"Make A Donation" button added

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asavage
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Posts: 5431
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
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"Make A Donation" button added

#1

Post by asavage »

I've had several requests over the last year: people want to send me money to help support this site's forums.

I have mixed feelings about this.

Background of this site: I discovered the Maxima LD28 in 1994, when I spotted one in the parking lot of the US Bank in Woodburn, Ore. At the time, I was driving a Chevrolet G30 (1T van) with a diesel engine, but I wanted something smaller and a Wagon and not a GM product and probably not a Four unless it had a Turbo (ie not a VW but possibly a Peugeot). I hung around and badgered the owner of the Maxima Diesel Wagon in the parking lot when he came out of the bank, and he told me he liked his fine.

For those youngin's reading this, in 1994 there wasn't a lot to the internet, in a web-page sense, and I was still using an analog modem and BBS software to get around. Over the next two years, I looked hard for a Maxima diesel Wagon, and when I finally bought my '82 Wagon (which, as of Aug08 I still own), I wrote about it on BBSs, Usenet, everywhere -- a lot.

Over the years, the internet grew, and first DejaNews and later Google archived all the Usenet postings back to antiquity and indexed them. Gradually, I began receiving email from folks who became interested in Nissan diesels in general and the LD28 in particular. When the volume of emails on Nissan diesels achieved a certain threshold, in self-defense I got some software to run a forums setup, installed it on a long weekend, and this site was "born". That was Nov-05. That's the short history of the origin of this site.

Some of you have been, ah, insistent, about making monetary contributions. Personally, I'd prefer technical writing contributions (esp. in the area of improving the LD28/Maxima FAQ, and starting a companion SD/720 FAQ), but some folks would rather throw money at me, so I'm giving in capitulating complying with your wishes in this matter. To this end, I have added a "Make a Donation" button at the very bottom of the pages. It takes you to PayPal (so they tell me) where you can pick your amount.

I am, however, going to go on running this site as though I have no obligation to anyone whatsoever. If I get pissed off and decide to kill it, I will, and I won't care how many houses your donations have bought. On that basis, please only donate for perceived value up to the present, not for the future, because the future is uncertain (so eat dessert first!).

I have given this a little bit of thought. I like recognition, I imagine others do too. I am going to list every person who donates in a sorted list below, in descending order of aggregate donation. Put another way, of all people who donate, the person who donates the most -- in aggregate (total) -- is listed first. Thus, the list order can change. Please do not "eBay" me with multiple $1 donations to see if you can nudge your name to the top, it will only annoy me and the pig will enjoy it, OK?

Making a donation is absolutely not required. I am keeping this site up because I think it's fun to get a lot of people together and form a community -- virtual or otherwise -- of excited folks around a single general topic. I've participated in other online communities since my first modem in 1992, so I've seen some ups and downs, and I have had remarkably little trouble running this one -- which is the way I want to keep it. If the work outweighs the fun factor, I stop -- and someone else can prop it up.

If you wish to opt-out of the donors listing, PM me before you donate.


If you landed here because you just donated via PayPal, your username will be added to this list -- just not immediately; it takes me some time to catch up.
========== CONTRIBUTING DONORS HALL OF FAME LIST BEGIN================
(In descending order of total cumulative donated)

goglio704
carimbo
philip
cseger1
plenzen
Pascal
fud2468
rlaggren
plenzen
Midnightz
Nissan_Ranger
STOPBATH777
after oil
TDI_Joe
cab
vicmason
gromit
ANGRYLANCE
Shagbark
AStevens
dieseldorf
Duaneclark
pctekky22
========== CONTRIBUTING DONORS HALL OF FAME LIST END ==================


Thanks for your support.
Last edited by asavage 11 years ago, edited 33 times in total.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
goglio704
Posts: 726
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: East Tennessee

#2

Post by goglio704 »

Al, just for the record, what would piss you off enough to give up on the forum? I sincerely hope nobody was an ass while the site was down. I emailed you, but only because the only other interruption of significance that I can recall had something to do with the dynamic IP address redirector or some such. At the time it lasted longer than need be because you simply didn't know about it IIRC.
Matt B.

83 Maxima Sedan, LD28, 5 speed, white, 130k miles. My original Maxima.
83 Maxima Sedan converted from gasser, LD28, 5 speed, 2 tone blue, 230k miles
82 Maxima Sedan, LD28, 3 speed auto, 2 tone Gray/Silver, 140k miles
81 810 Sedan, LD28, 3 speed auto, rust, rust, and more rust!

2005 Jeep Liberty CRD
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asavage
Site Admin
Posts: 5431
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
Contact:

#3

Post by asavage »

Having been involved in several online communities over the years, I know how things can go south in a hurry, given the wrong mix of circumstances and personalities. Sometimes it can be controlled, but it always takes a lot of work.

To answer your Q: when it's not fun anymore. If the forums aren't fun (or don't save me more time than they require), then I won't maintain them.

The server and broadband are paid for (amortized across the other sites, really), so it can more or less run itself without my intervention most of the time, and I can participate as much or little as I want. We have two moderators now, and if I could get a one or two more, I wouldn't have to do anything but babysit the backups and updates, which is where I'd like to go with it.

I've already written most of what I know about SDs and LDs, so other than the occasional scan from a manual or a picture of a part, I don't have a lot of new to contribute at this point.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
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kassim503
Posts: 1027
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Stony Brook, NY

#4

Post by kassim503 »

I want moderator!


Im on the forum more than the numbers of meals I eat a day :lol:

I swear I have a social life
'83 maxima sedan, l24e, a/t, black

227K SOLD 6/7/2012
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philip
Deceased
Posts: 1494
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Southern California, USA

#5

Post by philip »

kassim503 wrote:I want moderator!


Im on the forum more than the numbers of meals I eat a day :lol:

I swear I have a social life
....crickets....
-Philip
Passed 08May2008
My friend, you are missed . . .

1982 Datsun 720KC SD-22

"Im slow and I'm ahead of you"
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asavage
Site Admin
Posts: 5431
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
Contact:

#6

Post by asavage »

fud2468 wrote:Al,
I tried to make a donation but I see it requires a credit card number, which I don't care to put on the 'net.
Do you have a snail mail address I could send a check to? And who should I make it out to?
Thanks,
Ray Mac
fud2468@att.net
Yes. Use this address. My "banking name" is Alan Savage.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
User avatar
asavage
Site Admin
Posts: 5431
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
Contact:

#7

Post by asavage »

I thought I'd post an update. Donations to date (about fifteen months' worth) totals about $565. That's about three times what I expected when I caved in to your demands to let you give me money. It funded the LD28 IP Belt Tensioner rebuilding project.

Anyway, Thanks where Thanks is due.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
User avatar
asavage
Site Admin
Posts: 5431
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
Contact:

#8

Post by asavage »

Another update:

Total donations are at around US$846 since 26Nov2005 when I started it up. Only two donations in the previous 13 months, but pretty big ones, and I Thank you folks for helping pay for the DSL and server here.

I'm sorry that I'm not able to help out here much anymore, nor do I log on much; I have contributed about as much as I usefully can at this point. Keep up the good work . . .
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
User avatar
asavage
Site Admin
Posts: 5431
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
Contact:

#9

Post by asavage »

I've finally got 'round to updating the Donations list above, with six donations in the past two years, totaling $200 for 2011-2012, and $50 so far in 2013. Thanks for the help.

Hey, I've just updated the PayPal donation thing. It's now supposed to tell you that I ask for you to add your forum username in the message box before hitting the Pay Now button, and after you've paid it's supposed to bring you back to the Donation List above.

Unfortunately, I can't test it because I have only the one PayPal account, and it says that I can't send money to myself.

So, whoever next donates, please check to see if those two things happen, and let me know if they do or don't. Thanks.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
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