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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 22, 2015 17:00:39 GMT -8
I know... yeah I know.
I haven't been giving this forum due diligence.
There are many reasons. A) I'm a grandma now (4x), and family stuff has taken precedence; B) Coach Wilma Boomstra has moved back to The Netherlands, so the ST world is not flooding into SoCal to train with her - there's nobody this summer at 'Casa de Short Track' (our home) to keep the sport in the front lobe of our brain in the off-season, and that's not likely to change in the near future.
But there are 2 other reasons I should tell you about that will have a greater impact on the future of Boots & Blades:
1) I've pretty much committed to a 'bucket-list' journey that has taken up much of my time in the planning and will be my primary focus until the end of February 2017.
In early March 2016, I'll begin a year-long trek (about 1700 miles) from the Canadian border to the Mexican border, walking alone & staying in strangers' homes for the most part. No, I'm not doing the PCT as in the movie 'Wild' - I'll be trekking along the western coast, following the Pacific Coast Bike Trail as much as possible. The purpose will be to raise funds for my church's foreign missions and a handful of other charities that have had a tremendous impact upon my life.
Because this is a solo mission, the logistical planning has been a full-time job!
But as for the long-term direction of this forum:
2) My primary intent in starting this forum was to 'grow the sport'. In that goal I believe I have failed miserably. I appreciate all of the skaters and their families who have embraced the site and who read regularly - and the dozen-or-so faithful fans who contribute. But this is not what I envisioned when I started the forum. The rise of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media has given fans greater access to their short track 'heroes' than ever before, and has made the forum format rather redundant.
For now, I can only offer my apologies for ignoring the forum, and I'm fighting tears as I type this. I'll finish out the results for the 2014-2015 season (eventually) - and I'll ALWAYS be paying attention. I know I'll be a fan of the sport for life, and I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!! But from here on out, I suppose I should say that if Boots & Blades survives, it will be as a member-driven site, which is what I had hoped it would be from the start. If you love it, contribute to the content (i.e., post stuff). If it's not 'loved' enough, then it shall deservedly fade into the 'mists of time'.
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Post by lilyover80 on Sept 24, 2015 19:35:41 GMT -8
Good Luck on your "bucket-list journey", Lori! So sorry that I've failed in posting my photos of the skaters, as I had planned to do! This summer was filled with our involvement surrounding our Special Olympian Grandson' activities for World Games of Special Olympics! I had hoped to do better, and I will do my best... really! I hope and pray that you will be safe in your journey... and that I'll be able to hear about it from time to time!
Take good care! *sniff*
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 24, 2015 21:08:05 GMT -8
Lily, you've been SO great - no need to apologize!
I'm not abandoning my passion for the sport, and I'll still be monitoring the site daily as a moderator & admin. I'm just letting go of the feeling of responsibility for providing news & content on this forum. It had become akin to (at least) a part time job, and has been a 'hovering presence' that sometimes takes away from the joy I have in other areas of my life. I just need/want to devote my time to pursuits that will have more impact on the world around me than I've been able to achieve here at Boots & Blades.
This isn't "Goodbye" by any means - it's simply the beginning of the process of moving on...
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Nov 9, 2015 14:45:14 GMT -8
Such a sad thing to report: One of our young, talented SoCal skaters, Lexi Bekele (age 16) has been missing from the San Diego area for 3 weeks. Her family fears she has become a victim of human trafficking. There is a Facebook page with many photos - please etch her face in your mind and notify authorities if you see her! www.facebook.com/alexuzcontreras/timelineWe also have a post here on BB about her. Based on the photos on the FB page, she still looks much the same - so here's a video that may help: therockerforum.proboards.com/post/16311Please, PLEASE pray for her safe return!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Dec 4, 2015 17:38:56 GMT -8
Last week, just before Thanksgiving, Lexi was found safe & unharmed!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jun 7, 2016 7:48:16 GMT -8
Just checking in... I'm alive and well! I started walking on my trek at the Canadian border near where I-5 crosses from Canada into Washington - at Peace Arch Park. I've been walking 10 miles a day, 6 days a week, 2 weeks out of every 4 weeks since February 29. I come home every 2 weeks (to keep a balance in my family life), then drive up to wherever I left off and start walking again. It has been a beautiful journey in so many ways, and I hope that at the end of it I'll be a bigger person on the inside (and a smaller person on the outside, )! Both have already happened significantly. I have stayed in 21 different host homes, and I have never lacked for a host family when I have wanted/needed one. I have met so many wonderful people who will be a part of the rest of my life and beyond. I've currently logged almost 500 miles - I'm finished with Washington and I'm halfway through Oregon. I'm more than 1/4 of the way through the entire journey, which should be completed sometime in February 2017. I miss all my short track friends, and this part of my life - but I am immensely enjoying my new 'calling', and I look forward to where it will lead. Please keep me in your prayers for health, safety and fruitfulness of my mission! Laura Blog: www.soles4hope.wordpress.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/Soles4HopeTwitter: @soles4hope
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jul 28, 2017 8:39:25 GMT -8
Well, I finished my trek on February 11 - right on schedule! There is one important announcement that I need to tell you about. Even though I'm no longer updating this forum to any significant degree, I had intended to keep it open as a nice archive for short track. However, I recently received an email from Photobucket that may cause all of the photos most of us have posted to disappear. The process on Proboards for posting photos is such that I have to post them as links to a 3rd-party photo hosting site such as Photobucket. All of the photos I post here are in my Photobucket account. It used to be free unlimited hosting, but several years ago they started charging an annual fee for accounts that went over a certain bandwidth. As you know, there are hundreds of photos on Boots & Blades, so I paid the modest fee ($60 per year) to keep my Photobucket operational for this forum. NOW they've changed their pricing again and say that if I use my account to post to websites, forums, etc., I need to upgrade AGAIN to a 'Plus 500' account. They will no longer allow photos in my Library to be displayed on BB if I don't pay for this upgrade - and the pricing increase is significant (now $400 per year). 'Way to go, Photobucket - my photos are now being 'held hostage' to your new pricing. I either pay you or my photos disappear - 10 years of work... The photos will still be in my library, but will be virtually worthless for my purposes - which was to post them here. I may be able to make my Photobucket Library public so y'all can browse in the years to come, but the photos won't have any context to the posts they were displayed with here. I'll keep you posted - but for now, be prepared to see virtually all the photos on this forum go 'poof'. You can thank Photobucket - Grrrr. (Oh, and all the emoticons I've added to the menu will also disappear... )
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