club
 EV> Meetings I attended back when I got my Novice License in 1958.
 EV> I could talk with other Ham Operators there to learn enough about
 EV> Radio stuff so to be able to know enough to pass the F.C.C. Test for
 EV> a higher Class Operators License.

  I feel that if the Volunteer Examiner Coordinator program didn't get
going nearly 30 years ago, the hobby would've died out...as there was
no one to give the exams, when the FCC quit doing it. However, as it
notes in Part 97, they can still readminister an exam themselves. I
downloaded a PDF of that (dated March 8, 2018), and put it on the BBS.
But, I also exported it to ascii text, for 2 of the ham radio doors I
have online. It took much of the day to go through to format the file
to under 78 characters per line.

 EV> In a Computer Store I picked up a FREE Newletter and saw a List of
 EV> Dial-Up BBS's and called one of them that had Topics about DOS and
 EV> Windows so I could learn about those OS's.

  I remember seeing "Computer Shopper" years ago.

 EV> The BBS was called The Volunteer BBS and was part of The GT Power BBS
 EV> Network.

  Wasn't Tom Currie the one who ran that??

 EV> There were messages from people in the USA, England and Taiwan on
 EV> that BBS, and after reading many, many messages I decided to jump in
 EV> and write a message, and here I are, still lurking and writing
 EV> occasionally.

  There are other things in life besides BBSing and ham radio (some would
consider that heresy <G>. But, I don't spend every waking moment with
my hobbies, or I'll risk burnout.

 EV> As much as I try, I'll never become a Mister Know-It-All, even tho I
 EV> act like it sometimes.

  I saw a T-shirt awhile back that noted "I don't need Google. My wife 
knows everything". Talk about a personal search engine. <G>

 EV> Thanks for tolerating me.

  I don't think the moderators have anything to worry about from you
or me, Ed. 

Daryl, WX4QZ

... Xmodem - A modem that has been hit by lightning.
=== MultiMail/Win v0.52
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (618:250/33)