How much has your life changed since you first logged in?

[boyst]

Not only that, what do you first remember about the posters that will choose to post here.

 

I remember some heartbreak stories of lost love here, a few rekindled and I know 1 has a family through all of that amazing journey.

 

Some have been here a long time, 20+ years now.

 

What's new?

 

Me: married, soon to be 8 month old daughter, went a few places never expected and some roads I never knew about but only once have left the US, took over the family farm in '04 never expecting to do so when I joined here, lost my dad 3 years ago at 69, and buried a few too many friends.

 

Edit and in case you don't remember me.... I used to post as jboyst62. I just got rid of the j because 🤷🏼‍♂️, and 62 because I'm not playing high school football anymore. 

Edited May 11, 2023 by boyst

[Westside]

What an awesome post! Thank you for starting this.

I’ve been posting here for over twenty years myself. I was married to my beautiful wife with three great children.

I’ve been a widower for over nine years now. I met a wonderful woman whom I married last year and I am a proud grandfather to two beautiful baby girls.  Life is good again. 😊

[Buffalo716]

I live in a van down by the river 

[boyst]

1 minute ago, Westside said:

What an awesome post! Thank you for starting this.

I’ve been posting here for over twenty years myself. I was married to my beautiful wife with three great children.

I’ve been a widower for over nine years now. I met a wonderful woman whom I married last year and I am a proud grandfather to two beautiful baby girls.  Life is good again. 😊

I love this westie.

[Gugny]

I’ve had 3 different jobs since I first registered here. 
 

Got divorced. 
 

Made some true friends through TBD. 

 

Never did get a kayak, and my dog died anyway (RIP, Chloe). 

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 hour ago, Buffalo716 said:

I live in a van down by the river 

I see you followed in my footsteps! 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Over 20 years here too (guest since 1998; registered first screen name in 2002).

 

sort of amazing; can’t imagine there are many other websites and message boards with as many long-timers members as we have here? 

[Bad Things]

What a great idea for a thread, Boyst.

I'm looking forward to reading what people have to say.

 

For me, I've been a coming here since day one, and was a member of whatever website preceded TBD.

Can someone remind me about the the message board before this one?  Was it on a local newspaper site? I only remember that it was early internet days, and I was psyched to be able to get up to date info and talk to fellow Bills fans, while living in Broncos territory.  Before that, I had to rely on the SHOUT! newspaper to arrive each week.)   

 

Anyway, I signed up in the late 90's.

Back then, I was newly married and living in Colorado.  (Born and raised in Rochester and moved to CO in 1990)

 

Since then...

• Son born
• Moved family to Washington State
• Daughter born
• Moved family to New Zealand.

It's been over 17 years since we moved to NZ and both of the kids have now grown and moved out.  (Daughter in Uni.)

The wife and I are loving this latest stage of our lives, which we refer to as "Empty Nestin' ". 

 

When I think back to my Colorado days, it feels like it was another life ago.  So much has happened since then... births, deaths and other major life events, including the challenges of being an immigrant to a new land. 

 

Throughout all of the years and all of the events, there have been only a couple constants.  One, thankfully being Mrs Bad Things... another being TBD.

 

I honestly have no idea why/how this place can hold such a sway over me.  (Especially during some of the really bad drought years.)  Just about every damn day, I have to at least log in to see what's going on over here.

 

That said, thank you SDS and all of the moderators for everything you've done through the decades. 

You've help me waste countless "productive" hours of my life.   (Oh, to think of what I could've become, if TBD never came into my life...)

 

 

Let's go Buffalo!!!

 

[DD4Bills]

Joined in late 2011 (but lurked unregistered for quite a bit before that). Lots of big things since then, including...

- Changed jobs a couple of times

- All 3 kids survived their teenage years (one of them just barely). Oldest served 4 years in the USMC and is now happily married and recently gave me my first grandchild. Second son married, youngest (daughter) successfully "adulting" two years after college

- lost one dog, but gained another

- survived a heart thing

 

I'm not a huge poster on this site...vast majority of the ~700 posts have been in one of the fun Off The Wall topics (like this one), but TBD is a multiple times a day destination for me.

 

Of course, what hasn't changed is my love (and sometimes hate, but mostly love) for the Bills, and a couple of years ago FINALLY made it to a game in Buffalo for the first time since 1974.

 

[Beck Water]

11 hours ago, Gugny said:

I’ve had 3 different jobs since I first registered here. 
 

Got divorced. 
 

Made some true friends through TBD. 

 

Never did get a kayak, and my dog died anyway (RIP, Chloe). 

 

Sorry about the loss of your dog

[Captain Caveman]

Let's see, I joined in 2008

in August of that year I was hired as an employee at my current company (had been a consultant, most consultants were let go at the beginning of the crash that year with the rest of us hired as FTEs.) I started in 2005 answering phones for the guy who ran our department, I now run that department. 

I got sober

Still married to the same wonderful lady (celebrated our 17th anniversary last month)

Had 2 kids, both boys, the oldest now goes to games with me 

Have traveled to Mexico, Brazil, India, Iceland (amongst other places)

in 2008 we were living in a rented apartment in Jersey City, NJ, we bought a place at end of 2009.  We sold it in the fall of 2020 and moved to Central NY.

Became a season ticket holder in 2021

After 25 years of playing drums in bands, I started making and releasing my own music in 2019, and am currently putting the finishing touched on my 6th record.

[Augie]

20 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

Sorry about the loss of your dog

 

He’s more upset that he never got a kayak. He really had his heart set on a kayak. 

 

I kid! I kid! He’s not really a horrible person, but you want to keep your car doors locked when he’s around, just in case. 

[muppy]

my tenure in chatrooms began in he 90's when the Buffalo Bills began offering an official  chatroom. I posed there until ti went POOF and have remained active here as well as a spot called billievers since 2017.

 

a ton has changed since then mostly all good 🙂 Kids are grown and pursuing careers. We retired in 2015. Life is grand here in americas finest city

 

A new major change is muppy is going to be a Grandma this July :-)))))

 

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by muppy

[DrW]

I joined nearly 20 years ago, for a long time only lurking. In March 2023 we had moved from Rochester to Lubbock, both my wife and I looking for a tenure-track position. Well, we managed that, and are now still teaching and doing research. We will have our Silver Anniversary in October.

 

The kids were 3 and 4 when we moved here. One has just graduated from UT and is working as mechanical engineer in Germany for a couple of years, the other will get her B.S. in geology in December. The son is an avid Bills fan and even flew up to the game against the Jets last season.

 

We have been living in the same house since we moved to Lubbock. For more than 15 years I had been mowing the 1 acre lot with the same John Deere lawn tractor. Two years ago, I finally upgraded to a JD zero-turn mower, which cuts the mowing time in half.

 

As an avid birdwatcher, my life list increased from about 400 to 550 during the last 20 years. 

Edited May 11, 2023 by DrW

[Saxum]

On 5/11/2023 at 1:24 AM, Bad Things said:

What a great idea for a thread, Boyst.

I'm looking forward to reading what people have to say.

 

For me, I've been a coming here since day one, and was a member of whatever website preceded TBD.

Can someone remind me about the the message board before this one?  Was it on a local newspaper site? I only remember that it was early internet days, and I was psyched to be able to get up to date info and talk to fellow Bills fans, while living in Broncos territory.

 

Likely it was on Rochester D&C board which many early posters came from.

 

There were Bills forums before the internet browsers were created.  I was posting during Superbowl era complaining that after Washington Superbowl my car was covered by red and yellow tempura paint. 

Watched games at Grevey's which was a famous sports bar in area which now is a Five Guys. It was so busy I needed to sit at table outside during winter sometimes.

 

I married a woman from Hong Kong in 1998 who I proposed on first date and got okay from her to ask permission from parents / elder siblings a week later.    We are still married.

 

Moved to Social Soviet Republic of Reston a year later n 1989 which was closest place I could afford and buy a standalone house. 

 

Moved to Alexandria after living in Reston for 5 years when my daughter was 3.  It was a choice between moving and looking for new job and I liked the job more than Reston. 

 

Visited friends in Herndon and saw a sign at a bar (1998?) that they would start showing. NFL games and specifically Bills games next weekend.  Showed up next weekend and was one of five first attendees who listened to game on TV for DirectTV did not work.  Ended up forming first Bills Backers group in area.  Found TBD during first year it was started.  Went to TBD tailgates for 10 years until Bills stopped selling tickets to fan and Bills Backers groups.   Met some good friends here including departed Cindy Fox who got my jersey signed.

 

 

At one point I found another job from connection on this board and I worked there for 7 years.  Spent a lot of time on road for work and visited a number of Bills Bars around the country where I worked or were driving distance from work.

 

Do not travel as much as I used to.  I used to drive solo to Buffalo for a weekend and on one such weekend I picked up @R. Rich who I never met before and drove him to event at Orchard Park.  Feet do not allow easy travelling anymore.

[plenzmd1]

I do not say this facetiously, outside of my kids being grown, I am still the same idiot I was 20-some years ago.

 

Lots of new friends, lots of people passing...but overall i am the same  basic dude

[boyst]

14 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

I do not say this facetiously, outside of my kids being grown, I am still the same idiot I was 20-some years ago.

I don't think we ever doubted that here.

[todd]

Started here in 2001, although I think I was involved in a previous generation of this site. I remember seeing SDS and other on the old USENET groups many years ago. 

 

Since 2001:

• Got married to the best girl in the world. Still married.
• On my 5th job, and career is going great. 
• Introduced my parents and my (the future) wife's parents at a Bills game. Where else?
• Had two dogs, RIP to Sophie and Hudson
• Watched my wife as she started running and then ran 45+ marathons, ultramarathons and triathlons. She kicks ass.
• Watched my wife have a stroke due to a torn vertebral artery after a triathlon. She's fine now, that was 12 years ago. Recovery was tough.
• Got a rare form of cancer called chordoma in 2020. Had a 10 hour surgery to remove my tailbone and 1/2 of my sacrum. Then two months of radiation in Boston summer of 2020. That kicked my ass. Out of work for 5 months.
• Recovered, and then had to go out of work again for two months after having severe side effects from radiation.
• Got a great job at Paychex, and I love it!
• Kicked cancer's ass.
• Recovered enough to play golf and worked on my game and now a single-digit handicap, despite having half my ass removed. So I'm a half-assed golfer!
• Started building electric guitars & basses, and found a new passion.
• Started recording original songs for an upcoming EP. They are mediocre, but I have fun.

All along, loved being here and rooting for my Bills through all the changes life throws at you.

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by todd

[rockpile]

I have been involved with TBD in various ways since day one. 

 

I am still married to my best friend.

My four kids have all grown up and gotten married.

Three kids are still married.

I have ELEVEN grandchildren - ages three to twenty-seven.

One grandson is married and just got back from being deployed to Germany with the Army National Guard.

One granddaughter is engaged to be married this fall.

One grandson is a childhood Leukemia survivor.

 

I have been retired on disability since I was 62, but I am doing fine.

I am still waiting (since 1967) for an NFL Championship!

 

I met some of my best friends right here! 

[Augie]

3 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

I do not say this facetiously, outside of my kids being grown, I am still the same idiot I was 20-some years ago.

 

Lots of new friends, lots of people passing...but overall i am the same  basic dude

 

He’s not kidding. I can vouch for him on this one.   😋