Ernie answered part of the questions raised on the Bird of the Week picture. Let me try to answer the other questions (with some serious tongue in cheek, so have a sense of humor).

The BOTW feature was originally suggested by Jo-Ski (haven't heard from her in a while), but she was smart enough not to agree to keep it up each week!

For the new folks that have not participated, but have submitted ideas on what we should do - ahem, cough, hint! Well FYI, we get *one* .jpeg picture on the front page of the forum, that we format in Photoshop and use for the Bird of the Week (BOTW) feature. One picture, not an open-ended series of photos.

The BOTW was, therefore, intended as a single picture of an interesting Bird shot, not a curriculum vitae, or a visual tour of the Bird, unfortunately. I have sometimes formatted insert (or PIP-type) shots when warranted (and submitted). Some weeks are quick and clean shots. Some weeks they take much
time editing the picture in Photoshop to focus on the Bird rather than the other vehicles, camping gear, or telephone poles around them.

A URL or link to a blog for more details? Bwaahahahaha. Sorry, couldn't resist. As Ernie stated, about a third of the picture submissions come in with *no* details whatsoever. Then I have to hunt some details down just to get a tag line. The last two weeks have been very unusual in the amount of detail that was submitted and they were thereby each worthy of inclusion as a post on the forum for further detail. I would not get used to this as a standard. I love this week's submission! Heck, I don't do re-runs much, but I may re-run a photo of "JP'S Bird" next week so newbies can see Rose Mary and Clara's new 'camper'.

Someone wanted a series of high-res pictures. Usually, we get only one picture submitted. Most of the pictures in this age of digital cameras are high-res. If you download the BOTW to your
machine and use Photoshop or some other photo editing program, I suspect that you can blow them up fairly large to see more detail.

Someone said they only go to the front page when they see a note that it was updated? (Was that really you Pete? C'mon man, I've met you in person. You're way quicker than that!) It is after all called Bird of the *Week*, so it is in fact updated *weekly* - usually on Friday (sometimes on Saturday morning if I was out of town on business on Friday - speaking of that, my business travel tip from this week is DO NOT eat the Talapia at Mitchell's Fish Market in Lansing, MI or it makes a looong plane ride home!).

Someone said we should have a BOTW Archive? Uh, would that be in the Photos section of the forum in a photo albumn titled (get ready for it!....) "Bird of the Week Archive"? Seriously, you will find 150+ BOTW pictures there today, and I admit I am seriously behind on updating the recent ones.

I
think that answers most of the questions that were raised. I am always open to be replaced. As Ernie said, this too could be your opportunity for fame and fortune (BWAHAHAHAHA) if you want to volunteer.

In any event, keep those pictures of Birds coming!!! (With some details please!)

LOL!!

Mike Bulriss
1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan" - running *great* this weekend!
San Antonio, TX - wishing I was still at Buckhorn Lake

--- In "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.com", "Ernest Ekberg" wrote:
>
> --- In "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.com", "Fred Bellows" wrote:
> >
> > --- In "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.com", Pete Masterson wrote:
> > > .....If the BOTW would have a URL for a related set of photos or the
> > > owner's travel blog (or whatever) -- that would be nice.
> >
> > Yes, a URL to another place that has space for more and better pictures (with captions) would be great! The thing about the forum(s), is that, while we mainly attend for help and support on repairs/upgrades/ etc., the biggest, definable content category that is missing is seeing and hearing about the coaches/lifestyle when they're not being repaired/under- construction/ etc. When the coaches are all polished up, being used, having their uniqueness shown off, and, once in while, getting their 15 minutes of fame!
> >
> > In other words, a place
where people can see and read about lots of coaches in their prime, shining a positive light and helping glorify our special hobby, and even increasing the value of our coaches! We've known our coaches are special, vintage treasures, but now with the BB factory closed (and many others), they are now officially collectible, unique, rare, and de-facto, more valuable. And will be in-demand over the next several years as the economy recovers, people want to buy high end RV's again, and yet hardly any new ones will be available!
> >
> > So, an enhanced Bird of the Week feature (with full archive) would be a great place for a potential coach buyer (weighing BB vs SOB), to see just what it is that we are so fanatical about!
> >
> > But mostly it would be a wonderful place we can go, to see what the other members of our BB Family have done, get ideas on what we can do, and to live vicariously when we're unable to get out
and play with our coaches!
> >
> > Fred & Wendy Bellows
> > 90SP Queen Creek, AZ (basically Phx)
> > "Maunder Maximum"
> > http://picasaweb. google.com/ geefred/MaunderM aximum#
>
>
>
>
> WOW, thats a tall order. It would be nice to be able to have that feature, but this 4 letter word that I'm going to type get's in the way of all our voluntary efforts to keep this forum running--- that is WORK. The 4 of us that do this forum are very busy doing other things- like make a living. If we had someone who is "retired" or has way too much time on their hands, and would be willing to chase down this information, that would be grteat-- any takers?? I also want to point out that nearly 33% of all photos that come into Mikes mailbox have NO information in regards to what yerar, location,
who is actually in the photo- etc. You guys get the idea?? Lets add some info when you submit your photos. Again, thanks to all that have helped in this endeavor.
> Ernie Ekberg-83PT40- currently home in Weatherford, Tex- we had some rain!!
> >
>