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Why Auggie is Both Happy and Sad

6:16 pm

Towards the end of last year, I took a little business trip related to my freelancing work, but it wasn’t all business. Austin, Texas turned out to be full of great food and fantastic people! I ate some of the best food I’ve ever had in my life there, and am still dreaming of the delicious empanadas. (But what do you think my dream means?) More importantly, I met some really interesting people in Austin — from the politically engaged cab driver to the wonderful people at the association I’d been freelancing for, everyone I encountered was a joy.

While I was there, I even got to have lunch with two jellies! Picante and Pachy were every bit as lovely as you’d imagine them to be: warm, witty, wise and whole lot of fun. What more could you ask for in a human being jelly? That’s us in the picture below, left to right: picante, pachy and augustlan.

The ‘business’ part of the trip had a very successful outcome for me: I was offered a full-time position as an employee of the company. With an actual salary and, gasp, benefits! Having been self-employed for a very long time — spending the last several years struggling to make ends meet — I immediately accepted. In addition to the obvious financial reasons for my decision, it’s also a fantastic organization to work for. From the top down, everyone is committed to their mission and they truly care about their employees. I started the job in January, and couldn’t be happier about it!

There is a downside, though. As you might have noticed, I haven’t been around much. For the last two months, I’ve attempted to manage Fluther while working full-time elsewhere and it’s been quite a challenge. Between the new demands in my life and my ongoing health issues, I just can’t keep up with it. After much reflection (and many, many tears), I’ve come to the sad conclusion that it’s time for me to step down as community manager. It’s been a difficult decision, but I take comfort in the fact that the mods have been running the site without my direct input for some time now, and they’ve been doing a great job! It’s just time to make it official, so I’m turning over the reins (and my whip!) to them.

At this time, we don’t plan to name a new manager. The mods are a fantastic group of jellies and they’ll be managing the site as a team. I am confident that they are up to the task. They are going to need your help, though. The overall tone of the community is in your hands, so please do your best to make it an enjoyable one! The mods will rely on you to be somewhat self-governing — flagging inappropriate behavior rather than returning it in kind. If you all pull together, it will make the mods’ jobs much easier. Please remember that they are all volunteers and can really use your support!

Please don’t panic. For the foreseeable future, Fluther will remain as-is. We know this community is important to you, and you are important to us! The site is self-sustaining and there are no plans to shut it down. If it ever does become necessary to close up shop, I have Ben’s assurance that everyone will get plenty of notice. None of this ‘slinking out in the middle of the night’ business, I promise. You deserve better than that.

This has been such a hard decision to make. I have loved Fluther from the moment I found it and being your community manager has been an honor and a privilege. While I will still be a member, I will miss serving the best little community on the Web. You fine people have my deepest respect and all my lurve. Always.

Bitnami