How I Actually Joined.

[BigMattFromTexas]

I'm pretty sure I've yet to say how I came across / joined this forum. . Okay, so here's my "story":

It was a dark, stormy night. Jk.. But anyways, I was looking up stuff about well, what else? Highways, that's what. But I somehow came across this forum. It had that really dark background and what not, I honestly thought I was on like a vampire website (plus my screen made everything 20x darker). But as I looked around I was like "Hey! this is pretty cool!" So I decided to join (yes I make quick decisions with forums, I also was a little "care-free" at the time). But I changed that gloomy background, to the "Highway" theme. And once I posted stuff I realized the people were nice (like a small town in Iowa). Well most of them were pretty nice, except for a certain person whose name started with a "V"... But after I went into the Chat (R.I.P) I said "I'm new" or something like that, and from then on I've been dedicated (almost obsessed) with this forum. I now have a total time logged in of: 21 days, 12 hours and 56 minutes. Plus I've shown numerous highway pictures, and I have over 800 posts (not that I'm obsessed with the number of posts for quality > quantity, unlike a certain dude whose name started with C and ended with omputerGuy) but I'm sure 98.25% of my posts are on topic (of the thread, not highways). So that's pretty much it. I really miss the chat room, but if it ain't worth bringin' back, I'll deal with it.. So yeah, now y'all know my story of "The Day I Joined AARoads Forum"

And yeah. I've grown much more of joining things online. So any questions, comments, or concerns (if you have concerns, I don't care....)?
BigMatt

[corco]

I'd been lurking and sporadically posting on MTR for a while, and then the forum was announced. I never really got comfortable on MTR, but the forum looked interesting albeit undeveloped, but I registered within the first few days and then didn't come back for a while.

I don't remember what caused me to come back about a month later- I was either looking for something road-related and decided to check on the forum or there was another MTR posting, and the community was still small but it was there, so I started posting. It was a lot more manageable and friendly than MTR, so I stuck around.  

It looks like it was actually only 12 days between registering and starting to post- I still can't remember how/why I made the jump from just being registered to actually posting, but it rose pretty quickly on my online priority list- surpassing MTR within a couple days and now clear up there with Facebook and some Seattle Mariners blogs I frequent

[KEK Inc.]

I've only been active on 3 forums really.  I was on the official Nintendo forums before it shut down in 2007, then I joined a fan-made forum that got active and boasted over 12,000 users.  Now there's only about 300 active users a day, which isn't nearly as active as the original forum, but it's still interesting.   Unfortunately, that community isn't too nice to newcomers.

This community tends to be friendly to newcomers; however, there are ego-wars, and it's prevalent wherever you go online.  Also, the staff loves to be in control of things, yet they're inconsistent.  One staff member doesn't mind my earlier font color and typeface, so long as it wasn't the same color as the URL links.  Meanwhile, another staff member told me not to do that.     No place is perfect I guess.   

[J N Winkler]

I came here not just as a MTR refugee, but also because of the possibility of posting rich content like sign drawings, plan sheet extracts, etc.  I have been very satisfied by the technical capabilities, the generally very friendly atmosphere in here, and the generally higher level of intellectual engagement.  I won't say that the occasional ego war doesn't occur, but I generally try (not always successfully) to avoid participating in them because I feel that interferes with other people's enjoyment and encourages further acrimony.  My personal view is that expression of hurt feelings, "He's an utter idiot," etc. are a luxury which is completely irresponsible to enjoy in public and needs to be saved for private email, if it is communicated at all.

[Ian]

I actually found this while looking at updates on the Aaroads On The Road Blog.

[agentsteel53]

My personal view is that expression of hurt feelings, "He's an utter idiot," etc. are a luxury which is completely irresponsible to enjoy in public and needs to be saved for private email, if it is communicated at all.

says the utter idiot! 

[6a]

I have no idea what MTR is, I just read AARoads for what seems like forever and just recently noticed there was a forum.  I was such a regular reader I tried to login first and got kicked out and got pissed, because I figured I'd made an account already.  This is what passes for brains in Ohio, folks.

[US71]

I'm still on MTR, though not as active as I once was (the signal-noise ratio has gotten out of hand). I think Alex invited me here... but I've slept since then so I don't really remember. No wait: it was Cody, the former list mod. He cross posted to MTR and a bunch of folks joined the forum after that.

[huskeroadgeek]

I read MTR off and on about 6-7 years ago and posted there a few times, but I never got into it much because I didn't like the format and there were too many heated arguments and flame wars. I'd wished for a long time that there was a traditional message board-style forum for road and highway talk. But I could never find one so I forgot about it for awhile. I've had AARoads in my bookmarks for a long time, and looked at it occasionally, using it at times more than others. I hadn't been using it much for awhile until sometime last year when I was using it and I noticed the link on the front page to a forum. I checked it out and thought it looked interesting, but I didn't have much time to read it at that particular time and decided I'd come back later. Unfortunately, I forgot about it until several months ago when I was looking at AARoads again and remembered about the forum. This time I decided to jump in and register and start posting, and now I usually check it at least several times a day.

Reading this forum has brought me back to spending more time online learning about roads. It's something I spent a lot of my earliest time on the web doing since I first got into surfing the net back in the late 90s. Somehow I discovered Andy's Highway Kickoff Page and I spent a lot of time over the next several years reading the different websites-going through a lot of the state-based websites and reading about every single road. Eventually, I looked for other ways to indulge my roadgeek fantasies online and started focusing on other hobbies more. But now this has brought me back and while I don't spend quite as much actual time reading about roads as I used to when I looked at websites a lot, I get as much out of it by just reading all the different threads on here.

[Chris]

I actually found this while looking at updates on the Aaroads On The Road Blog.

Me too, and to think I didn't visit the AAroads site for over a year. (My road interest is very wide, I swap between countries / regions every few weeks / months).

I'm not as active as I used to be though, also because I have several forums I'm following / posting on / moderating, including a Dutch-language road enthusiast forum and the Highways & Autobahns section on the Skyscrapercity forums. I'm also working on a Dutch-language wiki (not Wikipedia) that consumes quite a lot of my spare time. But I do check in on AAroads every day for updates.

[Grzrd]

My story reflects the interplay of roadgeekdom and technology.

Growing up, my family always took "family road trips" in the summer.  Often times, such ventures are more about the journey than the destination.  That's when I developed an interest in our nation's road system.

When my father was growing up, his father took the family on summer road trip vacations.  Circa 1920s, when the sun was setting, knock on somebody's front door and ask if you could pitch a tent in their yard.

On the trips I travelled, my father often pointed out the remnants of the roads he had travelled back in the day.  I then developed an interest in maps and the historical evolution of highways.

I grew up in Georgia.  As I was growing up, I always eagerly anticipated the latest edition of the Rand McNally Road Atlas.  That was my primary source of information about roads in the country, once a year.  As I aged, Georgia eventually completed all of its 2di Interstates.  What else was there to look forward to?

Eventually, the Web kicked in.  In particular, I enjoyed AARoads' presentation of the High Priority Corridors.  A whole new world of projects to track beyond the Georgia state lines.  Eventually, the Forum kicked in.  I lurked for a long time (also at MTR and Yahoo SE Roads), but recently decided to jump in here.

[bogdown]

i was born a roadgeek, and after months, if not years of lurking these fourms, i joined today