I can't help but say something. A new FT friend pulled up an old thread and was shocked that this place was so "testy" the way the thread looked as it went a year ago. She sees it as being all so different now. Anyway, I went down into the basement and reread it. Naturally that particular one made me want to duck and scurry BUT I noticed something as I warily looked at it. There is a cohesiveness among us. It is pure and valuable. Sure, we disagree. We even sometimes agree, imagine that? But, either way, it's always a worthy exchange. That thread didn't represent anything too correctly except for one thing: we all seem to have each other's backs when the water starts to boil. I hope all new members realize that. My new friend does. I'm not sure if this post is of worth, but I just had to say that. I guess I don't really expect responses. Just wanted to say how happy I am to be in the swim of things around here. It was a totally unexpected turn of events, quite frankly. And new swimmers are looked forward to. To heck with all or some of the past. It won't always repeat itself.

I'll second that, 99% of the time we do stick together, and if it does happen I'd far rather argue occasionally with interesting people than find them boring instead. And there aren't any boring people at FT, far from it!