New Guy, but been here before

[Who Am I ?]

Hello everyone.

After a 5-6 year departure from the hobby (and MAAST), the wife and I have finally found the time to jump back in and started up another system in January of this year. It's amazing how many things one can forget after leaving and how many advances have occurred during that period of time.
It appears that many of the members we knew pretty well and lost track of are no longer active (GaryP, BigBird, ScubaSteve, Felipe and Sarah, etc.) so thought I would start off as a new member, not that I had much choice. I am clueless as to what my username was back then (old age setting in?) so we have to start from square one again. Too bad really since we posted lots of pics from our old systems but a computer crash caused a total loss of all pictures of our previous systems and inhabitants. That same mistake won't happen a second time.

In our previous existence, towards the end, we were running roughly 300G total water volume but have toned it down considerably and decided to run 120 this time around. Just wanted to get involved again since the wife and I have many fond memories of not only club activities but friendships developed during our previous experience in the club.
We reside in Austin but, honestly, haven't really felt like we have made many friends in the local reef club (ARC), unlike our previous MAAST experience. Maybe things have changed over the years and people aren't as friendly as they once were but we are hoping to feel like we are part of the club again so we have chosen to come back here.

Anyway, hope everyone is having a good weekend so far.

[Who Am I ?]

Now that's odd. I just noticed my profile shows that I've been a member since 2009 with no posts except for the one today?
The timeline sounds right for my previous username but definitely not this one.
The system must be tagging me by my IP address. Can I assume anything I posted back then is gone now?

[FarmerTy]

Welcome back to the club! I actually reside in Austin too. Best way to make some good friends on ARC is to post lots and show up to the monthly meetings. We're a pretty friendly bunch in Austin, much like the community on MAAST.

[Who Am I ?]

Thanks for the welcome Ty.

OK, this is going to sound terrible but it is what it is.
After 6 months on ARC and going to a few meetings (one was at your place), I will say that you, John, Sam, and 2 or 3 others have been very friendly. To keep it short and direct, we still feel like outsiders. A few people that i've talked to have shared similar experiences. Don't misunderstand, i'm not snubbing ARC. The members are helpful on the forums and it's obvious that it's a tight knit community, as long as you are part of the clique. Unfortunately, we aren't and I have to question whether we will ever fit in.

OK, enough of that.
On a lighter note, it's nice to be back in the hobby and back at MAAST after all of these years. We forgot how much we really enjoyed not only the hobby but the people. Hopefully we will again cross paths with some friends from the past and make some new friends in the future.

[FarmerTy]

Completely understand as some of us have known each other almost a decade here in Austin. I tell you what, I'll put the word out with the organization, especially with the meetings, to stop clumping together. I hope that you will still aim to attend meetings when possible and we can work on changing the culture and be more embracing of new members. It's just human nature to sometimes flock but we have the ability to keep it in the forefront of our thoughts not to do so. But enough about that.

Welcome again and I'm glad you're going to be a part of MAAST again. Everyone has been really nice to me so far for being the newbie around here as well. Maybe we can carpool to a meeting or two to meet some more folks in person.

[Who Am I ?]

I appreciate that Ty but don't ask for people to change on my account- i'm not special.
I don't want to change peoples ways and only mention it because it could be hurting the club to some extent.

[Zack]

Welcome back! We will be having a hands on acrylic demo on the 31st and we would love it for you guys to attend. All the info can be found in our meetings sub forum

[Who Am I ?]

Welcome back! We will be having a hands on acrylic demo on the 31st and we would love it for you guys to attend. All the info can be found in our meetings sub forum

Thanks for welcoming us back and sharing the info on the meeting Zack.

We would love to head that way for a meeting and to check out some of the stores anyway. I have come to realize how dismal the LFS situation in Austin is after a recent trip to DFW.
Unfortunately, I will be out of town for a memorial service at the end of this month. We will try to get to SA for the following meeting though.

[alton]

Welcome back, it is a lot more relaxed here now. Sometimes too relaxed many look just do not post. The meetings are great including the last one at Elegant Reef. If you have the time to go back and tag one of your old post it would be fun to try and remember you.

[Who Am I ?]

Hi Alton, and thanks.

I am still trying to find particular threads that I know I would have posted to. There seems to be a big black hole swallowing a significant amount of threads from around mid- 2009 through 2010. I never did post anything in the Albums section or this would make life much easier.... well, maybe not. I took a bunch of pics of JimD's tank which I know he uploaded and likely gave me credit for, but nope, can't find those either.

I'm pretty sure I could figure out my original username and find some of my old posts/pics if I could find the SeaWorld meeting (after hours and behind the scenes) with Bob Fenner thread from 7ish years ago. There was also an event where about 30 of us MAAST members decided to randomly invade and take over a small restaurant before walking to the IMAX for a show- this would have been around the same time frame.
I can't seem to find any of these things- apparently, getting older has its downsides or MAAST has purged a whole lot of old threads.
It's entirely possible that not signing in for multiple years caused all of my posts to be removed.